RCDSA 01

Chapter – 01

Demoted to the Vassal Territory

On the day of the Beginning of Autumn in the seventeenth year of the Xuanhe era, a grand autumn palace banquet was abruptly halted midway. The Emperor’s beloved second prince, born of the legitimate Empress, was publicly exposed in a scandal. The Emperor flew into a rage, denouncing him as one who showed no respect for his father and sovereign, possessed unworthy conduct, and was unfit for great responsibilities. After fifty lashes of the whip, the unconscious second prince was carried back to his residence.

The autumn wind rustled bleakly. Within the second prince’s residence, surrounded by imperial guards, every servant moved with their heads bowed and eyes downcast, holding their breath in fearful silence, not daring to make a single sound.

Seven days had passed since that night of the autumn palace banquet. Due to the severity of his injuries, the second prince had sustained a persistent high fever and remained delirious.

The imperial physicians in the palace could not leave without the Emperor’s express command, leaving only the residence’s own physician frantically struggling to save him, terrified that the second prince might die from his wounds.

Inside the inner chamber, the handmaiden Linlang, who had just finished applying medicine and changing the dressing for the man on the bed, carried a basin of water out of the room. Her brows were furrowed with worry. She pressed her palms together in prayer, “Your Highness the Empress, if your spirit in heaven can see us, please bless the prince and ensure he survives this calamity…”

A round-faced maidservant lifted the curtain and entered, carrying a food box in her hand.

After setting the food box on the table, the round-faced maidservant spoke with indignation: “It’s only been a few days since the prince fell unconscious, but the rumors outside are growing worse by the day. Everyone is watching our prince’s disgrace, eager to trample him underfoot.”

Linlang’s expression remained unchanged. Over these days, she had heard far too much of this kind of talk. “What happens outside the residence is beyond our control. Bizhu, just make sure you keep a close watch on the people inside the residence.”

“Rest assured, Auntie. I’ve been keeping watch the whole time. If any little wretch dares to gossip, I’ll beat their mouth to a pulp!” Bizhu snorted.

Xie Linchao, in a haze of consciousness, heard the muffled voices of people talking outside.

When she finally managed to force her eyes open, control over her body slowly began to return. She lay prone on the bed, her back wrapped in layers of gauze. Half of her body was numb, while the other half throbbed with searing pain.

Xie Linchao opened her mouth, forcing out each hoarse word with great difficulty: “Some… one…”

Her voice was faint, barely audible.

The next moment, the sound of chopsticks dropping to the floor came from the outer room.

Immediately after, two figures hurried in one after the other. Upon seeing Xie Linchao finally awake on the bed, they were overcome with joy and relief.

“Your Highness, you’re finally awake! Thank the heavens! Thank the Empress’s spirit!”

“Your Highness, you have wounds on your back. Please be careful…”

Xie Linchao lowered her gaze, allowing her two trusted maidservants to help her sit up and drink water.

Her head still throbbed with a dull ache, and a flood of chaotic memories from the original second prince came rushing in like a tidal wave.

Yes.

This Xie Linchao was not the original Xie Linchao. The original “Second Prince” had not survived the combination of severe injuries and high fever, and she—a transmigrator from another world who happened to share the same name—had taken advantage of the opportunity.

Though surviving was certainly something to celebrate, Xie Linchao’s headache only worsened when she considered her current predicament.

The original had drunk too much at the palace banquet and grown drowsy. When she finally came to her senses, she was caught in a “scandal” right in front of the Xuanhe Emperor and a host of ministers and their families.

—The Second Prince had publicly molested and forcibly accosted the palace concubine, Lady Lan.

The original had absolutely no idea why this had happened. She had only stepped out to clear her head…

To suggest that the original had molested Lady Lan was utterly preposterous, because the original was a woman disguised as a man and lacked the necessary anatomy to commit such an act.

The entire affair reeked of conspiracy and convenient timing. Xie Linchao could hardly avoid concluding that the original had been framed.

And the result had gone exactly as the hidden manipulator wished.

