The imperial carriage stopped at a remote palace.

Unlike the other palaces in the center of the harem, this place was extremely cold and cheerless.

Along the way, the walls on both sides of the palace were mottled and peeling off, and the roadside was covered in thick snow. It was a sign that it hadn't been cleaned for a long time.

After Jin Wang ascended the throne, he dismissed the previous emperor's harem and sealed off all the palaces. Naturally, the Cold Palace was the same.

It had just snowed last night, so Ye Shu had the imperial carriage stop outside the courtyard. He stepped on the soft snow to the wooden door.

The wooden door had been weathered for a long time and couldn't be closed properly. Standing in front of the door, he could feel a cool breeze coming from the crack.

Ye Shu's heartbeat inexplicably sped up. He took a deep breath, pushed open the half-closed wooden door, and stepped into the courtyard.

The courtyard wasn't as bleak as he had imagined.

The courtyard wasn't large. In front of the courtyard, there was a bare peach tree covered in snow. Under the tree, there was a stone table and four stone benches.

There were only two small rooms in the courtyard. There were a few potted plants in front of the rooms, and it was obvious that they had been carefully trimmed.

Ye Shu walked into the main room. The furniture inside was simple and crude, but it had been cleaned so well that not a speck of dust could be seen.

He looked up and saw that the damaged roof in his memory had been repaired. The four windows had also been repaired to ensure that the cold wind couldn't get in.

This place had clearly been deserted for a long time, but there were traces of people living here.

Ye Shu walked into the inner room.

No matter how clean it was, it couldn't change the simple and crude environment here.

There was only a hard bed in the inner room. On top of it was a thin mattress. The fabric had been washed until it was white. He didn't know how long it had been used, but it was covered in sewing marks.

The daily necessities in the palace were all distributed by the Imperial Household Department, but no one would send these things to the Cold Palace.

During the most difficult times, the original owner could only go to other palaces and pick up things that others didn't need. She would sew and clean them herself, barely getting by.

Ye Shu sat down in front of a small table by the window.

The table was missing a corner and was supported by a small piece of broken tile. When he looked up, he saw the faint marks on the wall in front of the table.

They were two simple little people.

The little matchstick men sat side by side. The taller one was hugging the other and laughing happily.

The other one was relatively introverted, only slightly curving the corners of his mouth.

All traces of the two youths' growth had been completely preserved here.

Ye Shu suddenly felt his eyes sting.

He got up and was about to leave when his toes accidentally touched the corner of the table.

The small table was light, so when he bumped into it, it shifted slightly, but it revealed the carvings underneath the two little figures.

It was a line of small, elegant words.

"Ye Shu and Jin Wang, spring of the fifth year."

Ye Shu froze.

This line of words happened to be slightly shorter than the table, so Ye Shu didn't notice it immediately.

More importantly, it was not the seal script that Zhanglu was used to, but the simplified Chinese characters that were only used in modern society.

The blood on Ye Shu's face quickly drained. He stood in place, his gaze fixed on the small line of words. After a while, he finally noticed his abnormal heartbeat.

That was … his own handwriting.

This was what he was looking for.

The young Ye Shu from back then had used this obscure and unique method to leave behind a unique mark that was enough to prove his identity.

Ye Shu closed his eyes, his breathing not calming down for a long time.

Jin Wang hadn't recognized the wrong person.

It wasn't the original owner. The only one who had been with him from the beginning to the end was him.

Ye Shu closed his eyes, the tip of his nose tingling.

Suddenly, a strange sound came from outside the courtyard.

The sound came from behind a small house to the side. Ye Shu composed himself and followed the sound.

There wasn't much snow behind the house, and a small path overgrown with weeds extended to the corner of the house. There was a small kennel made of bricks and straw.

Jin Wang had built it for the little yellow dog A Wang that they had raised when they were young.

Ye Shu walked over with light steps and carefully parted the grass in front of the kennel.

A small yellow dog had its back to him. Its two front paws were hugging a bone that it had stolen from somewhere, and it was happily chewing on it.

As if it had sensed someone approaching, the little yellow dog turned its head. Its round black eyes met with Ye Shu's puzzled gaze.

Ye Shu: "…"

The little yellow dog: "!!!"

The little yellow dog jumped up with an "ah" and tried to run out in a panic. It accidentally bumped into the edge of the kennel, almost causing it to collapse.

