Chapter 4
Overheating of a mobile phone is actually due to excessive power consumption, and the most power-consuming activity is playing games, followed by watching live videos.
Despite his reputation as a shut-in, the protagonist, Long Aotian, has a ton of apps on his phone related to online entertainment, including games and anime.
Based on the changes in the music software, Xue Jin'an had already guessed that the game would probably be shut down, but he still opened them one by one to take a look. Interestingly, the game could not be opened, but the system displayed: "Updating the server."
In other words, these games might become available again any day.
Xue Jin'an tilted his head, somewhat bewildered and curious. He had lost his original body and was now just a small artifact spirit with weak magic power. Because his soul had merged with the human body, his thoughts and consciousness were limited by the body in many ways. In addition, due to factors such as perspective shifts, he was still in the process of mastering his current abilities and inevitably had some things he didn't understand.
These games that are inaccessible and inexplicably updating their servers are one of them.
Xue Jin'an guessed that his abilities were being used to adapt and debug these software programs, but he didn't know what the final form would be.
"We can look forward to it a little." This body's functions are equivalent to his old low-end smartphone, which can't handle many apps. Xue Jin'an originally planned to uninstall some apps to lighten the load on his body, but now it seems he should give up.
Unable to open the game, Xue Jin'an, in order to better heat up, resorted to opening a video live streaming software.
The opening screen features a meticulous painting of an ancient temple in the mountains, clearly an authentic work by a famous artist. The seal and inscription on the painting further confirm this, identifying it as a work by Xie Daoyang, a renowned artist from the previous dynasty.
A line of printed text appears on the painting: "Hundreds of temples and Taoist monasteries in Beijing celebrate the Lower Yuan Festival together, with free ever-burning lanterns being offered. From October 15th to 18th, receive a 20% discount on offerings at designated temples and Taoist monasteries!"
Xue Jin'an: "..." This scene, which blends ancient and modern elements, is really making the spirit's CPU burn out.
Once the software opened, Xue Jin'an clicked on the activity details in the pinned section and saw that the event organizer was actually one of the Six Ministries. He finally understood what was going on.
It seems the government itself is directly involved in boosting GDP, no wonder they can use Xie Daoyang's painting as a gimmick.
The Lower Yuan Festival is a relatively important festival in Daqi. Government offices are given three days off. Although it hasn't started yet, the screen is full of related information, such as no curfew for three days during the Lower Yuan Festival, collective worship at the City God Temple... Xue Jin'an refreshed the page several times before the big data pushed out something else.
He currently lacks the strength, and the signal reception range is temporarily limited to the capital city. Therefore, most of the live streams and videos he sees are from within the capital. Moreover, there is already a curfew at this time, and the entire city has quieted down. In ancient times, ordinary people had little entertainment. The live streams or videos that he could see were basically either from official organizations or nightclubs, such as brothels.
Xue Jin'an had already made some predictions, but what he didn't expect was that after the screen was filled with images of the Lower Yuan Festival, he would then display a screen full of images of the Qian Yuan Palace.
Qianyuan Palace is the emperor's bedroom. In the video, the entire bedroom is brightly lit, and the emperor, dressed in a black dragon robe, is bent over his desk reviewing memorials.
The videos contain the same content, but the angles are different, and the uploader's name is also different.
Looking at the scattered but substantial tips they gave, Xue Jin'an guessed that they were either spies for someone else or people who had been paid to do something.
Among them, the live stream room called "Chief Eunuch Li Hechun" had the most accurate video angles, and occasionally even filmed the emperor's face up close, clearly showing the few freckles on the emperor's face. His videos received the most rewards, including not only concubines but also former court officials, and the number of followers in his live stream room was also far ahead of others.
Xue Jin'an clicked into his personal space and saw that the person had posted a status just 15 minutes ago, which read: "Did not turn over a card today."
The comments below have received over a hundred likes.
