Sorry. I've been binge reading Number one zombie wife and am so easily distracted if I don't focus. I've never tried the spoiler tag before so let's hope I get this right.
Arc 4
Mc - Mu Ziwen, unfavored di son. Mom is unfavored cause her capabilities defeats the father's self-esteem and the father likes weak women who relies on him.
Ml - Rui Wang, emperor's brother from the same mother
Scums - 3rd prince ( I don't think I caught his name) and Qi Junyi (iirc but do not quote me on this name, i didn't do any thorough check) who holds great military power.
(Sorry, I'm doing this on my phone and my hand is cramping up )
Main grudge- on this I'm not quite clear as well but iirc 3rd prince used Mu Zifeng (ori!host's half brother) to drug Ziwen and had him delivered to the bed of pervy purveyor of beauties, Qi Junyi. They thought that by raping Ziwen, they could control him but Ziwen treated it like nothing, instead he investigated that night and found out the truth behind the matter. Ziwen was conflicted because he couldn't do anything seeing how one was royalty and the other held alot of power in their hand. Things happened, I believed they smeared Ziwen's reputation and so on, i don't really remember but when he presented evidence of their misdeeds to the emperor, instead of doing something the emperor suppressed everything and Ziwen was killed. I believed the grudge came about because Mu Ziwen was prideful and unable to bear humiliation of his ruined name. He wanted to retaliate for what was done to him but he didn't know the smart way to go about it thus resulting in such extreme measures which cause his death in the end. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong. I don't have the time to double check this.)
- Mc is reborn at the moment when he is being awarded the youngest scholarly champion and is appointed the title of Tai Fu by the emperor, which in equivalent is like a royal tutor to the royal kiddies.
- Mc returns to Mu house. His mom is proud and happy for him. His father is is also happy that this son has brought him some face (respectability and self-inflated pride for those who aren't familiar with the term.) He's all happy fantasizing about all the respect he's going to get from his friends, thinking that MC is his son and no matter what would still be filial.
- Mc resents Mu household. Other than his mother and grandparents, the rest were talentless people that lived well on his mom's wealth and abilities while shunning her. Mc feels love for his mom and swears he will support her.
-Here we briefly meet Mu Zifeng, MC's half-brother and learn that Zifeng is in love with the 3rd prince. He asks to meet with Mc before Mc leaves for the banquet. He asks Mc if Mc can pass a message to the 3rd prince that he wanted to meet with him. Mc was like no and tries to warn Zifeng that the above being a cousin, the 3rd prince is a prince before anything else. Zifeng wanted to argue but leaves because he sees MC will not relent.
- System tells Mc his kindness may not be accepted. Mc says Mu Zifeng is very pitiful. 3rd prince did not keep Mu zifeng in his eye after using him, even going so far as to cut all ties. Mc is doing this little bit of kindness because even org!host did not hold that big a grudge against him. If Mu Zifeng don't listen then it isn't the Mc's fault.
-Mc goes to the banquet where he meets all the other scholars and chats with the 3rd prince. This scene isn't really that significant other than to introduce the news of Rui Wang's return to the capital.
-Next day MC runs into Rui Wang in one of the palace halls and is shocked to find out that Rui Wang is the Ml. For the first time in so many arcs, MC is finally curious about Ml. (Which, imo, shows that our mc is finally starting to notice ml.)
-Ml is emperor's brother from the same mother and most favorited to inherit the throne but he refused. We learn Ml, in order not to miss the Mc had been in the world 20 years prior to Mc's rebirth. After twenty years of stewing in unfulfilled expectations, the moment ML saw Mc, he wanted to jump his bones but seeing how Mc was still careful around him, ml decided to hold on a little longer.
- skip skip skip things happen things happen (little interaction between mc an ml that isn't really significant.)
- (for some reason this scene amused me.) One day after work mc takes out a dagger and system asks what mc is doing with it. Mc says practice. System was like what? Mc, in all seriousness, was like he'd come up with a plan to deal with Qi Yunji. He was gonna make sure Qi Yunji is unable to have little descendants of his own by cutting it off. System was like QAQ he can't believed that the host, who was like a little white rabbit, would come up with such an idea! So from time to time Mc would practice his stabbing and kicking.
