[Goofy, deadpan spy on the bottom x unhinged tyrant on top]
After Shen Lu worked himself to death, he transmigrated into a book as an insignificant rank-and-file spy.
The good news: he had a golden finger. He could see character profiles and plotlines, and even change a single character with a stroke of his pen.
The bad news: his golden finger was called the Villainous Tyrant Reform System, and his main mission was to save the collapsing empire and usher in a golden age of peace.
Shen “trembling on a roof beam” “the regent's spy” “007, on duty all year round” Lu pointed at himself. “The tyrant? Me?”
Looking at the new Emperor of Da Ye, sinisterly handsome and prone to madness, Shen Lu was distraught. Oh no, he had transmigrated into the wrong character.
The System let out a shrill scream too. Oh no, it had bound itself to the wrong person! How was this going to end?
Shen Lu gave a faint smile. “Easy. I just have to become the ruler.”
“Is that so?” A soft laugh came from below.
Shen Lu was horrified. His foot slipped, and he fell straight into the tyrant's arms.
Shen Lu: Heaven is my witness, I was just quoting a meme!
[The new emperor looked indifferently at Shen Lu, whose assassination attempt had failed. He seemed unsurprised and casually ordered his men to drag him away and execute him.]
Shen Lu: ! The plot point where I get killed has come early!
In a moment of desperation, Shen Lu hastily changed “execute” to “reward” with a flourish of his pen.
Li Chengjing curled his lips in an amused, knowing smile. “Spy Shen has designs on me. Drag him away and reward him.”
Everyone gasped in unison. The emperor had such unusual tastes!
The man's expression didn't change, but he ground out every word. “Reward him. Handsomely.”
From then on, everyone at court knew that Shen Lu had become the tyrant's favorite. He had to attend the emperor every day, and his favors never ceased.
Shen Lu, sporting dark circles like a panda, chuckled. “Want me to pass these favors on to you?”
-
With the court rife with intrigue and factions fighting for power, Shen Lu, under the tyrant's coercion, became the sharpest blade in the emperor's hand.
At the morning court session, the ministers argued themselves red in the face while Shen Lu dozed on a roof beam.
Huh? His former boss, the regent, dared to challenge the tyrant in public! The tyrant's mood: -10. Mission progress: down 1%.
Shen Lu quickly brought up the current plot.
[The regent speaks honeyed words with a poisonous blade, each sentence cutting to the bone. The ministers dare not speak, though they seethe with anger.]
An idea struck Shen Lu, and he edited the text: [The ministers dare to speak out.]
The ministers were horrified to find their mouths moving against their will.
“You spout morality, but you're a nest of hypocrites. Aren't you ashamed?”
“Pah! You think you have the right to invoke the late emperor? If he were alive, the first thing he'd do is slap you across the face!”
The regent's face turned black as a pot, while the tyrant laughed gleefully from the throne.
After that incident, the corrupt ministers and the regent grew suspicious of each other, and their factions became bitter enemies.
Shen Lu kept his role in it a secret.
The progress bar kept shrinking, and the plot gradually veered off course.
[The new emperor unexpectedly spends a night with Guard Shen, and becomes so addicted to the experience that he stops attending court day after day.]
Shen Lu: !!!
Shen Lu: Edit it! I have to edit it! Where's my pen?
After Shen Lu ran away dozens of times, Li Chengjing finally got the chance to pin him down.
“Shen Lu, aren't you good at changing things? My imperial favor is boundless. You don't get to refuse it.”
Theme: Things will work out in the end
