As soon as Tongtian's voice sounded, everyone went still, including Rong Guangyan who was standing outside of the pavilion.

"Guo-guoshi..." Rong Guangyan looked around and asked cautiously, "Just now... who was speaking?"

Ye Zhizhou recovered from his astonishment. He quickly raised his hand and pushed down the small mirror in his arms. The corner of his mouth pulled up, and he awkwardly smiled at him. "N-no one was talking. Maybe you heard wrong, little guoshi. En, you definitely heard wrong..."

Rong Guangyan looked at him deeply and, with face that still had baby fat, said seriously, "Third highness, I'm not blind."

"..." I didn't mean you were blind; I was just hoping you were dead!

"Guangyan." Sha Yand pulled Ye Zhizhou's hand into his own and turned his head to look at him. "Just now, third highness and I were drinking tea and playing chess. Do you understand?"

Rong Guangyan's expression changed, and he bowed his head respectfully. He said, "Guangyan understands." As he said this, he turned and went to stand outside the pavilion like a little pillar.

Ye Zhizhou was stunned by this. He pulled at Sha Yang's clothes and asked in a low voice, "Why does he listen to you so much? Didn't you wake up from a coma after many years? Why does he..."

"14 years." Sha Yang gathered him into his arms and petted his hair. "I've been here for 14 years. Before you appeared, I had no choice but to sleep all the time. I could only find out the situation in the palace by appearing in someone's dream. I watched Guangyan grow up. Don't worry. He's very obedient."

Ye Zhizhou suddenly felt a little bit afraid as he rubbed his head. He carefully turned his head and said, "14 years ago, isn't that when Sha Yang woke up once? Wait! You didn't reincarnate yourself this time?"

"The chance for reincarnation has already ended. The rules of heaven do not allow me to break into three thousand small worlds without authorization. I can only borrow other people's bodies. The real Sha Yang was already dead 14 years ago." As he said up to here, he smiled. "He was killed by Sha Yue. Since I borrowed his body, I naturally want to solve the matter of his death... Xiao Zhou, since you want to save yourself, ok, I'll listen to you. But the matter of the soul flags is too important. Let me help you, en?"

"Y-you know all that?" The amount of times he had been startled today was too much, so Ye Zhizhou felt like he had become unperturbed by everything. "Also, what's going on with the 'Sha Yue killed Sha Yang' issue? Furthermore, why did Sha Yang's body stay the same age during the coma? Was it because of you?"

"No." Sha Yang liked the look of Ye Zhizhou staring at him seriously, and his expression became much gentler. "His unaging appearance while he was in a coma was due to poison. The unaging look was only on the surface, as his body was actually heavily damaged. If it wasn't for him being unable to hold on any longer, I wouldn't have come so much earlier than you... It was hard to find the right body. I didn't want to miss you."

When Ye Zhizhou heard what he said, he became very anxious. He quickly pulled out Tongtian, opened the scanning function, and scanned him wildly. He urgently asked, "How is your body now> Are you still poisoned?"

"Don't worry, this body has been transformed by me and can always accompany you." He raised his hand and pressed down on the small mirror. Then he turned his head to look at Rong Guangyan outside the pavilion and then lowered his head to look at the small mirror under his head. His voice became chilly as he said, "And this body is not old at all."

Rong Guangyan's back stiffened, and the small mirror trembled in fear.

"Don't scare them!" Ye Zhizhou covered the mirror protectively and said with a righteous expression, "Tongtian and Guangyan are just children. What kind of vinegar did you eat!" Then he remembered that this vinegar seemed to have been stirred up by hum and he shifted nervously. He looked down at the small mirror and changed the topic, asking, "Tongtian, you could always talk?"

The little mirror was quiet for a while, then a childish voice rang out, "Yes."

Ye Zhizhou was both unused to and surprised by it, and he poked it deliberately said, "Then why did you always use the light screen to communicate with me?"

The immature voice disappeared, and the light screen popped up. [I thought the host would prefer an intelligent system type... And this way it would be more convincing.]

Ye Zhizhou stared at the light screen and couldn't refute it. If this childish voice had been used by the other when Ye Zhizhou was binding to the system, he would've thought that he had encountered some kind of prank show and wouldn't have honestly and diligently done the missions since the beginning...

