The Emperor Reads Storybooks Hidden in His Official Reports 60

Chapter 60: Changed the Channel

Beep, beep, beep…

A familiar but distant sound, regular and steady.

Li Jianyu slowly opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was a vast expanse of white.

Huh…?

Li Jianyu’s eyes snapped open. He was lying in a bed. To his left was a hospital heart monitor, and to his right sat a man in a suit.

The air conditioner made the entire room cold, and there was a thick smell of disinfectant in the air.

“Xiao Yu!” Seeing Li Jianyu wake up, the man immediately stood up and held his hand. “You’re finally awake! Are you uncomfortable anywhere? Do your eyes still hurt? Wait, I’ll go get a doctor!”

With that, the man reached out and pressed the call button at the side.

Before long, a doctor and nurses in white coats rushed in.

Li Jianyu stared at the scene before him with wide eyes.

Huh, huh, huh???

Wait! This isn’t the right channel, is it?

The life he had been used to for nearly twenty years had suddenly switched channels, and it had switched back to his past life. Li Jianyu was completely bewildered, frozen on the spot, unable to move.

What the hell was going on!

These scenes had originally been the most familiar to him, but now they only felt confusing and out of place.

“Xiao Yu, what’s wrong with you?” The man came forward and pressed on Li Jianyu’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry. I was late… It’s my fault, it’s my fault… I didn’t handle the company’s affairs well.”

Xiao Yu…

“…Yuan Feiyang?” Li Jianyu blinked.

The lover from his past life who had betrayed him, left him with a mountain of debt, and run away…

“Xiao Yu, don’t you recognize me?”

Li Jianyu touched his eyes.

That’s right. At that time, he had been cornered in a small alley and beaten by debt collectors, and his eyes had been injured.

“Xiao Yu… I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’ve already had someone deal with those debt collectors. I’ve gotten a sum of money, and we can soon pay off the debts. We’ll start over, and then prepare for our wedding… I’ll take you abroad to get married. Where do you want to go? America? The Netherlands?”

Li Jianyu rubbed his forehead.

No, in his past life, he had already died in that small alley. After being beaten by those people, he couldn’t see the road clearly and had died in a car accident.

Why now…

It must be a dream.

He had returned to a dream.

“Fortunately, that car stopped in time. Fortunately, you’re safe… Xiao Yu, I was wrong… I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you. I’ll take good care of you. In the future, we’ll run the company together again.” Yuan Feiyang became emotional and pulled Li Jianyu into his arms, holding him tightly as if in relief after having lost and found him, chattering on and on.

Li Jianyu only felt a headache, and even helplessness.

Or, could it be that being the Lord of Luoye City was just a dream?

A dream…?

Then where was the dream, and when was the dream?

Li Jianyu frowned and pressed on his head. He seemed to have forgotten something. There was a tall figure and a blurry outline in his mind, but he couldn’t see it clearly.

Li Jianyu’s breathing became rapid. He gripped the bedsheets tightly, and after a great deal of effort, he managed to squeeze out a few words.

“Don’t talk.”

Yuan Feiyang was stunned.

And only after speaking did Li Jianyu realize that his voice was extremely hoarse.

“Xiao Yu… are you angry? But I didn’t leave you, really, really!” Yuan Feiyang said with a remorseful expression. “I went abroad to get some funds. I was too confused… and I was worried about implicating you. I…”

Yuan Feiyang probably felt that any explanation was too pale, so he could only sigh and say seriously, “In any case, we’ll live a good life in the future.”

“Our road, our future, is still very long.”

XXXXXX

Huanyue City was now a scene of celebration. The sound of string and bamboo instruments shook the heavens, and the celebratory banquet had been going on for two days. The common people could finally open their doors and celebrate with the soldiers. The victorious soldiers received gifts from the people of the city, and exchanged flirtatious glances with the young men and women of the city.

The city was a scene of celebration, but the atmosphere in the Jinyue Manor was solemn.

In the master bedroom, the calming scent of incense wafted from the incense burner. The room was very quiet, with only the sound of dripping water.

Chong Xi sat by the bed and wrung out a towel, then gently placed it on Li Jianyu’s forehead.

