Ancheng, the capital of the Great Chu Empire.
December 12th in the twenty-first year of Emperor Yuan of Chu. A biting wind howled, and heavy snow filled the air!
Outside the North Gate of Ancheng, a young man of around twenty knelt in the snow, already frozen stiff like a snow sculpture.
At that moment, a graceful middle-aged woman in court attire came running out from the North Gate, clearly having just come from the Imperial Palace.
Running as she shouted, she cried, "Lie'er, get up quickly! Even if you failed to meet your Imperial Father's conditions, at the very least we can cast aside this royal status..."
The "snow sculpture" was named Zhao Lie, the Ninth Prince of the Great Chu Empire and the son of Emperor Yuan. Yet precisely because his true origins were murky—he was born to a palace maid—he was disfavored.
This beautiful woman, Zhu Lian, was none other than his mother.
Zhu Lian was born to a tenant farming family on the outskirts of Ancheng. Having entered the palace through a beauty pageant, her humble background subjected her to endless bullying ever since she arrived within the palace walls.
Before entering the palace, Zhu Lian had actually been betrothed to a blacksmith's son named Qin Yong.
Though the couple had not yet performed the formal wedding ceremony, they had already crossed the line.
Ashamed after tasting the forbidden fruit, Zhu Lian returned to her parents' home that very day.
Along the way, however, she ran into local bailiffs conscripting beauties for the imperial court.
Finding that they were one person short and noticing Zhu Lian's considerable charms, the bailiffs asked no questions and dragged her off to make up the numbers.
Despite Zhu Lian repeatedly declaring along the journey that she already had a husband, the bailiffs, intent on fulfilling their quota, paid her no mind at all.
The Great Chu Empire's beauty pageants required contestants to be unmarried. Although Zhu Lian was already wed, she had not yet performed the formal wedding ceremonies, which barely allowed her to meet the criteria.
More than ten days later, Zhu Lian and several other women were brought into the palace.
During this period, Zhu Lian suffered from dizziness and frequent bouts of nausea. Believing it was simply the result of insomnia, vivid dreams, and extreme fright, she paid these symptoms no mind at all.
Perhaps as a twist of fate, on the very evening of Zhu Lian's arrival in the palace, before she had even undergone the "body inspection," she happened to run into a heavily intoxicated Emperor Yuan.
In his drunken stupor, the Emperor swept her up into his arms and carried her to his chambers...
In truth, once they had stripped that night, Emperor Yuan was already dead drunk and accomplished nothing.
When he woke at dawn, he discovered a woman lying beside him.
Rubbing his eyes, Emperor Yuan snapped to full alertness and hastily demanded to know who she was.
Zhu Lian immediately replied that she was a newly selected maiden who had just entered the palace.
Nodding, Emperor Yuan got out of bed and immediately summoned the Head Eunuch Yan Song to record Zhu Lian's name.
Whether intentionally or not, Emperor Yuan cast a glance at the bedsheet, seeing a patch of virgin blood the size of a few copper coins upon the snow-white linen...
Zhu Lian became pregnant and, after a full-term pregnancy, gave birth to a son—none other than this "snow sculpture," Zhao Lie. Ranked ninth among Emperor Yuan's offspring, he was never favored by Zhao Yuanxiu because of his ambiguous origins.
For reasons unknown, Emperor Yuan actually harbored a deep aversion toward this Ninth Prince.
Consequently, having fallen out of favor and lost all influence, Zhao Lie was bullied by his imperial brothers and sisters from a tender age, and even the children of court ministers dared to push him around.
As a result, Zhao Lie grew up timid and fearful, harboring a deep sense of inferiority, weak and incompetent. Though he lived within the Imperial Palace, he and his mother depended solely on each other for survival.
Last night, however, Emperor Yuan had suddenly visited Zhu Lian's residence, leaving both mother and son pleasantly surprised yet filled with nervous anxiety.
Emperor Yuan cast a glance at Zhao Lie and said, "Ninth son, it is not that your father wishes to criticize you, but you cannot wield a writing brush in scholarship nor hold a blade in martial arts. You are already nineteen years old, yet you remain so utterly accomplished at nothing, truly bringing utter disgrace upon the imperial house of Zhao!"
"Your Imperial Father's teachings are entirely correct! This son..."
Before Zhao Lie could finish, Emperor Yuan cut him off and said coldly, "Enough, enough, there is no need to speak further. Your Thirteenth Sister has petitioned me on multiple occasions to bestow a royal title upon you. Unable to withstand her constant urging, I finally agreed to her demand!"
"This concubine thanks Your Majesty for this boundless grace on behalf of Lie'er!" Zhu Lian hurriedly prostrated herself.
