Chapter 1

The sunlight pierced the towering glazed windows of the Golden Throne Hall and spilled across the heavy red carpet within. Gold light shimmered and turned, solemn and imposing.

The player stood at the very front of the great hall, gaze passing over the black mass of courtiers to rest on the banners beyond the doors. The hanging crown ornaments above her head swayed with the slightest movement, and the fine clinking of pearls and jade rang clearly through the empty hall.

In her mind, a gentle female voice sounded:

“Thank you for participating in the closed beta of Oathbound. This project is an immersive romance game. During the beta, quitting, saving, and loading are unavailable. There are no restrictions on how the game may be cleared; completing all content by any means will be counted as a valid clear.

Clearing the game will grant you a substantial cash reward, and you will also be invited to serve as a company consultant, taking part in the planning and development of the official release.

Thank you for your patience.

As the crown princess of Mu, you will now inherit Heaven’s mandate, ascend the throne, and establish the second imperial reign of this dynasty. How would you like others to address you?”

“Random generation,” the player said offhandedly.

She lowered her head to examine the dragon robe on her body. The five-clawed golden dragon embroidered in gold thread was lifelike to the extreme. Every detail was exquisitely rendered, so refined that there was almost no sense of artificiality at all.

As expected of a major project backed by the state. Not only was the technical execution at peak level, the beta invitation pool was far larger than that of ordinary games; even her own urban planning institute had been allotted two slots.

“Generation complete. Current character name: Chu Yingzhao.

Phoenix crown, heavenly court, dragon throne beneath the sun. In the story to come, five brilliant and handsome talents will gather around you. They may offer you their sincere hearts, or walk beside you through wind and rain. Every choice you make will ignite the sparks of fate, composing a legendary tale of peerless romance for you all.

Initial task: complete the coronation ceremony.”

The task window gradually faded away, and then time within the game began to flow.

Like a drop of ink dissolving into a landscape painting, the solemnity and grandeur unique to the Golden Throne Hall enveloped the player—or rather, the crown princess Chu Yingzhao.

She frowned slightly. It was her first time entering a full-dive game, and the weakness deep in her body left her somewhat uncomfortable. Fortunately, the opening cutscene did not require her personal performance.

Under the system’s control, the crown princess slowly raised her hands and accepted the gold register and jade seal presented by the ceremonial official.

The air was thick with tension.

The official recited the blessings aloud, and endless praise and exaltation echoed through the hall. When the long ceremony finally ended, the crown princess, now dressed in a bright yellow imperial robe, lifted the imperial edict of enthronement and climbed the steps.

The steps were high and steep. The hanging crown ornaments trembled slightly before her brow, obscuring the weariness that occasionally surfaced in her eyes.

When she finally took her seat, the hall erupted at once in a thunderous cry of “Long live the emperor!”

All the ministers bowed their heads, rising and falling like waves, their synchronized motions interwoven with the distant tolling of bells and drums outside the hall. The banners snapped violently in the wind, their scarlet silk surging in the cold as if a mass of blazing flames, as though heaven and earth themselves were submitting to this new ruler.

What a grand spectacle. The art and music design in this game really had something to them.

The new sovereign drifted in her thoughts, her eyes idly sweeping across the ministers until a figure unlike the rest entered her view.

He appeared to be a young man, dressed in a neat official robe, bowing with the others. Unlike the officials around him, his shoulders formed a smooth line, his back and waist slender and long, his whole person like a bent stalk of green bamboo—supple, yet unbroken.

Even while kneeling in homage, his back remained straight. His posture was low, but not the least bit humble.

Chu Yingzhao lifted a brow. The hanging ornaments on her crown swayed lightly beside her face, unable to conceal the flash of interest in her eyes.

It was obvious they had turned the beautification and atmosphere filters all the way up. So what came next? Slow motion, a close-up, then the background music kicking in?

A little deliberate, but that was no matter. As long as they had gone to the trouble of making an effort for her.