Empress Dowager: Hmm.
Consort Rong of Minghua Palace: Your Majesty has been working hard at your desk for many days. Tomorrow, I will personally cook some medicinal food and send it to you.
Consort Xian of Yonghe Palace: Your Majesty has reached an age where you should take good care of your health. It would be best if you rested more. Eunuch Li should advise Your Majesty more.
Consort Shu of Fushou Palace: Xiao Liu has been sick for two days and hasn't been to the study. He has fallen behind in his studies, and I am very anxious about it... If Xiao Liu could receive some guidance from His Majesty, that would be wonderful.
Imperial Noble Consort Min: Your Majesty, please take care of your health.
Consort De of Qing'an Palace: Will Your Majesty choose a concubine tomorrow?
Consort Zhen of Yihe Palace: I am feeling unwell, perhaps from a cold, and I am afraid I cannot serve you in bed. Please put my nameplate aside for now.
...
Xue Jin'an scrolled through several more posts from those who had been chosen or not, noticing that their fan lists included both the emperor's and empress's. However, the comments under those posts were only from people in the palace, suggesting that they had set up a blackout. Nevertheless, from these comments, he gained some understanding of the masters of each palace.
For example, the Empress Dowager was a woman of few words, always replying with only a brief word or two; Consort Rong loved to cook and made soup for the Emperor every day; Consort Xian cared about the Emperor and always asked Eunuch Li to persuade His Majesty more often; Consort Shu and her family were not like the Sixth Prince, and she genuinely cared about her son's studies...
Xue Jin'an, being a cell phone user, naturally didn't understand the art of human communication. He analyzed things superficially and felt that his thinking was correct.
He then browsed through Li Hechun's other posts and found that there were also comments from court officials who didn't have any concubines. The most recent one was from five days ago, accompanied by a picture of a shattered paperweight with the caption: "His Majesty dropped it."
Grand Secretary Jiang Wen: Then I will come again tomorrow.
Lin Ruofu, Minister of the Court of Judicial Review: Thank you for your guidance, but this case must be submitted to His Majesty for His Majesty's decision.
Minister of War Xu Pingchuan: What should we do then? That money-grubbing official in the Ministry of Revenue insists on cutting the Ministry of War's budget. My troops are almost unable to continue training. No way, old man Lin, you're too stubborn. You go up and test the waters first, and I'll see how you handle it.
Qin Lian, compiler of the Hanlin Academy: Oh no, oh no, why did it have to be me in front of the Emperor today? (bursts into tears)
...
Emperor: Li Hechun, get in here.
After the emperor's comment appeared, no one spoke after that post. Perhaps it was because of this that Li Hechun's posts were all about being chosen by the emperor for the next five days. Before that, there were usually posts every two or three days about whether the emperor was in a good mood or not.
The emperor clearly knew that Li Hechun was leaking information about him, but he deliberately let it go.
Xue Jin'an cannot understand human language art, but he can deduce the logic of people's behavior through data analysis.
There's a saying that goes, "If the water is too clear, there will be no fish." Judging from so many similar videos, it's clear that Qian Yuan Palace has quite a few spies, both overt and covert. It's better to guide than to block; it would be better to let Li Hechun release information directly, and occasionally he could even help Li Hechun catch some fish.
Judging from those hundreds of posts, Li Hechun knows how to maintain a proper balance; he hasn't uttered a single word about anything truly important.
He can eat at everyone's house without making a mistake; no wonder he's a good manager. Xue Jin'an casually followed Li Hechun.
Big data immediately popped up related recommendations: People following the "Chief Eunuch Li Hechun" live stream were also following "Early Morning News of the Great Qi Dynasty," "Qionglin Banquet Matchmaking Corner," and "Open Joint Trial by the Three Departments"...
