Three Kingdoms: Start by buying a governor.

In the early part of September of the 29th year of the Yongle reign.

Daming Palace, Zichen Hall.

The hall was eerily quiet.

The old man lying on the bed had completely white hair and beard, his face was covered with wrinkles, and his breathing was as weak as a candle flickering in the wind.

Liu Ce is ninety-five years old.

Emperor Zhongzu Shenwu of the Han Dynasty spent his life conquering the world and building it up. He lived for nearly a century before finally reaching the end of his life.

The bed was surrounded by people.

His son, Liu Chen, now the Yongle Emperor, had half his hair and beard turned white, his eyes were red, and he held his father's hand, unable to say a word.

Liu Chengqian, the eldest grandson of the legitimate wife and the current crown prince, is over forty years old, yet he cried like a child.

There was also a room full of princes, princesses, concubines, and ministers, all of whom had solemn expressions and dared not even breathe loudly.

Zhang Zhongjing and Hua Tuo's disciples stood by, sweating profusely with anxiety, but they were at a loss.

When you get old and your life is nearing its end, even the best medical skills are useless.

Liu Ce lay on the bed, his consciousness already blurred.

He felt light as a feather, as if he were walking on cotton.

A lifetime of images flashed before my eyes like a revolving lantern...

A lifetime is so long.

It's fucking worth it.

His lips twitched slightly, as if he wanted to smile, but he didn't have the strength.

Just then—

"Ding!"

A familiar mechanical voice suddenly rang in his mind.

Liu Ce's cloudy eyes twitched slightly.

system......?

This thing is still here...

[Host's vital signs are about to drop to zero; the conditions for the second gift pack have been met.]

[Second gift pack unlocked]

Before Liu Ce could finish hearing what was in the gift package, everything went black.

Consciousness sank completely into darkness.

gone.

Emperor Liu Ce, the founding emperor of the Han Dynasty, died on the seventh day of the ninth month of the twenty-ninth year of the Yongle reign, at the age of ninety-five.

His posthumous title was Emperor Shenwu, and his temple name was Zhongzu.

The whole nation mourns; the mountains and rivers grieve.

But Liu Ce knew nothing of this.

He felt himself being pulled by an immense force, plummeting rapidly through endless darkness, through the river of time...

...... ...... ......

Parallel worlds, Blue Star.

Construction begins on November 8, 2025.

XXXX Hospital, Inpatient Department.

"Old Liu? Old Liu! Wake up! Get up, it's time for rounds and shift handover!"

Someone patted my shoulder twice with a "slap slap," and the force was not light.

Liu Ce suddenly opened his eyes.

The blinding white light made him squint, and a familiar yet unfamiliar smell entered his nose—the smell of disinfectant.

The air was filled with a cacophony of sounds: footsteps, carts, and voices all mixed together.

He was stunned.

what's going on?

Didn't I pass away?

Is this... the underworld?

Does the underworld smell like disinfectant?

"What are you spacing out for?" A young doctor in a white coat, holding a medical record folder, looked at him speechlessly.

"Did you go crazy from working the night shift last night? Get up quickly, the director will be here soon, and he still has to do ward rounds after the shift ends."

Liu Ce stared at him blankly.

This face... looks familiar.

What was it called again?

Cao Yang?

He looked down at his hands.

Young, fair-skinned, without wrinkles or age spots.

He touched his face again; it was smooth, with hardly any whiskers.

He looked down at himself again; he was wearing a white coat, with a pen and stethoscope in his pocket.

Liu Ce: "..."

He slowly raised his head and looked at his surroundings.

The hospital corridor has white walls, white floor tiles, and dazzling LED lights overhead.

There are signs on the wall indicating "Fire Safety Exit" and "No Smoking".

In the distance, at the nurses' station, several nurses were typing away at their computers.

Everything felt so familiar.

It was so familiar that it made him want to cry.

Liu Ce sat on the stool, stunned for a full three minutes.

Then, he suddenly stood up, almost startling Cao Yang who was standing next to him.

Holy crap!

Liu Ce blurted it out, his voice trembling.

"I...I'm actually back?!"

Cao Yang was startled by him, giving him a look as if he were a lunatic:

"Old Liu, what are you doing? Still half asleep? What do you mean, 'come back'? Weren't you here all night?"

Did I hallucinate from working the night shift?

...The handover and ward rounds were completed...

As Liu Ce walked out of the hospital, the morning sun shone warmly on his face.

People came and went on the street, cars honked their horns, breakfast stalls on the roadside steamed, and an aunt selling steamed buns shouted at the top of her lungs.

Liu Ce stood at the hospital entrance, looking at the bustling traffic and the towering buildings...

He took a deep breath.

The air was filled with the smells of car exhaust and soy milk and fried dough sticks.

It's real.

That's so true.

"Holy shit..." Liu Ce muttered to himself, his voice trembling.

"They're really back..."

The system's second gift pack... it turns out it was just to send me back...

Okay, okay...

"I was emperor for over sixty years, and now I'm back to being a wage earner?"

He stood by the roadside, feeling both like crying and laughing, looking like a fool.

An older woman passing by glanced at him and quickly walked around him. How could someone so young be so foolish?

Just as Liu Ce was standing by the roadside in a daze, his cell phone in his pocket vibrated with a "buzz".

Liu Ce took out his phone.

He casually swiped it open and glanced at it...

A short message from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.

