"Damn it! Why the hell did they leave the entire damn investigation to me?!"
Li Wei huffed in frustration as he paced through the museum hallways. He had spent over three hours researching the history of ancient China, especially the dynasty of the feared Emperor Xu Feng, the youngest monarch in the country's history.
His history professor had assigned them a team project, but his classmates had decided that he would handle everything. "Typical," he thought with annoyance. He always ended up doing it all alone.
He sighed while gazing at a large portrait of the emperor in one of the exhibits. Xu Feng had an imposing presence: long black hair, amber-gold eyes, and an expression so cold it seemed capable of freezing anyone's soul.
"So this is the famous tyrant who massacred his entire family..." he murmured to himself, with a mix of fascination and repulsion.
History said that Xu Feng, the son of a concubine and the emperor, had been despised by everyone since birth. His mother was executed when he was still a child, a victim of the empress's jealousy. At fifteen, he seized the throne and destroyed every member of his family, taking absolute power. From then on, his reign was marked by fear, blood, and an obsession with control.
"A madman with absolute power," Li Wei thought as he jotted down details in his notebook.
Fatigue began to overtake him. Having slept only three hours in the past few nights was taking its toll. He leaned against a bench in the exhibit, just for a moment, just to rest a bit. He closed his eyes, breathed deeply...
And everything went black.
The sound of murmuring voices woke him.
A sharp headache hit him hard, as if something had been smashed against his skull. His body felt strange, heavy... Why was his hair brushing against his face?
"Brother! You woke up!"
A sweet feminine voice reached his ears. When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the face of a beautiful young woman with ice-blue eyes and silky white hair.
"What...?"
He tried to sit up, but his body hurt too much. Something was wrong. The bed he was lying on didn't feel like his, nor did the place he was in. Everything seemed straight out of a damn historical drama.
"Mother! Li Zhen woke up!"
Li Zhen?
Li Wei's heart raced. Who the hell was Li Zhen? Why was this girl calling him that?
Before he could ask more questions, a woman dressed in elegant traditional robes hurried into the room. Her expression was a mix of relief and worry.
"Thank the gods! I thought we would lose you, my son..."
The woman approached and gently caressed his face. Her blue eyes, identical to the young woman's, were filled with tears.
Li Wei was about to respond, to tell them they had the wrong person, but suddenly...
A barrage of unfamiliar memories struck his mind.
Images of another life, another person.
Li Zhen... that was the name of the body he was now in. A young noble from the dynasty ruled by Xu Feng. A weak young man, constantly bullied and mistreated by other nobles for being beautiful and having a submissive personality.
And the worst part... the real Li Zhen had died.
Beaten brutally by his assailants. They smashed his skull against the ground and left him on the brink of death.
Li Wei swallowed hard. This had to be a nightmare.
But the pain in his body, the warmth of his "mother's" hand, the worry in his "sister's" eyes... everything felt too real.
He had reincarnated into Li Zhen.
But he was not Li Zhen.
He wasn't a weak boy; he wouldn't let anyone trample him. If there was one thing Li Wei was clear about, it was that he would seek revenge against the bastards who killed this body.
If those scum thought they could keep bullying him, they were sorely mistaken.
He sighed and looked at his mother and sister.
"Don't worry... I'm fine."
Li Mei hugged him tightly, while his mother cried in relief.
Days later
Li Wei adapted surprisingly quickly to his new life. He learned to navigate the grand Li mansion and interact with the servants without raising suspicions. However, he wasted no time in finding out who was responsible for the real Li Zhen's death.
One of the servants revealed the truth to him.
"It was the sons of Minister Wang, my lord... they beat him until he was nearly dead."
Li Wei smiled coldly.
Perfect.
There were many things in this world he didn't understand. He didn't know why he had reincarnated, or how to return to his era. But he knew one thing: he wouldn't let those bastards get away with it.
If before Li Zhen was weak and submissive, now he wouldn't hesitate to return every blow with double the force.
"I'm going to make them pay," he thought with a dark smile.
While planning his revenge, he also continued researching Xu Feng. Now that he was in this era, the history he remembered about the emperor seemed even more terrifying.
The entire empire feared him. He was cruel, ruthless, and never showed mercy.
But what worried him most was the rumor circulating in the court.
Xu Feng was looking for concubines.
And not just that. He was seeking the most beautiful woman in the kingdom...
