Chapter 3: A World of My Own Design!

In my previous life, I was a somewhat famous game designer. At the age of thirty-one, I was poached by Penguin for a high salary to join Celestial Serpent Studio, where I collaborated with another well-known designer to develop a new game.

The other person was responsible for designing the background framework, while I... specialized in what I was best at—monster design!

After Cui Yan died, I began to suspect something, because the way memories could be erased was too similar to a classic monster I designed. After all, if something as magical as transmigration could happen, it wouldn't be impossible for the monsters I designed to also transmigrate with me.

It wasn't until the Judicial Court Minister mentioned the affair of Emperor Xuanzong and Imperial Concubine Lyu from the previous dynasty that I realized it wasn't the monsters that had come through time with me, but that I had transmigrated into the game world I personally designed!

The thought alone made Chen Qing, who was inside the carriage, shiver uncontrollably. If it was true, it was truly a stroke of luck that I was able to survive to adulthood safely. As a designer, I was acutely aware of how terrifying the things I created were.

Among the cases involving Emperor Xuanzong and Imperial Concubine Lyu, the Thousand-Faced Fox was one of the most dangerous entities I designed!

I couldn't stay longer. I had to pick up my mother and take the water route to Youzhou, even if it meant delaying my appointment. I'm now not the least bit eager to get any closer to the Capital City!

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Inside the Imperial Palace, after the court meeting ended, several influential elderly ministers and founding nobles were gathered in the narrow Imperial Study.

The palace of the new dynasty was built temporarily; its scale was nowhere near that of the Qian Dynasty Tian Du, and in order to finish construction as soon as possible, they cut corners wherever feasible. The Imperial Study, the Emperor's office, was scarcely larger than a regular minister's study, which caused the room to appear especially crowded with over a dozen people inside.

"Regarding the matter reported by Minister Wang, what are your opinions?"

At the head of the study, the Founding Emperor, already sixty-five, tapped his fingers on the desk which displayed Minister Wang's report, and all the senior officials and nobles present gazed solemnly at its contents.

Only twenty years after the founding of the dynasty, those calamitous beings from the previous era had appeared again?

"Your Majesty, Minister Wang's conjecture is all based on the testimony of Chen Qing, who later clarified that he misspoke while drunk. This old subject believes this was merely a misunderstanding. After all, according to the 'Record of Unusual Tales', that creature can confound the minds of everyone. If no one remembers Cui Yan having a wife, why does he alone remember? In the case of Emperor Xuanzong that year, there was no one exempt from confusion..."

The aged Emperor looked at him. Despite his advanced years, his eyes were clear and sharp, devoid of the cloudiness common in the elderly.

"It's better to err on the side of caution!" the Emperor said with a heavy voice: "If such a demon infiltrates the harem, it would be a disaster without limit!"

"Your Majesty has a point. I did not consider all aspects," the elder who had just spoken promptly admitted his fault.

"I have something to say..." A remarkably handsome middle-aged man stepped forward and bowed.

As the Emperor saw him step forward, his demeanor noticeably improved. "What would you like to say, Minister Liu?"

When the Emperor turned his attention to this man, everyone else breathed a sigh of relief. This middle-aged man was among the youngest in the study, yet he was the one the Emperor trusted the most!

Minister Liu Yu of Song, who was the chief military strategist, famous for his brilliant tactics when the Emperor was still conquering the realm, had established numerous incredible feats. After the founding of the country, he was bestowed the title of Minister of Song and was appointed as a Great Confucian of the Wuying Hall. His treatment among the founding heroes was unique; with him taking the initiative to speak, the others felt a weight lifted off their shoulders.

"Your humble servant thinks your Majesty is quite right. Such a creature's menace is boundless, and it is better to err on the side of caution; however, there is no need for undue alarm at present. I believe that this creature has not yet infiltrated the palace!"

"Oh?" The Emperor raised an eyebrow. "Why do you say so, Minister Liu?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, I was quite interested in the incident involving Emperor Xuanzong, so I took it upon myself to study it thoroughly and discovered many questionable points. For example, if the demon indeed had such miraculous powers to freely manipulate other people's memories, then why didn't it simply alter the memories of Emperor Xuanzong and the ministers, and claim the throne of the Empress directly? Why bother with the Emperor's favor at all?"

As these words were said, everyone present came to a realization. Indeed, the records mentioned that the creature could subtly confuse people's memories, to the extent that it made the Minister of Rites fabricate a daughter out of thin air. If it were so powerful, then why didn't it just turn itself into the Empress? With just a simple alteration of the memories of the Emperor and the ministers, why go through all the trouble?

"What do you mean?" The Emperor narrowed his eyes to slits, but one could still clearly see his pupils had turned a golden color!

Minister Liu's pupils also changed, revealing a noble amethyst hue, and the other people in the room, influenced by the Emperor's eye color, subsequently revealed their own bizarre eye colors.

