Chapter One: The Prince Returns

Everyone, look! Isnt that the First Prince? Why is he being carried out of the House of Spring Fragrance? Could it be he pleased himself into unconsciousness? Ha ha!

Outside the residence of the Third Prince, the shout drew a crowd at once.

In the middle of the street, a carriage rolled slowly forward.

Upon it lay a naked man, his body covered with scars.

Damn it, my head is spinning. Wasnt I just at a nightclub, having a good time?

Half-conscious, Zhou Hao heard the clamorous voices around him.

This First Prince is truly worthless! He has only just returned, and already he is lost to wine and women! He has made the Emperor lose all face!

He was never favored by His Majesty to begin with. If not for a stroke of luck bringing him back, the Emperor would probably have forgotten he even had a son!

This First Prince is crooked at heart. It is only natural that His Majesty dislikes him. After all, growing up among the barbarians, he must have learned all their filthy tricks!

Dazed and confused, Zhou Hao gradually regained awareness amid the uproar.

Looking at the unfamiliar crowd and the ancient, elegant surroundings, he was utterly stunned.

Who the hell are these people? Where am I?

I just paid to have some fun, and I hadnt even touched the girl yet.

How did I end up here?

And why am I tied up?

Seeing the rope bound tightly around him, Zhou Hao was even more baffled.

I was only singing a song. Did they really have to tie me up for that?

Before Zhou Hao could make sense of it, he was shoved to the entrance of a government office.

With certain people stirring things up in the crowd, outrage swelled before the prince's residence, and cries rang out demanding punishment.

Behind the office, the Third Prince, Zhou Qing, dressed in fine robes, listened to the shouting outside with great satisfaction.

He had arranged all of this for one purpose: to ruin his own brother completely.

He gestured for his men to slowly open the gates, then looked out at the crowd with a humble expression and bowed.

"Everyone, I have learned of the matter. Rest assured, the law applies equally to all, even to the son of heaven. The First Prince, Zhou Hao, has committed a grave crime by abducting a young woman. He shall receive thirty blows of the rod as a warning to others!"

"Furthermore, at tomorrows morning court, I will certainly report this to Father Emperor myself, strip him of his imperial status, and have him exiled!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the crowd erupted.

"Third Prince, your wisdom shines bright! The First Prince bullies men and ravages women; he is unfit to be a prince. Raised among the barbarians since childhood, he is nothing but an uncivilized savage!"

"Exactly! What First Prince? He is just a lowly wretch who served as a slave among the barbarians! He does not deserve to be a prince!"

Listening to the curses and jeers, the Third Prince felt deeply pleased.

His goal had been achieved.

So he took up a club with feigned reluctance and walked toward Zhou Hao.

Zhou Hao, still bewildered, stared at the approaching figure.

Sensing ill intent, he gave a furious shout.

"How dare you!"

The voice seemed to come from a god of slaughter who had stepped straight off the battlefield, chilling all who heard it to the bone.

Yet the instant the words left his mouth, a vast torrent of memories surged into Zhou Hao's mind.

His eyes rolled back, and he fell unconscious.

At the same moment, the Third Prince was startled by that roar. He had originally intended to strike Zhou Hao in public, to display his own fairness and righteousness.

But now, unsettled, he waved his hand and ordered the servants to throw Zhou Hao into the rear courtyard.

Night fell, and the cold wind bit like a blade.

With a shiver, Zhou Hao, who had long lain unconscious, finally stirred and woke slowly.

"Damn it!"

After absorbing the memories, fury blazed in his eyes.

To think that a king of soldiers like him had actually transmigrated into such a useless good-for-nothing!

From this waste's memories, Zhou Hao finally understood.

Twenty years ago, when the Emperor was still young, he had been ambitious and full of vigor.

He ordered a southern campaign, hoping only to carve out a grand imperial destiny and expand the borders of the empire.

In the end, however, he suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the barbarians.

He returned in disgrace, and even the child still swaddled in infancy was sent away as a hostage to another nation.

Years later, the First Prince had managed to return by a stroke of fortune.

But after so many years apart, with the child long lost and the father grown distant, there was no longer any bond between them.

In his fallen state, he could only stay at the residence of his biological younger brother, the Third Prince. Unexpectedly, this little beast had grown wary of the First Princes status and targeted him at every turn.

