Accross a Thousand Lifetimes, I Still Choose You
Historical Palace (First Sparks)
Chapter 1 – Scholar in the Lion’s Den
When Lin Chen woke, the world was not the one he knew. He found himself staring up at a ceiling painted with clouds and cranes, the brushstrokes elegant, the colors vivid despite the dim light filtering through the latticed windows. The bedding beneath him smelled faintly of sandalwood, and in the distance, bells chimed from a tall watchtower.
Lin Chen (MC)
(muttering):“…So this is the palace world. Definitely not my crummy apartment anymore. The rent here must be outrageous.”
System
[Mission World 1 initialized. Identity assigned: Junior Court Scholar, Lin Chen. Task: Ensure Crown Prince Xu Jian survives until succession is secured. Failure: Host obliteration.]
Lin Chen (MC)
(rubbing his face):“Oh perfect. Babysitting a future tyrant. Exactly the kind of career path my mom always dreamed of for me.”
System
[Reminder: Crown Prince Xu Jian’s survival rate at current trajectory: 13%.]
Lin Chen (MC)
(stunned):“…Thirteen? Are you insane? That’s not a survival rate, that’s— that’s basically a discount coupon for death!”
System
[Statement: Host panic irrelevant.]
Lin Chen (MC)
“…I swear one day I’m uninstalling you.”
Before he could argue further, a sharp knock rattled the wooden door.
Enuch
(outside, voice smooth as silk):“Scholar Lin? The morning study session begins shortly. His Highness, the Crown Prince, will be present.”
Lin Chen (MC)
(mutters under breath):“…Fantastic. Day one and I’m already serving as fresh meat for the lions.”
Pulling on his scholar’s robes—plain, simple, the blue cloth barely pressed—Lin Chen followed the eunuch out. The palace corridors stretched endlessly, lined with vermilion pillars and golden beams. Palace servants hurried past, whispering behind their sleeves. Other young scholars, robed like him, strode ahead with ambition stiffening their backs.
But Lin Chen kept his head down. His “identity file” told him everything: he was one of many fresh scholars brought from the provinces, too insignificant to be noticed. Exactly the kind of cannon fodder who died in palace intrigue without even leaving a name in the history books.
The Hall of Classics loomed before him, vast and solemn. Dragons coiled across the painted roof, their golden scales glinting faintly in the lantern light. Rows of ministers and scholars knelt neatly, murmuring greetings.
At the far end of the hall, seated upon a raised dais, was the one person Lin Chen had been ordered to save.
The Crown Prince—Xu Jian.
He was twenty. Dressed in deep azure robes embroidered with golden dragons, his posture radiated effortless authority. His face was sharp, almost too perfect, as though carved by an unforgiving blade. The hall’s atmosphere shifted around him, tightening with silent fear. Even seasoned ministers bent lower under that gaze, as though afraid to breathe too loudly.
Lin Chen (MC)
(thinking furiously):“…Great. He looks exactly like the type who could order an execution just because someone sneezed in the wrong direction.”
And yet, beneath the veneer of arrogance, Lin Chen caught it: a trace of weariness in the prince’s eyes. A hollowness that did not belong to a man supposedly in control of everything.
Xu Jian’s gaze swept across the kneeling rows—sharp, cold, assessing. It brushed past ministers, lingered briefly on senior officials… and then, suddenly, stopped.
Stopped directly on Lin Chen
Lin Chen (MC)
(panicked, bowing instantly):“Not me, not me, I am invisible, you do not see me—”
The weight of that stare pressed down on him, like a blade drawn but not yet swung. And Lin Chen, heart pounding, realized that his mission had begun not in some distant crisis but right here, under the gaze of the man who was fated to bring both destruction and ruin.
Lin Chen (MC)
(thinking bitterly):“System says just survive? Ha. As if keeping Mister Murderous Crown Prince alive in this snake pit is going to be that easy…”
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