Are you not my cousin?

Darkness kept washing over Ye Qingyan in waves.

Deep within her soul, a glowing golden character—"Imprisonment"—acted like a GPS tracker, binding her soul's signal to Chen Huai'an's with inescapable force.

It was entirely bidirectional.

The moment he entertained even the slightest stray thought, she would be forced to experience the ten traditional tortures of the Qing dynasty firsthand.

I really have to thank you so much.

Would you like me to hand this supreme blessing right over to you?

Could this wretched system please try acting like an actual human being for once?

With a sudden weakness in her knees, Ye Qingyan collapsed backward.

The next second, she fell into an embrace that was not particularly broad, yet remarkably firm.

The faint, cool fragrance unique to Chen Huai'an, mingled with a subtle trace of blood, drifted into her senses.

He tightened his arms around her, his movements somewhat stiff, as if this were his very first time holding someone, clearly lacking in practice and trembling slightly.

"My lady... are you alright?"

As soon as he spoke, his voice was hoarse beyond recognition.

Leaning against his chest, Ye Qingyan lacked even the strength to lift a single finger.

Right now, she was absolute sludge—sludge that had been fried to a crisp by the system's overclocked CPU.

"Don't call me 'my lady'," Ye Qingyan wheezed out, utterly devoid of energy. "I'm going to be cursed to death by you calling me that."

Chen Huai'an's body noticeably stiffened.

He held her close, maintaining a prolonged silence.

After a long while, he finally asked in a voice that was barely more than a whisper:

"Are you... truly alright?"

"You've been muttering to yourself constantly. Who exactly are you speaking with?"

Here it came.

The ultimate philosophical triad:

Who am I? Where do I come from? Where am I going?

Ye Qingyan offered a bitter, self-deprecating smile.

Things had already reached this point; keeping up the act was utterly pointless.

"My name is Ye Qingyan, but I am not the Ye Qingyan you once knew."

She paused to catch her breath, organizing her thoughts as she prepared to launch into her personal storytelling session.

"You can understand it this way: I hail from a place very, very far away. Through a bizarre twist of fate, I ended up here and took over this body."

"As for the thing inside my head... you can call it a 'system' or a 'boss'—an oppressive, demon-like client who forcibly assigns me tasks and demands my life if I fail to complete them. The founding emperor's lingering soul happened to attach itself to this system, which is why... every time it sees you, it screams about executing you on the spot..."

Chen Huai'an listened quietly without interrupting.

He merely tightened his grip around her, as if afraid she might suddenly vanish into thin air.

"The tasks it assigned me require reclaiming my mother's estate, avenging her, and helping resolve the empty imperial treasury. But that's not all... the most crucial objective is to help him bring about the prosperity and long-lasting peace of the Great Xia dynasty..."

Ye Qingyan decided to tell the complete truth; anyway, the most vital secrets had already been locked down by the system using the Sovereign-Minister Lock.

Continuing to hide and evade things would simply be an insult to his intelligence.

"Everything I did to you previously was, at the very beginning, purely to complete my tasks and stay alive."

"As for just now..."

"You could view it as me talking utter nonsense. It's probably a bit hard to swallow."

Ye Qingyan paused, feeling somewhat hesitant to articulate the rest.

"The dramatic scene I put on just now was also meant to protect you. Since the system issued a death decree, I couldn't just stand by and watch you get struck to ashes by divine lightning, could I?"

"If you died, I'd be finished too."

She spoke in a bantering tone, attempting to lighten the heavy atmosphere.

***

Yet, after she finished speaking, Chen Huai'an remained silent for a long time.

A faint sense of unease rippled through Ye Qingyan.

Seriously, my friend? You're breaking down over this already?

With psychological fortitude like that, how are you ever going to clear your family's name later on? How can you possibly achieve greatness and establish a legacy?

Struggling, she attempted to raise her head to gauge his expression, only to have him firmly press her back against his chest.

His chin rested gently against the crown of her hair.

"I believe you."

"So, you are not my older cousin."

His voice was exceptionally low, devoid of any discernible emotion.

A heavy sinking feeling gripped Ye Qingyan's heart.

Well, there goes that.

The bond between "siblings" had utterly collapsed.

That forbidden, quasi-incestuous romantic tension cultivated since childhood had declared bankruptcy before it even had a chance to begin.

Fine. From now on, they would simply be pure corporate slaves and colleagues, toiling away together for a tyrannical system.

