A Slacker Transmigrates

Idle Transmigration

Chapter 1

Summer was hot, and the wind carried a dense, stifling warmth. Coupled with the rain from the previous night, the air was slightly humid, smelling faintly of rain. Even so, the temperature showed no sign of dropping, and the recent spell of sunshine and rain merely cast fleeting shadows on the blue bricks before vanishing instantly.

Everyone in the grand hall knelt prostrate, the sound of weeping rising in waves. It was noisy yet strictly adhered to protocol, the grief of the imperial clan and officials orderly and well-rehearsed.

The continuous weeping made even Chang'an City seem mournful, and it rather annoyed the Qingming Emperor, Li Wenchuan. He had already spent seven days watching the spectacle around his own coffin. While it was initially awkward to walk around floating, he now occasionally drifted in circles for lack of anything better to do.

Floating in midair, he looked down at the sea of people and noticed that his corpse's head was slightly crooked. Calmly, he thought to summon a young eunuch to come over and adjust it, only to suddenly remember that no one could see him.

An official suddenly burst out loud in tears, shattering the original order: "Your Majesty—you have passed away far too soon! Otherwise, how could you stand by and watch villainous ministers cover the sky with one hand, usurp the court, hold the inner palace hostage, and oppress the imperial clan!" The more he spoke, the more agitated he became, using hands and feet to crawl toward the coffin. "Jiang Chengyu, you—"

"Cao Minister is commemorating the late emperor and has suffered a temporary loss of wits from overwhelming grief. It is due to my lack of forethought. Why have they not escorted Cao Minister back to rest?"

Every word and syllable was unhurried, leisurely stripping Cao Ren of his official position. Hearing the command, palace attendants immediately stepped forward, stuffed a cloth in Cao Ren's mouth, and dragged him away. The weeping abruptly stopped. In the past, there had still been people filled with righteous indignation, but after those people vanished one after another, no one dared to utter another sound.

The Prime Minister, Jiang Chengyu, was the actual holder of power in Great Qing today. After the late emperor passed away, he first sealed off the news, then detained the various princes present in the capital to keep the imperial clan in check, and mobilized the imperial guards to strictly secure the imperial city. On the very next day, he had an eight-year-old child from a collateral branch adopted under the late emperor's name and hoisted onto the throne. This man possessed the gentle and refined appearance of a scholar, yet witnessing his thunderous methods made one's blood run cold.

The man feigned a light brush of his sleeve. "Please continue, everyone."

The weeping instantly resumed seamlessly, the previous farce feeling like a mere illusion. Li Wenchuan even saw a member of the imperial clan frantically drop a piece of ginger he had hidden up his sleeve, quickly pick it back up, and fiercely rub it against the corner of his eye.

That newly ascended little emperor knelt before Empress Dowager Yang, looking bewildered and sniffling, knowing only to follow along with the crying.

Regarding such blatant villainous behavior from Jiang Chengyu, Li Wenchuan felt not the slightest ripple of emotion internally. He grabbed a tribute fruit and began crunching on it. If possible, he really wanted to enter the prime minister's dreams and boldly declare, Look at you now.

Everyone was unable to see his spiritual form; otherwise, they would have witnessed this ordinarily stern and serious late emperor slumping in a tangled heap before the spirit altar, making one desperately want to offer him a handful of melon seeds.

Li Wenchuan was quite helpless as well. His immortal father had been obsessed with alchemy, using every trick in the book daily to shorten his own lifespan. Li Wenchuan himself had gone traveling for six years, and upon his return, his birth mother had been elevated to noble consort, the winds and clouds were churning within Chang'an City, and all factions had begun swarming to target him.

If he said he just wanted to be an idle prince, would anyone believe him?

Fortunately, he had run into Jiang Chengyu. With the two of them acting like ducks pushed onto a perch together, their mental states had not completely shattered.

Thus, he had taken down the empress dowager who intended to usurp the throne, managed thirteen muddle-headed imperial brothers, and deeply felt the impending crisis of a collapsing building—what on earth were his father's consorts made of, and how could the gene for wisdom be passed down so strongly?

