The Empress had passed away, yet instead of ascending to the throne herself, the rightful Crown Princess had handed the throne to Prince Liang—a woman who had already been stripped of her status as heir. Naturally, the entire court was left utterly stunned.
The Crown Princess faction, led by Grand Tutor Xu, nearly fainted on the spot.
They rushed straight to the Crown Princess and wailed, “Prince Liang is a treacherous wolf with ambitions! She forged the imperial edict—”
Before she could finish, the Crown Princess impatiently cut her off. “What do you mean, forged the imperial edict? I was standing right there and heard Mother personally give the order.”
“There were so many people in the Empress’s bedchamber. How could anyone have faked it?”
Then, rubbing her hands together with barely concealed excitement, she added, “Now that my elder sister has ascended the throne, there shouldn’t be anything left for me to do.”
The former Third Imperial Daughter had once cared about nothing but playing around and having fun. She took nothing seriously and behaved like a child.
Though several months as Crown Princess had failed to awaken any desire in her to fight for power, the changes in her were obvious nonetheless.
Her knowledge, breadth of vision, dignity, and decisiveness were all worlds apart from what they had been before.
Yet Grand Tutor Xu still chose this moment to drive a wedge between her and her elder sister. The Crown Princess swept out her sleeve and said, “I’m no longer the Crown Princess, so naturally I have no need for a Crown Princess’s Grand Tutor.”
Then she pointed toward the main entrance. “I’ve endured the sight of your old face for long enough. Get out.”
Grand Tutor Xu might be an unpleasant woman, but she had always believed that ever since becoming the Crown Princess’s Grand Tutor, she had poured her heart and soul into her duties and devoted herself entirely to the Crown Princess’s interests.
Now, however, she had been reduced to being despised and driven away by the very princess she had served. She immediately burst into loud sobs. “Your Highness, I may not have merit, but surely I have rendered some service!”
“Service, my foot! Mother told you to teach me my studies and handle state affairs with me, but what did you actually do? Every day, you either filled my ears with slander against my elder sister or spouted great theories that were completely detached from reality. You never had anything practical to offer.”
“Whatever I know now was taught to me by my elder sister. If you insist that you were of any use at all, then I suppose you did help improve my patience.”
The officials of the Eastern Palace looked at Grand Tutor Xu and found themselves in wholehearted agreement with the Crown Princess.
That old woman had always thrown her weight around, relying on her position as Crown Princess’s Grand Tutor and constantly trying to control the Crown Princess.
After all, when the Crown Princess’s position had fallen to the long-neglected Third Imperial Daughter, it had become an unclaimed field of influence that everyone naturally coveted.
But Grand Tutor Xu’s greed was simply too blatant. Never mind that she made herself sound so righteous—her usual approach to teaching had been to treat the Crown Princess as a weak ruler with no opinions of her own and dull abilities, someone who had to rely entirely on them.
That level of controlling behavior would have been excessive even from an ordinary minister.
As for the Crown Princess’s closeness with Prince Liang, Grand Tutor Xu had constantly tried to drive a wedge between them, lamenting the situation as though her heart were breaking.
In truth, anyone who was not a fool could see by now that although the Crown Princess obeyed Prince Liang unquestioningly whenever she was in her presence, she was by no means a spineless heir who could be swayed by anyone.
On the contrary, she was stubborn and clear-minded by nature. Judging from the astonishing progress she had made in her studies and in handling state affairs over the past several months, she could only be described as someone who had started late—not someone lacking in ability.
Prince Liang was her strongest rival, yet she still had complete confidence in the Crown Princess. She taught her without mixing in any selfish motives. And you, a mere minister, had the audacity to act so arrogant?
That was precisely why the officials of the Eastern Palace found themselves in such a tangled state of mind.
Prince Liang was indeed the Eastern Palace’s number-one threat. Yet even when their own interests were involved, they could not help but admit one thing:
Prince Liang was truly magnanimous and bold.
In the struggle for the throne, she had played the most crucial role in helping the Crown Princess grow into a qualified heir. Many of the principles she taught were things they, as ministers, could never have imparted—entirely her own private insights, shared without reservation.
Coupled with the Crown Princess’s attitude and the Emperor’s actions, everyone in the Eastern Palace had long since mentally resigned themselves to the outcome.
Now that Prince Liang had ascended the throne as the new Emperor, what they felt was less disappointment than relief.
Only Grand Tutor Xu believed she had invested too much to accept reality.
But when one thought about it, the late Emperor had clearly anticipated this before her death, and every necessary arrangement had been made properly.