"Mn, I'm not," she replied in a muffled voice. "In terms of bloodline, we share no relation whatsoever."

The air fell silent once again.

Would they part ways here, or turn against each other as enemies?

Just as her mind was spinning with wild speculations, a very faint laugh sounded from above her head.

The laughter carried a profound sense of liberation and relief.

Chen Huai'an supported her shoulders, making her sit upright so she was facing him directly.

In the dim light, his eyes were frighteningly bright.

Raging within them were emotions far too complex for Ye Qingyan to decipher—turbulent, scorching, as though they intended to swallow her whole.

"From this day onward, you are no longer my older cousin."

He repeated every single word with utmost distinctness.

Ye Qingyan nodded blankly. "Mhm, mhm, whatever you say."

Instead, Chen Huai'an reached out, his hand gently brushing against her cheek.

His fingertips, roughened by a thin layer of calluses, scraped across her skin and sent a shiver running down her spine.

"You are my... liege."

Ye Qingyan blinked. "Huh?"

What on earth?

What was that supposed to mean?

Liege?

Isn't that terminology a bit too aggressively stylized?

Whoever claimed the ancients were rigid and understated? Let them step forward right now so I can beat some sense into them!

Gazing into Chen Huai'an's deadpan yet deeply earnest handsome face, she completely lost her composure.

"Pfft."

She burst out laughing.

"Little brother, have you been reading way too many pulp fiction novels lately?"

"What kind of 'liege' is that? It sounds utterly ridiculous."

Chen Huai'an was momentarily stunned by her laughter.

However, Ye Qingyan reached out, grabbed the hand still resting on her cheek, and squeezed it tightly.

Her strength was gradually returning.

"Listen up."

"Starting today, you belong to me, Ye Qingyan."

"I am your backing."

Her voice was not loud, yet every word carried undeniable weight.

"Drop all that pretentious nonsense—what liege this and liege that? Call me by my name, or... you can keep calling me cousin if you prefer, I suppose I can tolerate hearing it."

Watching him, Ye Qingyan's smile grew increasingly radiant.

"Your vengeance? I will help you exact it."

"That pathetic emperor treasures his throne as if it were the most precious treasure in the world, doesn't he?"

"Who knows what a mess the imperial court has become by now anyway. Let's... turn his entire world upside down!"

[Ding.]

The cold, mechanical voice of the system abruptly echoed in her mind.

[Host's "treasonous" remarks detected, perfectly aligning with the "Tyrant" behavioral guidelines.]

[Reward: The pain inflicted by the "Sovereign-Minister Lock" binding the host and the bound target is reduced by 10%.]

[Warning: Please keep up the good work, host. My empire is mine alone to disrupt.]

Ye Qingyan: "Ah?..."

Well, look at that.

This system possessed a rather rebellious streak of its own.

She was planning to overthrow its own empire, yet it was actually thrilled about it?

What kind of bizarre neural wiring was this?

She glanced at Chen Huai'an and discovered he was watching her as well.

As their gazes locked, something shifted quietly between them.

Hatred was no longer a shackle that Chen Huai'an had to bear in absolute solitude.

The future had transformed into their shared destination.

"Very well," Chen Huai'an finally spoke, his voice slightly hoarse. "We will do it together."

The two exchanged a smile, leaving everything unsaid yet completely understood.

This dilapidated room bore witness to the birth of an entirely brand-new alliance.

A formidable female protagonist single-mindedly intent on seizing her family estate and exacting revenge, coupled with a striking yet deeply scarred young man carrying a sea of blood debts.

Add in a tyrannical system that prayed for nothing less than absolute chaos under heaven.

This combination was explosive in every sense of the word.

***

Outside the Ye Manor, the day was gradually drawing to a close.

The wind sweeping through the capital city seemed to carry a rising clamor.

The emperor's growing suspicion toward Prince Duan was intensifying by the day, causing undercurrents to surge violently within the imperial court as various factions sharpened their blades, all eager to grab a share of the spoils in the impending storm.

As a rising newcomer among the capital's influential households, the Ye Manor naturally became a target of widespread scrutiny.

The steward hurried hastily through the covered corridors, his expression carrying a heavy air of solemnity.

He bypassed the study of the family head, Ye Chengzong.

Instead, he walked straight toward Ye Qingyan's courtyard.

"My lady," the steward called out respectfully from outside the door.