Chapter 5

Bang!

The young man punched the willow tree beside him, causing the trunk, as thick as an adult's arm, to tremble violently, and the leaves to rustle and fall.

"Scoundrel, how dare you treat me like this!"

Under the night sky, the man's face turned purplish-red, the veins on his forehead bulging, making him look quite terrifying.

The middle-aged woman beside him sighed and said, "Ruyi has always been stubborn. Once she makes up her mind, no one can change it... Tomorrow, I'll ask Uncle Second to talk to her. His words should have some effect."

"If it still doesn't work, then we'll have to let this matter drop... I think the girl Ruyi is also quite nice. If you were to—"

As the middle-aged woman mentioned this name, her face suddenly turned somewhat unnatural, and she coughed a couple of times, then fell silent.

Hearing the name "Ruyi," the young man's mind conjured up the face of a beauty no less stunning than the one he had just seen. His heart stirred slightly, but this impulse quickly dissipated, leaving his face pale as he stopped thinking about it.

"I should have taken things more slowly. Ruyi isn't young anymore; she will eventually have to get married. If a few people had pressured her, it might have worked." The middle-aged woman's face was filled with regret. "Who knew that pushing her too hard would make her do something like this—sending people down the mountain to kidnap a husband. For a woman... this is simply a disgrace to womanhood!"

Thinking of the disheveled young man lying on Liu Ruyi's bed, the young man's face darkened with a cruel expression, which quickly faded into the night.

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"Ah!"

A sharp scream suddenly rang out from the doorway, and the man who dreamed of becoming the Pirate King frowned slightly, slowly opening his eyes.

Li Yi had just had a very long, very real, and very frightening nightmare.

Looking around, he saw the ancient-style architecture, the girlish decorations by the bed, and the familiar scent...

It wasn't a dream.

A chill wind blew by, and Li Yi shivered involuntarily. The habit of sleeping naked and kicking off the covers was not a good one. He quickly grabbed the clothes beside him, first putting on the undergarment that looked more like a loincloth—let's just call it an undergarment.

Right, how do you wear this robe?

The bright red wedding robe had been a struggle to take off the previous night. After putting it on in the morning, he realized the garment's design was quite peculiar, and he had no idea how to put it on.

A small head peeked in from the door.

A young girl with two buns in her hair, looking timid, ran in and said softly, "Master, your servant will help you dress..."

Li Yi noticed the girl, dressed as a maid, was holding a stack of clothes. He thought the beauty from last night was quite considerate; the bright red wedding robe was indeed too flashy. The scream from earlier was probably from this little maid, and the reason made Li Yi's face turn red.

Being seen naked by someone was not a pleasant experience.

Since he had accepted the reality, Li Yi stood up boldly, extending his hands to let the blushing girl help him dress.

In this era, there were no dressing mirrors, not even real mirrors. Li Yi held up a small bronze mirror and examined himself. The well-fitting white robe, though his hair was a bit messy, his fair skin and handsome features made him look very scholarly.

The fifteen- or sixteen-year-old girl stood beside him, her eyes stealing glances at the handsome young master her mistress had just kidnapped, her face turning even redder.

"Master is really handsome... much better looking than that nephew of Second Aunt..."

While Li Yi was admiring himself in the mirror, the little maid seemed to remember something and quickly ran out. A moment later, she returned with a stack of thick books.

"Master, Miss said... if you want to read, just tell your servant..."

The only wooden table in the room had been destroyed the previous night. The little maid looked around, then placed the books on a low stool, panting.

The ancient script was quite different from modern script. Li Yi glanced at the title of the top book and knew it wasn't in simplified characters.

This made him even more determined not to take the path of the imperial examinations. Life was good now; he didn't need to work hard or struggle. At seventeen, he was living a comfortable life at home, and on nice days, he could go for a walk on his mountain, inspecting his territory. What could be more pleasant?

He picked up a book and opened the first page. Li Yi felt a loud explosion in his mind, and his brain went blank.

His consciousness seemed to drift away, and his vision blurred. When he could see again, the ancient-style room and the pretty maid were gone. In front of him were familiar bookshelves, with neatly numbered books.

"Am I back?"

Standing in the familiar provincial library, Li Yi muttered to himself.

However, his consciousness was soon overwhelmed by a flood of information.

In the room, the little maid watched the young master reading the book with admiration in her beautiful eyes and quietly closed the door and left.

"The History of Jing State!"

A moment later, Li Yi stood in the room, the book titled "The History of Jing State" in his hand. Every word in the book was deeply etched in his mind, and the previously unfamiliar characters now seemed familiar.

"What the hell is this?" Li Yi's face was blank, and the heavy book fell to the ground.

Fortunately, he had already experienced enough bizarre things in the past few days, so he didn't collapse in shock. Confirming that the content of the book was imprinted in his mind, he focused, and the scene from the library reappeared before his eyes.

Next to the bookshelf where he had been standing, another row of shelves had appeared, but the new shelf held only one book.

Li Yi glanced at it—wasn't it "The History of Jing State"?

Jing State?

Although Li Yi was an engineering student with a poor grasp of history, he knew that in the five thousand years of Chinese history, there was no state called "Jing."

Where was this place?

Why was the provincial library in his mind?

What the hell—what kind of world is this!