After ascending the throne, the lingering malaises of the common people filled the realm, the Rong and Di tribes glared hungrily at the borders, and word came that Central Province had gone long without rain and might face a drought... Having labored bitterly for eight years, he had successfully gone offline due to staying up for three consecutive days.

It was enough to bring one to tears.

Although he was thus forced into retirement, he still felt a tinge of reluctance. Take Jiang Chengyu, for instance: after being manipulated by him for all those years, he had now become the top unmarried powerhouse of the realm, second only to the emperor.

However, the man was destined to serve as the regent now; he wondered if he would even have time to find a wife and raise children.

Li Wenchuan drifted gently forward, wanting to pat his friend on the shoulder, but his hand grabbed only empty air.

The man before him had stubble on his chin, heavy dark circles under his eyes, and bloodshot gaze, yet he knelt as straight as a sturdy pine. Suddenly, the man jerked his head up and cried out in a lapse of composure, "Your Majesty..."

Li Wenchuan's figure grew increasingly faint, resembling scattering fireflies. With a sudden gust of drafting wind, he dissipated completely.

[A certain Y-surname actress enters the cast with capital, wildly tampering with the script; the dual-male-lead drama fears transforming into a grand heroine show.]

[Actresses vie for glamour at the international film festival, yet someone without works hitches a ride on the red carpet, walking a ten-meter path for half an hour while security guards failed to drag her away.]

The trending searches on Weibo were bizarre and varied, and even someone eating apples had made it into the top three. Artists would stop at nothing to capture attention. At the very bottom of the topics, a hashtag reading #LiWenchuanActsSultryAndArrogant# had barely exploded before it started climbing upwards by leaps and bounds. It wasn't boosted up by fans; rather, it was forcibly cursed to the top.

Did you ask if Li Wenchuan had fans? Of course he did. With three million followers on Weibo, minus the bots, the rest probably followed him just to curse at him. Truly, he was the undisputed number one on the entertainment industry's black-red popularity charts.

The comments cursed merrily, but inside a hospital, the atmosphere was anything but happy.

"What on earth do you want? With your status, getting you cast in a small-budget film is already pushing it, yet you actually cursed out the director?" Wang Yiwen clicked her high heels, her anger burning white-hot. "Tell me, if you don't take this, what can you possibly act in? Do you really think you still have the popularity you had back then?"

The moment Li Wenchuan woke up, a woman's sharp, scolding voice assaulted him head-on, making his temples throb with pain. His stomach churned violently, waves of sourness surging straight up his throat.

"Are you even listening?! Do you have any idea how long I fought to secure this script for you?" In truth, no one else was willing to play trash, and she had happened to catch sight of it. "And here I thought you had some real capability. I fucking regret signing you."

Indeed, the man before him did not obscure his stunning features even in a hospital gown. His pale complexion lent him a hint of sickly beauty, making him look remarkably like a down-and-out scion of a noble family.

Yet with such a face, he possessed the brain of a pig. His expression management was zero; five years ago, he had fallen out with his debut partner and ruined his public persona, showed no variety sense on variety shows while blurting out whatever crossed his mind, and delivered acting so awkward in film crews that people curled their toes in embarrassment. Even his meager handful of face-value fans could only scavenge for scraps through edited clips on video websites.

Li Wenchuan still did not speak. He was consuming the massive ocean of memories in his head that did not belong to him, but this aloof attitude completely enraged Wang Yiwen: "Li Wenchuan, have you grown some spine?! Without me, do you really think you can survive in this circle?"

"Go apologize to Director Wang tomorrow and act in this film."

The man on the hospital bed, acting much like an Alzheimer's patient, finally spoke: "Are you teaching me how to do my job?"

Wang Yiwen's eyes widened. She opened her mouth, but was left speechless. If she were ten years older, she probably would have collapsed on the spot to be rescued by nurses.

"You, you..."

"Surely not, surely not. You actually stutter?" His expression was one of shock, delivered with absolute sincerity.

