The Jiangnan spring scenery was pleasing.
Lin Zhiji stood on the deck of the painted boat, looking at the scenery on both banks, unable to help feeling emotional in his heart.
His life in his previous world had always been confined to that one city. Aside from his childhood staying at his grandmother’s house, even that was only a small rural village under the city.
Their family conditions were not bad. Lin Zhiji actually wanted to travel, so one summer vacation he brought it up to his parents, but after being rejected, he never mentioned it again.
He then thought that after entering university, he would save money and travel on his own.
Unfortunately, he never made it to university.
However, fate turned, and he actually had a new life—no, a new system life.
He did not get to travel in the modern world, but he achieved it in ancient times.
Back then, Lin Zhiji’s impression of Jiangnan only came from magazines and online photos and videos—beautiful, but always seeming to be separated by a layer of mist.
Now being in it, having that layer of mist lifted, it was actually not as beautiful as those filtered photos and videos.
But the moment Lin Zhiji saw it, he still had the urge to cry.
At this moment, a voice came from beside him: “Pretty, right?”
Lin Zhiji turned his head and saw that it was Lu Muzhi, who had somehow come out of the cabin without him noticing.
Lu Muzhi stood there absentmindedly, gazing at the scenery before him, and said slowly, “But if we speak of Jiangnan scenery, Jiangcheng is far more beautiful than Qingxi.”
“Oh?” Lin Zhiji looked at him.
Because of his curiosity, Lu Muzhi seemed to gain a bit of conversational interest, and began to talk with him about his past life in Jiangcheng.
The Lu couple, though his adoptive parents, had no biological children of their own, so they had always treated him as their own son.
From childhood, Lu Muzhi had never lacked food, clothing, or entertainment. Only when he grew older did his father begin to teach him how to do business and even gave him a shop to practice managing.
“My father also said I had talent for business. In the future, all the family shops would be handed over to me to manage, and he and my mother would simply enjoy their retirement…”
As Lu Muzhi said this, he suddenly stopped mid-sentence.
He thought that if not for his identity attracting those dead soldiers, his parents would not have died, and a wave of pain and hatred surged in his heart.
He had not known who his enemy was before, and thus had no one to hate.
Now that he knew, it only brought deeper despair.
After all, the mastermind was most likely his two half-brothers—the Crown Prince or Prince Qi.
They held high status and were protected at all times. As an ordinary man, even if Lu Muzhi risked his life to assassinate them, he probably could not even get close.
Thus, when Rubeixi came to him at first, he was indeed emotionally shaken.
Not only because he thought he had found family again, but also because of what “prince identity” represented in Rubeixi’s words—power, and the hope of revenge.
But after calming down over time, he realized that although Rubeixi said he had come for him, he did not truly care about his situation. Instead, he was mysterious, constantly occupied with unknown matters.
At first, Lu Muzhi thought the Emperor did not believe his identity, so he sent Rubeixi to investigate.
But later, he gradually sensed something was wrong. Rubeixi seemed to be investigating him, but what he found had little to do with him; instead, he was investigating the forces behind the dead soldiers who had been pursuing him.
Lu Muzhi kept a close watch and tried to probe Rubeixi for information. Although Rubeixi was cautious, he did not seem overly guarded against him. Once, he slipped up, and only then did Lu Muzhi learn that the Emperor had merely discovered, from the assassination attempt against Lu Muzhi, that the Crown Prince or Prince Qi had placed people inside his palace. Enraged, he ordered an investigation to root them out.
Every action of Rubeixi actually represented the Emperor’s will.
Lu Muzhi was not foolish. From Rubeixi’s words and attitude, he understood that whether he was real or not did not truly matter. From the beginning, the Emperor never intended to recognize him at all—he was merely a bait used to expose which of the Crown Prince or Prince Qi had betrayed and schemed against his father.
But what would happen after they were exposed?
Rubeixi did not say, but Lu Muzhi already understood.
The Crown Prince had long held the position of heir, backed by the Empress’s family power, while Prince Qi enjoyed imperial favor and had considerable influence in court. In the end, at most, they would lose their right of succession and be sent to their fiefs.
Having already experienced assassins sent after him, Lu Muzhi understood that royal kinship was nothing like what he had once believed, though he still held a faint hope toward his biological father.
And now, even that faint hope had nearly vanished.
He did not mind being a pawn, as long as it could give him a chance for revenge.
But now he understood—being a pawn was just that: a pawn.
Lu Muzhi felt dejected, and it showed in his words.
Lin Zhiji’s thoughts stirred.
He had already received Main Quest Six a few days ago.
When he saw the task—“Persuade the antagonist and support the protagonist”—he was not surprised.
He had long suspected that although this system called itself a “villain redemption system,” every mission it issued was actually aimed at stabbing Xie Yi in the heart.
Now, as the task progressed, this intention was becoming harder and harder to hide.
And Lin Zhiji remembered that in the original story, Lu Muzhi initially did not want to become emperor; he only became Xie Yi’s puppet for revenge.
Later, as his relationship with Xie Yi became strained, he was forced step by step onto the path of fighting for the throne just to survive.
What if he could pull Lu Muzhi out of that path?
Lin Zhiji already had a rough plan in mind, though the exact execution still required observing Lu Muzhi’s attitude.
So he asked, “Do you still want to return to Jiangcheng?”
