[Leave your brain here, claim the system you want]
[Note to readers: This is not an invincible-from-the-start story. The male lead lives in a fictional dynasty within a female-oriented novel, to help the big shots who dislike romance-heavy books avoid a landmine. The system grows stronger based on the beauties' heart-stirring values, and 1v6 shared-bed dreams have already been achieved. The beauties' shifted hearts mean they will never betray, regardless of any clueless fools on motion comics spreading bad vibes.]
[There are three main plots: romancing beauties, dealing with the children of destiny, and ascending the throne to become the governor of Asia. For those clamoring to just kill the female leads straight away, consider whether the system would break; for those saying to just rebel outright, consider whether he holds military power.]
[Speaking frankly and honestly, I am a female author. If you cannot accept my writing style, I wish that the next book you see satisfies you! Kneeling in gratitude!
There is no past life; he directly transmigrated into the book in the womb, and heavenly dao sealed his intelligence for twenty years.]
[Dearest overlords, please stay calm and don't be impatient. This chatterbox welcomes friendly discussions, and I also hope everyone offers lots of guidance~ Doing one good deed accumulates great virtue, doing two good deeds accumulates greater-greater virtue.]
[Finally, I wish the babies reading this book year-round peace and smooth sailing in all things! The paragraph comments from you babies are way too talented! Welcome to show off, love you guys!]
♡_(:з"∠)_
"Mnh~"
A murmur came.
Gu Moran's head hurt as though it had been chiseled.
He rolled over, his nose brushing against a patch of warm, soft skin. Osmanthus fragrance, very faint yet alluring.
The texture under his hand was wrong; it wasn't the white jade bed in his prince's manor, but silk-cool and slippery, sliding right off the moment a hand touched it.
He laboriously cracked open one eye.
Coming into view was a section of fair shoulder, half-concealed beneath the quilt, the hollow of the collarbone deep enough to keep fish in.
Further up, a sleeping face.
Features exquisite, lips pale, eyelashes pressing against her eyelids. Even though she was sound asleep, she still exuded an aloof edge that told everyone not to come near.
The legitimate daughter of the prime minister's estate, Su Yao.
Gu Moran froze for two seconds.
He looked down at himself.
Robes flung wide open, belt God-knows-where.
Wine pots littered the floor, cups overturned on the table, and the air still held a strong residual reek of alcohol and powder.
He cracked a smile, baring a row of white teeth.
"Well, this prince has done a good deed again."
No need to panic.
He was familiar with this kind of scenario.
As the capital's number one profligate, drinking and causing trouble were basic skills, and sleeping with someone he shouldn't wasn't the first time either.
He tiptoed toward the edge of the bed, planning to slip away before the prime minister's daughter woke up.
He would turn back and have his birth mother step in to cover for him, turning a big matter small.
Just as he left the edge of the bed,
his mind was struck by another wave of severe pain.
The memories arrived.
The crisp clicking of a keyboard. An office at three in the morning. The unsaved PPT on the screen right before cardiac arrest.
Blue Star, an internet company, dying of overwork at his workstation at twenty-six.
He hadn't even waited for the ambulance...
Gu Moran pressed his hands against his knees, cold sweat streaming down his spine, his undergarment plastered to his back, wet and chilling.
These were memories of his past life.
But what truly made his expression change wasn't how he had died in his past life.
It was the complete plot of a book, pouring in along with those memories.
"Chronicle of Great Yan's Heavenly Mandate".
A satisfying webnovel, featuring a Son of Destiny sweeping across the eight wildernesses.
Twelve children of destiny appeared in turns: the broke-off-engagement-and-slapped-faces genre, the unrivaled-divine-doctor genre, the returning-god-of-war genre, the dragon-king-released-from-prison genre...
Twelve formulas, twelve sets of templates, with every single person bringing an overpowered script upon their debut.
And the stepping stone trampled under the feet of all those children of destiny.
Abused from start to finish, a full five-million-word ultimate tool-character villain.
The Third Prince of Great Yan, Gu Moran.
That was him in the flesh.
In the original work, his fingers were ground to pieces one by one.
His face was branded with a slave mark in public.
The grand finale: thousands gathered to watch as he was torn limb from limb by five horses.
"...Fuck."
Gu Moran's throat tightened, and his temples were still throbbing.
He'd been transmigrated for twenty years, only to find himself living in a book by an author who knew nothing about history and wrote whatever the hell they wanted. It was a female-oriented novel, no less, and he was just a walking experience pack worth five million words?
Just then, a translucent light screen appeared out of thin air before his eyes.
