Prince An Zhu Youning!

Great Liang, Bian Prefecture.

A sprawling, luxurious residence was lined with lofty pavilions.

The pavilions were neat and orderly inside, filled with the curling fragrance of sandalwood and an antique charm. Outside, however, ranks of armored soldiers stood guard, keeping the place under tight security.

The room was furnished with several volumes of ancient books on the desk, but a curved bow, a long sword, and a spear hung beside them. It was a strange combination.

"Zhu Youning, courtesy name Anren, Prince An of the Great Liang Dynasty, son of Prince Lang Zhu Cun, elder brother of Zhu Wen, and nephew of the Great Liang Emperor Zhu Wen! What an exalted status!"

Inside the pavilion, Zhu Youning surveyed the antique furnishings around him and the maidservant attending him. Then he glanced at the bloodstained bandages wrapped around his body, his expression turning strange.

These were injuries from a fall off a horse.

Or rather, they were fatal injuries caused by a fall from a horse.

The original owner of this body was already dead.

It was precisely because the original owner had fallen from his horse on the battlefield and been left half-dead that Zhu Youning had transmigrated into this world.

Reborn in another world—he truly had no idea whether it was a blessing or a curse!

The Liang State, Jin State, Qi State, the Xuanming Cult, Huan Yin Workshop, Tongwen Hall, and the Buliangren. As he sorted through the memories in his mind, Zhu Youning sighed, his words dying on his lips.

It seemed he had transmigrated to the unusual period of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. Worse, this wasn't the world of the actual historical Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, but the world of a series called Buliangren. And, to top it all off, he had become the nephew of Zhu Wen, the emperor of Liang!

A noble of the Great Liang imperial clan, the emperor's nephew, a prince of Liang... It certainly sounded like an illustrious identity!

The Great Liang sovereign Zhu Wen had been the third son in his family. In his youth, he had joined the army alongside his second elder brother, Zhu Cun, under Huang Chao.

That was Huang Chao, who had written, "When autumn comes on the eighth day of the ninth month, my blossoms bloom and all others die. My fragrant array surges to the heavens and pierces Chang'an; the whole city is clad in golden armor."

Zhu Wen had campaigned far and wide with Huang Chao, then defected from Qi and surrendered to Tang. After several twists and turns, he finally overthrew the Tang Dynasty and ascended the imperial throne.

Though he had become emperor, his second elder brother Zhu Cun, who had always looked after him, had already fallen on the battlefield. So Zhu Wen took special care of Zhu Cun's two sons, granting both military authority and high positions while they were still young.

Zhu Cun had two sons: Zhu Youning and Zhu Youlun.

Zhu Youlun had served as a palace guard in Emperor Zhaozong of Tang Li Ye's chambers, secretly keeping watch over the emperor's movements on Zhu Wen's behalf. Later, Emperor Zhaozong had him killed in secret: he fell from his horse during a polo match and died.

After Zhu Youlun's death, Zhu Wen valued Zhu Youning, the sole surviving heir of his second elder brother's line, even more.

Otherwise, how could Zhu Youning have been appointed a Jiedushi of the Jianwu Army and made Prince An while still in his early twenties?

The current Great Liang Emperor Zhu Wen had three sons: his eldest, Zhu Yougui; his second, Zhu Youwen; and his third, Zhu Youzhen. Aside from these three princes, Zhu Youning held the most exalted status!

There was a reason for that.

Zhu Wen had been the third son in his family, with both an elder brother and a second elder brother. His eldest brother was Prince Guang Zhu Quanyu, who was still alive. By rights, Zhu Quanyu's status and standing should have surpassed Zhu Youning's. But Zhu Quanyu considered himself a loyal subject of Li Tang. At a palace banquet, he had openly mocked Zhu Wen as a usurper, enraging him.

So although Zhu Wen had granted titles to Zhu Quanyu and his sons, he had little affection for Zhu Quanyu or any of his three sons. He even disliked them.

By contrast, Zhu Youning had studied poetry, rites, and military strategy from childhood. He was handsome and dashing, with a free-spirited air, and had fought alongside Zhu Wen many times. Zhu Wen treated him as if he were closer than his own sons.

