Chapter 1: Good News, Transmigrated into an Emperor

Chapter 1: Good News, I Got Reborn as an Emperor

"Your Majesty, it's time for the morning court."

A grating, androgynous voice, deliberately pitched high, filtered through the layers of bed curtains.

Her head was pounding.

Yun Ran jolted awake from a dream!

Only to find herself in a strange bed.

Where the hell was she?

Past the gold curtains were layers and layers of sheer fabric.

She was lying in silk sheets, wearing a night robe embroidered with

dragon patterns.

Dragon patterns?!

She bolted upright in bed, reaching behind her for the revolver tucked at her back,

but her hand closed on nothing but air!

The voice outside the curtains was getting impatient and repeated itself in that same strained tone,

"Your Majesty, are you feeling unwell? This old servant doesn't mean to rush you, but the Prince Regent has given a strict order—you must attend court today, like it or not. All the civil and military officials are waiting."

Before Yun Ran could answer, the voice piped up again,

"If you pretend to be sick again, don't blame this old servant for dropping all pretense of courtesy."

Given the situation, Yun Ran figured she was still dreaming, so she decided to play along as the emperor and answer him,

"I'm already up. No need to say more."

The moment the words left her mouth, even she was startled—it was a deep, steady male voice!

She couldn't believe it, so she reached up and touched her neck.

There it was—an Adam's apple!

The eunuch outside the door rolled his eyes in annoyance.

That voice sounded like a constipated dog on its last legs...

It seemed this little emperor was about to croak.

Soon, it would be the reign of our Grand Steward of the Eastern Depot...

The old eunuch was still daydreaming gleefully about his future of ruling the world.

Meanwhile, Yun Ran had already scrambled out of bed.

Her mind was reeling—what the hell was going on? She was supposed to go to court now?

Who was she?

Her face twisted, as if a thought had struck her. She lowered her head, hands trembling, and yanked open her undergarments...

The anatomy was completely different.

Oh no.

I'm a man now! This isn't a dream!

Okay, calm down.

Yun Ran finally snapped out of it.

She'd transmigrated!

Could she have a cheat ability?

Yun Ran whispered,

"System? System? Anyone home?"

"Ding-dong! Business System: Wishing you a smooth ride to the top! At your service. Would you like to bind?"

Yun Ran was speechless.

Are you kidding me? This is ancient times, an imperial empire. You give me a business system—how am I supposed to build a nation with that?

The system didn't answer.

Yun Ran had no choice but to accept her fate.

As long as there's a system, fine. Good or bad, whatever.

"Okay, bind. Thanks."

"Business system bound to little pushover Yun Ran. Activation condition: successfully unlock one modern-style shop. Time limit: none."

"Wishing little pushover a smooth ride to the top!"

"Stop calling me a little pushover!"

Even for a 20-year veteran top agent who'd seen all kinds of crazy shit, accepting that she was now a man was going to take some time.

And on top of that, the system was locked, she'd transmigrated into a man, and this man was an emperor—a puppet emperor, no less!

Yun Ran took a deep breath and tried to recall what she knew about the original body's situation,

and her heart sank like a stone.

Talk about bad timing. In the 28th century, she'd been China's top agent.

In that high-tech age, she drove the fanciest cars and used the most cutting-edge weapons.

Even cancer had a fifty percent cure rate.

As the nation's top agent, she could just download all the knowledge she needed straight into her brain.

But in this godforsaken ancient era, diseases ran rampant—no vaccines, no serums, no medicine, and even the most common cold could kill.

And yet, she'd transmigrated into the ruler of a nation, with the lives of everyone in the world and decades of peace on her shoulders.

This territory is small, squeezed between several great powers, barely scraping by. Yet it faces both internal strife and external threats, with the great powers circling like vultures, ready to strike at any moment.

The imperial authority isn't in her hands; instead, her imperial uncle, the Prince Regent, has been running the show for years. And the entire court is stacked with people from noble families!

They've bled the common folk dry, leaving them skin and bones, while they themselves are rolling in riches.

Decrees flip-flop on a whim, officials take bribes in broad daylight—such behavior has left the people fuming with anger.

So the Yanchi Emperor's name got dragged through the mud.

The original soul spent eighteen years trapped in the palace, living off others' charity, and ultimately chose to kill herself on her eighteenth birthday.

She dumped a total mess on Yun Ran, who was hooked up to a system that wasn't ready to boot up yet.

Just as Yun Ran was about to hit rock bottom, she suddenly realized—

Right! She'd soul-jumped!

That meant all the five thousand years of Chinese know-how she'd crammed into her head during her time as a special agent was still there.

It was packed with priceless medical texts, various blueprints—from making paper to building planes—you name it, she had it!

Even better, when she retired, just 'cause she was bored out of her mind, she'd downloaded over five thousand years of Chinese history!

From ancient times to now, every dynasty's rise and fall, every ruler's calls, and every era's fate were all in her head.

With this cheat code of ancient and modern knowledge, whether it's making paper, paving roads, blowing glass, or mixing lime in this ancient world,

or passing laws, rolling out reforms, or marching armies to conquer the world—

it was only a question of when!

Yun Ran steadied herself.

What's to be scared of? A second life means a second fight!

From today onward, I will be the emperor of this alternate dynasty!

Yun Ran had just squared up, feeling all tough.

Oh no.

She had no clue how to wear this dragon robe!

Forget it—the people outside seemed about to come in. She'd just wing it and slap it on.

She grumbled inwardly,

How sad is this emperor's gig? Not one maid to help her get dressed.

She fumbled, trying every which way to wrestle on the layers of clothes she couldn't make heads or tails of.

Hearing the eunuch's cough outside, Yun Ran took her sweet time, slowly layering on the robes and trousers.

She'd stretched a moment ago and found her combat skills were still intact.

So what was there to fear?

After a total circus of a scramble,

Yun Ran glanced at her disheveled self, feeling all kinds of complicated.

Time for court. She had to face those monsters in the dead kid emperor's place.

Bring it! Let's see what kinda clowns these bastards really are!