The empress had known that Emperor Jingren would lead the expedition himself, but he hadn’t been planning to go into battle. He had meant to focus on protecting Emperor Jingren and taking the occasional opportunity to flirt and deepen their relationship. This was because, in the plot as the empress knew it, Marquis Zhenbei didn’t die; he was only wounded.

In the original plot, when Marquis Zhenbei was seriously injured, the empress’s second and fourth brothers launched a sneak attack on the enemy camp, attempting to burn their provisions; instead, they fell into an enemy trap. One was injured while the other was taken prisoner. His fifth brother, meanwhile, was poisoned in his tent by the army supervisor, who was colluding with the enemy. Though he survived, he remained unconscious and unable to fight.

Though in either case the situation would be urgent enough for Emperor Jingren to lead the expedition in person, all four dead was completely different from three injured and one captured. And in the original plot, Emperor Jingren had been as wary of Marquis Zhenbei as the late emperor, but because he had taken back military authority due to Marquis Zhenbei and his sons being injured, he developed greater trust for the family; his relationship with the empress also improved out of a desire to reassure them and other ministers who had rendered extraordinary service. In the plot, this caused a misunderstanding between Su Huailing and Emperor Jingren, which nearly led Su Huailing to accept Prince Huainan’s advances.

But now all four generals had been killed in action, meaning that the empress had no backing left and could easily be deposed. This contradicted the original plot.

And when they had all come here, their contracts had said that it was permissible within the system for the players to change the thoughts and feelings of the NPCs and therefore alter the plot; this fell into the category of reasonable changes to the data. But the players themselves changing the background plot would disrupt the data and leave the system unable to compute. If this occurred, before the system restored its computations, everyone would be trapped here, unable to leave. And during this time, they wouldn’t have the system to protect them; if they died here, it would mean true brain death.

No one would play around with their own life, so everyone had been carefully playing their roles lest their missteps influence the plot. It was precisely because of this that, though they all knew Su Huailing was a major threat, no one had dared to kill her before Emperor Jingren could meet her. Even Yan Xu, who had been bold enough to assault Emperor Jingren, hadn’t dared to touch a hair on Su Huailing’s head.

But now, someone had killed Marquis Zhenbei and most of his family. A change to the plot like this was bound to disrupt the system’s computation; everyone was trapped here now.

Eunuch Lian and Little Shunzi had simply fainted from terror when they heard about the dispatch from the border, and a commotion had been heard from the neighborhood of the four consorts and Imperial Concubine Lin. Prince Huainan hadn’t thought it through yet; when he returned to his residence and worked it out, he would probably also be scared out of his mind.

At a time like this, the empress ought to have stayed quietly in the palace for the sake of his life, but instead he was doing precisely the opposite, insisting on going into battle.

To protect the young emperor’s realm, and also for the sake of his own special assignment.

This was the world’s first holographic game, and they were the first group of players to enter it. The first person to win would receive an enormous cash prize, and perhaps also be recorded in the historical annals of the game world. Everyone had come here to seduce Emperor Jingren, with the exception of the empress. He had come to find someone.

Reasonably speaking, despite the power failure, the doctor should have been able to leave the game once the system was restored unless something had happened to him during these few brief seconds that had made him forget who he was and take himself for one of this world’s NPCs.

The doctor’s brain was the empire’s greatest treasure. Before entering the game, he had anticipated the possibility that he would be trapped in it, so he had created an item in the game that could awaken him. If someone activated the item and gave it to the doctor, he would remember who he was and wake up.

As the one tasked with this mission, the empress had been projected into the game along with all the other players, ostensibly as a player himself, for the sole purpose of locating the doctor, who was lost in this incredibly realistic world.

It was a complete fabrication that a change to the plot would disrupt the system, and the lives of the players would not be in danger. All these lies had been told to keep the players from arbitrarily changing the plot and make it more convenient to find the doctor. If the players didn’t change the plot, as soon as events took a turn contrary to what happened in the novel, it would likely be caused by the doctor, who wasn’t familiar with the plot.

The game trial was being held to trick the corporate spies, and the players were only camouflage. The true goal was to find the doctor. The harsh terms of the contract the players had signed were also meant to protect the doctor’s brain waves while he was lost in the world of the game.

At first the empress had thought that Emperor Jingren was the doctor; after all, this young emperor was much too wise and perceptive, and the empress had already had feelings for him and hoped that he was the doctor, because that way they could meet and be together in the real world. So, before there had been any change to the plot, the empress had given the item to the young emperor, hoping against hope.

But he had failed. There had been no reaction from the item. Emperor Jingren was only an NPC.

The empress had wanted to distance himself from Emperor Jingren then, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He thought then that it didn’t matter that he was an NPC. They loved each other; that was enough.

Though he did not want to leave this world, the empress had his own mission to accomplish. The genius from the herding tribes who could arbitrarily change the plot was very likely to be the doctor himself.

In order to fulfill his mission and find the doctor and in order to protect Emperor Jingren, he had to go into battle.