It was no exaggeration to say that, in Zhu Wen's heart, Zhu Youning—clever and handsome since childhood, and decorated with many glorious victories—was even more favored than one of his own sons, Zhu Youzhen.

But so what... How long could it last?

Zhu Youning's honor and status came from the Liang State founded by Zhu Wen. If Liang fell, he would most likely be finished too.

The Great Liang Dynasty now dominated the Central Plains. On the surface, its military strength and prosperity seemed formidable, but within, it was already riddled with holes.

Though the Great Liang Dynasty occupied the Central Plains and commanded powerful armies, it could not endure for long.

First, the situation within.

Zhu Wen had sunk into wine and women, growing more listless by the day. He had long since lost the grand ambitions of his youth. Moreover, the Four Ancestral Corpses of the Xuanming Cult, Liang's renowned assassination organization, had left the state and vanished without a trace, depriving the cult of its strongest fighters.

And the succession remained unsettled, threatening to unleash a struggle among princes for the throne.

Then, the situation beyond its borders.

To the north, Liu Rengong, Jiedushi of the Lulong Army, schemed to carve out an independent domain. Though Prince Zhao Wang Rong had professed loyalty to Zhu Wen, his devotion was far from genuine. Meanwhile, the Khitan watched like a tiger, waiting for a chance to raid.

To the west, the two states of Qi and Jin commanded powerful armies and constantly watched for an opening, invoking the restoration of the Great Tang as a pretext to push east.

To the south, the many regimes of Shu, Chu, Jing, and Wu stood like a forest of warring states. The Ten Thousand Poison Cave of Rao Border and the Three Rao of Nine Li were also drilling their troops and sharpening their weapons, hoping to avenge the Humiliation of Maple Leaf and sweep away the kingdoms of the Central Plains.

And beyond that, the Buliangren lurked in the dark.

That's right—the Buliangren!

The organization established by Yuan Tiangang, who had lived for more than three hundred years, dedicated to serving the Li Tang imperial house!

It could be said that Yuan Tiangang's policy of offering no resistance had played a major role in Zhu Wen's successful founding of the Great Liang Dynasty.

Yuan Tiangang himself possessed peerless martial arts. Even if he couldn't stop Zhu Wen's army from bearing down on him, taking Zhu Wen's head would have been as easy as reaching into a bag and grabbing an object!

He had chosen not to assassinate Zhu Wen, instead standing by as he grew in power and eventually became emperor. One reason was that Zhu Wen's army was indeed formidable and had capable successors. The other was that Yuan Tiangang wanted to deal with a prophecy he and Li Chunfeng had divined.

The prophecy foretold the fall of the Great Tang Dynasty.

To reverse it, Yuan Tiangang chose the path of Break Then Establish: destroy first, then rebuild. He had not resisted Zhu Wen's armies with all his strength. Instead, he had sought to restore the dynasty through Li Xingyun, the son of Emperor Zhaozong Li Ye and the last surviving heir of the Li Tang imperial house.

Once Li Xingyun came of age, Yuan Tiangang would surely lead the Buliangren out of the shadows to help him ascend the throne.

Then the Great Liang Dynasty would be in grave danger!

When the nest is overturned, no egg remains whole!

When that day came, the fate awaiting Zhu Youning, Prince An of Great Liang, would be death and the destruction of his state, leaving him a laughingstock.

He would become a pawn on the board of the world's players, a pile of bones in the struggles between rising and falling dynasties, a mote of dust in the long river of history!

Anyone feared death, and Zhu Youning was no exception.

Anyone had ambitions, and Zhu Youning was no exception.

So he couldn't die. What's more, he had to fulfill his ambitions.

"Zhu Wen has been on the throne for only four or five years. That means Li Xingyun, heir to the Li Tang imperial house, may still be five or six years away from adulthood!"

"Over these next five or six years, I must move cautiously, make the most of every resource at my disposal, and become the one who moves the pieces on this board."

A trace of gravity flashed across Zhu Youning's face. He stared at the progress bar that only he could see and said, "I hope this cheat won't disappoint me."

As if responding to his thoughts, a mechanical voice rang out:

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