Prime Minister.

Chapter 1 001 [A New World]

The Great Yan Dynasty, the eighteenth year of the Taihe era.

As autumn deepens and the weather turns cooler, this is especially true in Beijing, located in the north. Pedestrians hurry along the streets, fearing they might catch a cold from the chill of autumn.

Inside a magnificent manor villa in the city, the interior is warm and cozy.

Xue Huai lay on a soft, large bed, staring blankly at the canopy above him, his eyes revealing a hint of bewilderment and melancholy.

It has been quite a while since he woke up, but he still cannot fully calm down.

This is because he was transported to a completely unfamiliar world where he knew nothing.

After the initial shock and surprise, Xue Huai quickly fell into a complex state of mind, unable to distinguish between joy and sorrow.

In his previous life, he was intelligent and hardworking. After graduating from university, he successfully entered the civil service by taking the civil service exam. With his cautious yet principled nature and outstanding abilities, coupled with the appreciation of his mentor, he became a rising star in the officialdom in his thirties.

However, an unusually raging flood suddenly struck, and an accident brought Xue Huai's glorious chapter in life to an abrupt end.

He tragically sacrificed his life on the front lines of flood control.

In the final stages of his life, Xue Huai was enveloped by an endless, raging flood, and the suffocating feeling of despair dragged him into the abyss.

He didn't know how long he had been unconscious in the void when he opened his eyes again and saw this antique house.

She was covered with a warm brocade quilt, and a plain-colored gauze curtain hung over the carved wooden bed. A bronze crane-head lamp stood on the table, its oil already burned out.

Against the east wall stood a yellow pearwood table with upturned ends, a celadon vase with several sprigs of autumn chrysanthemums inserted at an angle, sunlight filtering through the window lattice seeping into the porcelain body, and a three-legged incense burner in the corner emitting wisps of smoke, carrying a faint scent of agarwood.

In this bedroom, Xue Huai could not see the familiar utensils from his previous life.

At first, he thought he was in a specially designed sanatorium, but he gradually accepted the fact that he had transmigrated after his memories merged with those of this body.

Xue Huai's only consolation was that he was still on the familiar blue planet and had not been transported to some strange and bizarre planet.

However, the historical process of this world is different from his memories of his previous life.

The turning point occurred at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

In this life, after the fall of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Cao Wei regime unified the country, and the Sima clan's attempt to seize power failed. After the Wei Dynasty, there were no Tang, Song, Yuan, or Ming dynasties, but rather a new dynasty.

The Great Yan Kingdom, where Xue Huai is now located, was founded 120 years ago, roughly in the early Ming Dynasty of the previous life, around 1400 AD.

The current emperor is the seventh emperor of the Great Yan Dynasty, and has reigned for eighteen years. Xue Huai was born in the year he ascended the throne.

"Eighteen years old...that's wonderful."

Xue Huai sighed, slowly sat up from the bed, and dragged his tired body to the yellow pear wood table with upturned ends. His gaze fell on the bronze mirror on the table.

What came into view was a young and handsome face, with excellent features, well-defined eyebrows and eyes, a sculpted nose, and a slender figure with a youthful elegance, like a stalk of green bamboo.

His face was pale, as if he had just recovered from a serious illness.

The original owner of this body came from an excellent family. His father, Xue Mingzhang, was a member of a collateral branch of the Xue family of Hedong. Although the powerful families of today have declined and are not as influential as they were hundreds of years ago, they still have some connections and influence in officialdom.

Xue Mingzhang entered officialdom at the age of nineteen and got married at the age of twenty-three. He and his wife, Cui, were deeply in love, and the couple had their only son, Xue Huai, the following year.

His career progressed smoothly. At the age of 29, he was appointed as the prefect of Yangzhou. At the age of 33, he was transferred to the capital as the vice minister of the Court of Judicial Review. Two years later, he was promoted by the emperor to the minister of the Court of Judicial Review. Such a speed of promotion was extremely rare, which was enough to prove that he was an important minister who was favored by the emperor.

Unfortunately, fate was cruel to this talented man; Xue Mingzhang died of illness not long after, at the age of thirty-six.

After completing his three-year mourning period, Xue Huai participated in the imperial examination and passed all the tests with flying colors. At the age of sixteen, he became the youngest new third-ranked scholar in the history of the Great Yan Dynasty. He then entered the Hanlin Academy and took up the position of seventh-rank editor.

Recalling this moment, and looking at the young man's refined face in the mirror, Xue Huai couldn't help but feel a pang of envy.

The imperial examination path, which many people take more than ten or even several decades to complete, was completed by the man in the mirror in just one year. He achieved first place in the county examination in February of the fifteenth year of the Taihe era, passed the provincial examination in the autumn, and was selected as the third-ranked scholar by the emperor in the palace examination the following spring. Such a resume is enough to make countless scholars envious and crazy.

Perhaps there was some influence from his deceased father. Xue Mingzhang was a well-known close minister of the emperor. It is said that when he passed away, the emperor was furious with the imperial physicians, scolding them as a bunch of useless incompetents who could not save his trusted minister.

Whether it was out of affection for the emperor or a desire to gain favor through connections, the emperor showed concern for the young Xue Huai on more than one occasion, which made Xue Huai's path in the imperial examinations extremely smooth, without encountering any difficulties from beginning to end.

Of course, Xue Huai himself was also quite talented and insightful. Although he was young, he was already quite accomplished in writing and was known as a child prodigy.

"With such a good background and a bright future that is clearly visible to the naked eye, you have made such a mess of yourself."

Looking at his weak reflection in the mirror, Xue Huai's eyes revealed a hint of regret.

He had come to realize why he had become the way he was.