Sha Yang didn't like Ye Zhizhou disregarding him and talking to someone else at all. Sha Yang stretched out his hand to cup Ye Zhizhou's face and said coldly, "Saving the world is urgent, Xiao Zhou, so tell me whom the flags are in this world. I'll help you."

Ye Zhizhou was stunned by his cold tone of voice at first, and then he was pleased. His eyes shone and he said, "Since you know about the soul flags, then you must know what they are! I've been curious for a long time, so tell me! And you, what's your identity? How can you follow me everywhere?"

Sha Yang looked at him deeply before he shook his head. "Bound by the rules, I can't say."

Just then, the words on the light screen changed. [The host's authority is not enough, unable to retrieve data.]

"..." He didn't want to come across this 'Everyone knew but only he didn't know' kind of situation ever again! Clearly, he was the one doing the missions!

Ye Zhizhou continued to pester him for information, but it was all in vain. He angrily got off of Sha Yang's lap and glared at him before he took out a pen and paper from the space. He wrote down a few names and the general plot for him, then said with a straight face, "This is all... You really can't see Tongtian's words?"

The words on the light screen changed again. [System has a confidential mechanism.]

"Sooner or later, I'll be able to see it." Sha Yang took over the list, looked at it, and after he thought about it for a few seconds, he said, "Guangyan's flag has already been collected, along with Leng Ye's? He's a secret guard?"

Ye Zhizhou nodded. "Yes, his flag was also suddenly pulled out... Father said Leng Xin gave me a number of secret guards for my dowry... Oh, actually, father said it wrong. I'm the one taking a wife, so it shouldn't be called a dowry." He looked up at his lover with a smile of pride and raised his chin. "In this life, it's me that's marrying you!"

(In Chinese, there are two ways to say 'marry': one way is the husband taking a wife, and the other is the wife marrying into the husband's family. So YZZ is saying he's the husband taking ML as a wife)

Sha Yang laughed and lifted his hand to pinch Ye Zhizhou's earlobe. "But in bed, it is always me marrying you."

Ye Zhizhou became angry and pushed him away with a red face. "We're talking about important matters, so don't act like a scoundrel! Leng Ye must be in the group of secret guards Leng Xin sent over. I'll make sure after they arrive."

"You don't have to personally make sure. You don't have to worry about the flag once it's pulled out." Sha Yang listened to him and started discussing important matters again. His fingers slid over several names and tapped the names of Ruan Wanhe, Liu Jun, and Ying Qiong. "First, get rid of these flags."

Ye Zhizhou moved closer to look and asked, "How so I get rid of them? I have a way to deal with Liu Jun. Although he opened a brothel, he really yearns for a life of 'one love for a whole lifetime'. I just need to expose the fickle heart of the protagonist in front of him. As for Ruan Wanhe... For now, I'm going to try to get close to him. For Ying Qiong, I'll have to take a roundabout route. He has a typical nature of following along with what he's told to do. He fell in love with the protagonist only because of his grandmother's verbal engagement. I'll talk to father later. I'll see if I can find a way to get ahead of his grandmother and convince his family to arrange a good marriage for him."

It was Sha Yang's first time seeing him seriously pondering over the mission. He felt it was a bit novel, and at the same time he also felt delighted. Sha Yang couldn't help but stretch out his arms and pulled Ye Zhizhou into his embrace and kneaded him for a bit. He said, "No need to make it so troublesome. Liu Jun already has a beloved. That person is the former boss of the brothel. There were some misunderstandings between the two, so we just need to solve those misunderstandings. As for Ying Qiong and Ruan Wanhe, each of them has a fated person. It's only because of the soul flags that they met Leng Meier. As long as we find that person at the end of their red strings, then these flags can be pulled out."

Ye Zhizhou raised his head and looked at him stupidly, then excitedly threw himself at Sha Yang. He held his head and gave him a strong kiss. "You're so amazing!" This feeling of having a big thigh to hug was like a pie falling from the sky or like eating a hot meal. It simply made him feel so happy he could fly!

"It's just knowing some more things than you. It's nothing impressive." Sha Yang contently hugged him, and his tone became slightly heavy, his gaze cold. "Rest assured, I'll make sure you won't need to work so arduously like you did before."