Even if there had truly been something suspicious about the final succession decree, what could anyone do about it?
The Crown Princess had only begun building her own power base a few months ago. Yet during those months, the Emperor had suddenly changed her mind and made no attempt whatsoever to weaken or restrain Prince Liang.
On the contrary, when dealing with the former Luoshan, she had granted her enormous authority and freedom.
Let alone the people of the Eastern Palace opposing her—even if the Emperor herself had wanted to remove Prince Liang, it would have been impossible. Prince Liang and the Emperor had long since completed the transfer of power.
No one looked at Grand Tutor Xu. Seeing the Crown Princess happily begin to pack her belongings, they exchanged helpless glances.
Ah, well. They would treat it as a dream. As close attendants of a Crown Princess who had failed to ascend the throne, being able to withdraw unscathed was already a rarity in history.
But before the Crown Princess had even finished packing her bags, an imperial edict from the new Emperor arrived.
The Crown Princess was elevated to Imperial Younger Sister, with all her existing privileges retained—and she was even assigned two additional posts.
The Crown Princess, who had been preparing for a holiday: “...”
The Eastern Palace officials: “...”
Grand Tutor Xu’s old face nearly split with delight. She immediately realized that this was not necessarily a bad thing.
With the Crown Princess’s current strength, confronting the new Emperor head-on would indeed be like an egg smashing against a stone.
Yet before she could celebrate for long, she received a dismissal notice. The new Emperor had selected another capable official to serve as the Crown Princess’s tutor. With Lady Du—her in-law—still imprisoned and no sign of being rescued, Grand Tutor Xu likely had no hope of returning to office.
Naturally, countless matters awaited Pei Liang after she ascended the throne.
Still, just as she had said before the Empress’s death, her first edict upon taking the throne was to reform the marriage laws, granting men the unconditional right to divorce.
Naturally, this law also applied to members of the imperial family.
Consort Zhou was the first to put it into practice. As soon as the Empress’s funeral rites had concluded, he divorced the Second Imperial Daughter, becoming the first person to test the new law.
As a member of the imperial family, his action carried immense significance. Many men suffering domestic abuse also began trying to resist, though at first they achieved little.
But as society changed with each passing day, countless jobs became available to men. As they gained incomes and their contributions to the household increased, men gradually acquired a voice. The disadvantaged naturally began to claim the rights that belonged to them.
Of course, all that came later. At the beginning, many believed that the new Emperor’s edict was simply a hurried attempt to legally claim her brother-in-law.
In truth, many court officials thought Prince Liang was making a needless fuss. Throughout history, there had been no shortage of members of the imperial family taking their sisters’ husbands as lovers—who would go to such lengths over it?
After much consideration, they concluded that the new Emperor was building momentum for Consort Zhou. They were quite displeased that she had made such a grand spectacle merely to win a handsome man’s smile.
For the first edict of her reign to be such a thing—if Prince Liang had not already established an impressive record of achievements, people might well have questioned whether she possessed the qualities of a wise ruler.
But the court officials’ attention soon shifted elsewhere, because ever since the new sovereign had ascended the throne, the changes she had set in motion had been nothing short of sweeping.
Compared with measures that could even shake the foundations of the nation, something like freedom of divorce hardly counted for anything.
Pei Liang had actually proceeded fairly gradually, but a stable political climate was also one of the conditions necessary for development. Inevitably, though, many people’s vested interests would be affected.
Opposition naturally arose in wave after wave. Fortunately, imperial authority was highly centralized at this point. Pei Liang had already made ample preparations for this day while dealing with Xianluo Mountain. After decades of effort by the Empress, there was no internal strife caused by a succession struggle. Her younger imperial sister was the first to support the new sovereign in whatever she did, while only a few useless hangers-on remained around the Second Imperial Daughter. Thus, during the initial transition of power, Pei Liang felt none of the painful turbulence that usually accompanied a change of regime.
She forcefully suppressed the opposition and laid a solid foundation of laws and regulations for development. Then, she launched a sweeping program of progress.
Unlike in the martial-arts world, Pei Liang was now the ruler herself, which naturally made everything far more efficient and convenient. With her previous experience and the mistakes she had already learned from, the process could only go more smoothly.
Pei Liang rapidly expanded the nation’s wealth. This naturally eased the wariness of many people whose interests had been affected.
Those with true foresight were, after all, few and far between. For a time, the classes that controlled society’s resources failed to notice that their share of the pie was shrinking. Instead, they saw only that the total pie was growing larger. Of course, they did not realize that the proportion of resources under their control was rapidly declining.