"Huh? Verification code?" Liu Ce muttered casually, not taking it seriously.

Before I traveled through time, I received a lot of scam text messages and random verification codes every day.

He was about to put the phone back when he suddenly stopped.

and many more......

This doesn't seem to be a verification code...

He held the phone up to his eyes again, squinting as he examined it closely...

【工商银行】您的帐户9527于11月08日09:28入帐工资，RMB 3124.67元，可用余额7165.46元。

Liu Ce: "..."

"Holy shit!"

His lips twitched.

"I thought it was a verification code..."

So it's salary...

Three thousand one hundred and twenty-four yuan and sixty-seven cents...

I was an emperor, and my first month's salary after returning was only a little over three thousand?

In the past, a single meal for me would cost more than this…

He sighed and put his phone back in his pocket.

Okay, I guess. We're just working people, so it's normal for our wages to be low.

At least I still have over 7,000 yuan in my account, so I won't starve.

Just then—

"Ding!"

That familiar mechanical voice echoed in my mind again.

Liu Ce was taken aback.

system?

[Congratulations, host, you have successfully returned to your original timeline.]

The system's voice remained mechanical, devoid of any emotion.

This system has completed its mission. It is about to leave to find the next lucky winner.

Before leaving, I'd like to give the host a gift, as a... farewell present.

Liu Ce raised an eyebrow.

Gift?

What gift?

Don't let it be four people again; there's no room for them here.

The gift is being opened...

The gifts have been sent out.

As soon as the system finished speaking, Liu Ce's phone vibrated again in his pocket.

This tremor lasted longer than the previous one.

Liu Ce took out his phone, swiped it, and took a look...

Another news brief from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.

He glanced at it casually.

Then, his eyes widened suddenly.

I almost dropped my phone.

The text message read:

【工商银行】您的帐户9527于11月08日09:30入帐，RMB 215,492,185.21元，可用余额215,499,350.67元。

Liu Ce: "..."

He counted the number of digits.

Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousand, hundred thousand, millions, tens of millions, hundreds of millions...

Two hundred and fifty-four hundred and ninety thousand?!

Liu Ce's hands began to tremble.

Two hundred million?!

The system gave him 200 million?!

Wait, why does this look so familiar?!

Holy crap, isn't this the money I had left over from another timeline?!

[These funds will be distributed in a manner that does not violate the current laws and regulations of the host's country or any other country.] The system's voice continued.

The funds are entirely legal, not proceeds of crime, not loans, do not require repayment, do not incur any criminal debt or first-priority repayment obligation, and do not involve any third-party rights protection.

Once the funds are received, they will not trigger any anti-money laundering reviews, tax audits, or bank risk control freezes.

All funds, along with all interest and investment rights arising therefrom, belong to the host permanently and are at his/her own disposal, and are not subject to tracing, freezing, confiscation, or interference by any government agency, individual, or supernatural force.

Simply put—spend with confidence, nobody will interfere.

Liu Ce: "..."

He took a deep breath, then another.

Then, he slammed his fist into the nearby utility pole, wincing in pain.

The pain wasn't from a dream.

"Holy crap!" Liu Ce whispered, his face flushed with excitement.

"System is awesome!"

It's so arrogant!

Two hundred million! Two hundred million!

I have two hundred million now!

Going to work? Go to work my ass!

Let whoever wants to do it do it!

I'm quitting!

Resign! You must resign immediately!

"Get it done now!"

He gripped his phone and rushed into the hospital.

The auntie selling steamed buns next to him was startled. Watching his hurried departure, she shook her head...

Young people these days are all so loud and boisterous.

[The gift has been delivered.] The system's voice sounded again, carrying a hint of... how to put it, a sense of farewell.

[This system is leaving. Host, until we meet again.]

Liu Ce was about to open his mouth to say something...

"Wait! System! Don't leave yet! Wait a minute...!"

Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly felt a "buzz" in his head.

It felt like something had been taken away.

His pupils contracted sharply, and his fingertips began to tremble uncontrollably.

The scene before my eyes swayed, and I felt dizzy.

He leaned against the wall, squatted down, and his face turned pale.

My mind is blank, as if something important is missing.

But he couldn't remember exactly what it was.

It's like... having a very, very long dream. After waking up, you can't remember the details of the dream, only the feeling.

After a while, the dizziness gradually subsided.

Liu Ce leaned against the wall, slowly stood up, and shook his head.

"Strange..." he muttered to himself, rubbing his temples.

"What were you thinking about just now?"

Why did my mind suddenly go blank for a moment...?

It seems like I forgot something...

Forget it, I don't want to think about it anymore.

He shook his head, trying to clear the strange feeling from his mind.

unimportant.

The important thing is...

He has two hundred million!

Two hundred million!

What's the point of going to work!

......

......

......

(End of the book)

With this, the book is officially finished.

As a newcomer, I was quite surprised to finish my first book, since there were many times when I thought I had to abandon it.

When I started writing this book, I knew nothing; I just had a story in my head and wanted to write it down. I encountered many pitfalls during the writing process, didn't control the pacing well, and some parts are quite immature. I'm truly grateful that you've read this far.

A special thank you to all the friends who gave me suggestions and corrected my mistakes in the comments section; I read every single one of your messages carefully. Although I didn't reply to many, I remember them all.

Thank you everyone, thank you so much.

The green hills remain unchanged, and the clear waters flow on forever. Until we meet again, everyone!