Yesterday, he came to the water's edge alone, looking lost and dejected, and accidentally fell into the winding river. The shadow of death loomed over him, but the original owner of this body gave up struggling and let himself fall to the bottom of the water.

It now appears that he was rescued and placed in this unfamiliar room.

However, the truth is not so. The original owner has passed away, and the soul in this body now comes from another world.

Judging from the situation at the time, the original owner had a chance to struggle for survival, but he chose to give it up.

Why would a promising young person in the prime of life have such a strong tendency to self-destruct?

Xue Huai was very puzzled. He wanted to know what changes had happened to the original owner of this body in the nearly two years since he participated in the imperial examination.

As he carefully explored the threads of memory, Xue Huai's expression gradually became serious.

In general, this is a tragic story of someone who had a perfect start but ruined a great hand.

The original owner not only had the ancestral love left by his deceased father, the emperor's appreciation and attention, the reputation of being a child prodigy that had been passed down since childhood, and admirable talent and learning, but also had two powerful backers in the court.

One of them was Xue Minglun, the Minister of Works. He was a direct descendant of the Xue clan of Hedong and a cousin of Xue Mingzhang. Although they were beyond the fifth degree of kinship, they were still related by the same surname, Xue. In officialdom, even people from the same hometown could become allies, let alone someone like them.

The second was Shen Wang, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites. He was the chief examiner of the imperial examination two years ago, and Xue Huai's mentor in the examination. Although his official position was not top-notch, he was recognized as the leader of the upright officials in the court and had a place among the important ministers of the cabinet.

With such a powerful background and connections, even if Xue Huai had only average talent, as long as he followed the established path and honed his skills every three years, he would certainly have a good chance of entering the cabinet and becoming a high-ranking official.

but--

Xue Mingzhang was known for his integrity and uprightness during his lifetime. While serving as the prefect of Yangzhou, he also served as the salt inspector. The local people praised him as having the heart of a bodhisattva and the strength of a ruthless warrior. He subdued those cunning and vicious salt merchants, and the impoverished artisans were even more grateful to him.

Xue Mingzhang entered the court as an official due to his outstanding political achievements. He never relaxed his education of Xue Huai. Even on his deathbed, he kept telling Xue Huai to be a loyal person who would benefit the country and the people.

Therefore, when the original owner entered officialdom, he regarded his deceased father's teachings as the guiding principle, and within just half a year, he became a notorious troublemaker in the court and among the people.

The Great Yan Dynasty has enjoyed a long period of peace, but the court is in chaos and rife with evil, especially the Ning faction led by Grand Secretary Ning Hengzhi. They flatter and deceive the emperor, form cliques and eliminate dissidents in the court, and impose exorbitant taxes and exploit the people in the provinces.

The original owner could not ignore this, even though one of the core members of the Ning Party was Xue Minglun, the Minister of Works, he would never bow down and submit to these demons and monsters.

In the past two years, the original owner frequently impeached members of the Ning Party, but the number of times he succeeded was very small, and most of those impeachments disappeared without a trace.

The original owner knew that his own strength was weak, so he often sought help from his mentor Shen Wang. After all, his teacher was the leader of the upright faction and was naturally opposed to those treacherous officials.

However, no matter how hard he tried, Shen Wang remained unmoved, only reassuring him, "Be patient and wait for the right time."

The arguments that took place in the Shen family study flooded Xue Huai's mind. He was like a ghost hiding at the scene, watching the original owner and Shen Wang engage in an extremely sharp debate about the current political situation.

In the end, even though Shen Wang admired the original owner, he was somewhat disappointed by his stubborn temper and even forbade him from visiting without a reason.

Furthermore, with the Ning Party now in power, the original owner's reckless actions have made countless enemies. Even though Xue Minglun, out of consideration for the clan, did not order his henchmen to kill the original owner, the ridicule, suppression, exclusion, and isolation continued unabated. Even his colleagues in the Hanlin Academy looked at him with strange eyes, as if he were some kind of demon or monster, someone to be avoided at all costs.

From a once-renowned prodigy to a state of complete isolation and betrayal, one can imagine how desperate the original owner must have felt.

Xue Huai could roughly understand this state of mind.

In his previous life, he was cautious and prudent in officialdom, but because of his poor background, he could not afford to make any mistakes. He had also seen many colleagues with powerful backgrounds who had a smooth life from childhood to adulthood, living in an environment where everyone praised them. As a result, he inevitably made a simplistic view of problems and eventually squandered all the resources at his disposal, making it difficult for him to advance any further in his life.

However, Xue Huai still greatly admired the original owner, after all, not everyone has the courage to venture into dangerous territory.

"You are an idealist, and I respect you very much."

Looking at his young face in the mirror, Xue Huai continued to murmur in his heart, "I have no right to judge your actions, but I think you should protect yourself first. Perhaps you let go of all your entanglements when you were drowning yesterday, no longer having to face that suffocating helplessness, and can finally rest in peace. Since fate has made me become you, I will try my best to live well, hoping not to disappoint those who care about you, and to have the opportunity to fulfill your long-cherished wish."

He stood quietly.

A moment later, a mocking voice suddenly came from the side: "Tsk."

Xue Huai turned his head and saw a slender figure standing against the light by the door, her face hidden in the shadows. Xue Huai could hear the sarcasm in her cold tone.

"If you ever think of suicide, remember to stay away from my villa."

"Do not disturb my peace."

……

……

(My new book is here! Please add it to your collection and recommend it to support me! The new book is set in an alternate history, but it uses real geography. This is mainly for everyone's convenience, and it's definitely not because I'm being lazy, hehe. Also, during the new book period, there will be two updates every day, at 8 am.)
(End of this chapter)