By the time they came to their senses, those who had failed to board the train of development and transformation were already on the path to decline, destined eventually to become nobles in name only.
Those with foresight or keen instincts had recognized the new sovereign’s epoch-making ambitions long ago and hurriedly abandoned their old convictions. Ultimately, pragmatists still made up the majority of the people on this land.
Several years later, the northern frontier had recovered its strength, and the court there prepared to march south and invade. Instead, it was utterly crushed by the first-generation firearms.
The people of the north were terrified. They immediately presented a letter of surrender and pledged allegiance, then sent envoys south to learn from the Great Liang. The sight of the modern Great Liang left them completely dumbfounded.
When they returned, they wept and clamored to marry the most beautiful prince on the grasslands to Empress Liang.
Pei Liang thought to herself: Please, don’t make more trouble for me. Everything was going smoothly for her at the moment—except where men were concerned. It seemed she had somehow managed to crash and burn there once again.
Several years had passed, and all the men had made tremendous strides in their careers.
Su Yue had already entered the imperial court. Thanks to the countless important decisions she had made and her contributions to the nation’s development over the years, she now held a rank equivalent to that of a second-grade official.
General Liu had originally stood at the pinnacle of power, and now she had forged an entirely new, iron-blooded army.
Consort Zhou was engaged in commerce, and his contributions to economic development were impossible to overstate.
Consort Yan had devoted himself to men’s rights and charitable causes, and his work was flourishing. Compared with the idleness he had displayed when the Empress was alive, he seemed like an entirely different, far more vibrant person.
Fang Jiu had become Great Liang’s foremost intelligence official.
As for Fu Jue, he had already realized, when the Empress passed away, that Xianluo Mountain would soon face a choice that would determine its fate.
The new era Empress Liang intended to create would never permit the existence of a religious organization like theirs—one with such enormous power to sway the masses.
The rapid pace of development forced Xianluo Mountain to make a choice: either wait to be purged, or abandon everything that had never truly belonged to them and board the train of the times.
Fu Jue did not deliberate for long. In the second year of Empress Liang’s reign, he announced that Xianluo Mountain could no longer receive divine revelations, and joined the imperial family in establishing the first technology company.
With the system’s predictions of favorable weather and terrain, they were able to avoid risks, making their development far more stable.
Pei Liang was genuinely happy for them. The only problem was that, after awakening, these men began to fixate on making a move on their boss.
They were given pay and status, yet that still wasn’t enough. They even wanted her to repay them with her body.
Sometimes, Pei Liang felt like a CEO being relentlessly pressured over performance by her top salespeople—
“Sleep with me, or I’m switching companies!”
What could she do? For the sake of making a living, she could only sell her body through her tears.
She had provided no shortage of “special services,” and whenever there were too many clients, she even had to serve several of them at once.
To make exploiting their boss more convenient, they had practically moved in with her. In the best of times, she might get one day off a week.
When a major holiday came around, other people happily collected their bonuses and clocked out. She, meanwhile, worked overtime to sell her technical side business.
What? The law had already abolished the system of one wife having multiple husbands? That only made her situation more pitiful.
To avoid suspicion, Su Yue divorced her. The emperor of an entire nation had remained single ever since, while everyone else took great pleasure in having illicit relations with her.
After becoming wealthy and powerful, people went to bed with whoever they wanted. Pei Liang had never instilled that idea in anyone in this world, yet these men had somehow mastered it without a teacher.
In the end, what else could she do? Even today, Empress Liang was diligently working overtime.
* * *
After leaving the matriarchal world, Pei Liang looked back on the decades she had spent there—and burst into tears.
But the system knew exactly what was going on. Anyone with eyes could see that Big Sis was obviously putting it on. After all, it had washed plenty of bedsheets in its time.
As soon as Pei Liang finished departing, it chirped ingratiatingly, “Big Sis, you’ve worked hard. The shop just got a new batch of kidney-tonifying supplements. Would you like some?”
Pei Liang: “…”
“What’s the next world?”
The system cast one last regretful glance at the discounted supplements before replying, “A futuristic world.”
“Oh?” Pei Liang immediately perked up.
Although radiation-induced mutations in the post-apocalyptic world had increased Earth’s total resources, and the disaster had driven technology to develop at breakneck speed, by the time she left, many of the futuristic technologies depicted in modern novels had already become reality.
But in the end, she had never actually seen a truly mature future world. She was filled with anticipation.
“Open the shop,” she said at once.
