Chapter 1 Lu Xiaoyao's Mentality Collapses

Lu Xiaoyao's mentality was collapsing~

Why were other people princes?

She saw the faces of those four people clearly: the Zhen brothers, Julian, and Yuan Fang.

Even though they started off being punished by kneeling, it was still much better than her role, where she had to bow and kowtow to everyone!

After all, there was no comparison between a prince and a eunuch!

Thinking this, Lu Xiaoyao turned her head away in grief and anger, composed herself, and entered the inner hall. She immediately knelt before the emperor, but after a long time, she didn't hear him speak.

Lu Xiaoyao stealthily glanced up and saw that he was looking at her.

Lu Xiaoyao: !!!

Chat: [???!]

[Am I seeing things? Is the big shot playing the emperor this round?]

[Ah... no, are you sure? I checked the forums, and *Imperial Succession* doesn't have a player-controlled emperor role!]

[And according to previous players, the emperor is a Boss.]

[??? Does the previous poster mean that big shot's model-face NPC has reappeared?]

[Possible!]

[Wow~]

[Um... I have a question, does our cub know that the other person is an NPC?]

[?]

[Don't you remember when she mistook the mysterious merchant for a player in the newbie village?]

[...]

Outside the imperial study, under the blazing sun, four newly logged-in players knelt, enduring the scorching heat while absorbing their character memories and missions.

Just now, they had also noticed Lu Xiaoyao's presence.

"That... Lu Xiaoyao's outfit just now... no way? Is she playing that?" Zhen Po tilted his head and asked his older brother, "That's a bit outrageous, right?"

"It looked about the same as what those eunuchs at the gate are wearing?"

Zhen Hu and Zhen Po were whispering to each other. Julian and Yuan Fang, naturally, heard everything, and a trace of unnaturalness flashed across their faces, a common expression for all of them.

Julian glanced sideways at Zhen Po kneeling next to him. He knew that Lu Xiaoyao seemed to know the twins privately, and they were even friends. And Lu Xiaoyao was now playing a role as the emperor's close attendant.

He thought that this connection of Lu Xiaoyao's was another one he couldn't reach for now. He only hoped that Lu Xiaoyao wouldn't cause any trouble for him.

Julian had drawn the youngest of the four princes, the one with the weakest backing.

Although he was a prince of the imperial clan, his parents had died early.

Although he had been fortunate enough to be chosen as an adopted son of the emperor and brought into the palace to be raised, compared to the other three, few in the imperial clan favored him.

In the imperial court, the marshal, head of the military officials, supported the eldest prince; the prime minister, head of the civil officials, supported the second prince; and even the third prince, whose wife came from the Empress Dowager's clan, naturally had the support of an old noble family.

Only he, his character was practically alone. Most of those who relied on him were officials from humble backgrounds, without any foundation.

Even if he wanted to make some moves, he had to worry about whether he would pull out the entire root with the radish. If the other three princes targeted his little bit of power, he would never have a chance to turn things around.

The only thing that made him feel a little gratified was that this fourth prince seemed to have a good mind. At least so far, the other three hadn't discovered his forces.

He was quite skilled at playing the fool to trick others.

Now, with Lu Xiaoyao by the emperor's side, Julian just felt utterly exhausted.

And Lu Xiaoyao was dumbfounded at the moment.

She realized that the big shot in front of her wasn't a big shot, but an NPC!

However, before she realized it, she had already done some things that were difficult to take back.

For example, when she looked up and saw an NPC that was a dead ringer for the big shot, she smiled foolishly at him and said, "Ahahaha, big shot, you're awesome! You're actually the emperor; you scared me to death just now."

Then... after the other party spoke awkward lines and a terrifying aura burst forth from his body, Lu Xiaoyao's little brain worked like lightning, and she thought of another possibility—the other party might not be a player.

Holding this attitude, Lu Xiaoyao took another look at the other party, and she turned gray.

She visibly turned gray.

This was a pace of giving away a head at the beginning!

Lu Xiaoyao had always been studying the culture of ancient Earth, and she still knew a lot about ancient imperial power.

So, she was going to die, right?

"Lu Changfu, it seems that I have been too lenient with you, hmm?"

Lu Changfu was the name of the NPC played by Lu Xiaoyao. It was quite rustic, but the name was also auspicious enough.

It's just that her words and deeds were somewhat inconsistent with the name.

"N-nuh, this servant was just, just a little out of it... Your Majesty, you, you, you..."

"I told you to deliver something to the Cold Palace, and you actually dared to swagger over there in broad daylight..."

Saying this, the person sitting above laughed in anger, scaring Lu Xiaoyao into a soft heap. She had been kneeling there without standing up, and now she was like a pile of rotten mud on the ground.

Weak, pitiful, and so stupid that it made people want to cry.

The chat on the screen had disappeared; no one knew how to describe Lu Xiaoyao for a moment.

Finally, a lone bullet comment floated by, which read—[Babe, why don't we go home and find a job in a factory.]

Lu Xiaoyao, who couldn't see the bullet comments, was crying in her heart, prostrate on the ground, already brainstorming to save herself!

Just now, the person above mentioned "Cold Palace" and "delivering something," without dwelling on the stupid things she said earlier. Could it be that her character had done something that the other party was not satisfied with?

Thinking this, Lu Xiaoyao gritted her teeth and kowtowed, begging for forgiveness, "Please give this servant another chance, Your Majesty. What happened last time was an accident. This time, this servant will definitely do things properly and there will absolutely not be a next time!"

After saying this, Lu Xiaoyao was afraid that her guarantee was not good enough, and added, "If Your Majesty is not satisfied this time, this servant... this servant will bring my head to see you!"

[Babe! Do you know how scary that flag is?]

[No, one chance, cub, you're...]

[This emperor doesn't look easy to provoke. If cub doesn't speak harshly, His Majesty might not believe her.]

[Huh? I remember the Cold Palace refers to a place where disfavored concubines who have been abandoned and imprisoned by the emperor are held, right? Why doesn't the emperor's tone sound like that? Can any old version players chime in?]

[There's no Cold Palace area in the old version~]

While the bullet comments were talking about this, someone mentioned the Cold Palace, which may be the biggest difference in the new version after the game update.

Mingmei saw the guesses in the bullet comments and thought that Mu Chen was not appearing as a player in this round, so she asked Guigui: "Guigui, tell me, how come Mu Chen suddenly became an NPC like me in this round?"

[Perhaps, he's tired of being a person?]

"So, you admit that Mu Chen can be an NPC or a player, right?"

Guigui: [...]

Damn it!

The host is trapping me!

But Guigui still pretended to be calm and said: [Didn't you already know this kind of thing, host? Besides, your character setting is the emperor's most secretly favored concubine, so why do you think he chose to be the emperor? Isn't that an open secret?]

Mingmei: "..."