The original had lost the Emperor’s favor, been publicly whipped fifty times, and in front of all the high-ranking ministers, was personally denounced by the Xuanhe Emperor as “one who shows no respect for his father and sovereign, possesses unworthy conduct, and is unfit for great responsibilities.” With such a condemnation, which court official would dare continue supporting the original?

The current Xuanhe Emperor had six princes. Only the eldest prince, who had already come of age, and Xie Linchao, the legitimate second prince born of the Empress, were permitted to attend court and participate in governance. The other four princes still lived in the princes’ quarters within the palace, attending the imperial academy each day to study, and had not yet been granted their own residences outside the palace.

Originally, Xie Linchao had been the most likely candidate to become the Crown Prince—the legitimate second prince born of the Empress. Two months prior, she had successfully handled the disaster relief mission in Qingzhou, and her prestige at court had been steadily rising.

But after this incident, she seemed to have been instantly eliminated from the race.

With the limited information currently available, Xie Linchao could not determine which prince had orchestrated the attack at the palace banquet, or perhaps…

“Your Highness, the residence physician Ji will arrive for his consultation in about an hour. Now that you have just awoken from your illness, would you like to have a meal?” Linlang fed Xie Linchao a few cups of tea, wiped the sweat from her brow with a handkerchief, and asked softly.

“Bring it,” Xie Linchao replied. Her expression seemed somewhat dazed, her voice weak and feeble.

Seeing this, the two trusted maidservants felt even more heartbroken.

“Bizhu, go prepare the meal.”

“Right away.”

Though autumn had only recently arrived, Xie Linchao’s wounds made her vulnerable to wind, so she had to remain confined indoors, which made it somewhat stuffy and warm.

After Bizhu left, Xie Linchao seemed to snap out of her daze and asked Linlang beside her: “Auntie, my ‘identity’ hasn’t been exposed, has it?”

Throughout the entire residence, only her two personal maidservants, the residence steward Wu, and Physician Ji knew the secret of her being a woman disguised as a man.

She had been unconscious for days after being whipped by the Emperor. One could only imagine how panicked the people within the residence had been.

If someone had discovered her secret and reported it to the Emperor, not only would Xie Linchao alone be punished, but even her maternal grandfather’s household—the Loyal and Brave Marquis Estate—would be implicated in the crime of deceiving the sovereign.

Linlang shook her head: “Rest assured, Your Highness. During the seven days you were unconscious, Bizhu and I took turns keeping watch day and night inside the room. Apart from Physician Ji, no one else came near.”

“Although the imperial guards are stationed outside the residence, forbidding anyone from entering or leaving, there have been no other unusual movements…”

“A few ministers who are on good terms with Your Highness submitted memorials, arguing that the palace banquet incident still had unresolved doubts and requesting a thorough investigation, but His Majesty rejected them all…”

Upon hearing about the guards, Xie Linchao frowned slightly, but inwardly she felt somewhat relieved.

Since there had been no unusual movements, her secret of being a woman disguised as a man had likely not been exposed; otherwise, things would not have remained so “peaceful.”

The second prince of Qi, Xie Linchao, was seventeen years old. She was the legitimate prince born of the Xuanhe Emperor’s Empress Yang. Before her birth, the then Prince of Ning—the current Xuanhe Emperor—had placed great hopes on her and privately conceived the name “Linchao,” which carried profound significance. The Loyal and Brave Marquis Estate, the maternal family of Empress Yang, naturally understood its implications and devoted themselves wholeheartedly to supporting Prince Ning in his bid for the throne.

But at the time of the then-princess’s labor, she suddenly received word that the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery had been outmaneuvered by the enemy and was in mortal danger. Shocked, she suffered a massive hemorrhage and gave birth with great difficulty to a baby girl. Moreover, her body was permanently damaged, leaving her not only frail and sickly but also unable to conceive again.

Afterward, although the Empress learned that the Marquis had survived and Prince Ning had successfully obtained the imperial succession edict and would soon ascend the throne, the damage to the Empress’s health was irreversible.