The little mirror in Ye Zhizhou's arms shook and decided to stay quiet and pretend it didn't exist.

After talking with his lover, Ye Zhizhou's heart finally fell back to its original place. He then headed out of the bamboo forest. Dongfang Shu... His lover's name was very nice to hear, and it was a pity he didn't say it a couple more times just now!

De Gui Jun was anxiously pacing back and forth at the gate of the palace. Seeing Ye Zhizhou coming back, he hurriedly rushed over to meet him and asked, "Have you seen Sha Yang Guoshi? What did he say? Did he tell you how exactly this marriage was settled? What was you emperor mother thinking?"

Ye Zhizhou was stumped by his question, before he became embarrassed. He had actually forgotten to ask his lover how he had convinced the emperor to allow them to be married.

Seeing that he didn't answer, De Gui Jun thought the situation wasn't good, and his eyes were filled with despair again. "is there no other way... In what way is this good?"

"Don't panic, Father. The matter has already been settled. The guoshi knows my true gender. His decision to marry me was to help me conceal the truth. He's an ally, not an enemy." Upon saying this, Ye Zhizhou rushed to support him and comfortingly said, "I'm already 17, and my two sisters have already married. If there was no Sha Yang Guoshi here to help me block it later, my real gender would've been exposed sooner or later. If one day, emperor mother sudden;y decides to grant me marriage, such as to the son of a minister of the imperial court or a newly appointed official..."

After listening to his words, De Gui Jun couldn't help but imagine such scenarios. He became so frightened that his face turned white. He then asked to confirm, "Th- then Sha Yang Guoshi won't expose you?"

"He won't." Ye Zhizhou shook his head, then gave him a forewarning, "Father, in this life, I'll probably only be with Sha Yang. Just me and him, no one else, and I won't be having children. Only in this way can we live peacefully and with stability in the Imperial Palace."

De Gui JIn was stunned. His eyes became dim again. He took a deep breath and firmly said, "As long as you are safe and secure, we won't insist on other things... Yan'er, will you blame me? It was my fault that you have to be with a monster you whole life... To spend the rest of your life with a man, unable to have children."

"Of course not!" Ye Zhizhou shook his head at once, then continued to reassure him as he helped him walk into the palace.

After that day, Ye Zhizhou and Sha Yang didn't meet again. The wedding was already being prepared. There were a lot of people around them, so there was no opportunity to find a chance to meet. Half a month later, Ye Zhizhou accepted the imperial edict and, on the same day, moved to a residence outside of the Imperial Palace. Five days later, the wedding commenced. The existence of Sha Yang was only known to a few people inside the palace. The outside world only thought that Leng Yan, the third daughter of the emperor, married the orphan of some minister, and so the wedding could be considered somewhat successful.

De Gui Jun couldn't restrain himself from crying during the wedding. Others thought he was crying with joy. No one could see the guilt and sorrow in his heart.

On the second day of the wedding, Ye Zhizhou swallowed a pill and rolled down from the bed. He glared at his lover fiercely, then diligently put on his clothes and washed his face. "Quickly say it! What on earth are you plotting with the emperor? Why did she agree to our marriage?" In order to know this, he had signed a lot of unfair treaties yesterday. It was such a loss!

Sha Yang leaned lazily on the bed, eyes narrowing as of he was remembering last night's wonderful time, and said indifferently, "I have information on her."

Ye Zhizhou was infuriated by his 'post event' appearance. He gritted his teeth and said in a gloomy tone, "People who only explain halfway are eunuchs. Explain it all; don't stall."

"You know I'm not an eunuch." Sha Yang gave him a meaningful look and continued, "The emperor has long been dead. Now the person sitting on the throne is not Leng Xin, but Sha Yue. It was too easy to find information I could use against him. I just randomly mentioned something at that time, he agreed at all my demands. Now if I want him to die, he would have to die. Only if I let him live, can he live. The power is on our hands."

Ye Zhizhou was greatly shocked, "She's Sha Yue?"

What kind of godly plot twist was this!

He quickly dropped his face towel, walked back to the bed, and stared at him with wide eyes. "Then what about her height and face?" Although the world was matrilineally oriented, men were still taller than women. It was just that the setting of this world was a little exotic, as the taller people had less strength...