"Awoo …" The little yellow dog was dizzy from the collision. It staggered to Ye Shu's feet.

Ye Shu silently took half a step back.

The dog's first bark didn't sound like a dog's bark. Instead, it sounded like … a human's voice.

The little yellow dog shook its head and sat down at Ye Shu's feet. It looked up innocently: "… Woof?"

"…" Why did it sound so guilty?

Ye Shu narrowed his eyes suspiciously: "A Wang?"

The little yellow dog looked at him: "Woof, woof."

This obviously couldn't be A Wang.

Perhaps it was because A Wang had suffered a lot since he was young, but on the eve of Jin Wang's ascension to the throne, he had died of old age and was personally buried by them in a place with green hills and clear waters outside the palace.

But this dog looked too much like A Wang.

The little yellow dog's back was light yellow, but its abdomen and four paws were snow-white. Whether it was its appearance or the color of its fur, it was exactly the same as A Wang.

Ye Shu thought for a moment: "Are you A Wang's son?"

"…"

The little yellow dog didn't answer.

Ye Shu's intuition flashed through his mind, and he faintly came up with a guess.

He shook his head and muttered to himself: "Let's bring it back to Yangxin Palace Hall and ask Jin Wang …"

Then, he loudly called out to the door: "Someone come!"

"Don't, don't, don't!" A young male voice rang out from behind Ye Shu.

Ye Shu's expression stiffened, and he turned around. The little yellow dog anxiously waved its two front paws.

"Just now … were you the one who spoke?"

Before he could answer, several servants had already pushed open the door and entered: "Young master, what are your orders?"

The little yellow dog anxiously said: "Don't let them see me!"

Ye Shu glanced at it, then turned to the servants and said: "It's fine, you can all leave first."

The servants stopped in their tracks, then obediently said: "Yes."

Only one person and one dog were left in the courtyard.

Ye Shu asked: "Who are you?"

The little yellow dog sat down on the ground, and its voice sounded a little weary: "The person who brought you here."

Ye Shu's expression became even more puzzled.

The little yellow dog uneasily wagged its tail, then scratched its ears and said vaguely: "It's just that … this is the book world, so of course it's not a place you can enter as you wish, so …"

Ye Shu: "So?"

"I am the system guide of the book world."

Ye Shu looked it up and down.

"Cough, this isn't my original body, I'm just living in this little yellow dog's body."

It was gradually snowing outside. The little yellow dog jumped into the room through the window and skillfully shook off the snow on its body.

Ye Shu slowly walked in, closed the door, and sat down at the table.

Ye Shu asked: "Can you tell me now? What's going on?"

"There are tens of thousands of book worlds, and the one we're in right now is just one of them."

The little yellow dog explained: "Every book's small world will gain self-awareness after it's formed.

Because of this, it's very easy for them to change the direction of the plot because of their own subjective awareness, or because of a lack of logic in the plot.

"My job is to find suitable hosts to enter the small world, then assist them in guiding the characters in the book world and fixing the wrong path."

"… …"

Ye Shu massaged his temples. His head was full of questions, and he didn't know where to start: "… … So you're saying that you pulled me into this world more than ten years ago?"

The little yellow dog slowly said: "Actually … … this is your second time here."

Ye Shu: "What do you mean?"

"More than ten years ago, when you first entered this world, your mission was to help Jin Wang become the king, and your reward was to heal your legs."

Ye Shu was stunned.

"Three years ago, when Jin Wang ascended the throne, your mission was considered complete.

According to the procedure, we will erase all of your memories in the small world and send you back to the real world.

The little yellow dog said: "The flow of time in the real world and the small world is different. You spent ten years in the small world, but only a few days have passed in the real world.

"When we erase memories, it will affect part of the host's original memories. That's why you don't remember much about what happened before you transmigrated.

However, from the time your legs were healed to the time you transmigrated into the book, you lived in the real world for more than ten years. You should remember all of this, right? "

Ye Shu nodded his head.

However, he felt that something wasn't right: "Since I left three years ago, why did I live in the real world for more than ten years, but only three years have passed here?"

The little yellow dog hesitated for a moment, then slowly said: "Many years have indeed passed here."

Ye Shu furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"After you left, this body was taken over by the system program and continued to complete the plot of the book."

The little yellow dog lay on the table, its tail gently wagging. "Ye Xiang plotted a rebellion and was executed by Jin Wang.

However, after Ye Xiang was executed, the plot went out of control.