"This son offers his deepest thanks to Imperial Father!" Zhao Lie likewise fell prostrate to the ground.
Emperor Yuan let out a cold "Hmph" and continued frostily, "Do not rejoice too soon, mother and son. If I am to confer a royal title upon you, this Emperor has conditions. I wonder if you dare to accept?"
"Imperial Father, please state them. No matter the condition, this son shall fulfill it even if it shatters my bones to dust!" Timid though he was, Zhao Lie longed to win the approval of Emperor Yuan. Now that the opportunity had arrived, how could he possibly let it slip away?
"Good! That is truly a son of mine. Go and kneel outside the North Gate right now. If you are still breathing by tomorrow morning at the hour of Chen, your father shall grant you a royal title!" Emperor Yuan sneered.
Hearing this, mother and son were struck with dismay. This was nothing less than a disguised execution.
It was currently the depth of winter, and heavy snow had been falling for over ten days. Although they were in the southern regions, Ancheng lay in the northernmost part of the south, with temperatures hovering around minus ten degrees Celsius.
To kneel outside the city's North Gate until the hour of Chen tomorrow in such atrocious, snowy weather meant there was virtually no chance of survival.
"This son is willing to go, and prays that Imperial Father will keep his word!" Though he knew certain death awaited him, Zhao Lie agreed regardless, knowing he had no other choice.
"A sovereign never breaks his word! As long as you survive, at tomorrow's morning court session, your father shall announce this before all civil and military officials," Emperor Yuan said in an icy tone.
And so, braving the bitter cold and biting snow, Zhao Lie made his way outside the city's North Gate, sinking to both knees in the two-foot-deep snowdrifts before the gate.
By the hour of Chen, Zhu Lian came weeping to find Zhao Lie, knowing he must have frozen to death.
The timeline shifts forward to the 2040s of the twenty-first century. A major military conflict had broken out on the Blue Planet, and a captain of a special operations unit was leading a small team deep behind enemy lines.
The captain of this special operations team was also named Zhao Lie. A top scholar and graduate of the nation's premier military academy, he possessed a superhuman memory and a photographic recall. After graduation, he had applied to join the special forces.
Years later, having repeatedly performed extraordinary military feats, he rose to become an outstanding special operations commander—a true King of Soldiers.
Yet this time, tragedy struck, and he was unfortunately shot in the head.
As Zhao Lie fell, he clearly felt his soul leave his body, traversing countless spans of time and space...
When he finally regained consciousness, he found himself lying in the arms of a tearful, beautiful middle-aged woman.
The beautiful woman was weeping so hard she was a complete mess.
Seeing this sight, Zhao Lie was utterly stunned. At that moment, his mind ached as if it were splitting open, and the memories of both his past and present lives flooded into his consciousness at once.
"Damn it! I've actually transmigrated!" Zhao Lie thought to himself. "Such an absurd thing has actually happened to me."
As Zhao Lie searched his mind for information regarding this Ninth Prince who shared his exact name, he discovered that he was facing a life-or-death crisis.
Because of his murky origins, this unfavored Ninth Prince had never won the affection of Emperor Yuan of Chu, Zhao Zhen, and had lived a thoroughly miserable existence for nineteen years.
Just last night, he had frozen to death in the snow outside the North Gate, and today at the hour of Chen, his soul—this Zhao Lie—had transmigrated into his body.
Since that was the case, now that I have borrowed your body, I, Zhao, shall exact justice for you!
At that moment, Zhao Lie discovered eight tiny characters inscribed upon the palm of his left hand: "In times of need, remember the past; whatever is desired shall appear!"
Pondering these eight characters carefully, Zhao Lie immediately understood what was happening, and a wave of wild joy surged within his heart: with these eight characters, he would make a tremendous splash in this new world. He knew full well that this was what web novels referred to as a "golden finger."
Therefore, he said to the weeping Zhu Lian, "Mother, your son is not dead!"
"Ah! Lie'er... you... do not frighten Mother! It is Mother's fault for not having the ability to protect you! Sob, sob, sob!" Zhu Lian wept even more heartbrokenly.
"Mother! Your son truly is not dead!" Zhao Lie said as he laboriously shifted his body, attempting to stand up.
Seeing this, Zhu Lian wept tears of joy. "Ah! Lie'er, you really are still alive! Good! Thank the heavens! Thank the heavens!"
Prostrating herself in the snow, Zhu Lian kowtowed to the heavens again and again.
The agents sent by Emperor Yuan to keep watch immediately rushed back to the palace to report: The Ninth Prince had not frozen to death!