- One day Ml invites Mc to the go to the hot springs. Mc is all stiff due to all the exercising. I swear Mc's tofu was eaten all innocent like in the name of messaging the soreness in his legs away. - Mc asks why Ml is so good to him, not knowing that Ml could recognize Mc in all his rebirths. Mc just thinks it would be nice if Ml could recognize him so they could be companions. This constant would make him feel a sense of security.
Ml is like if he says he feels like they've met before and he has a very kind feeling for Mc, will the Mc believe him. Mc says he feels the same and he likes to be with the ml. Ml then asks the Mc if Mc would like to stay with the Ml all the time. Mc says yes. Ml tells him to remember what he is saying right then. Before leaving the hot springs to return to the capital, they decided to soak one last time. Mc slipped as he was getting out and Ml caught him. In this ambiguous position, Ml kissed the Mc. Mc was confused about why the ml kissed him. Ml didn't want to scare him so he lets go of the Mc and asks him if he remembers saying that he was willing to stay with the Ml forever. ML then asks Mc to think about being his lover. While Mc is shocked silly, Ml steals his tofu some more.
-For Mc this is his first confession from someone who was special to him so he wanted to carefully think it over. When Mc gets home his father tells him that they should deepen their ties to the Ml by ways of marrying the half-sister to the Ml. For the first time, it causes the Mc to reflect that in all the lives they've been together, Ml has never married, so Ml's confession should be serious, right? Which makes Mc have all kind of feels in his heart. Mc does not answer. His father tells him that if he puts in a good word, Ml will not refuse, and once the half-sister is married in, she can help Mc at court and all that. Mc is like really? Did they really think Ml will marry her. The concubine is mad that Mc is looking down on her daughter and Mc's father is also mad but they really wanted the connection and says that even though the half-sisiter doesn't have the identity to be the Wang Hao, Rui Wang should be fine with it since Mc is her brother and Mc is the Tai Fu.
Mc looks down on them. He tells them he has only met Rui Wang twice and doesn't have the face to decide Rui Wang's marriage. If his father doesn't want to give up, then he could go request it himself. Mc leaves and the half-sister is all like, oh dad Mc is looking down on her and not giving dad any face. The father's mad thinking how can Mc disrespect him like that and tells them he will get justice for them. - Mc is not happy when he goes to his courtyard. Being Tai Fu, he is allotted his own place of residence but since it needed work done, Mc had not moved out yet, but this time inquires on the progress and was told it only needed a few more days before they could move in. He tells them to prepare for the move. He asks his mother to move out with him but his mom says no despite the brief moment of wanting to do so. She didn't want to cause trouble for Ml and wanted to take care of the grandma who had been good to her. Mc did not say anything. He didn't know how to convince her.
-That night Mc had his first wet dream about the Ml... and the hot springs.
-The second night Mc moved out to his residence Mu Zifeng, the half-brother, came to visit. At first Mu Zifeng was nervous, but when he remembers the 3rd prince saying that the pill will not harm the body and Mc will be returned to house the next day, he felt no guilt drugging Mc's tea.
-Mc only pretended to swallow the drugged tea. Mc was taken and delivered to Qi Junyi. Mc carefully hid the dagger in an accessible place so he could do it quickly when Qi Junyi is not expecting it.
-Whether due to the aphrodisiac from the tea or the incense in the room, Mc's body started to heat up.
-Qi Yunji comes into the room admiring Mc's beauty and getting himself all excited, but before Mc could do anything, he was rescued by the Ml and his guard. Ml tells his guard to clean up and takes Mc home.
-The guard made it so that Qi Junyi can no longer procreate. Qi Junyi wakes up screaming but he knows that if anyone knew, not only would he be ridiculed, his father would not let him be the heir so the less people who knows, the better.
-Mc is all sticky to the Ml because Ml makes him feel comfortable, refusing to let the Ml go. Ml does not give in to temptation because he doesn't want Mc to wake up regretting it. Ml kisses him passionately and asks Mc if Mc knows what will happen if Mc keeps doing what he's doing. Mc thinks back to all the time with the Ml and it makes Mc feel all kinds of feels and he says yes and actively wraps his legs around Ml and kisses him. Ml tells Mc he's very happy and he'll make Mc happy too. Fades to black.
-The next day news spread that Qi Junyi was attacked and is bedridden. The 3rd prince rushes to visit. Qi Junyi just says he was attacked before he could do anything and Mc was gone before he got up. 3rd prince then goes to visit the Mc and runs into Ml. Small talk before 3rd prince runs off because Ml intimidates him.
