[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-i-just-maxed-out-and-you-want-me-to-be-a-puppet-":3,"chapter-i-just-maxed-out-and-you-want-me-to-be-a-puppet--i-just-maxed-out-and-you-want-me-to-be-a-puppet--chapter-7":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","I Just Maxed Out, and You Want Me to Be a Puppet Emperor?",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2336446,4569,"Chapter 7: You should know, asking someone for a favor comes at a price!","i-just-maxed-out-and-you-want-me-to-be-a-puppet--chapter-7",7,"\u003Cp>The young woman beside Li Chen had delicate, beautiful features, her disheveled hair framing a pale, oval face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even though her face looked somewhat worn, her eyes and brows still radiated charm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What puzzled Li Chen most was her slender, immature figure dressed in a deep purple, chest-high pipa-collar ruqun.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Such a dress only suited women with fuller figures—it didn’t suit her style at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before Li Chen could ask her what she wanted, she spoke first: “You look unfamiliar, rarely come to this area, do you?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her voice was soft and sweet, like a cooing plea, and her gaze carried a tender, lingering emotion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every man she looked at felt the illusion that “this woman must like me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Women like her were best at stirring a man’s heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Chen wasn’t fooled—compared to the seductive women in the palace, this one was practically a virgin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He asked directly: “Just say what you want.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The woman seemed to have some hidden trouble; her attire suggested she was heading to a banquet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And with her youth and beauty, she would draw plenty of male attention.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No, more accurately—plenty of male suitors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If Li Chen guessed right, she didn’t want to attend the banquet, so she likely wanted him to act as a shield.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the past, Li Chen would’ve refused—but now, playing bodyguard meant he could legitimately beat someone up, maybe even complete his mission.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Li Chen hadn’t expected he was right—yet not entirely right.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You said it yourself, so I’ll speak plainly.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As she spoke, her demeanor changed completely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From a seductive beauty, she became a girl burdened with worries.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clearly, her earlier allure had been an act.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She ordered a pot of wine, downed it in one gulp, then gathered courage and began telling her story.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her name was Lin Yue’e, a student at the Xinhuo Combat Academy; since childhood, she’d been extraordinarily gifted, a household name for her cultivation talent in her hometown.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this point, Li Chen was confused.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I told you to speak plainly, not to start from your birth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But seeing the bitterness in her eyes, he didn’t interrupt—he became a listener.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, Li Chen had no silver to pay for his meal—he couldn’t just leave.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a poor family’s child, Lin Yue’e trained with extreme diligence, hoping to achieve success soon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As expected, through effort and talent, she passed the strictest examination and earned admission to the Xinhuo Combat Academy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was one of the top academies of the TianCe Dynasty; graduating successfully meant returning home in glory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Filled with passion, she left her hometown and came to the imperial capital.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She’d expected her abilities to make her the brightest new star in the capital.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But after arriving at the Xinhuo Combat Academy, she discovered it was filled with the empire’s most gifted youths.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some were more talented than her—and even worked harder. It was a gathering of overachievers; she felt utterly ordinary.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All her dreams shattered, plunging her into confusion for a time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a period of depression, Lin Yue’e finally woke up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Precisely because everyone here was a genius, standing out would mean real value.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So she trained hard at the Xinhuo Combat Academy and eventually achieved results, rising to a very high rank.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a decent inspirational story, but Li Chen still didn’t understand the bitterness in her eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Yue’e paused here, seemingly reluctant to continue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then she drank a few more gulps of wine and, emboldened by alcohol, went on.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a woman with some beauty, she naturally faced the nuisance of male suitors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But one suitor was a forty-something official’s son, whose father held a high-ranking post in the Ministry of Rites.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was a classic idle, greedy, lecherous man who, after accidentally encountering Lin Yue’e, pursued her obsessively.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all she’d endured, how could she marry such a man—even as a concubine?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But when the official’s son revealed his father’s status, other suitors dared not compete—after all, who wanted to offend a Ministry of Rites official in the TianCe Dynasty?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thanks to protection from her teachers, the official’s son hadn’t caused trouble within the academy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tonight, there’s a special banquet: all outstanding students from the three major academies must attend—it concerns their futures.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The forty-something official’s son has made it clear: if Lin Yue’e refuses him, she won’t graduate from the Xinhuo Combat Academy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Yue’e had to go—but she refused to yield.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The situation was clear now; Li Chen understood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then why come to me?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I just noticed your attire—you’re a royal family member, aren’t you?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Yue’e wasn’t foolish; she knew royal family members didn’t fear official’s sons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As she passed by earlier, she spotted the dragon embroidery and gold trim on his clothes, so she took a desperate chance and approached him for help.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I see. You’re right—I am indeed royalty.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Chen hadn’t lied—wasn’t the emperor part of the royal family?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Yue’e exclaimed excitedly: “Then will you help me?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Chen glanced at her and said: “You should know, asking someone for a favor requires payment.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Feeling Li Chen’s gaze sweep over her, Lin Yue’e seemed to “understand,” her face flushing red.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“As long as your demand isn’t excessive, Yue’e will do her best to satisfy you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though Li Chen’s features were naturally refined and his face strikingly handsome, under the influence of alcohol, she found herself growing more entranced the longer she looked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But she still had her limits!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Fine, you said it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Yue’e had braced herself for the worst.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet Li Chen’s demand was simple: pay for his meal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Yue’e froze—she felt like she’d taken off her pants, only for him to show her this?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But she reacted quickly—she assumed Li Chen was just making up an excuse to help her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His clothes and bearing—how could he possibly have no money?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if this royal family member was broke, his old steward beside him surely had money.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thinking this, her liking for Li Chen increased a little more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But she hadn’t realized—neither of them had any money.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After Lin Yue’e paid, the group left the restaurant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The mansion hosting the banquet was nearby, just a twenty-minute walk away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Along the way, the cool breeze cleared Lin Yue’e’s head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without the wine’s courage, she’d never have dared ask a stranger from the royal family for help.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But without connections, she was helpless in this deep-water capital—she had no other options; Li Chen was her only lifeline.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As she drifted in thought, they arrived at the banquet mansion—the host was the Ministry of Rites.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Chen and Lin Yue’e, dressed elegantly, were let in after a single casual question from the guards.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the guards stopped Zhao Wenyuan, telling him servants must wait outside and couldn’t enter such a place.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Wenyuan was furious—how dare these lowly guards call him a servant? He was the Prime Minister of the court!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But then again, beside Li Chen, he truly was a servant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Had he not seen Li Chen’s gaze, Zhao Wenyuan would’ve ordered his men to tear the place apart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because he knew—he wasn’t the main character today.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The Ministry of Rites is in for trouble.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Wenyuan had heard whispers of such things—they were unspoken rules of court politics.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the man walking in now? He was the dynasty’s absolute rule.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1228,"2026-06-20T21:59:17.413Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","ec343c807f76e773646a916a26acbfb0035617b0b557c8aa1a9918cc2bcb882c","i-just-maxed-out-and-you-want-me-to-be-a-puppet--chapter-8","i-just-maxed-out-and-you-want-me-to-be-a-puppet--chapter-6",766,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fi-just-maxed-out-and-you-want-me-to-be-a-puppet--cover.jpg"]