[Ding.]
[Defy Fate and Rewrite Your Destiny: Beauty Conquest System activated.]
[Identity bound: Fated Villain, Gu Moran.]
[Remaining lifespan: Based on the original plot's progression, only 17 months remain.]
Gu Moran stared at the blood-red "17 months."
Beneath it was a timeline, packed with dozens of lines of events.
In 30 days, the male lead who'd broken off the engagement, Ye Someone, would enter the capital and slap the host in the face in front of everyone at a banquet.
In 60 days, the divine physician male lead, Chu Someone, would enter the palace and steal the Empress Dowager's favor.
In 90 days...
Each event had a note attached: [Host slapped in the face/injured badly/tendons severed/family property confiscated].
He scrolled down, flipped through three pages, and still hadn't reached the end.
"Five million words..." Gu Moran forced the words through clenched teeth. "Couldn't the author at least have me walk out the door and get trampled by a horse? At least that'd be quick."
A faint rustle of silk came from deep in the bed.
Su Yao had woken up.
Her gaze swept down from the ceiling, taking in her disheveled collar and the scattered bed curtains, before finally settling on the man's back beside the bed.
No screaming, no shrill wailing.
"Gu Moran."
She spoke his name, biting down hard on every syllable, as if grinding it out between her back teeth.
"What did you do?"
Gu Moran's back stiffened.
His mind raced through the possibilities: the prime minister's legitimate daughter, and the official wife of the original novel's male lead in its broken-engagement plotline.
If he caved now, he'd be handing the Prime Minister's Residence leverage on a silver platter. If that old fox of a prime minister used this to make trouble, Gu Moran would only die sooner.
A line of small text appeared on the system panel beside him:
[Character: Su Yao. Core source of the male lead's fate. Current favorability toward host: negative.]
He couldn't back down.
He had to keep up the playboy act.
What kind of man was Gu Moran? The capital's number one rogue.
What was there to fear?
As long as it wasn't the Emperor's woman, even if the sky fell, all he had to say was, "This is just how I am."
He rubbed his face and adjusted his features. By the time he turned around, that roguish, devil-may-care smile was firmly in place.
He leaned against the bedpost and folded his arms.
"Eldest Miss Su, that's an interesting thing to say. You were moaning quite enthusiastically."
"Whose family hosted the banquet last night? Whose family served the wine? You were there while they poured cup after cup, weren't you?"
Su Yao clenched the quilt in both hands, veins bulging on the backs of her hands.
"I didn't..."
"Oh? You didn't?" Gu Moran raised an eyebrow, then yanked open his already-loose inner robe, revealing two scratches across his chest. "Then what are these? A wildcat's work?"
Su Yao quickly turned her face away. Her eyes were red, but she refused to shed a tear.
"Shameless."
"That's a good word for it."
Gu Moran laughed, bent down, and leisurely picked up his belt, shaking off the dust.
"Who in the capital doesn't know that I have no shame? Is this your first day meeting me, Eldest Miss Su?"
He knotted the belt around his waist, smoothed the creases in his hem, and gave the bed an insincere cupped-hand salute.
"A moment of springtime is worth a thousand gold. Another day, I'll have the steward at my manor pick out two boxes of fine jewelry for you. Eldest Miss Su, see you around."
He turned and left.
His pace was neither hurried nor slow, his stride loose and casual, yet every step landed steadily.
"Gu Moran!"
Su Yao raised her voice, genuine fury in it.
"You think this is just over?"
Gu Moran's foot stopped as he stepped over the threshold.
He didn't turn around. The smile at the corner of his mouth slowly faded.
"Eldest Miss Su."
"This is, of course, far from over."
"Our good days together are still a long way ahead."
Behind him came the sound of porcelain smashing against the wall. It crashed and clattered, shards scattered all over the floor.
After he left through the rear gate of the Chancellor's residence, the cold street wind blew away the effects of the wine.
Steam rose from the bun shop, and a vendor selling candied hawthorns was hollering at the top of his lungs.
A living, breathing world.
Gu Moran stopped on the bluestone road. The translucent screen in the upper-right corner of his vision was still flashing.
[Warning: The Son of Destiny, Ye Qingyun, is expected to arrive in the capital within 30 days. At that time, the original story's core plot, "The Engagement-Breaking Banquet," will be triggered, and the host will suffer his first public humiliation.] [At that time, Su Yao will meet Ye Qingyun for the first time. Once the beauty's heart is stirred, the Mandate of Heaven will activate and cannot be reversed.]