- Ml asks if Mc hate Qi Junyi. Mc wants to tell Ml because now that their relationship had changed Mc didn't want to lie to Ml, but it was against the rules. So instead Mc says he hates Qi Junyi very much. Ml did not push and Mc was like ... That's it? System thinks to himself that Mc is very silly. Ml most likely had guessed almost everything already. - Afterwards Qi Junyi goes off the deep end, even more so when the 3rd prince started alienating him. He secretly began to oppress the 3rd prince and his power.
- Mc shares plan to bring down 3rd prince with Ml. Ml didn't say anything. Instead Ml proposes marriage to Mc. Mc says heirs are the most important thing to the throne, the emperor would never approve their marriage. Ml tells him its Ml's problem to solve and all Mc has to do is think about marrying Ml. Mc asks if Ml can wait until Mc turns 18. Ml says no, it's been too long and Ml don't want to wait any longer.
- Mc returns to visit his mom. There Mc's father tried to play the father-son card by asking Mc to help the half-sister marry the Ml. Mc says he told the Ml. Ml refuse and does not intend to marry the half-sister. Mc's father was mad accusing Mc of not even bothering to ask and wanted to teach Mc a lesson for disrespecting him but Ml arrived. Mc's dad is embarrassed that Mc put their business in Ml's face but before he say anything, ml told Mc's father point blank that he does not entertain any thoughts to marrying the half-sister. Mc's dad could only accept since Ml personally refused and wouldn't you know it. The girl who ran to courtyard anticipating to meet the Ml was standing right behind and heard the rejection, tears up, and runs away, embarrassing the father even more. Sorry I stink at summarizing. I feel like everything is important. But it's like midnight here and I need sleep so I'll continue the rest later.
-the third guest turned out to be Fu Wei, the renowned Film Emperor -Fu Wei: slender figure, handsome appearance, special temperament, yada yada -Fu Wei entered the entertainment industry at 20, and it's been 8 years since then. Now, he's gained countless trophies and became the first actor/singer to break through a billion fans. No matter what film he participates in, it will always become popular and earn a lot of cash. It's precisely because of this guaranteed success that all the directors want to work with him
-unfortunately, Fu Wei is extremely picky and lazy. Everything depends on his mood. If he's in a good mood, he'll accept a role that portrays him as a small character, but if he's in a bad mood, he won't accept the role even if they offer him 100 million yuan. -if it's a normal artist, they won't have the ability to be this carefree; however, FuWei isn't a normal artist. He's one of the major shareholders of Huangtian Entertainment, along with some other careers. This way, both directors and investors have no way to threaten him. -because of his background, acting skills, and side careers, most of his fans are dead loyal, and all films he participates in are his own. Since FuWei's works are very low in quantity but high in quality, each and every one of his films has become a classic.
-Linghan tells FuWei that he's found his brother and he wants to pick his baby up, but NingQin is obstructing him -FuWei says he also wants to go
-at this point, system still hasn't told NingAn (XueXing/LingZe; fuck me, so many names to remember) how the original XueXing died and who the 'scum' is -public phone of the dorm suddenly rings and XuQing picks it up. After a while, he looks at NingAn weirdly. NingAn asks what's wrong and XuQing immediately fixes his face. He tells NA that his 'brother' is waiting for him downstairs -NingAn is surprised; system confirms he has a brother and that the brother will treat him very well -NingAn is surprised when he sees NingQin standing beside Linghan. He's even more surprised when he sees Linghan coz LingHan looks a lot like him -XuQing's eyes flashed with strange thoughts when he saw the 2 outstanding men. He spoke up and said they should speak outside. He attracted the attention of NingQin and Linghan. They knew XueXing had a very close friend, but they didn't expect the friend to look so similar to XueXing! If there was no XueXing, they might've though XuQing was Linghan's brother!
-They walked to the car, but along the way, Linghan took the opportunity to interact with his brother. He walked by NingAn's side, causing NingAn's face to redden up slightly. -Linghan was very happy when he saw NingAn's red face. 'This is his younger brother. Even when he grew up, he still looks as cute as a child!' -XuQing's mood was somewhat complicated the entire time. -FuWei was waiting in the car for them. Once they stepped in, XuQing shouted in surprise because he was one of FuWei's fans -while everyone else was surprised at XuQing's shout, NingAn was busy with his own system's shouts.