At that moment, Wang Yiwen experienced the terror of Great Qing officials being dominated by the Qingming Emperor in the imperial court.

"I'm dropping you. I'm going to tell the company today—" If not for that face, Wang Yiwen would have given up long ago. "With your tier of a mere extra, the entertainment industry has plenty to spare. Do you really think you're some big shot? Weigh yourself. If you can make a living, I, Wang Yiwen, will streak naked."

"...A woman must cherish her dignity." Were people of this era truly so uninhibited?

Fortunately, Wang Yiwen was standing far enough away that her flying spit didn't land on his face. Back then, whenever the grand tutor got emotional, he always liked to spray spittle on his face; he had post-traumatic stress disorder from close-range confrontations.

The manager cursed as she stormed off. Li Wenchuan did not experience much emotional fluctuation; he was merely thinking that the pillow in this place was not soft enough, and sitting for too long had made his lower back ache.

He dared to anger his manager away because he naturally had something to rely on, according to the memories he had just acquired. The original body's true identity was the eldest son, legitimate wife's offspring, and direct heir of the chairman of Sea City's giant, Dragon Soaring Group! A type of person who returned home to live off his parents—what more could a bicycle need?

He heard there was only a half-brother at home, which was far more hassle-free than the thirteen he had dealt with in his past life.

Just as he was thinking this, his phone suddenly vibrated with an app notification: "Your card ending in 8066 had an expense of a 2,000 yuan repayment. Balance: 43.12 yuan."

"..."

Rummaging through his memories, he found he was actually a sheltered second-generation heir who had run away from home in a fit of pique! Money—it had vanished. QAQ.

A nurse came over to change his drip, instructing him that he needed to eat light foods for the next few days and could no longer binge drink, otherwise it would be life-threatening. Li Wenchuan indicated he understood that feeling deeply, seeing as this shell had indeed changed occupants.

The original owner was originally a wealthy scion who could not understand his parents' commercial marriage and subsequent divorce. After running away from home in defiance, he was scouted and entered the entertainment industry, wanting to carve out a career of his own while holding onto the desire to break free from his parents' wings.

Initially, that had indeed been the case. He debuted with a divine face, drawing countless fans, but dragged down his former partner—who was also his ex-boyfriend—allowing the latter to step on him all the way up to become the current top traffic star. Meanwhile, under the orchestration of his ex, Jin Yue, the original owner was step-by-step detested by fans, his public reputation ruined, and his starry path gradually dimmed.

On the other hand, Jin Yue relied on the dual-male-lead adapted IP drama starring alongside the original owner to pull in a massive wave of "CP" romantic-pairing fans, gradually converting the majority of those CP fans into his own personal loyal followers. Relying on a persona of being a good brother and a gentle, considerate soul, Jin Yue firmly established his footing in the entertainment industry and soared straight to the skies thereafter.

The original owner, however, had been maliciously guided by Jin Yue, taking his words out of context to make people mistakenly believe that he loathed and was disgusted by such dual-male-lead dramas. His popularity plummeted like a stone, impossible to pull back even with ten horses.

Thinking of this, Li Wenchuan felt the original owner was far too naive and foolish; clearly, he hadn't grown up with enough siblings. His imperial father had so many children that it was just like raising a gu-insect jar—it forced you to strive and better yourself.

The reason Li Wenchuan had furiously chewed out the director and drunk himself into the hospital last night was actually related to this Jin Yue. Jin Yue had suddenly called him just to dish out a sentimental little essay filled with all sorts of hints: I regret it. I miss you. Can't we go back to the past?

Recalling all these events over the years, the original owner's mental state had completely collapsed.

Fortunately, though, he had rejected that script. Li Wenchuan had no desire to act in anything called <Genius Poison Consort: The Demonic Prince's Pampered Treasure>; such garbage looked idiotic at a glance.

After being discharged and returning to the original owner's rented apartment, a space of forty-some square meters plunged Li Wenchuan—whose home had been an imperial palace—into deep contemplation. Once he had money, he definitely needed to buy a large house; there wasn't even a place here to bask in the sun.

Of course, the first step was to get some money.