At that time, the Xuanhe Emperor already had a son—the eldest prince, born of the current Noble Consort.

The Empress and the Noble Consort had always been at odds, as were their respective families. If the central palace had no legitimate son, the most likely candidate for the heir apparent would undoubtedly be the eldest prince, who held the advantage of being the “eldest.” Once the Noble Consort and the eldest prince gained power, not only would the Empress and her newborn princess face a precarious future, but the Loyal and Brave Marquis Estate would also be difficult to preserve.

Thus, the Empress made a bold decision. Taking advantage of the chaos surrounding the transition of power, she engaged in a deception, passing off the baby girl as a boy, who became the Xuanhe Emperor’s second son—Xie Linchao.

Xie Linchao admired the Empress’s resolve.

There was no reason that the Loyal and Brave Marquis Estate, having exhausted itself in helping the Xuanhe Emperor ascend the throne, should then be left in the awkward position of the central palace having no legitimate son and be forced to yield the position of heir apparent to others.

In the fifth year of the Xuanhe Emperor’s reign, the Empress passed away from illness.

On her deathbed, the Empress expressed regret that she had not lived to see the original prince establish his own residence and marry, and thus begged the Emperor to build the second prince’s residence early and permit the prince to live outside the palace freely.

The Empress’s scheme was to avoid the prying eyes of the palace, where the secret might be discovered, and to have the prince move out of the palace early, where the Loyal and Brave Marquis Estate could still offer support.

But the Empress had not foreseen that in later years, the Loyal and Brave Marquis Estate, after repeated campaigns against the Xiongnu, would suffer heavy casualties and decline. Its prominence faded, and the family even left the capital to relocate to their ancestral home in Yuzhou, making it difficult to continue as the prince’s pillar of support.

Now, even the original prince had fallen victim to misfortune.

The spirited Bizhu soon returned with the meal. After being fed by her two trusted maidservants from either side, and having her pulse taken by Physician Ji, who confirmed that her life was no longer in danger and she only needed rest, Xie Linchao let out a deep internal sigh.

A disastrous starting position.

What could she possibly do? Maybe she should just give up and go back to sleep?

The “Second Prince” was now on the verge of being eliminated. She had lost the Emperor’s favor and had been branded a lecherous, foolish, and useless figure. Few court officials would dare support her, and the path to the succession was basically hopeless.

But before Xie Linchao could resign herself to her fate, the imperial edict arrived—

“By the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: Since the founding of the dynasty by the Great Ancestor, the imperial princes have been enfeoffed to guard the various regions, to pacify the people and protect the state. The second prince, Linchao, is hereby enfeoffed as the Prince of An, to take up his fief in Shuo County, Liangzhou. He shall be mindful of Heaven’s will night and day, cultivate his character with caution, and be diligent in his cultivation and self-reflection. Considering his injuries have not yet healed, he is specially permitted a one-month extension before departing the capital. This shall not be delayed. Respect this decree!”

The eunuch who delivered the edict offered a few perfunctory words of concern about Xie Linchao’s health before returning to the palace to report.

Once the outsiders had left and the door was shut, Xie Linchao saw both her maidservants change expression, their faces clouded with worry.

“Princes have always been enfeoffed as full princes when sent to their vassal territories. Only in extremely rare cases… are they enfeoffed as commandery princes. Your Highness is the legitimate prince born of the Empress. No matter what, you should not have received only the title of commandery prince!” Bizhu paced back and forth, her voice full of agitation.

Linlang, slightly older and calmer, scolded her: “Bizhu! Watch your words! Don’t cause trouble for His Highness.”

If those words were to spread, outsiders would surely accuse their prince of being dissatisfied with the Emperor’s decree—an act of grave rebellion.

Xie Linchao waved her hand: “The imperial edict has already been issued. Saying more is useless. Go out first and calm the people inside the residence. Don’t create any more trouble.”

Among the Xuanhe Emperor’s six princes, even the eldest—the oldest of them all—remained in the capital. Yet it was the legitimate second prince who was the first to be sent away to his fief, losing any chance at the succession. If this got out… it would undoubtedly leave everyone utterly stunned.

