Chapter 151 - Beacon in Troubled Times 01 (1/2)

The previous 4 of Hearts, Extremely Quick Train also required dressing up. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang had changed into the uniform of a train conductor and spent three days on the train. Therefore, Xiao Lou wasn’t surprised when he saw the prompt about ‘role allocation.’ He thought that 8 of hearts might also be a special environment where challengers needed to play a role to solve the case.

There was darkness in front of them and the wait was noticeably longer. It took around half a minute for Xiao Lou to regain his vision.

Xiao Lou sat up and rubbed his eyes before quickly looking around. It wasn’t the modern environment he was familiar with. He was in an antique bedroom with a carved wooden bed, light-coloured windows and wooden tables and chairs.

His teammates weren’t around but this was nothing. It wasn’t the first time the secret room had teammates. The question was what was his condition and the floor-length dress? There were also complicated ribbons and patterns on the clothes, making it a headache to look at.

Xiao Lou got out of bed. he hadn’t even taken two steps when he tripped on his clothes. He soon figured out that he had come to ancient times. It seemed that the story of 8 Of Hearts took place in another era.

Xiao Lou had never worn a period costume and he wasn’t used to it. He pulled up the skirt that was dragging to the ground and stood still, reading the prompts on the floating box in the upper right corner.

[Welcome Xiao Lou to 8 of Hearts: Beacon in Troubled Times.]

There are four countries in the world. Your country is the Daqi Dynasty and the current city is the capital of the Qi State.]

You are a.s.signed a special status in this room. Please play your role well. If a person in the secret room perceives that you are an outsider then you will fail this instance.]

[it is forbidden to kill the original people of this world. In addition, all attack type, control type and modern high-tech cards are disabled. Specific ally cards can be used. Please check your card pack.]

Xiao Lou opened his card pack to look. The high-tech cards such as the hairdryer and rice cooker had become ‘unusable’ grey cards. Meanwhile, for his control and attack cards, some skills had been disabled.

Apparently, this secret room was for challengers to figure out the mystery, not to cheat with their cards. Xiao Lou swiped over the floating box with his finger and two more rows of text popped up.

[Ident.i.ty Introduction: Xiao Lou. Your father is a well-known coroner and your mother a well-known doctor. Since childhood, you have studied with your parents and have a good knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine and autopsies. Your younger brother joined the army and went on an expedition with General Xi three years ago and his whereabouts are unknown. There are no other loved ones in your family.]

[When you were 16 years old, you rescued a talented man in Jiangzhou who was going to Beijing to take the exam. This person later became the top scorer in the palace examination and became a popular man. He was grateful for your help and married you. The husband and wife respect each other and love each other very much.]

[10 days ago, the prefectural magistrate of Jiangzhou died of illness. Your husband has been entrusted by His Majesty and will go to Jiangzhou to take office.]

The story will take place in your hometown of Jiangzhou. Please be prepared.]

Xiao Lou felt it was more and more wrong? Wife? Marry? The crazy A of Hearts had him play a woman?

No wonder why he felt things weren’t right when he opened his eyes. There were a dressing table and a bronze mirror in the room. The clothes on his body were like a woman’s long dress and his hair was very long.

Xiao Lou hurriedly picked up the mirror.

Sure enough, he had changed into a dress. The ‘woman’ in the mirror had long black hair pulled up in a simple bun with a simple and elegant hairpin inserted in it. He had a fair skin, a beautiful face and soft eyebrows. He looked ‘knowledgeable.’

Xiao Lou couldn’t bear it and hit his head against the mirror.

This secret room was really too strange. The role-playing even changed his gender. He couldn’t help wondering if Group Leader Yu was also wearing female clothing. What ident.i.ty would be a.s.signed to his other teammates?

Since they opened the secret room at 23:55, all the card skills were refreshed and the heart channel with Group Leader Yu was also broken. He didn’t know where Yu Hanjiang was at this time.

***

At the same time, the palace.

Yu Hanjiang was wearing an official uniform and seriously reading the secret room’s prompts.

[Ident.i.ty Introduction: The Yu family has been officials for generations and your grandfather once occupied the position of prime minister. Then he resigned and retired to Jiangzhou.]

