The Crown Prince Ascends the Entertainment Throne - Chapter 1

On one side of the clinic stood a red-brown traditional Chinese medicine cabinet. Each small drawer was covered with at least three labels, and the medicinal herbs inside were inevitably mixed together.

The other side of the clinic was partitioned into an examination room by frosted glass walls plastered with slogans. Through the glass, one could vaguely make out a hospital bed with a tattered blue gauze cover and peeling medical equipment.

The entire clinic, from the narrow entrance draped with yellowing transparent plastic strips to the dim examination room in the back, spanned less than thirty square meters.

Framed by blackened tiles, a style unchanged for at least forty years, and mottled, crumbling walls, the two young people standing in the room appeared even more haggard.

“What is wrong with him?”

The old doctor had white hair and wore a long brown robe, reminiscent of those in historical dramas, yet a stethoscope hung around his neck, giving him an odd mix of Eastern and Western medical styles.

The girl opposite him was in her twenties. She had delicate, pretty features, though her complexion was pale from malnutrition. Having just washed her hair, she had rushed here in such a hurry that she was merely wearing a gray hoodie, sweatpants, and slippers.

Her expression was filled with deep terror. “My brother, my brother.”

As she spoke in panic, she tugged on the person beside her.

The old doctor pushed up his reading glasses and squinted at the person who had been pulled a step forward.

The young man looked to be about twenty. His messy, long hair hung over his face, obscuring his eyes. The sleeves of his oversized black hoodie were empty, and as his sister pulled him, they revealed arms so thin they were frightening.

“Malnutrition?”

“No, that is not the problem. Xiao Xu, let the doctor take a look!”

Xiang Xu lifted his head, revealing a pair of dark eyes beneath his barcode-like fringe.

Underneath a seemingly calm exterior, Xiang Xu’s worldview had actually collapsed several times over.

An hour ago, he had been wearing red silk wedding robes, his heart pounding, imagining the face of the Crown Princess he had longed for day and night. He had hesitated at the palace gate for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn before finally pushing the door open.

Candlelight flickered, beads rustled, and as he walked forward, he bumped into something with a loud thud and passed out.

When he woke up, he saw a worried face.

He had no strength in his body, his head felt as if it were about to explode, and bile churned in his stomach. He endured the discomfort, struggling to identify the owner of this face.

As the Crown Prince of the Yin Dynasty, Xiang Xu’s mother had passed away when he was young, so he had been raised by the Jia Imperial Noble Consort.

The person in front of him was the Consort’s daughter, Xiang Xu’s second imperial sister, named Xiang Ji. She had always been known for her gentleness and treated him like a real brother.

His head throbbed, his vision blurred, and he pressed his temples, enduring the pain. “Imperial Sister, why am I here?”

The hand shaking him froze, and Xiang Xu was also stunned. He saw a face of sheer horror; he had never seen his sister make such an unrefined expression.

His gaze shifted downward, and he saw his sister’s hair was damp, hanging in messy, stringy strands like a mad concubine in the cold palace. Her clothes were of a style he had never seen, stained with patches of water. Further down, her bare, smooth ankles flashed before his eyes.

She was barefoot!

Xiang Xu immediately turned his head away. It was then that he realized he was in a very small, confined space. It was a dark, cramped area piled with debris, littered with trash, and emitting a nauseating stench.

Some light spilled down from above. He turned his head and was startled by a square light source, which made his already aching head throb even more.

“Xiao Xu, what is wrong?” Seeing Xiang Xu hammering his own head, Xiang Ji snapped out of her trance and crouched down.

Her voice, layered over the memory of his sister calling him “A-Xu,” formed ripples of static in his ears.

Xiang Xu’s head throbbed harder. Xiang Ji desperately tried to help him up, but Xiang Xu instinctively dodged her hand. This physical reaction startled even himself.

Xiang Ji’s hand hung in the air for a moment before she grabbed him and helped him up. Her voice was tight. “Xiao Xu, we are going to the hospital, right now!”

Led out of that cramped, suffocating space, the cool night air brushed against Xiang Xu’s body, somewhat easing his headache.

There was a dull pain on his forehead and the upper part of his right ear, a large bruise on his right shoulder, and a scratch as thick as a pinky finger on his left wrist.

He recalled the scene in that small space and the position where he had woken up.

His forehead must have hit the table with that glowing square screen, and as his body slid to the right, his left hand had instinctively tried to grab something, leaving a scratch, before he finally tumbled to the ground.

However, even though he could deduce how he had passed out, he had no way to explain the situation at hand.

Helped by Xiang Ji out of that cramped space, they descended the dirty, winding stairs under dim lights. At every turn, there was an inward-extending corridor, and the doors lining both sides were narrow and tightly packed together; this scene repeated at least six times.

Finally, they walked out of that hellish tenement building and into the cold wind.

In front of them was a shed, inside which many two-wheeled vehicles were scattered haphazardly. The surrounding buildings were identical, standing in crowded rows.

Something strange flew towards them at high speed. Just as Xiang Xu was squinting to look, Xiang Ji jerked him aside. A head turned from the two-wheeled vehicle.