And within the residence, few would have ever imagined that their second prince would one day be sent out of the capital to a fief. They were probably all panicking right now.

Linlang and Bizhu curtsied: “Yes, Your Highness.”

After they had gone out and there was no one else in the room, Xie Linchao, who had been forcing herself to stay strong, let all the tension drain from her body and lay sprawled flat: “Well, I’ve truly been eliminated. No need to agonize over it anymore.”

Oh, original prince~ it’s not that I don’t want to fulfill your wish of seizing the throne, but it’s simply impossible~

And besides, even if the autumn palace banquet incident hadn’t happened, from an outsider’s perspective, the original was not the Xuanhe Emperor’s preferred successor. On the contrary, the Emperor had been steadily cutting down and suppressing the power of the Loyal and Brave Marquis Estate while simultaneously building up the original only to set her up as a whetstone for the other princes.

The original was the Empress’s legitimate son, and the Emperor had given her the highly suggestive name “Linchao.” If she failed to win the succession, her fate would likely be death or lifelong imprisonment.

Maybe being able to escape unscathed to become a vassal prince was actually a blessing in disguise.

Ding! Compatible host detected. The Supreme Conquest Card Draw System is now bound!

A great wind rises, the clouds fly and scatter! When might returns to the homeland, where are the brave men to guard the four corners? The age of chaos draws near, the pillars of the state shall crumble. You are born by Heaven’s mandate to save the common people, to reverse the tide of ruin. Please draw your ‘subjects’ and begin your journey to the supreme throne and dominion over the realm!

Immediately after, a bizarre light scroll seeming to come from the future played rapidly before Xie Linchao’s eyes in the form of short videos—

In the “future” described by the system, the Qi dynasty was embroiled in a succession struggle among the princes, who exhausted every means to frame and suppress their rivals. In their infighting, they inadvertently neglected the border defenses. The Xiongnu from the northern grasslands seized the opportunity to raid southward, plundering all the way to the capital.

The Qi dynasty was forced to cede territory and pay indemnities to sue for peace. The first time, the Xiongnu accepted—taking two million taels of silver and withdrawing from beneath the capital’s walls. But the following year, they invaded again. This time, neither indemnities nor peace overtures worked. The Xiongnu breached the capital, and the Xuanhe Emperor was forced to flee.

Not long after the establishment of the Southern Qi, the Xuanhe Emperor fell gravely ill and could no longer govern. The princes below continued their power struggles, but none remembered to organize an army to reclaim the north and rescue the common people suffering in misery. Instead, they schemed to bow to the Xiongnu and offer tribute…

Xie Linchao also glimpsed fragmented fragments of the original’s “future” within it.

After the autumn palace banquet, the original was demoted and sent to her fief. She pleaded with the Xuanhe Emperor to no avail, then resorted to self-harm on her right leg, using the excuse of being crippled to force her way into staying in the capital.

But in doing so, the attacks and schemes against her only intensified. After being poisoned by an unknown hand, the original’s legs were completely ruined beyond recovery. She had no choice but to fade away and leave the capital for her fief. On the way, she encountered bandits and fell off a cliff, her fate unknown.

Now, Xie Linchao, bound to this card-draw system, had been chosen as the one to change the coming age of chaos.

Shwip!

She shot up from her sickbed like a bolt of lightning!

Xie Linchao stared with gleaming eyes at the system interface that had suddenly appeared: “Cheat ability? Transmigrator perk? Path of the Dragon Emperor?”

Ha~

The sky had cleared, the rain had stopped, and she felt like she could do this again.

Xie Linchao rapidly clicked on the system interface, but a line of bold, oversized, red text popped up:

System card pool activation energy insufficient. Please replenish energy as soon as possible. Activation requires five hundred thousand taels of silver.

Xie Linchao: “…”

She silently pulled up the blanket that had slipped down.

Lay back down.

Closed her eyes.

Serenely resigned.