Li Wei felt a chill.
His sister, Li Mei, was considered one of the most dazzling beauties in the nobility.
If the emperor set his eyes on her, it would be the end.
A new problem had appeared before him.
Not only did he have to deal with his revenge... now he had to protect his sister from the monster who ruled this empire.
What if fate was already written?
What would he do if Xu Feng chose her?
Li Wei had the feeling that his quiet life in this era was about to turn into hell.
And he was not wrong.
The cold morning wind caressed his skin as he watched the training courtyard. His blue eyes, now dark and sharp, were fixed on a group of young nobles laughing and chatting among themselves.
The sons of Minister Wang.
The same bastards who killed Li Zhen.
Li Wei felt a burning in his chest. He remembered every blow those scum had given the real Li Zhen. Every insult, every kick.
No, Li Wei didn't remember them.
He felt them.
As if his body still retained the pain from that day. As if his blood was still stained with the humiliation.
But today he wouldn't be the same weak boy as before.
Today... he was Li Wei.
"I'm going to give them back every damn blow."
He took a deep breath, ensuring his expression remained serene. He couldn't just attack those idiots without an excuse. He needed to provoke them.
So he waited.
He waited until one of them, Wang Yong, the oldest and most arrogant of the group, passed by him with a mocking smile.
"Well, well... If it isn't little Li Zhen, the most beautiful in the nobility," he mocked sarcastically. The other nobles laughed.
Li Wei smiled coldly.
"Perfect. He fell into the trap."
"Beautiful?" he repeated in a mocking tone. "So all this time you've been watching me, Wang Yong? Could it be that you actually like me?"
The laughter stopped.
The mockery on Wang Yong's face turned to fury.
"What did you say?"
"What you heard. I don't blame you; after all, only a damn sicko would beat someone they 'hate' to death."
Wang Yong's face turned red with rage.
"You...!"
He got him.
Wang Yong's fist flew toward his face, but Li Wei dodged it easily. In his previous life, he hadn't been a fighter, but he had trained in self-defense. And now, with Li Zhen's body, he moved faster than he expected.
He took advantage of his enemy's surprise and landed a punch straight to the face.
The crunch of his nose breaking was satisfying.
Wang Yong fell to the ground, clutching his bloody face.
"You bastard...!"
The other boys stood there with their mouths open. They had never seen Li Zhen fight before.
But Li Wei didn't give them time to react.
He jumped on Wang Yong and punched his face over and over.
"This is for every damn blow you gave this body..."
Another punch.
"This is for every insult..."
Another.
"And this... is just because you disgust me."
He lifted him off the ground and slammed him against the stone fountain.
The other nobles finally reacted and tried to intervene. Damn it. Li Wei backed away, feeling the adrenaline in his blood.
"You bastard! You're going to pay for this!"
One of Wang Yong's friends tried to attack him with a hidden dagger.
Did they really have weapons?
Li Wei dodged, but the blade grazed his arm.
It hurt, but it wouldn't stop him.
With a quick movement, he grabbed the attacker's wrist and twisted his arm until he heard a crack.
The noble screamed in pain and fell to his knees.
"Please... please don't hurt me anymore...!"
Pathetic.
That's how quickly they lost their courage when things weren't in their favor.
The other two boys, seeing the scene, ran away.
Li Wei smiled mockingly.
"Run, cowards. But remember this: if you touch me or my family again, you won't live to regret it."
He looked at Wang Yong, who was still on the ground, unconscious.
"I'm not done with you."
But he had already drawn enough attention for today.
He walked away, with satisfaction burning in his chest.
That night, in the Li mansion, his mother and sister were worried about him.
"Brother... what did you do today? I heard rumors that you got into a fight with the sons of Minister Wang..." Li Mei said with a trembling voice.
Li Wei sighed.
"I defended myself, that's all."
"But you're not like that! You've always avoided trouble!"
Li Zhen's mother also looked at him with concern.
"Son... what's happening to you? Since you woke up, something in you has changed..."
Of course it had changed.
The real Li Zhen was dead.
But they didn't need to know that.
"I won't change, Mother. I just learned that if I don't defend myself, I'll be devoured."
She sighed and caressed his face tenderly.
"Just... be careful."
Li Wei nodded, feeling a strange warmth in his chest. He wasn't used to receiving affection.
Maybe, just maybe, this life wasn't so bad.