Chapter 1

Brainstem Storage

In the seventh year of the Jing Sheng era,

Shenjing City in the Da Han Empire.

Rong Ning Street, Rong Guo Mansion, and the East Wing Courtyard.

In the evening, the sky was filled with red clouds.

"I've been in this world for three months—studying gets me nowhere, martial arts leads nowhere, I have no standing in the mansion, and that damned father Jia She keeps pressuring me. Without any achievements, just surviving is tough. The original owner was nearly beaten to death by his father Jia She, and at eighteen he still can't start a family or career! Where is the way out?"

Under the west window of the courtyard, a youth about eighteen looked resentful, muttering to himself in a low voice.

Dressed in a light blue robe, almost white from washing, the youth had handsome features, a nose like a hanging gallbladder, deep black eyes, and beneath his sword-shaped brows, his clear black-and-white eyes occasionally showed a thoughtful expression.

Jia Jing, the great-great-grandson of Jia Yuan, the first Duke of Rong Guo of the Rong Guo Mansion, and the grandson of the former Duke of Rong Guo, Jia Daisan.

Thus we need to add Jia Jing, Jia Yuan, Jia Daisan.

His father was Jia She, a First-Class Divine Might General who, in the Red Chamber, was scolded by Lady Jia for knowing nothing but drinking flower wine and consorting with concubines.

He is a full sibling of Jia Lian and Yingchun.

However, he is not born of the same mother; he is a son of a concubine, his mother being Concubine Liu of Jia She, who has already passed away.

Throughout the entire Red Chamber, Jia Jing, this son of a concubine, never even appears, and it's unknown whether he died young or for some other reason.

And now, this son of a concubine has been replaced by a soul that transmigrated from the twenty-first century.

"Even if he fled the Jia mansion to strike out on his own, in this turbulent age it would be hard to have a good ending! Time waits for no one; the situation of the entire Da Han empire is growing ever more perilous, the edifice will crumble, and beneath a fallen nest, how can one survive?"

Jia Jing's face was solemn and grim; he had already repeatedly considered how to break the impasse.

On one hand, he worries that the Jia mansion will be confiscated and drag him down.

On the other hand, he fears the Da Han dynasty will collapse, forcing him to shave his head and change his clothes to become a slave of the Qing.

Even worse, he fears he won't even get to be a slave, but will be killed when a rebel army storms the city.

Based on what he's learned these days, the situation of the Da Han dynasty is truly not optimistic.

According to Jia Jing's rough estimate, the current timeline roughly corresponds to the early Qing period, but compared to the original historical early Qing background, this world is vastly different.

This world is neither purely a Red Chamber world nor purely early Qing history.

In this world, at the end of the Qin dynasty, a tremendous change occurred; after the death of Qin Shi Huang, it was no longer the Chu-Han contention between Liu Bang and Xiang Yu! Instead, a legendary figure emerged: the founding emperor of the Xia dynasty, Shao Shude.

The founding emperor of the Xia dynasty, Shao Shude, began as a low-ranking military officer in the northwest; while still young, he took up the cause of founding a new state, as if he had cheat codes, participating in pacifying the eighteen warlord factions at the end of the Qin, building his power in the northwest, defeating the Xiongnu, winning over the Baiyue, registering households and bringing peace, administering internal affairs, strengthening external arms, with tens of thousands of elite troops he swept across the world in ten years, purging Guanzhong, launching multiple southern campaigns, and unified the realm.

After more than four hundred years, the Xia dynasty fell, and thereafter there was no Han dynasty, no Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, no Yuan and Ming dynasties; historical figures and events were completely transformed.

After the Xia, a state called Great Qian overthrew the Xia and established a new dynasty.

The Qian dynasty lasted over two hundred years before ultimately succumbing to the dynastic cycle and falling.

After that came a period of chaotic warfare involving the Tang and Song dynasties and foreign invasions.

Although the names Tang and Song remained, the actual history had long since diverged greatly.

Then comes the present Da Han dynasty.

The founding ancestor of the Da Han dynasty originally came from a military family of the previous dynasty; in the final years of the Song dynasty, amid turmoil and internal and external troubles.