Some were emerald green, others ice blue or scarlet, but certainly, none were the colors of an ordinary person's eyes!

"I believe that the creature can only affect the memories of ordinary people!"

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"The memories of ordinary people?"

After arriving in Lyuzhou, the first person Wang Ye visited was not the Magistrate of Lyuzhou, but the Commander Weichi Peng.

Weichi Peng, towering at nine feet tall, stood like a man-bear in the study, looking quite out of place among the calligraphy brushes and inkstones, while Wang Ye seemed more like the master of the study.

Yet, the voice of this giant man was gentle and courteous as he asked, "Are you certain, Brother Wang?"

"This is my mentor's speculation…" Wang Ye spoke in a low voice, "The royal family of the previous dynasty had the Nine Phoenix Bloodline, and the nobility, too, had a long heritage. Only the Minister of Rites, Tao Xinde, came from a humble background, an utterly ordinary man. My mentor suspects that it is for this reason that the creature chose to become his daughter."

"Oh, if it is Master Song's speculation, then it certainly must be accurate," Weichi Peng nodded at first, then continued, "But if that creature can't change the memories of people like us, how could it infiltrate the Imperial Palace? Even back in Emperor Xuanzong's days during the selection process, they would have checked for a pure background, wouldn't they?"

"It must have been a trap set long ago!" Wang Ye spoke in a hushed tone, "It infiltrated the Minister Tao's household when he was young. If the Minister's circle at the time hadn't included people like us, then the creature may have easily deceived everyone."

"I see…" Weichi Peng instantly grasped the implication. Those with their kind of bloodline were indeed rare. If Minister Tao had been posted in a remote place when he was young, everyone around him might have been ordinary folks. In such a scenario, the monster could naturally become his daughter, and once Tao Xinde got promoted, she could then enter the Capital City under the guise of a young lady of the inner chamber.

"But… what about those poems and verses?" Weichi Peng asked further, "How did it fool everyone in previous Dynasty Tian Du, which was filled with noble bloodlines?"

"With meticulous planning!" Wang Ye said with a smile, "Every time it joined a poetry gathering, it would strictly select events attended only by ordinary people. Before the gathering was over, it would alter everyone's memories, claiming the prize-winning poems as its own, thus forging its reputation for talent."

"Makes sense, but there is still one last doubt!" Weichi Peng said gravely, "If the matter of Cui Yan's wife truly exists, it means my memory has also been altered!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Ye frowned. Since the other man had already spent five years as the Commander in Lyuzhou, if Cui Yan had formed a marriage alliance there at the time, by rights this man should not have forgotten it.

"This is precisely why you are the first person I came to see!" The expression on Wang Ye's face grew somber, "If your memory has been altered, it indicates that the creature cannot completely avoid changing the memories of those with bloodlines. Perhaps… it simply cannot alter the memories of those with particularly strong bloodlines!"

If that were the case… it would be even harder to guard against.

"How much time did His Majesty give you?"

"One month!" Wang Ye sighed, "In a month, the Crown Prince will select a consort. You should know what this implies!"

Upon hearing this, Weichi Peng took a deep breath. The Emperor was of advanced age, but his sons were still young. The more powerful the bloodline, the more difficult it is to bear offspring. Considering those who had died in previous battles, the current Crown Prince was only seventeen years old and of age to marry for the first time.

And precisely because of imperial protocols, in order to ensure the purity of the royal bloodline, the Imperial Family would not intermarry with other bloodlines but would instead choose commoners for their brides.

"Having killed Cui Tanhua, that thing has lost the opportunity to slowly lay its plans, but it still has a way to slip into the Crown Prince's selection of a consort," Wang Ye said darkly, "For example… killing a minister's daughter and taking her place directly. This way… it would only need to change the memories of that one family…"

Weichi Peng nodded in agreement, "Young ladies of good families seldom show themselves in public. As long as the selection is done well, there might be a chance to mix the false with the true!"

"That's why we need to find that creature all the more urgently!"

"Not an easy task…" Weichi Peng chuckled wryly and shook his head, "If it really is that thing, it's like a fish entering the sea, how would you find it?"

"The Huang Family!"

"The Huang Family?" Weichi Peng paused, "You mean… Old Master Huang?"

"You should know…" Wang Ye said quietly, "The Huang Family are no ordinary folks either."

"I know that much…" Weichi Peng furrowed his brow, "But if that thing can fool me, it might also possibly fool the Huang Family, and besides, whether that thing has truly appeared is not yet certain. Old Master Huang is a Great Confucian of our times, you can't act rashly without evidence!"

"I'm aware…" Wang Ye chuckled, "That's why… I've already had someone probe into it first."

"Oh?" Weichi Peng's curiosity was piqued, "You have someone who can test Old Master Huang? Who is it?"

"A…. very interesting young man."

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"Alas…" On West Street in Lyuzhou, standing right at the door of Master Huang's house, Chen Qing bore a helpless expression. He truly did not want to be involved in this troublesome matter…