[You have read poetry since you were young. When you were 18 years old, you were heading to Beijing to do the palace examination when you were bitten by a poisonous snake in the wilderness. Your life was at risk but a gentle woman pa.s.sed by and personally helped deal with your wound, saving your life. You fell in love with her.]

[Three years after becoming the top scorer of the palace examination, the late emperor originally wanted to betroth you to the Ninth Princess. You refused on the grounds that you already have a marriage contract, offending the Ninth Princess. In order to use the excuse of an ‘early marriage contract’, you immediately went back to Jiangzhou to propose to the benefactor who saved your life. You have been very loving after marriage.]

[The seventh year of the solar calendar happens to coincide with the death of the prefectural magistrate of Jiangzhou. You have been appointed as the new prefectural magistrate of Jiangzhou.]

[You are about to go to the palace to bid farewell to the emperor before going to Jiangzhou with your wife tomorrow to serve.]

Yu Hanjiang had a headache at the thought. It was better to find an excuse to leave his wife at the capital and go to take office alone, lest a ‘wife’ hinder the handling of the case.

The magnificent palace was in sight and the environment was extremely realistic, as if travelling to ancient times.

A sharp eunuch’s voice entered his ears. “Go up to court!”

Yu Hanjiang took a deep breath and looked up at the high steps. His genius was bright and there were many officials waiting around him. He patted his official uniform and followed the other officials. Although he wasn’t a professional actor, the keeper had asked them to abide by the rules of the world and play the role well. Thus, he couldn’t mess around and could only follow the plot.

Inside the palace, the emperor sat on the throne. He was very young with clear eyes and a gentle smile.

Based on the ident.i.ty introduction, the words ‘late emperor’ showed the current emperor should be a new one sitting on the throne for less than four years. After seeing the emperor, Yu Hanjiang’s mind was automatically injected with the ident.i.ty information of the emperor. Yu Hanjiang had known the emperor for a long time. He had been the prince’s companion in childhood. Later, his grandfather resigned and returned to his hometown of Jiangzhou.

The internal party compet.i.tion of the Daqi Dynasty was serious. The new emperor had to cultivate his own power after rising to the throne. The emperor trusted Yu Hanjiang very much. Jiangzhou was one of the largest and most prosperous territories apart from the capital. Now the emperor transferred a young official like Yu Hanjiang to Jiangzhou to serve as the prefectural magistrate. The intention to cultivate him was very obvious and this move was opposed by many of the traditional faction.

Of course, the emperor seemed gentle but his eloquence was excellent. After a war of words with the ministers, the emperor defended against all opinions and secured Yu Hanjiang’s position as the prefectural magistrate of Jiangzhou.

The memory indoctrination allowed Yu Hanjiang to know where he should stand. He stood to the side, surrounded by many people who looked at him with complicated eyes. It was inevitable that people would be jealous since he was becoming the prefectural magistrate of Jiangzhou at such a young age.

The hundreds of officials knelt together. “Long live the emperor!”

The emperor raised his hand with a smile, “My beloved ministers, as you were.”

After everyone stood up, the emperor specifically pointed out Yu Hanjiang. “Beloved Minister Yu, you are about to go to Jiangzhou. Are you ready?”

Yu Hanjiang took a step forward. “Your Majesty, I am ready to leave tomorrow.”

The emperor smiled. “Beloved Minister Yu, you are young and promising. You must do you due diligence in Jiangzhou and live up to the expectations of the court.”

Yu Hanjiang responded stiffly.

The emperor discussed things with the officials for a long time. It wasn’t until the call of ‘withdraw’ was heard that Yu Hanjiang was slightly relieved and followed the other officials in turning away.

As a result, he had just walked out of the hall when a eunuch came over and whispered to him, “Yu daren, His Majesty has requested you go to the royal study.” (Daren = t.i.tle of respect for superiors)

Yu Hanjiang had no idea what was about to happen. Since a key figure like the emperor asked to meet him, maybe the emperor wanted to give him a task or provide a clue. Yu Hanjiang immediately followed the eunuch to the royal study.

The emperor sent away his attendants and whispered, “Beloved Minister, the Eighth Imperial Uncle’s mansion is in Jiangzhou. Remember to go visit him at the Zhenjiang prince’s mansion. I have a secret letter here. Please hand it to my imperial uncle.”

Yu Hanjiang nodded. “Yes, Your Majesty.”