Lu Muzhi’s expression darkened, and he fell silent.
Because he knew that however good Jiangcheng was, he could hardly return.
Lin Zhiji asked again, “If there were a chance for you to go back to Jiangcheng?”
Lu Muzhi froze and looked up at him, only to see a pair of eyes as clear as water.
Lin Zhiji said seriously, “I won’t persuade you to let go of your hatred. But if revenge costs you your entire life, is that what your parents would have wanted?”
Lu Muzhi replied bitterly, “But… what if it was because of me that my parents died?”
Lin Zhiji said, “If your parents unintentionally offended someone, and that person killed you, but your parents survived—would you want them to spend the rest of their lives risking everything for revenge?”
Lu Muzhi hesitated and shook his head. “I would naturally want them to live well, but this is different…”
“What’s different?” Lin Zhiji countered. “Besides, you are also a victim. Should those who survive carry a lifelong burden?”
Lu Muzhi was stunned.
Lin Zhiji continued, “Moreover, the enemy of your enemy is your friend. What you should do is find enough ‘friends.’ When the time comes, each of you throws a stone and you can smash them to death. Why insist on stupidly going alone to die?”
Lu Muzhi: “!!!”
He was stunned, but the rigid thoughts in his mind began to loosen.
—
Xie Yi soon noticed Lu Muzhi’s distracted state.
He knew that Lin Zhiji had been trying to find a solution recently.
Lin Zhiji was soft-hearted and always wanted a resolution that would not harm Xie Yi while also preserving Lu Muzhi.
If it were before, Xie Yi would have scoffed at such thinking.
But now, he watched Lin Zhiji create one miracle after another.
He was willing to believe him.
Thus, when Lu Muzhi sat in a corner of a teahouse listening to scholars debating, he suddenly heard a voice beside him: “In your opinion, what should be done?”
Lu Muzhi was startled and only then realized it was Xie Yi.
Xie Yi was dressed in plain clothes and had not attracted attention.
Lu Muzhi then noticed that the scholars were discussing the current situation in Jiangnan and what actions Xie Yi, the regional governor, might take.
Jiangnan was culturally prosperous and did not forbid public discussion of politics, though it was still unsettling to have the subject turn to the person himself.
Xie Yi, however, remained calm.
Lu Muzhi felt somewhat ashamed.
Xie Yi was not much older than him, yet his composure far exceeded his own.
He steadied himself and said, “I think it should be divided and neutralized.”
Xie Yi raised a brow, neither agreeing nor interrupting, but signaling him to continue.
Lu Muzhi suddenly felt as if he had returned to his childhood, standing in front of a tutor being tested.
He swallowed and said, “The officials of Jiangnan are not a monolith. We can win over the disgruntled ones and support them, using them as a spear to eliminate the corruption in Jiangnan’s administration.”
Xie Yi asked, “Do you know who is truly behind Jiangnan?”
Lu Muzhi frowned and became serious. “Prince Qi or the Crown Prince?”
Xie Yi shook his head. “They are only the surface.”
Lu Muzhi shook his head. “I can’t think further.”
Xie Yi said, “It is the merchants.”
Lu Muzhi froze. “What?”
Xie Yi named several families: “The Mao family of Tanzhou, the Gu family of Yuetang, the Zhou family of Jiangcheng…”
Then he looked at Lu Muzhi with a faint smile. “You are from Jiangcheng. You should have heard that children’s rhyme—‘When the shuttle passes, first ask Zhou.’ The Zhou family controls the cloth and dyeing workshops of the entire Jiangcheng. Without their permission, no cloth shop can weave or dye. I remember your parents ran a cloth shop—did you not know this?”
Lu Muzhi trembled all over.
He of course knew. His parents had to send gifts to the Zhou family every year to obtain weaving quotas for the next year. They could not avoid it, since even the local magistrate of Jiangcheng was from the Zhou family.
These matters were not exactly secret—but Xie Yi had only recently come to Jiangnan, yet had already investigated everything so thoroughly.
He could not help but ask, “Since Brother Xie has already investigated this, what do you plan to do?”
In his view, these families were deeply rooted and intertwined with local power. It would take four or five years to uproot them.
But could Xie Yi, as Jiangnan’s governor, even stay four or five years?
The longest-serving governor in Jiangnan so far had only lasted two years.
Who would have thought Xie Yi simply smiled. “Why make it so troublesome?”
Lu Muzhi: “?”
“Are there not ambitious families beneath the Zhou family?” Xie Yi said lightly. “Replace them.”
Lu Muzhi: “!!!”
He was shocked speechless.
He stammered, “But… the Zhou family has many guards. It is not easy to deal with them.”
Xie Yi said meaningfully, “They will naturally give me soldiers.”
Lu Muzhi froze. “Even if you succeed, removing one Zhou family, won’t there just be another Zhou family?”
This question made Xie Yi look at him differently. He asked in return, “In today’s Great Yu, with war raging everywhere, how long can Jiangnan remain untouched?”
Lu Muzhi’s mind shook violently.
He caught the terrifying ambition hidden in Xie Yi’s calm tone.
Almost instinctively, he blurted out, “Aren’t you afraid…” The rest of the words never came out.
Xie Yi gave a soft chuckle, his gaze indifferent, as if speaking casually.
“If they didn’t kill me at the beginning, then they’ve already lost.”