Fearing that Zhou Hao might seize his position as crown prince, he did not hesitate to use his own brother as a stepping stone.

In secret, he sent men out to commit evil deeds in the First Princes name.

Then, turning around, he pinned every last crime on the First Prince.

And today, he had gone even further, drugging the original owner with an animal sedative and sending him to a brothel, staining him as a spendthrift debauched in wine, women, gambling, and gluttony.

In the end, the drug had killed the original owner outright, and that was how Zhou Hao had crossed over into this body.

"So thats it. Fake liquor wouldnt have knocked me out that badly. I, at least, was a special forces ace. So it was the beast sedative after all!"

Feeling the pain coursing through his body, Zhou Haos eyes turned cold.

"What a vicious younger brother, not even sparing his own elder brother! Damn him. Damn him to hell!"

Facing such a wicked father and poisonous sibling, Zhou Hao clenched his fists hard, only to feel a furnace of rage trapped within his chest, impossible to release.

If he behaved as cowardly as the former owner of this body, then after only a few days he would be dead for nothing.

"If they want me dead, then I will live on all the more. Not only will I live, I will live in splendor and glory! Given a second life, how can a true man stand beneath others?"

In the woodshed, Zhou Hao slowly rose to his feet, a brilliant light shining in his eyes.

In his former life, as a top-tier special forces soldier, he had always been fiercely competitive.

Whether on the battlefield or at the military academy, he had fought to be first.

Now that he had become a prince, how could he not contend for that enviable throne?

Third Prince... since you plotted against this body, I shall take you as my first blade!

With a cold laugh, Zhou Hao glanced at the rotten straw mat beneath him, kicked over the broken rice bowl beside him, and strode out of the woodshed.

In the courtyard, a servant on night watch held up a lamp and yawned.

Just as he turned into the rear courtyard, he was startled by a sudden figure.

"Who goes there?" he cried, then immediately sensed that something was wrong.

Once he recognized who it was, the servant swore harshly.

"Wretch, who allowed you out of the rear courtyard?"

"The Third Prince said you are not to step beyond the latrine in the back courtyard. And now, in the dead of night, you are sneaking about like this. What are you trying to do?"

"Oh, thats right, I remember now. I lost five taels of silver just now. Looks like... it was you who took it!"

"You filthy dog, get down on your knees and admit your fault. I will take you at once to see the Third Prince and let His Highness decide how to punish you!"

The vile servant kept accusing him.

Each word was like a blade plunging into Zhou Haos heart.

A mere servant in a princes residence, a filthy thing, and he dared to shout at a proper prince like this?

Had he gone mad?

"Get lost!"

Anger surged in Zhou Hao, and he thundered back.

Without another word, he raised his foot and sent out a fierce front kick.

In his former life, as a fighting champion among special forces, Zhou Hao had nearly stood atop the throne of the worlds strongest man.

Now, though this body was frail and injured, even a full-force kick was far beyond what ordinary men could match.

"Ah, murder!"

The servant took the blow, his body folding over like a shrimp. The searing pain sent him crashing to the ground, convulsing wildly.

After a long while, he finally came to his senses and let out a piercing scream.

But before the cry could spread, it cut off abruptly.

Zhou Hao had already crouched down before him, staring at him with eyes that held not the slightest trace of human warmth.

Only coldness remained there, along with an anger that could not be extinguished.

"I am a prince, of imperial blood, one born to stand above all beneath heaven."

"You are nothing but a servant in this residence. You dare try to extort me? Have you swallowed the guts of a bear and a leopard?"

"You dare shout? Keep shouting and see whether I do not cut out your tongue!"

"You have committed the crime of striking upward against your superiors, and even insulted the imperial bloodline. That is already an offense against the throne. To slander me in return is no different from rebellion! Even if I took your life, the Third Prince would not dare say a word. Do you believe me or not?"

"I..."

Who had ever seen the First Prince this forceful?

Under that overwhelming aura, the servant felt as if a stone had lodged in his throat, leaving him speechless for a long time.

"Get lost."

Only when Zhou Hao stood up and waved his hand as though shooing away a fly did the servant scramble away on all fours.

But once he was beyond Zhou Haos sight, a vicious expression immediately surfaced on his face.

"A useless prince like him dares to humiliate me?"

"Just wait. I will tell the Third Prince at once and see how you manage to survive!"