Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

The next morning, at the breakfast stall across from Shen Lang's rented apartment.

"Hey buddy, the usual."

Shen Lang strode into the breakfast stall. After a shout, the waiter immediately brought over two fried dough cakes, eight fried dough sticks, and two bowls of soy milk.

Just after finishing a fried dough stick, Ghost Shadow arrived panting in front of Shen Lang.

Before he could even sit down and take a sip of water, Shen Lang asked directly, "Is the matter settled?"

"Reporting to the centurion, everything has been investigated thoroughly."

Shen Lang placed one of the bowls of soy milk in front of him and said expressionlessly, "Get to the point."

Ghost Shadow finished his soy milk in one gulp before slowly telling Shen Lang what had happened.

"The Green Robe Tower sent a total of fifteen people this time: seven early-stage Acquired Realm cultivators, five mid-stage Acquired Realm cultivators, two late-stage Acquired Realm cultivators, and one peak-stage Acquired Realm cultivator."

Shen Lang didn't even look up, just kept his head down and ate his fried dough stick.

The ghostly figure continued, "Especially that one at the peak of the Acquired Realm, he's a disciple recently taken in by the Green Robe Pavilion Master, named Yang Fan. His Thirteen Blood-Drifting Swords technique is incredibly skillful, quite..."

"Where are they?"

Shen Lang immediately interrupted Ghost Shadow's pointless boasting.

"We arrived outside the Jinling Secret Realm early this morning, and we estimate that we will be venturing into the Secret Realm around this afternoon."

"So fast?" Shen Lang frowned and muttered softly, "Wasn't it supposed to be three days?"

"Lord Centurion, what did you say?"

"Nothing, just keep talking."

The ghostly shadow split a fried dough stick in two.

"In short, the group of people sent by Qingyi Tower are all highly skilled, and they clearly came prepared."

However, I noticed something strange about this.

"What's weird?"

"It's that Yang Fan, he always mutters to himself when no one's around."

They seemed to be talking about some kind of system, rewards, or task points, but I didn't understand a word of it.

Upon hearing this, Shen Lang immediately stopped tearing the fried dough.

"system?"

You should know that in the early stages of his transmigration, he had to outwit and outmaneuver hundreds of systems in the river of time.

The systems were incredibly diverse, including the Lazy System, the Cultivation System, the Scavenging System, the Many Children, the Blessing System, the Cao Cao System, the Bandit System, the Heaven and Earth Bank, and so on.

The most outrageous thing is that there is also a 10 trillion simp gold system, which is given to Dao Le. Fortunately, it is not bound to Dao Le, otherwise the fantasy world would cry to death for 10 trillion Dao Le.

These systems are using all sorts of tricks, both kindness and coercion, to try and bind themselves to them.

At that time, Shen Lang was pondering a question: Are all systems this complicated nowadays?

If he hadn't accidentally discovered that the system's true nature was to devour the host's soul, he would have almost fallen victim to its trap.

For example, the guy who shared the same surname as me was forced by some shameless system to fawn over nine empresses, and was then killed and reborn nine times, leaving him neither human nor ghost. Just thinking about it sends chills down my spine.

This convinced him that the system and the industrial park in northern Myanmar were linked to the Taiwan telecom fraud, and that they were all despicable creatures.

After all, there's no such thing as a free lunch, is there?

He thought that after going to great lengths to escape the system's cluster space and arriving on this continent, he had basically said goodbye to the system.

I never imagined that these inhuman bastards would actually track me down to this world.

Then don't blame yourself for being ruthless.

My skills were honed through confrontations with the system over time.

As long as it exists in this world, the system is destined to be hunted.

"Okay, I understand. Thank you for the information. Please give my regards to your Chen Ba."

Shen Lang patted Ghost Shadow on the shoulder, then got up and walked out of the city.

Ghost Shadow breathed a sigh of relief. After watching Shen Lang leave, he grabbed the three remaining fried dough sticks on the plate and started munching on them.

Just then, the waiter walked up to him with a smile: "Sir, it's twenty-four coins in total. Please settle the bill."

Upon hearing this, Ghost Shadow nearly choked.

"What do you mean? What money?"

"The breakfast cost eight fried dough sticks, two fried pancakes, and two bowls of soy milk, totaling twenty-four coins."

"Oh no, it's him..."

The ghostly figure was dumbfounded, pointing in the direction Shen Lang had gone, as if trying to say something.

Finally, seeing the shopkeeper's unfriendly gaze and the way he was rubbing the cleaver in his hand, he could only slap his thigh in frustration.

"I guess I'm just unlucky, sigh!"

As he spoke, he took out a string of coins and threw it on the table.