“Xiao Xi.”

Feng Ju Qianli came in with a food box and sat down beside Chong Xi. “You should eat something first. You’ve been watching for two days. There are many others who can take over. Why don’t you go and get some sleep?”

“The City Lord is also my brother… I want to watch over him myself.” Chong Xi’s face was expressionless. He just took the food box and stared at it blankly.

If it weren’t for the responsibility of taking good care of Li Jianyu, Chong Xi was very worried that he would collapse.

He really didn’t dare to think about Zhao Linxu anymore.

Feng Ju Qianli looked at the unconscious Li Jianyu on the bed, then at the dark circles under Chong Xi’s eyes. He sighed and pulled Chong Xi over, letting him lean against him.

“It will be alright… The City Lord is a strong person. Not to mention that the Imperial Preceptor and the Cult Leader are already thinking of a way. He will definitely walk out of the illusion himself.”

Chong Xi nodded.

That day, in the underground Green Lotus altar, the negotiation had failed. Zhao Linxu had returned the protector and, after colluding with Li Jianyu, had originally wanted to feign surrender to find a chance to counterattack. But in the conflict, Qing Luo had still detonated the gunpowder.

The only fortunate thing was that Li Jianyu had reacted extremely quickly and had managed to contain the gunpowder in time, so the damage was not great. Half of the underground palace had collapsed, but it had not affected the people above.

But Li Jianyu, as the one who had stopped the gunpowder, was also the closest to it. If it weren’t for Zhao Linxu saving him in time, Li Jianyu would probably not have been saved.

And the price was Zhao Linxu’s life.

Zhao Linxu had protected Li Jianyu with his own flesh and blood. Li Jianyu had fainted, but Zhao Linxu had died.

Died.

That’s right. Now Zhao Linxu was breathless, his body ice-cold. But the remnants of the Great Xi had not yet been wiped out, so Xu Zheng and Zhao Zhanqi had sealed the news.

“Qianli… I…” Chong Xi closed his eyes. “I’m scared.”

Zhao Linxu was now lying in an ice coffin. But based on Li Jianyu’s “death and resurrection” last time, Zhao Linxu’s body was still densely covered with the phoenix tattoo, as if it were sealed by some powerful force. Therefore, no one had dared to bury Zhao Linxu yet. And Li Jianyu, because he had watched Zhao Linxu die with his own eyes that day, had been too shocked and had fallen into a beautiful illusion created by his own secret art.

After all, the so-called “gunpowder” was not the explosion and fire that everyone was familiar with, but a secret art sound wave that killed without a trace, destroying one’s spiritual power and soul.

Feng Ju Qianli gently patted Chong Xi’s back.

“We will get through this. We have gone through so many hardships before.”

Feng Ju Qianli thought of the torture rack he had seen in the underground and his eyes darkened. “It will all pass. Qing Luo has already been killed by Linxu with a single sword strike, and the Green Lotus Cult members are either dead or have been imprisoned by us.”

The two of them spoke in low voices, and Feng Ju Qianli served Chong Xi a bowl of soup.

Just as Chong Xi was about to drink from the bowl, he heard a knock on the door.

Xue Ni walked into the room, holding Zhao Lang.

Chong Xi immediately put down the bowl and took the little bun, smiling. “Come, come and talk to your daddy.”

With that, Chong Xi held the little bun’s chubby, tender hand and stroked Li Jianyu’s face with it.

“Jianyu…” Chong Xi sighed. “You should come back soon. Lang’er is still here.”

Li Jianyu’s eyelashes seemed to move, but then they were still again.

Chong Xi placed the little bun beside Li Jianyu and drank soup with Xue Ni.

Xue Ni said, “The Imperial Preceptor said he is already preparing the formation. If the City Lord still doesn’t wake up in seven days, then we will have no choice but to wake him up by force.”

After all, Li Jianyu’s consciousness was not in reality at all now, but was deeply trapped in the virtual fantasy he had created.

“Alright, thank you for your hard work.”

Chong Xi gritted his teeth and thought, If there’s really no hope for Zhao Linxu, then at least I have to do my best to keep the lover that Zhao Linxu died to protect.