Livestream: Has His Majesty Rebelled Today?

Lu Jiuming is a gaming streamer.

She heard that MY Company had recently poured a fortune into creating a groundbreaking historical VR game, promising total realism. No one could make it through three instances.

She downloaded it and took on the challenge in a snap.

What can she say? People with a white-phosphorus personality catch fire easily. You just have to provoke them.

*

[Instance One: The Upheaval at the End of the Qin Dynasty]

System: Your identity is Fusu's twin sister. Mission: Win the First Emperor's favor, become the Second Emperor of Qin, and save the dynasty from collapse.

Lu Jiuming: Oh, got it.

She sped through the story, took out Zhao Gao and Hu Hai before Zhao Gao could issue his forged edict, and replaced their name with her own.

System: ...

[Instance Two: The An Lushan Rebellion]

System: Your identity is a descendant of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. Mission: Become his successor and resolve the An Lushan Rebellion.

Lu Jiuming: Oh, got it.

She stood by the imperial bed late at night, calmly poured the System's own arsenic down the throat of the drunken, middle-aged Li Longji, then placed an edict she'd written herself in his hands.

System: ...

[Instance Three: The Jingkang Incident]

Your identity is Zhao Gou's illegitimate daughter. Mission: Depose Zhao Gou and save the Song Empire.

Lu Jiuming: Oh, got it.

Under cover of a moonless night, she disguised herself, first pulling a supernatural act to trick Zhao Gou into issuing an edict of abdication, then bundling up the unconscious Zhao Gou and handing him over to the Jin army in exchange for a hundred thousand taels of silver and thirty thousand bolts of silk.

Great, now she had supplies. Time to march on the Jin!

System: ...

*

What Lu Jiuming doesn't know is that Meng Tian at her side is Meng Tian by day, but Ying Zheng by night. The two matrons around her sometimes become Empress Zhangsun and Wu Zetian, while her guards occasionally turn into Li Shimin. And the old man guarding the estate becomes Zhao Kuangyin whenever he nods off!

So scenes like this happen all the time:

Ying Zheng, wearing Meng Tian's face, shakes her awake late at night. "Princess, when are we marching back to Xianyang?"

Her guards, bows in hand, and the two matrons, swords drawn, turn to her as she eats. "Princess, everything is ready."

The old man at the gate goes from shuffling along one moment to striding briskly the next, slamming a heavy mace onto the ground and beckoning her over. "Come on, Princess. Time to train!"

Lu Jiuming: "..."

Why are the NPCs always so eager to push her into rebellion?

Besides, when did she ever say she was going to rebel?!

*

She doesn't know this either:

Everything in this VR game has been put on the sky screen for people of every dynasty to watch.

Whenever the officials of any dynasty learn they don't have to attend court, they can't help but ask: "Has His Majesty rebelled today?"

[Reading Guide]

1. Li Longji will die early. Li Longji will die early. Li Longji will die early.

2. This is an unconventional female-emperor story. Each instance ends once the mission is completed, with fast-forward and MVP results. Read with caution if that's not your thing.

3. The female lead is from the future and has a sweet, thoughtful boyfriend who helps her spend money in the game. She does not pair up with historical figures, and the historical figures have their own couples too, if they had one to begin with.

4. Alternate history, alternate history, alternate history.

5. See the author's note at the end of Chapter One for detailed content warnings.

Theme: The wise stay alert in times of peace and prepare for trouble before it arises.