……

Inside the palace, the imperial study.

"Junior sister, I'm sorry, I'm afraid I can't help you with this."

Just after the morning court session, Jiang Mengxuan met her senior sister Liu Qinghuan, who was waiting for her in the imperial study.

After meeting Ye Mo at the Prime Minister's residence last night, Liu Qinghuan completely backed down and dared not continue to handle the matters of the Jinling Secret Realm for Jiang Mengxuan.

She came to the palace to apologize to Jiang Mengxuan.

After listening to Liu Qinghuan's words, Jiang Mengxuan remained silent, her cool and elegant demeanor revealing no change in emotion.

Seeing her junior sister like this, Liu Qinghuan felt extremely guilty.

"Junior sister, I know I've disappointed you, but for the sake of the hundreds of disciples of the Zixia Sect..."

To protect my master from being affected, I had no other choice but to do this. I hope you can understand me…

Jiang Mengxuan gave an understanding smile: "Senior Sister, I didn't think this through and was too abrupt, which has put you in a difficult position."

"Junior sister, I..."

"No need to say anything, Senior Sister, you should go back to Zixia Sect as soon as possible. You don't need to worry about the Jinling Secret Realm."

Liu Qinghuan felt extremely guilty and wanted to say something, but in the end, she said nothing and could only leave the imperial study in silence.

"I'm sorry, junior sister, I've disappointed you, but the Ye family and the Zixia Sect really can't afford to offend them..."

After Liu Qinghuan left, Jiang Mengxuan sat down weakly in front of the imperial desk.

At that moment, she really wanted to cry.

Since ascending the throne, she has never felt so helpless.

He had lofty ambitions to make the Great Chu the most powerful country on the entire continent.

But he was frustrated because no one was around to offer advice or teach him how to break out of the predicament and develop a complete plan.

Today, a mere threat from the Prime Minister's residence has made the eldest sister, whom he has always respected, back down.

I can't even imagine how terrifying the Ye family's power is. Can I really bring them down?

Jiang Mengxuan felt an unprecedented sense of confusion.

In fact, setting aside her identity as an empress, she was just a seventeen-year-old girl.

In today's technologically advanced age, this age group would still be a college student who has just graduated from high school. They could be pampered in their parents' arms, enjoy sweet moments with their boyfriends, or even, in extreme cases, join a boxing match.

Jiang Mengxuan, at this age, had to shoulder the responsibility for the rise and fall of the entire dynasty, meticulously consolidating her own position while facing endless threats and challenges.

She couldn't tell anyone about this pressure; she could only bear it silently by herself.

In the end, Jiang Mengxuan managed to adjust her mindset and didn't let herself cry.

She reminded herself: I am the emperor, I am the ruler of a country, how can I shed tears because of this small setback?

So she continued to sit down and review the memorials.

"Your Majesty, Prince Jing requests an audience."

Shu Yue's soft call made Jiang Mengxuan look up from her busy work.

"Xuan."

Jiang Shangxian rushed to Jiang Mengxuan's side, panting, and said, "Your Majesty, something terrible has happened! We've received the latest secret report!"

The Qingyi Tower team arrived at the Jinling Secret Realm early this morning, two days earlier than expected.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Mengxuan remained calm and continued to review the memorials.

This unusual behavior surprised Jiang Shangxian.

"Your Majesty, what's wrong?"

Jiang Mengxuan put down her imperial brush, shook her head, and said, "There's no need to concern ourselves with the matter of Qingyi Tower. I have lost this round."

"Ah, this..."

Jiang Shangxian looked at Jiang Mengxuan with some disbelief.

Seeing that no one was around, he whispered, "Nephew, what happened? Tell your uncle. This isn't like you."

Hearing the kind words from her loved ones, Jiang Mengxuan felt a lump in her throat and her voice choked with emotion.

"Uncle, do you think I can really bring down the Ye family?"

A single, glistening tear, unable to be held back any longer, slid down her cheek.

"The Ye family is like a towering tree, while I am like an ant. Can I really shake them?"

Seeing his niece heartbroken and in tears, Jiang Shangxian felt a pang of sympathy and gently hugged her.

"My dear nephew, I know you are under a lot of pressure, but the late emperor entrusted this empire to you because he believed you could make the Great Chu strong."

Don't be afraid, your royal uncle supports you. No matter what decision you make, your royal uncle will always stand by your side. Don't be afraid, don't be afraid.

"Uncle Emperor..."

At that moment, Jiang Mengxuan disregarded everything else and burst into tears in Jiang Shangxian's arms.

"Poor child, alas..."

Gently stroking Jiang Mengxuan's hair, Jiang Shangxian could only sigh helplessly.