In front of the altar, the empress quietly regarded Emperor Jingren, silently entreating him, for his own sake, for Emperor Jingren’s sake, and for the sake of the family he had never met but who had died because of the arrival of the outsiders.

Emperor Jingren reached out to pull the empress to his feet, but he couldn’t lift him. All he could do was crouch to bring his eyes level with the empress’s. Earnestly, he said, “Whether Marquis Zhenbei and his sons died due to lack of supplies or were betrayed from within, the herding tribes’ leader Huyan Xi cannot be underestimated. He is the first true enemy we have faced since inheriting the throne. Do you know why none of the military and civil officials of the court dare to accept the posts of commander and supervisor of the army? Because they all know that this battle means almost certain death. Despite this, do you still want to lead the army, Jinyi?”

“Yes,” the empress answered resolutely.

His eyes were filled with unshakable resolution. From the instant he had knelt to make this request of Emperor Jingren, the empress’s decision had been made.

Emperor Jingren let out a lengthy sigh, took the empress’s hand, and said, “Jinyi, we cannot lose you.”

“I will live,” the empress said earnestly. “Your Majesty knows that this battle means almost certain death, and I cannot lose Your Majesty either. I will protect Your Majesty until the very last instant before I close my eyes. Please grant me this opportunity, Your Majesty.”

He laid his hands against the ground and for the first and last time kowtowed profoundly to Emperor Jingren.

Emperor Jingren raised his head and looked at the four spirit tablets, then finally gritted his teeth and said, “Xiao Jinyi, you must come back alive to be our empress. If you live, we will disband the harem and leave only you. We will choose a few talented children from the imperial clan for you to foster. We will never hold a harem selection.”

The empress’s head shot up, and his gaze fell on Emperor Jingren. He couldn’t look away. He knew what this promise meant to the upright and conservative Emperor Jingren. It meant that he would never have an heir of his own body, that he would willingly give up his aims for the sake of a man, that he was an emperor who would forsake everything for the love of a single person.

He had never wanted Emperor Jingren to forsake the whole world for his sake, as the assignment of the other players demanded, but now he had done it.

The system couldn’t assign the players a hopeless task. Emperor Jingren had been able to forsake the world for Su Huailing’s sake in the original novel, so he was a person predisposed to deep feeling. Though he was an NPC constructed from data, the system had perfectly captured this trait of Emperor Jingren’s.

He really hadn’t needed to do anything for Emperor Jingren to give him the world.

The empress embraced Emperor Jingren, holding him so tightly that he seemed to want to absorb the young emperor into his own blood and bones. Quietly, he said, “I will live. For your sake and for the sake of our future, I will not die. Even if I’m dead, the moment I think about you sleeping with some other woman and having children with her, I’ll climb out and find you!”

Though these words were horrifying, Emperor Jingren heard them with pleasure. He didn’t mind the empress hugging him tightly enough to hurt; he hugged back just as fiercely and said, “If you dare to die, you will be disobeying an imperial decree. We will have you dug up from your grave and given a hundred lashes. We mean what we say.”

Smiling, the empress kissed Emperor Jingren’s hair.

With this compromise, Emperor Jingren had brought the problem of heirs that had lain between him and the empress to a perfect resolution.

Though the empress very much wanted to do something with Emperor Jingren, this was a mourning hall. Emperor Jingren couldn’t disrespect the heroic spirits of Marquis Zhenbei and his family, while the empress, since falling in love with him, could no longer see the people of this world as simple NPCs; he wouldn’t blaspheme against the dead at a time like this.

Holding hands, the two of them kowtowed three times before the spirit tablets of the marquis and his sons. Then they left the room to prepare to go to war.

Emperor Jingren had obtained countless weapons to please the empress, which had all been sent to the empress’s private storeroom. Now they would all be put to good use.

The empress ordered these things to be brought to the Ministry of War and placed among the supplies of the reinforcements. This was a time of crisis; no one would dare to interfere with military supplies.

The two of them worked without sleep to make their preparations. The empress left the palace that night. At the start of court the next day, he was waiting outside Jinluan Hall in full battle dress.

“Our decision to lead the expedition in person is final,” Emperor Jingren said during the court assembly. “We have no further need for your advice, beloved subjects. As for the general who will command the army, you also need not fret any longer. We have chosen. We summon Xiao Jinyi.”

Xiao Jinyi received the imperial command and entered the palace with his head bowed. When the courtiers heard that this person had the same name as the empress, their jaws hung slack.

“This is Xiao Jinyi, sixth son of the Xiao family and the empress’s twin brother,” said Emperor Jingren. “He was sickly as a child and has remained in the capital for his health. Few people know of him. Xiao Jinyi was taught from a young age by his father and older brothers. He is well acquainted with the military disposition of the northern army, and he is Marquis Zhenbei’s son. His presence will soothe the hearts of our people at the northern border. We appoint you General of the North and give you the seal of commander in chief. You will march with us!”