“Watch where you are going!”

The person sped away, the words lingering in the air.

The Crown Prince of the Yin Dynasty, who had been scolded for not having eyes, was completely stunned.

“Xiao Xu, do not mind him.” Xiang Ji tugged him, her eyes darting nervously, as if she were afraid he might cause trouble.

Xiang Xu was still dizzy and confused by the situation; he had no energy to cause trouble. As his sister pulled him gently, he lowered his head and followed her.

“Where can I find a hospital this late?” Her voice was strained as she held a small, glowing square object, her fingers swiping across it.

The light from the phone cast a glow on Xiang Ji’s face, shifting from green to blue.

“56 plus 213.”

The light in front of her turned white, and she pressed the numbers on the phone one by one.

“269, only 269 left.”

Was it arithmetic? But why do math at a time like this?

Xiang Xu lowered his head in thought.

Although this sister was strange, she was the only familiar thing present, and judging by her attitude toward him, she did not intend to harm him.

Various speculations swirled in his mind, making him feel nauseous. The young woman stopped abruptly, turning in circles while holding that glowing brick.

Xiang Xu was bewildered by her behavior, but then he saw her suddenly stand straight as a compass and nod firmly.

“This way.”

What was she doing now?

Xiang Xu dared not ask, fearing he would cause his sister to panic again.

He carefully analyzed the linguistic habits in her brief words.

She called him “Xiao Xu” instead of “A-Xu,” said “hospital” instead of “Imperial Medical Academy,” referred to him as “you,” and referred to the man on the vehicle as “he.”

His gaze shifted to the shop signs on both sides of the street. They were still glowing in the dark, making them clearly visible.

“X-Mi XX-Huang-Fu X-Zhou,” “Food-Zero-Friend X-Exchange,” “Style-Creation-Dian X,” “XX-Gold-Five.”

Lines of characters flashed by. Half of them were familiar to Xiang Xu, and the other half he could guess, but he could not understand their combined meanings.

It was not just the architecture and clothing; even the language and character usage here were subtly different from the Yin Dynasty.

Although he did not understand what had happened, his twenty-plus years of alertness to danger told him that in an environment he was completely unfamiliar with, it was best to be cautious until he understood the situation.

Above all, he must not show too much abnormality. What he had said earlier must have tipped his sister off, which was why she was so nervous.

He decided not to speak unless necessary and to first figure out what was going on.

Xiang Xu made up his mind. He even restrained his gaze while looking around, his spirit tense, ready to face sudden danger at any moment.

But he glanced at his legs, thin as reeds under his black trousers. He doubted that if he really encountered danger, this physique would be of any use.

There were countless bizarre things happening. Seeing himself transformed into such a frail state, he could not even bring himself to cry.

Only, as he dazedly thought of the Crown Princess he had not even met, he felt a sting of heartache.

Due to his father’s severity and his own personality, no girl had dared to approach him since he was a child. After being single for over twenty years, a princess had finally been sent for a political marriage, and pop! It was gone!

What on earth had happened!

Xiang Xu was internally devastated, but thanks to the “frustration-based education” his father had given him since childhood, he did not cry.

Often, Xiang Xu could not tell which was crueler: Heaven or his father.

But seeing that his father had finally granted him a Crown Princess, only for Heaven to take her away, Heaven was clearly crueler.

Carrying his complex, self-deprecating feelings, he was finally led by his sister into an old clinic in a back alley.

In this clinic, the Chinese medicine cabinet on one side was familiar to Xiang Xu, but the examination room enclosed by glass was a completely foreign territory.

The old doctor sitting there looked reliable enough for his age, but the metal stethoscope around his neck made Xiang Xu wary.

“Malnutrition?”

The old doctor’s voice was weary and aged.

“No, that is not the problem.” Xiang Ji pulled Xiang Xu a step forward. “Say something!”

Xiang Xu understood what his sister meant, but any words that could cause her panic would also alarm the doctor. To avoid being discovered as an outsider, he had already decided to be cautious, so he remained silent.

The old doctor, his face lined with wrinkles, looked him over from head to toe. His murky eyes behind his lenses flashed with insightful light, which made Xiang Xu feel a bit uneasy.

“Does your brother have psychological issues?”

“Yes! Yes!”

“He will not even speak,” the old doctor looked at the haggard girl with dissatisfaction. “Psychological issues must be taken seriously early on, otherwise they will only get worse.”

Xiang Ji pursed her lips and clenched her sleeves behind her back. She looked up and, seeing Xiang Xu’s probing gaze, turned her head away as if feeling guilty.

Xiang Xu calculated that, based on the doctor’s words—”must take it seriously, otherwise it will get worse”—this so-called “psychological issue” must be a sickness.

Could this sickness be the reason he was here?

Did the owner of this body die because of this illness, or did he communicate with some ghost or deity, leading to his arrival and possession of the body?

But could the possession be a bit more selective? He knew about the existence of the “Three Thousand Great Worlds,” but where on earth had he been sent?