Chapter 3.17 – Resonance has not occurred even once

Editor: Mimishijie

Proofreader: Penguinstel

Hearing the little Crown Prince’s words, Xiang Han gave a smile that wasn’t quite a smile. He snorted, “En, I’ve seen it.”

Every day, he could clearly see Song Rui Jian picking a fight with Zhao Ze, so how could he not know what this brat was thinking?

The little Crown Prince swallowed his saliva and carefully asked, “Then…what does Imperial Father think?”

“You may proceed.”

The little Crown Prince’s eyes lit up as he persuaded with an artificial tone, “Imperial Father, teacher is still young and a major figure in the government. If he were to leave, I’m afraid the court will be unable to find someone suitable to replace the current Head of Secretary. Imperial Father needs to think thrice.”

Xiang Han closed his eyes and waved, “Zhen has decided, you don’t need to say anymore.”

The little Crown Prince saw that he was tired and could only leave reluctantly.

What he didn’t know was that the moment he left, the rebellious and disobedient Teacher Zhao came out from behind the screen. He leaned towards Xiang Han and planted a kiss before whispering, “After selecting so carefully, I didn’t think we still chose an ungrateful white-eyed wolf.”

Xiang Han waved his hand, “Who told you to always bully him.”

After the little Crown Prince left, the feeling of something amiss continued to grow within him. His imperial father regarded Teacher Zhao so highly, how could he easily allow the other person to retire without even trying to stop him?

He planned to continue probing Xiang Han’s thoughts on this matter over the next two days. Unfortunately, he hadn’t even had the time to act before Xiang Han announced he was going to inspect the country and ordered the Crown Prince to supervise the country.

The little Crown Prince was dumbfounded. He did not have time to react before Xiang Han had already packed his bags and left with Teacher Zhao, only leaving behind a letter for him.

After reading, the little Prince’s expression instantly cracked.

Xiang Han did not have any intention of inspecting the states and directly went to the coastal region instead. Bringing along Teacher Zhao and Luo Bai, they sailed the seas.

The little Crown Prince was upset. It was too unfair, his imperial father refusing to bring him along to play, not even leaving behind Little Bai to make biscuits for him.

After Xiang Han left, four years flew by. He only came back after the little Crown Prince’s coming of age ceremony and then directly abdicated, bringing Zhao Ze along and disappeared.

The little Crown Prince’s heart might as well have been shattered into a million pieces. He tugged on his sleeves and pleaded, “Imperial Father, at least leave Minister Luo for your child, ah.”

Xiang Han was reluctant. Luo Bai made good food, he really could not bear to let him go.

Zhao Ze had long had enough of seeing Luo Bai, so he hurriedly helped to convince Xiang Han.

Xiang Han thought for a long time. Little Bai was talented, staying by his side as a chef was truly a waste. Moreover, he had just dug a pit for his cheap son and thus, reluctantly agreed to leave him a few capable and trustworthy ministers.

The two people disappeared for another four years and when they returned, it was because Song Rui Jiang was going to take an Empress.

The entire way back, Xiang Han was just thinking, this rascal was just like him: he did not like women. After he ascended the throne, he had rejected the idea of marrying an Empress. He wondered which maiden was powerful enough to capture his heart.

Xiang Han returned to Chang’ An very quickly and before he even entered the palace, he was stopped by a crowd of sobbing old ministers crying, “Dowager Emperor, you need to stop His Majesty!”

Xiang Han’s brows rose. When he entered the palace, Luo Bai also bitterly said, “Your Majesty, you have to urge…uh, the little Emperor, ah. This minister is almost thirty already and furthermore, I’m a man. This is not appropriate, ah.”

Song Rui Jian wore a red celebratory robe and took large strides forward. He dismissed the palace maids and said, “Imperial Father, you don’t need to concern yourself with this matter. You threw the country to Zhen and roamed free and unfettered with Teacher Zhao for so many years, Zhen hadn’t even uttered a single word of complaint. Today, Zhen only wishes to marry the person I like, it’s not too much, right?”

Zhao Ze stood by the side and smiled, “It’s not too much at all.”

“Uh…” Xiang Han was speechless. He carefully gazed at Luo Bai and secretly wondered, could it be that Little Bai cannot escape his fate of having a love affinity with the Emperor?