The Da Han founding ancestor rose in Jiangnan, supported by the Jiangnan gentry aristocracy, commanding under him four kings, eight dukes, twelve marquises, and tens of thousands of elite troops.

In just a few short years, he swept away all rebellions north and south, restoring all Song territories except Liaodong.

The last Song emperor, moved by his virtue, abdicated the throne in his favor.

The new dynasty was established, and the emperor ennobled his officials; among them, the Jia family stood as the leader of the founding martial merit, and was granted the titles of two Dukes of Rong Ning.

Unfortunately, the Han founding ancestor died young, never getting a chance to defeat the ever-stronger external tribes beyond the frontier and recover the lost lands.

The Han Chengzu ascended the throne through the Jingnan campaign; although he personally led many expeditions, in one battle he wiped out the founders of the Qing, Nurhaci and Hong Taiji.

But domestic instability persisted, and overwork took its toll; he did not live out his years, dying on the battlefield during a campaign.

On his deathbed, Chengzu foresaw that the Qing would become a grave internal threat to the Da Han, leaving his final command: whoever destroys the Qing, the ruler may become the restorer of the line, and the minister may be enfeoffed as a hereditary, irreplaceable king.

Afterward, the succeeding emperors were merely caretakers, reigning for short periods.

When the present retired emperor ascended at a young age, he was obstinate and self-willed, favored inner officials, and loved grand achievements.

He wanted to be the restorer spoken of by Chengzu, but lacking the ability, he enjoyed micromanaging battle plans; after only one personal campaign, he was soundly defeated by the Qing Kangxi Emperor and fled in disgrace.

Not only was he captured, but in that battle the Da Han lost three hundred thousand elite troops and most of the founding lineage's martial merit group.

Thereafter, the fortunes of the Da Han declined year by year; moreover, because the founding ancestor had risen with the support of the Jiangnan gentry aristocracy, that aristocracy became too powerful to control, leading to entrenched class divisions and incessant rebellions.

The Mongols of the Nine Borders grasslands, the Annam of the southwest, and the Great Qing of Liaodong were strong in troops and horses, repeatedly probing the borders seeking provocation, hoping to occupy the Central Plains and bring about the downfall of the Han people.

Afterward, over several more years, internal and external troubles continued to grow.

Although the Da Han has only been a nation for a hundred years, it already shows signs of impending doom and collapse.

Nowadays, in the Da Han, two suns appear in the sky.

The retired emperor Zhu Zhen, after being sent back by the Qing, although confined to Longshou Palace, was unwilling to let the throne be usurped by the Jing Sheng emperor of the Taizu line.

He continually secretly courted officials and military merit, making small moves, plotting a restoration.

The present emperor, Jing Sheng Di, although diligent and possessing the bearing of a wise ruler, ultimately came to the throne as a regional prince who was called upon in crisis to enter the capital and succeed; he lacks his own trusted civil and military officials, and the Grand Empress Dowager's interference makes court affairs difficult these years.

These past few years, the two emperors have been openly and secretly contending, and the domestic situation has become increasingly tumultuous.

"These days the Da Han dynasty looks remarkably like the Ming Yingzong and Ming Daizong; one can only say that history is strikingly similar."

"But facing the Qing, which is in its prime, the Da Han is probably doomed!"

"I've heard the situation in the Nine Borders is getting worse; if Shenjing City were ever truly breached, given the Qing's habit of massacring cities at the slightest provocation, I fear I could hardly keep myself unharmed!"

Jia Jing couldn't help but feel a chill upon thinking of the historical records of the Jiading Three Massacres and the Yangzhou Ten Days.

"Alas! I've been in this world for three months, locked inside this deep mansion; even leaving the estate is fraught with obstacles, above me an unkind father and stepmother, below me servile bullies abusing their power—how can I break out and save myself?"

"I also want to achieve great deeds, carving a bloody path for the Han people of this world, but even a skilled woman cannot cook without rice…"

Before his transmigration, Jia Jing was merely an ordinary college student; in this age of impending chaos, whether starting from scratch to study literature or martial arts, there simply isn't enough time!

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