Chapter 1 001 I will not listen.

In the seventh month of early autumn, the night wind was chilly.

Zhao Jialing woke up with a start and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

She dreamt that a huge sun entered her embrace, almost roasting her to a crisp, and she nearly thought she had returned to the ancient times when ten suns coexisted.

She lay listlessly, sighing repeatedly. It was bad enough that things didn't go her way normally, but even her dreams seemed to torment her. Two days ago, after her close eunuchs were dragged out and dealt with, Zhao Jialing chose to give up. To hell with emperors who ruled in their own right, who could turn the world upside down with a flick of their wrist!

Is it wrong for her not to try anymore?

It's just a mere powerful minister in power; does Xie Lanzhao really think she can just twist her head off?

She's dead. Who in the royal family can inherit the throne? Well, there are some, if you pick and choose. But so what? The throne was never meant for her anyway.

[Beep, the Wise Ruler System is loading—]

Even as the strange noises rang out, Zhao Jialing remained lying there expressionless.

She disrespects neither gods nor ghosts; after nine failed attempts, she becomes a female ghost filled with resentment.

[Dear host, I am the Wise Ruler System 233, here specifically to save you. I will do everything in my power to help you become a wise ruler who will be remembered for generations, preventing you from meeting your demise.]

"Oh, I don't need it." Zhao Jialing still had the mood to answer that weird "wise ruler system" in her head.

She rolled over.

I can't sleep.

In another hour, she will be dug out of the dragon bed by the loyal and dutiful palace maid.

At dawn, one would go to the Xuanzheng Hall of the Daming Palace to attend the court session, listening to the courtiers holding their tablets chattering away, and then—

She has no say in anything.

She was merely a tool for grading answers; oh, she didn't even have to do the grading herself—the lady-in-waiting could do it for her.

Why did she have to work so hard, getting up early and going to court late at night?

[Host, you are an emperor! Although you are dull-witted and hopeless, if you are willing to work hard with 233 to complete the tasks of self-cultivation, family management, governing the country, and bringing peace to the world, you can become an emperor for all ages!]

Zhao Jialing covered her ears.

[Aren't all emperors of the ages just a handful of dust? What use is posthumous fame to me?]

The Wise Ruler System was dumbfounded. Had it arrived at the wrong time? Why was its host starting to act so arrogantly? After thinking for a while, it changed its strategy and said, "I am a deity."

"Then you should blow up the imperial tomb and find my father's spirit. He would be very happy." - Zhao Jialing

Wise Ruler System: ": "

She turned out to be a very filial daughter.

[Host, as long as you complete the task and achieve the goal, the system will issue you a reward.]

Zhao Jialing scoffed: "Those who offer unsolicited favors are either treacherous or thieves."

[Host, we are from the Time-Space Bureau. We chose your timeline in response to the wishes of countless future people of the Great Yong Dynasty, to help you become the true ruler. Potatoes, corn, sweet potatoes—you didn't know that, did you? Gunpowder, steelmaking technology, advanced shipbuilding technology—don't you want those? And there's also smallpox vaccination, penicillin extraction—]

Zhao Jialing did not answer.

Thank goodness, she managed to fall asleep amidst the system's nagging.

She fell asleep, which was understandable, given the inopportune timing of its arrival. The Wise Ruler System felt a little ashamed, but when it scanned Zhao Jialing and discovered that her willingness to complete the task was truly "zero," the system panicked.

If Zhao Jialing doesn't do tasks, then what's it doing in Dayong? Just as a pendant? While Zhao Jialing was sleeping, the system quickly flipped through the 108 strategies left by its predecessors for dealing with eccentric hosts, and picked out one: project your thoughts.

Although its host is Zhao Jialing, the host is the emperor, and there are a bunch of capable ministers under her to do things for her.

As long as those officials are mobilized, the goal can be achieved.

Once the host wakes up, give her another chance to choose.

Yin time is right.

As expected, Zhao Jialing, who was drowsy, was helped up from her bed by a palace maid to dress her.

Zhao Jialing's eyelids drooped, still remembering the ridiculous dream from last night.

What kind of system or deities are these? It's really strange.

She struggled to open her eyes and saw the terrified little palace maid.

Zhao Jialing was unable to speak.

The moment she closed her eyes, the word "host" exploded in her mind.

Zhao Jialing: "..."

No, why aren't you awake yet?

A sharp pain shot through Zhao Jialing's scalp as she looked at the palace maid combing her hair.

His eyes looked like he was looking at a dead person.

The young palace maid was terrified and immediately knelt down to beg for mercy.

"Get up." Zhao Jialing pouted. She noticed the broken hair on the dressing table and asked, "How many strands of hair does Xie Lanzhao lose every day?"

The serving palace maid: "..."

Their emperor was capricious and always asked nonsensical questions, which invariably revolved around Xie Xiang. According to the survival rules left by their predecessors, the best course of action was to remain silent.

Zhao Jialing sighed.

With the "wise ruler system" still constantly generating output in his mind, Zhao Jialing frowned and said impatiently, "No!"

The palace maids and eunuchs in the hall looked at each other in bewilderment.

What is Your Majesty not doing?

The Wise Ruler System also wanted to sigh. It tried to persuade its host with kind words, but the host wouldn't listen.

Then don't blame it for being ruthless.

"Your Majesty, are you still attending the morning court?" The palace maid who spoke was newly promoted, named Yin'e. Her predecessor had already been dragged out and beheaded; it was said the blood flowed like a river. As for the charge, it was that she had bewitched His Majesty and spread heresy. In reality, everyone knew that the eunuch had been loudly discussing with His Majesty how to deal with Prime Minister Xie, and the Empress Dowager's people had overheard it. The Empress Dowager, who usually didn't interfere in affairs, issued an order to execute the eunuch, and His Majesty's pleas were to no avail.