He seemed to finally understand why the world did not collapse despite not completing his main mission. Because Little Bai was the protagonist and as long as he ended up with the Emperor in the end, the mission cannot be considered a failure. As for who the Emperor was, ah, was that important? This was a novel centred around the shou protagonist.

In order to keep the world from collapsing, Xiang Han could only pat Luo Bai’s shoulders solemnly and gravely say, “Little Bai, ah. That year, Zhen stole you from…cough, cough. In short, Zhen is returning one to you. Your life is predestined to end up together with a monarch and changing it is not bad. At least Zhen’s son isn’t a scum and as long as you don’t hate him, why don’t you just put up with him?”

Song Rui Jian was not satisfied, “What do you mean to put up with, is there anything bad about being with Zhen?”

Therefore, when Luo Bai was changed into a set of ceremonial empress robes, his head was still spinning. “That year, this servant only wanted to learn a few more culinary skills and open a restaurant, but never thought…”

He became an imperial chef then went on a marine expedition. He became a general and now, the Empress.

Song Rui Jian smiled happily, “Little Bai, a general who doesn’t want to become the Empress isn’t a good chef, ah.”

Xiang Han and Zhao Ze did not stay too long in the palace before Song Rui Jian disdained them for getting in his way, constantly interrupting his intimate time with his Empress. In the end, he chased them away.

Xiang Han, “I never thought there would be a day we would be snubbed like that.”

Zhao Ze, “I already told you before, that brat is an ungrateful white-eyed wolf.”

Both of them travelled across famous mountains and great rivers, ultimately settling down at an imperial residence in Jiang Nan to pass the rest of their days in peace. On Xiang Han’s 60th birthday, Song Rui Jian stepped down and handed the throne over to his nephew. He took Luo Bai and also came to this imperial residence to live.

Xiang Han accompanied Zhao Ze every day, watching flowers and catching fish. Occasionally, he would even learn some culinary skills from Luo Bai.

As for Xiang Han’s cooking, Song Rui Jian only tried it once and never did again. But Zhao Ze would always eat it all up happily. When there was no one around, he would hug Xiang Han’s waist and whisper, “This servant is lucky to be able to eat His Majesty’s hand-cooked food.”

Although Xiang Han had retired long ago, he still liked to use that form of address when they were alone.

Xiang Han continued to accompany Zhao Ze until they were more than eighty. Before the other man could die of old age, the system forcefully pulled him back. Right before he left, Zhao Ze’s clouded eyes were filled with grief, causing Xiang Han to feel heart-broken.

Entering the simulation space, he only recovered his senses after half a day before he asked in disappointment, “Why couldn’t you wait a little…”

At least…for Zhao Ze to leave first before pulling him back.

Big A coughed lightly, “It’s like this, every time when you leave first, the general’s consciousness will fluctuate and thus, it has the highest probability of creating a resonance. That’s why…we let you ‘die’ first.”

Xiang Han frowned and asked, “Until now, how many times has it fluctuated?”

“Four times,” Big A lifted up four fingers and explained, “The first time was when you left halfway through and caused yourself to fall into a coma for over ten days in front of Lu Ze. The second time was when you ‘died’ in front of Zhou Yue Ze. The third time was when you, cough cough, with Zhao Ze, and the fourth time was just now.”

Saying this, he shrugged and continued regretfully, “But it’s a pity there wasn’t resonance even once.”

“Why did Zhao Ze’s consciousness fluctuate twice?”

“That’s why I said you have the biggest chance of saving him, ah.” Big A said excitedly, “Look, it’s only been three worlds but the general’s consciousness has more than 50% chance of fluctuating.”

That is to say, even if the revolution is not successful, comrades still have to work hard.

Xiang Han rested for a bit before he asked with hesitation, “Can I…temporarily turn off my emotions?”

“What?” Big A and Little B asked in astonishment.

Xiang Han struggled, “I seem to feel a little down. I’m afraid once I arrive in the next world, it will affect me.”

In the third world, a good Monarch and Minister route were turned into a lovers route and he failed the main task. Thankfully, the world did not collapse but more importantly, if he were to continue on like this, he was afraid his feelings would be directed onto the actual person in reality.