"There's a secret skill from the Tianshan sect that can shrink bones and change people's appearance." Sha Yang pulled his hand, looked at him carefully again, and suddenly laughed. "I used to think that those who linger on the feelings of love are wastes controlled by the secular world, but now that I look at you, I just feel satisfied and happy. If I can have you, I'd rather be a failure who achieved nothing."

Ye Zhizhou who was rapidly analyzing the plot, was stunned by his words. His train of thought was broken, and he glared at Sha Yang, feeling both shy and angered. "Saying sweet words is no use. You're not allowed to touch me for a week, or I'll castrate you!"

Sha Yang smiled and raised his hand to pinch Ye Zhizhou's nose.

After the two finished washing up, they got on the carriage to enter the palace. Ye Zhizhou could finally analyze the plot in peace.

In the original plot, the Tianshan cult's leader was killed by a traitor soon after taking in the protagonist. Judging from what was now known, the traitor who killed Xia Qing was very likely to be Sha Yun in disguise. The purpose was to seize the skill of shrinking bones and changing one's appearance that was only handed down to the leader of the Tianshan cult... No wonder he had thought the plot was a little strange before. Now that he replaced Leng Xin with Sha Yue, many things were explained.

Leng Xin, who once wanted to obliterate Leng Meier, this black history, had quickly accepted her when she grew up. Leng Xin, who once had a personality of a seducer, suddenly became indifferent and never called anyone to attend her again. Leng Meier's timing of entering the military camp was too coincidental. And as a little soldier who had just entered the army, she unexpectedly met Ying Long very quickly... Also, the timing of the original host's gender being exposed just so happened coincidentally after the original host attempted to assassinate the protagonist.

Wait a minute. The original host's secret guard was conferred by Leng Xin, and Leng Xin was actually Sha Yue impersonating her... SO the original host had always lived under the surveillance of Sha Yue? Then the plot point where the original host had sent out a secret guard to kill the protagonist, but instead the protagonist retaliated and killed the secret guard might have been an act? Also, there were still the eldest and the second princesses, and the secret guards around them were all conferred by Leng Xin... And adding in the concubines who had been admitted to the palace these past years... Since Leng Xin was Sha Yue in disguise, then the matter of these concubines entering the palace would be very suspicious... Could it be that those concubines were also secret guards? Then the entire palace was all under Sha Yue's surveillance?

Suddenly, he felt his back was a bit cold. No wonder the protagonist in the original plot was able to fight with the other royal daughters and successfully ascend the throne. Her helper was truly powerful, and moreover, he had been scheming in the dark for a long time.

"What are you thinking about?"

His ear was suddenly pinched. He returned from his thoughts and looked at his lover, who was leaning over. He suddenly realized something and said, "The birthmark on Sha Yue's body is false, isn't it! You, no, Sha Yang was the real guoshi! Sha Yue was the fake! He and Leng XIn worked together to harm Sha Yang, right? For the throne?" So there was no three-year gap at all! Sha Yang died 14 years ago and then Rong Guangyan was born. The timeline fits just right!

"The birthmark on Sha Yue does exist, but it just looks similar to the real birthmark on Sha Yang. As for Leng Xin, she actually loved Sha Yang, but Sha Yue was the one who could help her. Between love and power, she chose power. The birthmark on Guangyan's body was lightened by me in order to guard against Sha Yue, who was in control of Ming Yue Palace at that time."

Ye Zhizhou couldn't help but tug at his hair. Did this Sha Yue plan everything from the start after hooking Leng Xin? Otherwise, it couldn't be explained how he, a guoshi living in the Ming Yue Palace, became friends with the leader of the Tianshan cult that was located in an isolated mountain.

[The probability of Mu Yan, Ying Qiong, and Yu Shuang falling in love with the protagonist has increased to 100%. Asking host to please pay attention! Asking host to please pay attention!]

He returned from his thoughts, then quickly took out a pen and paper from the space and began to write wildly.

"What's the matter?" Sha Yang frowned.

"The flags Mu Yan, Ying Qiong, and Yu Shang have become complete again. Leng Meier has probably recovered from her wounds and is getting ready to join the army. I'm going to pull out the flag on Xia Yanyun first. Do you have a way to deliver the letter to the Tianshan cult?"