After the system set its sights on the dragon throne, the princess started courting death every day.

She couldn't take it anymore, after it happened again and again!

Unfortunately, the man could hear nothing but the wind. He buried himself in his work, large beads of sweat dripping from his forehead, while the withered grass stood stubbornly on the barren land.

Xiang An's volatile emotions froze instantly. They were digging the empty space next to her coffin. Also, the last time she woke up was in spring, and this time it was autumn. Such a huge time span.

He turned around and circled the grave twice, but couldn't see anything special about it. He silently called out to the system: "Could this grave be a portal to this world?"

【no. 】

"No? Really?" Xiang An stroked his chin, looking incredulous. "If it's not true, why would you attack me if I didn't crawl into the coffin? Why has time moved so quickly? Why are you now denying me because of something false?"

【…】

"You won't tell me? Even if I believe this isn't a portal to another dimension, it must have something special about it. Like, could it help me get started quickly? Is there some special energy you need hidden in the coffin? Is it beneficial to my body?"

Xiang An guessed at several possibilities, but the system's sudden disappearance proved that there was indeed something she hadn't discovered in the cemetery. However, since the system didn't say anything, even if she pulled out her brain, she would never be able to see anything special about the ordinary grave in her eyes.

The people digging the hole stopped sometime ago and gathered together, whispering among themselves.

"The eunuch's body is at the foot of the mountain. Who will carry it later?"

"Pah! I won't lift it, I find it disgusting. That dog eunuch helped the dog emperor concoct so many harmful pills, I think his corpse should just be thrown into the street and fed to wild dogs!"

"What do you know? I heard from the palace maids that although that eunuch was a bit wicked, he did do some good things before he died." The man lowered his voice mysteriously, "You don't know, that little palace maid's hands were so smooth and tender..."

"Go to hell! You and the little palace maid can do whatever you want, but don't try to disgust me. I don't want to know what the little palace maid's little hands look like. You better tell me what good things this dog of a eunuch has done!"

"The dog emperor was killed by the dog eunuch." The man's voice dropped a few decibels. "The little palace maid said it was strangulation. Do you know what strangulation is? It's when a white silk ribbon is wrapped around the dog emperor's neck several times, and then the two ends of the white silk ribbon are pulled hard from behind him."

"Damn it, what do you mean by strangulation? This is just strangulation!"

"presumptuous!"

A loud shout slammed into the laborer's head from afar, and the talkative laborer immediately shut his mouth, not daring to say another word: "Greetings, sir."

"Are you all just sitting around doing nothing, so idle that you've grown thorns in your mouths? So prickly that you can't even learn to shut up?" Ding Yinan, clad in fish-scale armor, strode forward with great energy. "What are you all standing there for? Get to work! Move the corpses!"

His tall, thin, and dark-skinned figure made the armor he wore look a size too big. His previously fair face now had a hideous scar running from his forehead to the tip of his nose, and the gaping wound made it easy to imagine how serious it was.

The mature and composed Ding Yinan before us is captivating; it's hard to imagine how difficult the transformation must have been for this once-naive young man.

The laborers, scolded for slacking off, shrugged and scattered. Suddenly, Ding Yinan pointed to a deserted grave nearby and asked coldly, "Who is buried in there?"

Knowing the answer was right, she quickly replied, "Fu Qingbai! Your general."

A short sentence, loud and clear, yet it couldn't even compare to the feeling of the wind brushing against your cheek.

The laborers, their necks hunched, looked at each other, each as quiet as a chicken.

Ding Yinan lost his patience and waved his hand impatiently: "Get out!"

"Yes!"

The laborers hurriedly ran down the mountain.

Ding Yinan glanced at them coldly, scoffed softly, and casually picked up the paper money, offerings, incense, and candles they had brought up the mountain, arranged them, lit them, knelt on one knee, and said casually, "I'm sorry, my subordinates are ignorant."

After saying that, he got up and walked to the newly dug pit next to him, kicking the pebbles listlessly while waiting for the people coming down the mountain to carry the body up.

Xiang An had already excitedly crawled into the coffin, and with tears in her eyes, she looked at Fu Qingbai, who was already lying there, and said, "Can you hear that? Ding Yinan is paying respects to you."

As Xiang An muttered to herself inside the coffin, the digging sounds that had quieted down outside the grave resumed. She forced her heavy eyelids open and crawled out of the coffin, only to see hundreds more corpses outside. The one placed at the front and most conspicuous was dressed in a blue robe embroidered with flowers and green grass, and it was clear at a glance that its owner was no ordinary person.

"My lord, I know how to deal with the rest of the corpses, but Eunuch Changfu..." The man in the short clothes stopped speaking.

Xiang An's heart skipped a beat: Chang Fu's body, so Xiang Xin really died?

"It's good that the scourge of using infants' flesh and blood to refine pills is dead." Xiang An murmured, but felt inexplicably empty inside.

Subconsciously, she thought Xiang Xin wasn't such a bad person, but the facts proved that he was indeed a great menace, and the crimes he committed deserved more than just death once; he deserved to be torn to pieces and subjected to slow slicing a thousand times over.

"Just find a place, dig a hole, and bury him," Ding Yinan said casually, kicking pebbles with his toes. If it weren't for the recent unrest, officials who were afraid of death would rather bang their heads against a wall than do this kind of work, and he would never be assigned to bury a corpse.

"Yes."

With a clear answer, the laborers quickly finished their work. Ding Yinan did a quick inspection and found no corpses with arms or legs sticking out of the ground. He nodded in satisfaction and then took the lead in walking down the mountain, with the laborers following closely behind him.

Xiang An hesitated for a moment between Fu Qingbai behind him and Ding Yinan in front of him, then chose Ding Yinan without hesitation.

Running away isn't the solution; sooner or later you'll have to face it.

To ensure a perfect start to the next mission, it's essential to know who is most capable of successfully rebelling.

There were few pedestrians on the streets of the capital. The few who hurried by covered their faces with coarse cloth. There were even fewer shops open to customers. The desolate and quiet atmosphere was just like that of autumn.

A crowd had gathered in front of the palace gates, shouting and arguing about something, pushing and shoving each other, looking ready to fight.

From afar, Ding Yinan called out and pulled his horse to a halt. The guards beside him dismounted and ran quickly to the door to inquire.

A short while later, the guard returned: "Because the Third Prince of Yan, Di Yuanqing, wanted to bring pastries into the palace, the eunuch at the palace gate ate one piece without any problems and was about to try a few more. However, the Third Prince Di objected, saying that the pastries were specially brought from Yan for His Majesty and should not be inspected according to palace rules. The eunuch refused to let them into the palace no matter what they said, and the two sides were stuck at the palace gate."

"Who is the eunuch on duty at the palace gate today?"

Chengde.

A hint of confusion appeared in Ding Yinan's eyes: "Chengde? The name sounds familiar."

"Reporting to the General, this man was once a sweeping eunuch at Taiye Pond when he was young. One day, General Fu passed by and, for some reason, took a liking to him and specially brought him to the palace gate."