System, shrieking madly: "520? It's you? Why are you here?"
NingAn: "What 520? 748, what happened to you?"
-system dodged the question and said it was just a small problem at work -Linghan tells NingAn that his real name should be LingZe, not XueXing -NingAn looks weirdly at FuWei because listening to Xuqing, FuWei was a popular actor. But why would an actor come here to join the family drama? -FuWei didn't notice NingAn's weird gazes at all because his attention was given to 520, his system at the moment -yes, FuWei also has a system; however, the objectives of his system and NingAn's system is very diff -520 is a love system, there to assist FuWei in finding a romantic partner -FuWei has crossed 4 worlds already, but he couldn't find any partners suitable for him. He always feels like he's separated from the world and is indifferent to everything, kind of like a bystander mentality. He can imitate all kinds of feelings and personalities, but it's just an imitation. He doesn't have any real feelings.
-His interest is now piqued because 520 is telling him that NingAn also has a system and that NIngAn's system is a 'scum abusing' system.At this point in the story, the system still hasn’t told NingAn who the scum is, but you’ll know in the next summary, I’m pretty sure.
I'm still at chapter 75. In the middle of arc 4. I skipped reading the previous arcs because I saw the spoilers already(I'll read them later). I'll just say some bits.
MC woke up into a cold-temperament scholar. He was awarded as champion on the exam.
It's set on the ancient times so I don't understand much.
ML is the emperor's brother, a prince who came from outside the capital. He was in the world for 20 yrs and thought MC was no longer in the world and he missed him. His system said that he'll be there thus the 20 year wait. He's outside the capital bc he's trying to find MC from other places. He rejected the throne and made his brother the emperor.
So MC is the champion and a grandson of a previous taifu who died recently. I don't know what that is but it seems important in the government base on the reactions.
I'll make things short. The development of MC and ML is so slow so far then ML just can't resist. ML had kissed MC in this arc while their in the hot springs (naked). And ML finally confessed to MC here.I'll stop here. I'm on phone and it's hard.
- random talk between the Ml and MC about how MC wanted his parents to divorce. Due to the regrets of his previous life, MC wanted his mother to be happy and not be alone when he leaves the world. - @ the academy, the 3rd prince who'd just lost the support of Qi Junyi, had started to cosy up to MC. MC pretends to be stressed about finding suitors for his half-sister and asks the 3rd Prince for advice. The 3rd Prince had a secret idea but tells the MC not to worry. The half-sister was beautiful and had MC as a brother, she won't have any trouble getting a partner. - When MC returns to the Mu household to visit his mom, he sees his father all smug and gloating, showing off to the MC that they didn't need Ml since the 3rd Prince had sent a marriage proposal. The dad's thinking that even though the 3rd Prince did not have the same status as the Ml, when he succeeds in taking the throne the half-sister would be empress and the father would get even more face! MC sees through the dad and merely asked coldly if that was all the dad had to say, MC was busy. By not reacting, it popped the air in the dad's balloon and he merely dismiss the MC. He no longer cared about the MC now that his daughter was going to be a princess. - Mu Zifeng, the half-brother, stumbles by, asking if the news was true. The dad says of course it was true. They've received the dowry and everything. The dad becomes suspicious of Mu Zifeng and whispers for him to return with the concubine. Whatever that needs to be said should be said in private and do not make the dad lose face. Mu Zifeng is heartbroken. It says that he'd given the 3rd Prince his body (someone correct me if I'm wrong) and had thought they were getting closer so Mu Zifeng was confused as to how the 3rd prince would marry his sister. - The wedding takes place 3 months later. The father and concubine wanted the MC to carry the bride to the sedan as a nod to the world that MC supports and value his half-sister but MC firmly rejected, leaving the chore to Mu Zifeng. Due to heartbreak, Mu Zifeng has become pale and thin. On the way to the sedan he stumbles and drops the bride causing people to laugh. The half-sister is humiliated and resented My Zifeng deeply, thinking he had done it in purpose since he loved the 3rd Prince and didn't want her to marry him. She got into the sedan and leaves without looking back. Whatever familial feelings between them had disappeared when she learned that My Zifeng loved the 3rd Prince. MC feels a little for Mu Zifeng because he reminded the MC of how MC used to be, enduring even when he had been wronged. - The grandma passes away the next day. The father decides to hand over the management of the household to