"More accurately, it was Jin Wang who went out of control.

"He became more and more tyrannical, and even incited chaos everywhere, causing the people to have no way of making a living.

"… In short, the storyline deviated from the original route by a great deal, so we had no choice but to redo it.

"We experimented many times, and even matched other characters in this world with hosts in an attempt to fix the plot, but it was to no avail.

"In the end, we discovered that the reason the story deviated was because of you."

Ye Shu's eyes flickered slightly.

The little yellow dog said: "It's rare to find a suitable host. Once you're matched, you're unique.

Thus, we had no choice but to bring you back. "

Ye Shu couldn't help but ask: "Then why didn't you appear when I first came in?"

"Well …" The little yellow dog paused, then grinned at Ye Shu: "You've also noticed that we changed some of the basic settings of this world when we rebooted."

It looked at Ye Shu's slightly bulging abdomen.

"…" Ye Shu huffed angrily as he tightened his fox fur coat around himself.

"Also …" The little yellow dog deliberated for a moment, then decided to tell the truth: "We've never had to redo the work before. If word of this gets out, we'll be in trouble."

Ye Shu was annoyed: "Then what if I was killed by him as soon as I transmigrated?"

"…" The little yellow dog said seriously: "Death in the pocket world won't affect the safety of the real world, so the host can rest assured."

Ye Shu remained silent.

The little yellow dog sighed: "As for me … More than ten years ago, I used that little dog called A Wang as a host body. From time to time, I'd come to see you and check on the progress of the mission.

But now, I've been punished by the main system because I haven't been able to complete the mission for a long time. If I can't complete the mission in a day, I'll have to stay here for an extra day. "

Ye Shu looked at the little yellow dog's wagging tail and restrained himself, but he still couldn't help but ask: "Then haven't you thought about doing something else? For example … being a human?"

"What else can I do in the palace? Be a eunuch?

I might as well be a dog. "

Ye Shu: "…"

The little yellow dog scratched its ear and said: "Anyway, that's how it is. We're also at our wits' end. Once the mission is completed, you can have any reward you want."

Ye Shu didn't reply.

After a long time, he sighed softly: "Reward or not, let's talk about it later."

"You said that the previous storyline deviated from the original plot. Then … what happened to him in the end?"

"At the end of that storyline, Jinjiang sent troops to destroy Western Xia and Great Yan, plunging the entire Central Plains into an abyss of suffering.

On the night that the troops returned to the capital, Jin Wang set fire to the Cold Palace. In the end … he was buried in the sea of flames. "

.

By the time Ye Shu returned to Yangxin Palace Hall, it was already dusk.

The eunuchs had just helped Ye Shu down from the imperial carriage, but before they could hold an umbrella for him, Ye Shu had already walked quickly into the palace hall.

Jin Wang was once again lying down on the small couch that faced the palace hall's door.

Seeing that he had returned, Jin Wang smiled gently at him: "Where did you go? I've been waiting for you for almost four hours."

It was snowing heavily outside the room. Ye Shu had only taken a few steps, but his entire body was already covered in snow.

The accumulated snow quickly melted from the warmth of the room, and the surface of his fox fur coat was slightly damp. Coupled with his pale face, he looked rather disheveled.

"What's wrong?"

Jin Wang's smile faded as he instructed, "What are you waiting for? Help the young master change his clothes and prepare a bowl of ginger tea."

Without waiting for the eunuchs to carry out his orders, Ye Shu quickly walked in front of Jin Wang, bent down, and hugged him tightly.

"You performed too well in those years. Jin Wang was unable to face 'your' betrayal and the trauma of personally executing 'you'."

"His mental state had greatly deviated, and he became a true tyrant, a complete madman."

"On the night that the troops returned to the capital, Jin Wang set fire to the Cold Palace. In the end … he was buried in the sea of flames."

Ye Shu's body trembled slightly, and he used so much strength that he almost pressed on Jin Wang's wound.

Jin Wang naturally sensed that something was wrong, and his voice became gentler: "What happened?"

Ye Shu said in a muffled voice: "… I'm sorry."

I'm sorry for leaving you.

I'm sorry for deceiving you in the past.

I'm sorry for my wavering attitude in the past and causing you to suffer so much.

Tears slid down Jin Wang's cheeks, and his shoulders quickly became wet.

Ye Shu closed his eyes and softly repeated: "I'm sorry."