The points she had earned in the matriarchal world were naturally quite substantial. Her achievements there were on par with those in the wuxia world, and she had even helped the game reclaim a high-level system. Her fortune had nearly doubled once again.
As usual, Pei Liang skipped over the ridiculously overpriced cheats that could only be used in a single world. Then she discovered that, despite the shop’s enormous selection, there was nothing she particularly wanted.
The system was puzzled as well. “There isn’t even one thing you like? Big Sis, take a look at this. It’s 3S-grade mental power, suitable for a futuristic mecha scenario. Once you buy it, combined with your martial arts cultivation and internal energy, you’ll definitely be invincible.”
Pei Liang only smiled. “I already have what it offers. Why would I waste money on it?”
The system: “…”
Someone this cocky had to be up to no good—but when it was her rich big sister acting that cocky, all it could do was go weak in the knees.
Exactly. With her sister’s all-around, flawless talent—except when it came to men, where she was prone to spectacular crashes—
There was a very high chance… no, it was an absolute certainty. After all, mental strength was simply a reflection of the strength of one’s soul.
Her sister was a woman capable of kicking the heavens apart. A mere 3S rating was never going to hold her back.
The system then helped Pei Liang sort through everything for quite a while. Aside from a few miscellaneous items, most of the things did indeed look impressive—but when it came down to it, they weren’t truly indispensable.
So it spread its hands and said, “How about you save your points, Big Sis? Keep them for the cultivation world in the end.”
“What’s so special about the cultivation world?” Pei Liang asked.
“Oh, there’s a lot to it.” The system perked up. “Because of permission restrictions, I can’t say much right now. Once you return from the future world, some of my permissions should unlock.”
“All I can say is that in the cultivation world, you’ll regret not having enough points when you need them. Hosts who qualify to enter the cultivation world have to clear an average of more than six high-level instances beforehand to grind points, all so they can build up a little capital.”
“And even that little bit of capital is considered lucky if it can keep you alive at the beginning. Cheats are worth absolutely nothing in there.”
Pei Liang understood. Most of them, as hosts, were cannon fodder.
In ordinary instances, cannon fodder might at most suffer an initial slap in the face. If they were lucky, they could even remain in an advantageous position while committing their misdeeds.
But cannon fodder in the cultivation world was different. Once they got caught up in something, they might not even leave behind ashes—let alone have any chance of turning the tables.
According to the system’s gossip, quite a few outstanding players had died in the cultivation world without making so much as a ripple. They were robbed by demonic sects, caught in battles between orthodox and demonic cultivators, or killed after stumbling into someone murdering them for their treasures. In short, the plot hadn’t even begun before they were dead.
It was truly a miserable fate.
Hearing this, Pei Liang abandoned the idea of force-buying something just to boost the system’s sales figures and obediently began saving her points.
After all, there was still a veteran player waiting for her. In that light, she suddenly didn’t seem nearly as wealthy as she had thought.
With doubts about her own finances in mind, Pei Liang entered a new world.
The moment she opened her eyes, a fist came flying at her.
Pei Liang instinctively tilted her head, dodging the attack. She then raised a hand and caught the other person by the wrist, yanking them forward. As they lost their balance, she drove an elbow into their back, then twisted their arm behind them and pinned them down.
The entire process took less than a second. Only after she had finished did Pei Liang’s eyes come into focus. She finally saw the person she had subdued.
It was an exceptionally handsome young man. His golden hair shone brilliantly, and his deep-set features were striking and rugged, with an air of wild, untamed arrogance about his brows and eyes.
At that moment, his brow was tightly furrowed. His face held a mixture of disbelief and humiliation, as though he couldn’t believe he had been subdued so easily.
From nearby came a sweet, delicate cry, breathless with alarm:
“Teresa—”
Pei Liang looked over and saw a fair-skinned, beautiful girl who looked like a porcelain doll.
Her cheeks were flushed crimson, and her breathing was uneven, as though she were burning up. Her hand had instinctively risen to her collar, as if she wanted to rub at it—but she forcibly stopped herself.
Seeing her in this state, the blond, handsome man she called Teresa only grew more furious. He glared at Pei Liang as though he wanted to eat her alive.
“Pei Liang, I’m going to kill you.”
As he spoke, Pei Liang had already grasped the situation. Unlike the last world, where she had inexplicably been unable to receive the original host’s memories, this time she had merged with them naturally.
This was a futuristic ABO world. Pei Liang and Teresa, whom she had pinned beneath her, were both outstanding students at the Empire’s First Military Academy—and they were roommates.
Roommates? At that, Pei Liang was wide awake.