the concubine. The only reason it had been handed to Mc's mom was due to the grandparents but now that they were gone, the father was sure that the Mc's mom would not mind handing it over because she was obedient. Instead, Mc's mom went directly over to the father and asks for a divorce before leaving, shocking the heck out of the father because divorces had always been done by the husband. No woman would take the initiation to ask for one. News of this passed, causing the father to lose face. He was infuriated that the Mc's mom would challenge his authority likes0 so and tries to get MC to drag the mom back so the dad could deal with her. MC refuses. Dad sends out other people but MC sends them back. Mc's dad is then invited to what is basically an ancient version of divorce court where the mom gave out legit reasons for it. After all is said and done, the mom was allowed to divorce the father. Enraged, the father tells Mc's mom that she is a woman and when she comes crying back, he will not take her back. - The 3rd Prince arrives too late to stop the divorce. The reason he wanted to stop it was because he was now married to the concubine's daughter and he knew the divorce would affect the relationship between him and the MC. - Next, MC wanted to finish off Qi Junyi and whispers a plan in the Ml's ear. Ml says it's a good idea but what ml doesn't tell MC is that ml has been keeping track of Qi Junyi. Qi Junyi loves beautiful boys like the MC but since he could no longer perform he'd become quite sadistic, having already murdered a few though his plays. Ml has his dark guards feed a drug to Qi Junyi that would cause him to feel what he has dealt, meaning instead of topping, Qi Junyi became addicted not only to the drug but to bottoming. - Turns out that Mc's plan was to expose not only Qi Junyi's misdeeds but his condition as well so that no matter what he will never inherits his family's power. Ml agreed. At Qi Junyi's next rendezvous, Ml arranged it so that Qi Junyi was coincidentally caught in the act by people who who were searching for the "assassin" that had failed to stab the Ml. News spread. Qi Junyi's dad eventually filtered out the truth from the rumors and promptly denounced Qi Junyi's position. - Meanwhile Ml is asking the emperor for a marriage decree for Ml and MC. Emperor is shocked. Ml says he is willing to give up everything, including his position. The emperor eventually agrees because he knew he could not make the Ml do something he doesn't want to do. When the decree was announced, this news trumps Qi Junyi's news, shocking people, but the emperor made an excuse that being worried about Ml's marital status, he'd asks the temple to calculate who Ml's destined partner was and they came up with the Mc's name. Problem solved. - MC and Ml married a month later.The ceremony was lively and prestigious with many important people attending. Then Mu Zifeng appears, attacking the 3rd Prince before anyone could stop him. Mu Zifeng had wanted to believe in the 3rd prince's sweet whispers but the news of his half-sister's pregnancy brought him back to reality. Mu Zifeng revealed to everyone about how the 3rd Prince told Mu Zifeng to drug MC and had MC shipped to Qi Junyi. Emperor quickly took control of the situation and told MC and Ml that he would give them a report. - After an investigation, the emperor found that Mu Zifeng had told the truth, and not only had the 3rd Prince conspired with Qi Junyi, the 3rd Prince was also involved in other shady businesses. Before leaving the capital, 3rd Prince was stripped of everything and the 2nd Prince became the crown Prince. - Mc, Ml, and Mc's mom went traveling across the country. Mc's mom eventually settled down with a good man and had a couple of kids. Years later MC and Ml only returned to the capital once to learn of what happen. The 3rd Prince became a pauper and was eventually killed when he started stealing. Mu Zifeng went crazy, Qi Junyi's family fell out of power, and under the concubine's management, the Mu household broke apart and became destitute. The lovey relationship between the father and the concubine became a hate relationship. MC and Ml leaves the capital and never returned. - After some years, since Ml had a martial artist's physique with strong internal strength, Mc's body gave out first. Before MC "dies" he grabs Ml's hand and asks Ml sadly that if there was a next life will Ml return to the MC. Ml said he will. MC then closes his eyes and returns to the system plane. - In the system plane, the system was happy that they scored pretty high, but MC was sad. In most of his previous lives, MC had left by means of an accident but this time he had left simply, leaving behind his lover. MC could not feel happy about the score. System tells MC that Ml is not an ordinary person. They'll meet again in the next world. MC understood the reasoning but he still felt sad and hurt leaving Ml behind. He says he knows and tells the system to take him to the next world. MC was sure that he'll meet the Ml again in the next world.