The empress’s gaze followed him until the ceremonial official cried out, “All ministers, rise!”

One by one, the courtiers stood and resumed their solemn stance. He rose as well, lowering his eyes with the rest, but in that instant his gaze happened to collide with Chu Yingzhao’s highly aggressive stare.

He froze for a moment, then quickly lowered his eyes. A moment later, as if he had realized something, he lifted his head again, the corners of his mouth turning up just slightly in a calm, obedient smile.

At that moment, the system prompt sounded at the right time.

“Congratulations on completing your initial task: coronation ceremony.

Reward unlocked: National Status Panel. Current treasury, military distribution, and livelihood index are now available for inquiry.

Through the panel, you may summon important characters, give gifts to improve relations, or unlock achievements and side quests to advance relationship development.

Special note: some functions require specific conditions to unlock. Please explore on your own, Your Majesty.”

Chu Yingzhao did not take the little interlude to heart. She merely followed the system’s guidance carelessly and opened the status panel.

Ah, so special characters could be summoned.

Then Her Majesty would have to—

The next second, a shocking spread of exclamation marks instantly filled the screen, and almost every line was followed by a downward arrow.

[Treasury deficit: 56.4 million taels, deficit ratio 220%]
[Disaster refugees: 4.32 million, accounting for 11.4% of the total population]
[Border garrison strength: 72,000, supplies insufficient]
[Political instability: administrative approval rating 42%, official loyalty 23%]

That made the empress herself suck in a sharp breath.

As if that were not enough, the system panel flickered and actually began playing dynamic footage:

The northern wilderness, where refugees lay scattered like withered leaves. In ragged clothes and hollow-eyed, they listened to the distant cries carried by the wind, blowing across every sunken, wax-yellow face.

A frontier city, beacon towers belching thick black smoke. The garrison leaned beneath low walls, tattered banners drooping overhead. The sunset was bloodred, warhorses neighed in sorrow, and in the sandstorm sweeping the sky, those gaunt silhouettes were slowly swallowed from view.

In the heartland, beyond the empty and crumbling city walls, collapsed riverbanks stretched everywhere, with only sparse weeds clinging weakly in the mud. The dead stillness of the air was broken by an unknown tolling bell, as though sounding the final elegy for this land.

At last, everything settled and congealed into darkness.

A string of cold numbers slowly emerged. The solemnity of the Golden Throne Hall, the ceremonial official’s praise beside her, and the scenes just projected overlapped and intertwined like a vast farce.

[Special Encounter Countdown: 27 days, 23 hours, 10 minutes]

Behind the numbers spread a blurred yet astonishingly vast grassland. Herds of fine horses thundered past, iron hooves kicking up rolling yellow dust. War drums rumbled like thunder, and the cold gleam of blades flashed and vanished. The image shifted, and a pair of bright golden eyes, deep as a wolf’s, suddenly burst into view.

Beneath the countdown, a line of luminous golden text was displayed:

[Soon to meet the hidden character “Prince of the Grasslands” Arisuo in a heart-fluttering encounter. Please look forward to it~]

Chu Yingzhao’s fingertips lightly gripped the armrest of the throne. The cool jade texture barely helped her hold down her emotions.

What kind of place had this sent her to?

Was this still a romance game?!

A female-emperor simulator, but it had opened with a desperate guide to survival for a government in exile?

The supposed male lead was instantly cast to the nine heavens and forgotten. Chu Yingzhao rapidly swiped through the interface, trying to find something even slightly normal.

Complete failure.

Every report at a glance seemed to have a case for death. This country she had successfully inherited for less than five minutes was, in a word, magnificently rotten in every possible direction.

According to the current data provided by the system, a conservative estimate was that the treasury would be entirely depleted within three months, and the livelihood system would very likely collapse completely within half a year.

...What a deranged plot development!

