Criminal Investigation: Daybreak

Next up: the plot-driven novel The Elite Villain's Cultivation Plan

--

!!!This story isn't very good, so I don't recommend reading it. I might put it behind a paywall to earn money for cat food!!!

The new "connected hire" at the municipal bureau is young, but acts like a seasoned official.

He works nine to five every day and never works overtime.

Goji berries in the morning, red dates in the afternoon, and often reads Selected Works of Mao to cultivate his character.

Xie Xun has had his eye on him for a long time.

He checks in every morning, asks after him every evening, and takes him out to eat every few days.

At last, he successfully lures Tan Yao into working overtime to help.

When Master Tan steps in, the results are immediate.

To show his gratitude, Captain Xie makes a tearful decision to offer himself in marriage.

To win Master Tan over,

he sends morning and evening greetings, fusses over him, even puts on women's clothes and delivers roses.

One afternoon, after a case was wrapped up,

Xie Xun showed up at Tan Yao's door dressed to the nines. "Baby, will you take me home with you? I'm a professional bed-warmer and can cook. I've got money, looks, and a loving heart."

Tan Yao stayed expressionless and slammed the door in his face.

The dignified captain of the task force lost all his dignity on the spot.

He clung to the door, pounding and wailing, "Open up, hubby! You had the guts to abandon me and our child, so have the guts to open the door! Boo-hoo-hoo!"

Tan Yao spent ten days and nights unable to figure out

how Xie Xun could wear women's clothes without a shred of embarrassment, while he himself had shamefully fallen for him.

*

1. A macho, mischievous drama queen gong x a cold, health-conscious, old-cadre-type shou

2. There are cases, but probably not much deduction. It's all made up and completely unprofessional, with the world saved by trash talk alone.

3. Minor setting revisions on September 23, 2023. Formerly titled Part-Time Negotiator. The timeline has been moved to two years after Blazing Fire, Drinking Ice. Anti-gang and criminal investigation, old-school style, with a limited-edition VIP nostalgia trip.

--

And now, for real, here's the advance preview of Anyway, I Solely Seek Death. It's sweet, trust me qaq

Blurb:

Song Wanxing has never been this speechless in his life. The last time he was this speechless was right now.

He was happily playing an emperor-simulation game at home, and had just torn into the game's producer.

His vision blurred, and his cluttered "pigsty" of a home turned into an imperial bedchamber draped in pearl curtains and jade screens.

Kneeling beside the bed was a bloodied young man, his hands bound behind his back and his injuries severe.

And it seemed that "he" had caused them.

Yikes.

Question: What should you do when you transmigrate for the first time? Asking online, and it's pretty urgent!

Thankfully, the System arrived just in time. Before he could make a fool of himself, it showed up and loaded the background information.

Great. This is one of those power-fantasy novels from a web-fiction site, and the man kneeling before him is the protagonist.

Hmm...

He had transmigrated into the capricious tyrant, the story's biggest villain: a scourge of the nation, an oppressor of the people, guilty of every imaginable crime, who killed for fun whenever he had nothing better to do.

Song Wanxing shuddered. As for the protagonist before him, he was the only son of the Xie family, a distinguished military clan. Now, he was all that remained of the family.

What happened to the rest of the Xie family, you ask?

Answer: They were all slaughtered!

The tyrant himself had ordered it, on the basis of some trumped-up charges. The women were forced into prostitution for officials, while the men were either dismembered or boiled alive.

He was like King Zhou reincarnated, a monster beyond redemption. Even Song Wanxing was terrified just reading about him.

Of course, the protagonist wasn't a pushover. He humbled himself before the tyrant, bided his time, and endured until the day he finally rose in revolt

and had the tyrant dismembered by five horses!

Song Wanxing: "…I only cursed out the planner a couple of times. Was that really necessary?"

System: Boss, your mission is to be a good person and survive to the ending. That's all it takes to clear the game!

Song Wanxing: I stopped being a good person years ago.

System: ...You'll be torn apart by five horses, you know...

Song Wanxing: Sounds great!

System: ?

He'd worked so hard at the game for those lousy rewards, only to get stabbed in the back by the planner. There was no way he was going to transmigrate for no reason and obediently do what the System told him.

I insist on dying.

--

The tyrant of Jin had a face that could captivate all under heaven. His every glance seemed to promise the ruin of kingdoms, and his beauty was almost demonic.

The tyrant sat up in bed, his pale fingers brushing aside the vermilion jade curtain. He lowered his eyes and parted his red lips. "Look up."

Xie Jixuan was utterly despairing. His entire family had died at the hands of that wretched emperor. Consumed by grief and rage, he looked up at the wicked ruler of whom he had heard so much.

He saw a pair of radiant, shifting eyes, phoenix-shaped and mirror-bright, reflecting his disheveled state, his fury, and his unwillingness to yield.

The beautiful ruler, high above him, wore barely enough to cover himself. One white, jade-like foot pressed against Xie Jixuan's chest, grinding down lightly.

Song Wanxing leaned over him, his dark hair slipping down to brush Xie Jixuan's ear, making it tingle.

He lowered his head, his breath sweet as orchids, and said with scorn, "You think you can kill me?"

--

The ruler of Jin changed his ways. He gave up his bloodthirsty killing, worked diligently from eight in the morning until six in the evening, and adopted a simple, low-profile lifestyle.

Aside from his love of beauty, growing vegetables in the palace, and bullying the last heir of the Xie family, he had no other flaws.

Whenever Xie Jixuan wanted to go east, Song Wanxing insisted he go west.

The tyrant smiled at everyone, but whenever he saw Xie Jixuan, his face turned cold and disdainful.

No one knew that Song Wanxing was waiting for Xie Jixuan to reach his breaking point and rebel with an army. He had even picked out the man's allies for him:

The cabinet scholars who couldn't stand seeing him live in debauchery, and would fly into a rage and call him shameless after he brought three beauties into the palace.

The surviving members of the Xie clan, still nursing old grudges.

The newly crowned top martial graduate, a formidable fighter burdened with a blood feud.

And the 300,000 elite soldiers on the frontier fighting the Tartars. Three days earlier, Song Wanxing had already ordered Xie Jixuan to be sent to the western frontier.

--

Song Wanxing finally got his wish when Xie Jixuan stormed into his private chambers.

He had fought bloody battles on the western frontier, sending one victory report after another back to court.

Song Wanxing thought the time had come.

When Xie Jixuan burst in, Song Wanxing was drinking with beauties, surrounded by fine clothes and fragrant hair, enjoying himself as much as ever.

"Your Majesty." Xie Jixuan was wreathed in killing intent. The boy he had once been was now a handsome, elegant man.

Song Wanxing nodded. "Are you here to kill me?"

Xie Jixuan drew his sword. Song Wanxing watched him, but instead of attacking, he sent the scantily clad beauties away, then knelt reverently before Song Wanxing.

"Your subject is here to ask for your hand in marriage."

1. A gloomy man pretending to be cheerful x a crazy beauty

2. The story will probably still focus more on romance. This isn't proper political intrigue (you could say there isn't any).

3. Once I finish a short, melodramatic story, I'm writing this one. Let me write it, let me write it! I really want to eat this up!!!

Theme: "See the world clearly, then love it." -- Romain Rolland