Displeasing His Majesty could lead to death.

Even those who become His Majesty's confidants don't live long.

Yin'e's face showed fear and panic.

“I’m not going,” Zhao Jialing said. The system’s noise gave her a headache, and thinking about the dream of being dried out yesterday, she felt inexplicably angry. She flicked her sleeve and made up an excuse, “Our bodies and hair are given to us by our parents. If I cut off a single hair today, I will feel ashamed before the Empress Dowager and dare not face anyone.”

Yin'e: "..."

Wise Ruler System: "..."

During the reign of the late emperor, he was quite diligent in governing the country and held court every day. After Zhao Jialing ascended the throne, she first changed the regular court sessions to once every three days, and then not long after, she changed it to once every five days. At first, the court officials did not make much of a fuss, but when she proposed once every ten days, the court officials were in an uproar and brought out the "ancestral law" to force her to change it back to once a day.

Having decided not to attend the morning court session, Zhao Jialing took off the clothes he had just put on and went back to bed to lie down.

The Wise Ruler System lamented: [Host, the first step to becoming a wise ruler is to diligently attend to court affairs!]

What kind of future can an emperor who doesn't even attend the morning court session have? It can certainly project its thoughts outward, but what if the host, like some emperor in a parallel universe, doesn't attend court for twenty years? Who would listen to its thoughts then?

Zhao Jialing replied woodenly to that damned system: "I am of average appearance and cannot be a wise ruler."

She was the late emperor's youngest daughter, with older sisters and brothers, so logically she shouldn't have been on the throne. The only legal standing for her was that of a "legitimate daughter." However, her mother was a concubine, and her elder sisters were the original empress's children, so she had no advantage. But who could have imagined that her eldest brother, the crown prince, and second sister would fight so fiercely that the late emperor nearly died, and both were subsequently deposed and reduced to commoners. Moreover, these two, who had been assassinated and poisoned, didn't live long, passing away before the late emperor.

The third brother, Prince Zhong, wasn't involved in the struggle for the throne. Was it because he didn't want to? No, it's because he's paralyzed.

Even someone with a slight limp has a chance to become the emperor, but what about a paralyzed person who has to be carried to court?

She also has a fourth sister who is physically healthy but mentally disturbed and is a well-known madwoman in the royal family.

Her favorite thing to do used to be teasing Gao Shao. But after she finally managed to make Gao Shao her husband through trickery and force, she was like a raging flood, and no one dared to stop her.

The thing she did most often was to petition to become a nun after a quarrel with Gao Shao.

This is the first time I've considered becoming a nun.

Xie Lanzhao said that Gao Shao disliked bald people.

Then she began to practice Taoism.

Five years after Zhao Jialing ascended the throne, he received no fewer than ten memorials from his fourth sister regarding her becoming a nun.

Is the emperor supposed to concern himself with these matters? Zhao Jialing didn't want to get involved, but her fourth sister would enter the palace and run to the Empress Dowager to complain.

Zhao Jialing initially suggested dragging Gao Shao out and beheading him to eliminate the root of the problem, but she was cornered in the palace by her fourth sister and verbally abused for a full hour.

Her fourth sister is usually elegant and graceful, with an ethereal appearance, but when she goes crazy, she's not human at all.

Zhao Jialing dared not interfere with her.

We have no choice but to approve it.

No matter which Taoist temple she goes to, in the end she will either slink back on her own or Gao Shao will have to come and invite her back.

The Wise Ruler System, unaware of Zhao Jialing's thoughts, comforted him, "Host, although your aptitude is poor, you're lucky."

Zhao Jialing: "..." What does she need this good luck for?

Inside the Xuanzheng Hall.

The court officials were a large, numerous group.

After the palace eunuchs had prepared all the ceremonial guards and the court officials were standing in neat rows, they finally arrived late to announce the emperor's decree.

Among the court officials, standing at the forefront was Xie Lanzhao, the Grand Secretary.

She held the scepter, her face as cold as ice, revealing no emotion.

The Xie family was the maternal clan of the late emperor. Her father died early, and her mother was the prime minister of the late emperor's court, through whom all policies of the late emperor were implemented. As the daughter of the prime minister, Xie Lanzhao was also valued by the late emperor and frequently entered and exited the palace. Later, she became a lady-in-waiting to Princess Zhongshan. However, no matter what, it was extraordinary for someone as young as twenty-one to be in the highest position among the court officials.

The late emperor's will appointed her to assist in governing, a promotion unprecedented in the dynasty and likely to remain so.

There were naturally many who were dissatisfied, but in the end Xie Lanzhao stood safely in the court, while those who had objections were buried with grass growing a foot high.

His Majesty does not like Prime Minister Xie.

The number of times they openly opposed Xie Xiang was countless, and the number of times they did it covertly was even more incalculable.

Unfortunately, His Majesty's "efforts" failed.

Because the Empress Dowager was on Xie Xiang's side.

"this--"

"Let's discuss this further in the Hall of State Affairs," Xie Lanzhao said calmly.

The regular court sessions were just a formality; important military and national affairs were discussed by the prime ministers in the Hall of State Affairs.

But the final decision still had to be made known to the emperor.

So, Zhao Jialing, who had just had a good sleep on the large bed that could accommodate four or five people rolling around, opened his eyes and heard Yin'e relaying a message that Xie Lanzhao was requesting an audience.

Her smile immediately vanished.

She said to the system in her mind, "Aren't you a god? Can you shut Xie Lanzhao up?"

She only wanted to admire Xie Lanzhao's beauty without any distractions, and didn't want to listen to her sharp and cutting words.

Moreover, she was plotting against Xie Lanzao not long ago.

I feel a little guilty right now.