No wonder one of the male leads in the game’s preview PV had been promoted as a mighty ruler of the steppe. She had wondered how a Central Plains empress and a steppe khan were supposed to spark anything other than war—so this was how, by being captured?

Written as a fateful encounter, read as a countdown to national ruin, yes? Fallen empress on the run with a child: domineering khan pursues ruthlessly?

It took several seconds of mental shock before she finally noticed that beneath the task bar from before, a new popup had refreshed.

Chu Yingzhao drew in a quiet breath and opened the quest prompt:

[New Player Guide Quest: Riding Bamboo Horses
Objective: After the court assembly ends, summon Qi Wangzhu and, through interaction, increase relationship value;
Reward: Unlock Qi Wangzhu exclusive side storyline; unlock economic module data statistics function.]

Chu Yingzhao frowned. “I... cough, I have to personally romance him? That doesn’t seem right. This is completely upside down.”

The empress casually clicked on the gray icon for the economic module. The content that popped up was quite familiar, and that did stir a little interest in her:

[Economic Module Side Quest: Once unlocked, this module provides statistics on the national fiscal situation, tax administration, and regional economic model analysis.]

“That sounds at least somewhat legit. Fits the professional lane. But why must it be unlocked through interacting with the male lead?” She lifted her eyes slightly and curled her lip with some impatience. “Don’t tell me this is one of those games where the art team rides roughshod over the planning department and comes to work instead...”

The system obviously did not understand her complaint. It simply repeated in a calm voice:

[Objective: After the court assembly ends, summon Qi Wangzhu and, through interaction, increase relationship value.]

She sighed, rolled her eyes, and began to speak in the style of an exasperated player: “Fine, let’s see what this male lead is made of, to make me go through the trouble of meeting him in person.”

So she casually tapped the [Summon] button, and a new dialogue box quickly appeared.

“Confirm summon Qi Wangzhu?”

The empress pressed confirm.

In the next instant, the scene before her suddenly stilled. It was as if bubbles had burst in the air all at once; the surrounding light and shadows blurred and stretched at an eerie speed, and all sound distorted and receded with them.

“Switching scenes, please wait.”

The gentle system voice sounded in her ear.

Chu Yingzhao opened her mouth, only to find that where her throat should have been, there seemed to be only emptiness. She could make no sound at all. Everything before her eyes turned hazy, and her body felt as if it were plunging into an endless void.

Then the heavy dragon robe on her body vanished, replaced by a simple yet dignified court robe. The great hall was gone as well. At that moment, she was sitting properly on the main seat in the imperial study, with tea service and memorials neatly arranged before her.

She blinked in confusion, a strange blankness rising in her heart.

At the same time, the voice of a servant announcing a visitor came from outside the room: “Your Majesty, Lord Qi is waiting outside the main hall.”

Chu Yingzhao shook her head and pressed down the fleeting oddness in her mind. She straightened politely a little. “Let him in.”

There was a soft sound at the doorway, and a figure entered the imperial study at an unhurried pace.

The newcomer wore a dark blue official robe, the cuffs faintly embroidered with subtle patterns that glimmered softly in the sunlight. His expression was gentle and steady, his back straight, and every movement carried a clear and refined presence that could not be ignored.

It was the same “filter man” who had just met her gaze in the court.

After taking his place, he gave a slight salute and spoke in an even voice: “This humble minister, Qi Wangzhu, pays respects to Your Majesty.”

Chu Yingzhao said nothing, her gaze sweeping over him from head to toe. From the profile summary she had seen before entering the game, she had only a vague impression of him: perhaps he was her childhood study companion?

“Qi Wangzhu...” she drawled, leaning back in her chair and tapping the armrest with one hand. “How many years have you been my study companion?”

Qi Wangzhu lowered his head slightly, his tone modest. “This minister has followed Your Majesty as your study companion since childhood. I entered the palace at the age of nine and have remained at your side through twelve years of winter and summer, never once departing. Your Majesty’s aspirations are broad and your character resolute. This minister is dull-witted and unlearned, unable to stand shoulder to shoulder with Your Majesty, and can only keep to your footsteps and do my utmost to follow.”

