Chapter 1 The Emperor is Alive!

"Someone come! Everyone, Your Majesty, Your Majesty! His Majesty is alive!!"

The atmosphere inside the tent was tense, so much so that even a cough could trigger a battle. But at that moment, a palace servant shouted from outside the tent.

"What? His Majesty is alive?"

"His Majesty is awake?"

"How is that possible?"

The person who uttered "how is that possible" was immediately apprehended by the others. Just for saying that, he was in trouble!

Did he mean His Majesty should die?

A large group of people escorted the man away, his face having betrayed him upon hearing that the Emperor had awakened. Mingmei watched them leave and couldn't help but feel how thrilling this rollercoaster of a game was.

"Phew—" Mingmei breathed a sigh of relief. Then, the old cook, who had been teary-eyed in the crowd, finally approached her.

"I told you to stay in the back, stoking the fire and cooking. Why did you... Look what's happened now!"

The old cook still looked fierce, but Mingmei could hear the concern in his red-rimmed eyes and his words.

"Now you understand, right? Your status is worlds apart from His Majesty. It's good that he's alive, but what if one day..."

He glanced around to make sure no one was listening and then whispered to Mingmei, "If it really comes down to it, you should leave, as far away as possible. Who knows how long His Majesty will last after waking up? He had such severe wounds..."

The old cook had been relieved by the palace servant's announcement that the Emperor had woken up, but what if it was just a final breath before death?

The cook's heart clenched at the thought of Mingmei possibly dying as a result. "Girl, listen to this old man. You were lucky to survive today, but you've offended those officials. Even if someone protects you, it'll only be temporary. They have countless ways to kill a nobody like you. You... you should just leave."

He then began to ramble about how to sneak Mingmei out, suggesting she leave with the Hua Lanxing envoys and merchants who were arriving today.

"Wait, with His Majesty like that... they're still coming?"

"Isn't it because His Majesty has woken up? If... then the army should be setting off. Who would wait for them to come begging for peace?"

Mingmei hadn't expected the tyrant to survive; the plot had corrected itself, and the assassination attempt was still on schedule.

"Don't go anywhere tonight. Just stay here in the kitchen and I'll send you out once I've smoothed things over, understand?"

The old cook repeatedly warned Mingmei not to wander around, but then the Emperor woke up and summoned her at once.

The old cook: "..."

Mingmei: "..."

...

"Hiss—Ouch."

Upon entering the game, Mu Chen realized he was in the *Assassinate the Emperor* script. He immediately logged out and switched to the tyrant's identity.

Sure enough, he woke up lying in a temporary coffin. Luckily, it hadn't been nailed shut.

Mu Chen sat up, immediately scaring several palace servants into fainting.

The wounds on his abdomen and chest reopened. If Mu Chen hadn't acted quickly and used the system's starting benefits, he would have been kicked offline again in a second.

There wouldn't have been a chance for Mingmei to apply medicine.

"You never used to say it hurt."

Mingmei frowned, looking awkwardly at the medicine that had spilled onto Mu Chen's chest. Seeing the wounds up close, they were still shocking.

Although her words were harsh, she was gentler as she bandaged him.

"You know you're seriously injured, but you didn't even let the imperial physician examine you. Look at these wounds..."

Mingmei grumbled, then glanced up at Mu Chen and said, "What's going on with you? Why did you use this identity?"

"I had no choice. If I didn't, Chu Rong's iron cavalry would have flattened Hualiang's capital. Besides, the Emperor was killed directly in this round before the players even had a chance to act. That must have been the bug's doing. It's better to use the boss than to start with a player's hellish beginning."

Mu Chen smiled, almost causing his wounds to reopen. This frightened Mingmei so much that she tightened the bandages, which caused Mu Chen's fragile, soon-to-be-splitting wounds to burst open.

Mingmei: 0.0!!!

Mu Chen: =.=

...

Compared to Mu Chen and Mingmei's urgent and chaotic start, Lu Xiaoyao was also terrified when she entered the game!

With her social skills, how could she not have heard about what Mu Chen had inquired about that day?

When she entered the game and realized it was *Assassinate the Emperor*, Lu Xiaoyao was so scared that she almost hanged herself to quit the game.

Fortunately, her brother stopped her.

Speaking of Lu Gui, Lu Xiaoyao said that she understood this game less and less.

Had the game planners become so lax after the bug had messed up the game?

Having experienced Zhen Po's rough and gaudy cross-dressing ordeal last game, Lu Xiaoyao was momentarily stunned by her brother's slender, fair figure in a dancer's oversized dress. Although he didn't look particularly feminine.

Now that was a cross-dressing master!

Lu Gui, who had been feigning sleep in the carriage, couldn't stand Lu Xiaoyao's infatuation. He reached out and covered her face with his large hand, saying, "If you act as foolishly as you did when you played this game before, don't blame me for killing you before the game even starts!"

Lu Xiaoyao: "..."

Was this really her brother?

Why were his words so cold and heartless?

"What do you mean 'acting foolishly'? I performed very well when I played this game before. The netizens can prove it!"

"That's because I performed well." Lu Gui glanced at Lu Xiaoyao and, seeing that she wasn't even blushing when she said that, added, "Do you even remember how well you performed?"

"Bro~"

"If you meet the boxed lunch merchant again and you refuse him again, Lu Xiaoyao, I promise, I'll report you if anything happens."

Given Lu Xiaoyao's many past offenses, and that the game's memory was no longer suppressed, Lu Gui felt it necessary to remind her, "Also, if you see a classmate who looks like Mingmei, don't automatically assume she's Mingmei. You should just say 'I want to buy a boxed lunch,' understand?"

"Understood..."

Lu Xiaoyao was being honest, having been exposed by her brother.

She wasn't unaware that she refused the game merchant every time she played because of the suppression of her game memories, causing the netizens watching the livestream to worry.

Of course, in addition to the worrying, there were also many people who were just watching the drama. They openly started a betting pool, taking advantage of the fact that she couldn't see the comments while playing, to bet #Will Lu Xiaoyao refuse the merchant sister today?#

Although the bets were just the free beans given away by the website every day, everyone still enjoyed themselves every night.

In particular, the odds for the "Lu Xiaoyao can" option were extremely high.

Although some gamblers, with the hope of getting rich overnight, often bet all their free beans on "she can," they usually ended up losing everything!

Some netizens even created a photoshopped image of her with the text "Gambling Dog Killer, Specializing in Curing Gambling Addictions," which was outrageous!

Mingmei naturally saw Lu Gui's instructions to Lu Xiaoyao through the livestream perspective that Guigui sent back.

However, Mingmei remembered a netizen's words—"The reason why Lu Xiaoyao is Lu Xiaoyao is that she always creates unexpected 'surprises.'"

Thinking of this, Mingmei couldn't help but think about what would happen next.

With Lu Gui reminding her like that, Lu Xiaoyao shouldn't refuse again, right?