Big A, “Ah, Mr. Xiang, the person in the fourth world…his personality changes a little too much. It’s very difficult to associate him with Zhao Ze, so you most likely don’t have to worry.” 

“Mr. Xiang, are you feeling very upset? Why don’t you try psychological intervention first? If it still doesn’t work, we can then turn off your emotional nodes.”

Thinking of how he always regarded Zhao Ze and the others as separate beings, Little B seemed to understand something. To continuously love and lose a person, adding on to his over-thinking, it was easy to develop clinical depression.

Xiang Han hesitated before nodding.

Through psychological intervention, Xiang Han recovered and felt much better. Very quickly, they entered the fourth world.

This time, the world they were in was in modern times. He found himself lying on a bed the moment he opened his eyes. Very good, he had enough time to look over the original host’s memories and the world’s information.

The protagonist was called Shen Han…Xiang Han already understood this pattern, the target is definitely called something Ze.

As expected, the target was called Shen Ze. He was the protagonist’s stepbrother from a different mother and father.

The Shens were a family of businessmen and could be considered the top ten in the city. When Shen Ze was born, his mother passed away from a difficult birth while his father was busy with his business and could only throw him to a nanny to look after.

In the beginning, the nanny was extremely dedicated to her job but after a while, she began to realise Father Shen did not care and her heart also began to change. Towards Shen Ze, she had an inexplicable possessiveness. When she was in a good mood, she was extremely gentle and caring but when her mood was bad, she would wantonly hit and scold him.

When Shen Ze was fourteen, his father remarried and his step-mother brought over a brother who was younger than him by a couple of months. That was Shen Han.

Shen Han was the kind of person who appeared to be an obedient and clever darling on the surface like a white lotus. But he had probably led a difficult life with his mother growing up and thus, was constantly envious of Shen Ze. Whatever Shen Ze had, he would want to snatch from him.

Looking at this, Xiang Han could not help asking, “I actually transmigrated into a person like Zhou Yue Qing?” [1]

[However, the target isn’t as kind as Zhou Yue Ze. Mr. Xiang, you must be careful.] The system kindly reminded.

[Is that so?] Xiang Han quickly continued to read.

Shen Ze hated his nanny but after his step-mother appeared, his relationship with Father Shen became more distant while his nanny became the person who treated him the best. But when he was fifteen, this nanny abruptly disappeared.

Father Shen called the police but they were unable to find anyone.

Xiang Han’s scalp began to grow numb because of the information he received, it said: On his 15th birthday, the nanny had molested Shen Ze. Zhen Ze was so disgusted he cut her up and cooked her before burying her remains in the flower garden of the villa.

“F-fifteen? W-what is this, ah?” Xiang Han hadn’t even finished reading before he blurted out.

System, [This is a campus case from a mystery novel.] 

[A case on the campus?] Xiang Han hurriedly finished looking through and felt extremely unbearable.

Shen Ze’s personality was introverted and after the matter with his nanny, he became even more twisted and began to hate women. Unfortunately, the death-seeking protagonist had to instigate him at every turn and even stole his boyfriend in highschool.

The matter of the scum man dumping Shen Ze aside, the protagonist even posted photos of the both of them kissing on the school’s forum and the things that happened after…did it still need to be said?

The protagonist and the scum boyfriend were chopped into pieces. Xiang Han shuddered and when he saw the still alive nanny downstairs, he shivered again.

Just in time, Shen Ze was coming down the stairs wearing a white shirt with the two uppermost buttons undone. The tips of his messy hair were slightly blonde, most likely having been dyed before and looked…extremely unhealthy.

Xiang Han raised his majestic aura, wanting to give himself some courage. But when the other person looked over him with a gaze that seemed to say he was a dead man, he instantly withered.

I-Is this really the eyes a 14-year-old should have? Why was it even scarier than his sovereign aura? Indeed, it was hard to associate him with Zhao Ze.

The author has something to say: Shen Ze, Shen Han are brothers without blood relations. Begging the little angels to have mercy.

T/n: looking forward to tl-ing this arc. Finally back to modern world.

[1]Zhou Yue Qing: Zhou Yue Ze’s brother from Arc 2. the transmigrator who tried to send ML to his death by giving him to XH and taking his place as the legitimate son.