Xue Jin'an paid attention to all of these, and accidentally clicked on "The Three Judicial Offices' Public Trial". This live broadcast room was actually online 24 hours a day. The lighting in the camera was dim, with a flickering candle flame. The sound of whipping and screams could be faintly heard. It should be a prisoner being tortured in the dungeon.
The candlelight crackled, the whipping stopped, and footsteps approached. The jailer lowered his voice and said, "Sir, he refuses to talk about what happened two years ago..."
"Heh, is that so?" A soft laugh rang out, and a hand holding scissors cut off a section of the lamp wick. The room was instantly brightened, illuminating the crimson official robe embroidered with pheasant patterns, which belonged to a second-rank official, making it appear as if it were stained with blood.
The man said, "I will interrogate him myself."
The scissors were thrown on the table, and the candle was lit, gradually illuminating the dungeon as the master moved forward. Soon, a person appeared in the scene, bound to a rack, covered in blood, with his head hanging low, barely alive.
It turned out to be a woman, dressed as a palace maid.
It's very strange. Normally, palace maids and eunuchs who commit crimes are handed over to the Censorate for punishment. How could they appear in the Three Judicial Offices? And why are they being interrogated by such a high-ranking official? It all seems very abnormal.
There weren't many officials of the second rank in the entire court. Within the three judicial departments, there were only the Minister of Justice and the two Censors of the Censorate. Apart from them, even the head of the marble cemetery was only of the third rank.
Xue Jin'an immediately became interested and was about to watch the live stream and analyze the situation when the live stream page suddenly went black and a dialog box popped up: "After detection, you are a minor and have activated the youth mode. Scenes that are bloody, violent, or pornographic and are not conducive to the physical and mental health of minors have been intelligently blocked."
Xue Jin'an: "..."
Returning to the homepage, he found that all the live streams of brothels had also gone black.
So, despite all the parts the otaku Long Aotian replaced for him, and the system being upgraded countless times, why hasn't this damn anti-addiction program for minors been removed yet?!
The underage spirit stared at the live stream that had been blocked, and couldn't help but grind its back teeth.
He could only give up in frustration and refresh the page. This time, the live streams recommended to him by the big data all came from the same organization—Fengyi Chu.
Few people may know the organization's real name, but its nickname, "Blood-Clad Guards," is known to everyone. It was a spy agency established by the current Empress Dowager when she was ruling from behind the curtain. The previous emperor abolished it once, but it was reinstated after the current emperor ascended the throne. It was a spy agency with a similar role to the Embroidered Uniform Guards and the Eastern Depot.
Xue Jin'an clicked on each video and looked at them one by one. The angles of these videos were very strange, just like paparazzi shots. Moreover, judging from the style of the courtyards, they were all official residences.
Xue Jin'an also intended to listen to what little secrets these officials were talking about, but unfortunately, people in ancient times had little nighttime activity, and before long they started exercising, directly turning the live stream screen black.
Xue Jin'an wasn't actually that curious; he just had a bit of OCD. However, after a few videos were blocked in a row, the little spirit silently and viciously stuffed the pastry into its mouth. Its dilapidated body, like a cheap knock-off phone, finally belatedly started to heat up, complaining about the high power consumption of watching videos while charging.
The scorching heat dispelled the chill of the autumn night. He glanced at the remaining 35% battery, tossed those inexplicable emotional turmoil into the trash can, and cleaned them up with a rocket. Satisfied, he lay back down on the bed, casually kicking the damp blankets aside.
Half-asleep, he heard the pattering rain outside, and someone touching his face. An anxious voice vaguely echoed in his ears, as if saying things like "Why is it so hot?" or "You have a fever."
"Of course it will get hot. You have no idea how hard I've worked." A subtle emotion arose in Xue Jin'an's mind, which told him it was called pride.
The chattering in his ears was still very loud, and Xue Jin'an felt like he was being woken up. "Xiao Luzi, shut up."
He didn't know if Xiao Luzi had shut up or not, but he had turned on Do Not Disturb and couldn't hear anything.
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