Was this the sort of dialogue a romance game should have between its male and female leads? Was this the atmosphere childhood sweethearts were supposed to have?

“Oh.” Chu Yingzhao nodded and continued studying him. “Then what exactly did you and I read together when we were young?”

Qi Wangzhu paused almost imperceptibly, but still answered calmly: “Classics, histories, philosophical writings, poetry, and ritual texts—all have been touched upon by Your Majesty. What I have learned is merely shallow and cannot compare with even a tenth of Your Majesty’s attainments.”

All right, it was obvious this bamboo-horse childhood friend really was not familiar with her.

Chu Yingzhao had already abandoned any expectation for the conversation and simply took it as a close-up viewing of a male model.

The unfamiliar fellow seemed equally bewildered, but since rank and deference existed, he could not say anything, so he merely stood respectfully to the side with hands lowered, enduring the empress’s unabashed scrutiny.

The entire imperial study sank into dead silence.

But the system could not read the room. It remained happily oblivious on its own:

[Task complete: Riding Bamboo Horses — Qi Wangzhu relationship value +1, current relationship value: 6
Reward unlocked: Economic Module (Basic)
Current functions include: national fiscal status statistics, tax administration, and regional economic model analysis.]

...Well, it wasn’t picky. As long as they exchanged a few words, it counted as successful interaction.

Still, she raised a brow. That intensely professional prompt instead stirred a new interest in this game.

A true infrastructure game that gives you one point and a building system?

After all, full-dive games that handed out an emperor’s throne from the start were not common. More importantly, the game’s character models and aesthetics were on point, and the interaction experience so far was not bad either.

Although the romance aspect was currently a total mess—

—perhaps she could try other ways to play? For example...

Thinking of that, she leaned back in her chair, narrowed her eyes, and spoke casually: “What do you think of the country’s current economy?”

Qi Wangzhu looked somewhat surprised, but he immediately lowered his head, concealing the fluctuation in his expression.

When he spoke, his voice was still composed and courteous. “To answer Your Majesty, this minister is shallow of learning and finds it difficult to probe state affairs deeply. I only vaguely recall that His late Majesty once said the treasury’s allocation still had shortcomings. The rise in refugees after the disasters may indicate there is still room to regulate local taxation.”

“Refugees?” Chu Yingzhao raised a brow. “Explain in detail.”

Qi Wangzhu looked up and met her gaze, yet could not read any clear emotion there. This empress had always been impossible to fathom; he did not dare guess recklessly, and so he maintained his usual caution as he answered, “This minister’s ability is limited and my knowledge superficial. I can only summarize briefly. The specific matters... still require further investigation.”

But to the empress, this information was already enough.

By ordinary logic, if this childhood friend could unlock the economic module, then it meant his talents or core setting must be tied to economics.

—Things were starting to get interesting.

First, at the very beginning of the story, the player is pushed onto the supreme throne;

then, the player is told that the country she has inherited is teetering on the edge of collapse;

finally, a character with the proper function is introduced, and the player is forced to interact with him.

So now, as the player, what would she do?

It’s fine. It’s only a little setback from the rise of a great ruler. That’s just how our romance-game heroine is; the male leads are in for a treat, the system is bringing you a master with iron resolve who cannot have her will bent... no, the heroine.

...No, that’s not right either. I really am their master.

Forget it, let’s round it off. Lady Master!

“Oh my.” She leaned back against the throne, her voice light and rising at the end. “You’ve got me. I really do like this kind of script better. All right, Minister Qi, stop standing there. Sit down and speak with me.”

“After all,” she said with a pleased smile at this “male lead,” “this game doesn’t have a save option. I’m afraid we’ll need to spend a little more time, carefully, specifically, and in depth—discussing my grand enterprise of restoration.”