It turned out that the original host, like Teresa, was an Alpha. Strictly speaking, the two of them were the same sex.
Unlike Betas, who could pair with either sex, Alphas were instinctively attracted to Omegas’ pheromones. So although Alphas could be male or female, they generally had no particular need to avoid one another.
Back to the main point: the original host was no good person.
Though the two were roommates, their relationship was hardly friendly. In fact, they had quite a few grudges between them.
But after accidentally meeting Teresa’s younger sister, the original host had begun coveting her beauty.
And this was the situation now: the original host had lured her there under false pretenses, then used a drug in the room that would trigger an Omega’s lust.
Once the girl went into heat and her pheromones surged, the original host naturally became aroused as well.
Pei Liang glanced at her lower half. No wonder she had felt strange ever since entering this body, as though something was hanging between her legs.
So she had a fucking dick now—wait. She had grown a dick?
This was seriously intense.
Fortunately, Teresa had arrived in time. But seeing his sister’s pheromones spiraling out of control and his ill-intentioned roommate reacting like that, how could he possibly hold back?
According to the memories Pei Liang had received, Teresa’s combat ability was second to none in the entire military academy. Someone like the original host, a useless piece of trash who had only gotten in through family connections, was nowhere near his level.
If Pei Liang hadn’t transmigrated into this body, the original host would have been left with broken bones all over, at the very least.
And frankly, she deserved it. Even Pei Liang thought the original host was the most pathetic vessel she had ever ended up inhabiting.
Of course, dealing with the immediate problem was more important.
She said, “Don’t misunderstand. I wasn’t trying to do anything to your sister.”
That was what Pei Liang said, but an Alpha’s instinctive reaction to pheromones meant she was even more aroused now, her erection pressing against Teresa.
Teresa stiffened all over and grew even more furious.
“You take me for a fucking idiot? An Alpha lures an Omega out of her home, and you expect me to believe you didn’t have ulterior motives?”
Pei Liang glanced at the pretty girl and confirmed that she wasn’t her type. She appreciated cute girls, but her sexual orientation was still quite straightforward.
So she said with absolute certainty, “I really didn’t. I’m not interested in your sister.”
Unexpectedly, that only made Teresa angrier. He felt that Pei Liang was insulting his sister.
“You’re questioning my sister’s appeal as an Omega?”
This blond pretty boy seemed to have a screw loose.
Still, in the interest of politeness, Pei Liang looked at the beautiful girl and smiled.
“No offense intended, beautiful. You’re very attractive. It’s not that you aren’t good enough—your big sister here just has rather specific tastes. Don’t start doubting your own appeal.”
Teresa let out a cold laugh.
“Do you really think you can undo anything by making excuses now?”
By then, the beautiful girl’s reason was already on the verge of collapse because her pheromones were out of control. Hearing that this shameless Alpha was trying to argue and deny her crime...
She snapped angrily, “You’re lying! If Teresa hadn’t arrived in time, then—”
“That wouldn’t have happened.” Pei Liang wore an expression of perfect righteousness. “Even if he hadn’t come, I wouldn’t have laid a finger on you.”
“A real Alpha should act like an Alpha. Physical reactions are just a matter of biology—I can’t stop those. But believe me, my mind is completely calm right now. Not a single improper thought.”
She looked at the pretty young woman with an open, candid expression. The girl had never seen an Alpha in heat before, but as an Omega, she had been repeatedly warned since childhood just how terrifying an Alpha could become when stimulated by pheromones.
They lost all reason, driven solely by instinct—like wild beasts.
Yet the Alpha before her had clear eyes and a lucid mind. The physical response caused by her agitation was obvious; sweat even beaded on her forehead.
But it was as though her body and soul had been severed from one another, entirely unrelated. Even as her body was on the verge of going mad, her rationality remained utterly unshaken.
The innocent girl still looked doubtful, though a hint of uncertainty had crept onto her face.
Then the other woman added, “Even if I did lose control, the one I’d fuck would be your brother.”
“He’s the one in danger. Don’t worry, sweetheart—just stay here and wait for the suppressant to arrive.”
The moment those words left her mouth, both siblings froze.
For an instant, the pretty young woman was so stunned that all her rationality came rushing back—let alone Teresa, who was pinned beneath her, with Pei Liang pressed against his backside.
Alphas were only attracted to Omegas. They had no interest whatsoever in the bodies of their own kind; if anything, their instincts rejected them.
In an instant, Teresa’s face flushed crimson. What he had barely minded before now felt like a branding iron against him.
“Get off me, you fucking gay!”
