The temperature in the Eastern Garden dropped ten degrees in a single heartbeat.
In the Chancellor's Pavilion, Li Fan's teacup froze to the table. He didn't even look up from the stack of papers he was furiously scribbling on.
"She hit the breakup scene," he muttered, dipping his brush in ink that Alchemist Ming was frantically keeping warm with a small flame array. "Chapter 12. Where the CEO misunderstood the laundry maid's relationship with her brother."
"The air pressure is dropping, Chancellor!" Ming squeaked, checking a geomantic compass. "If she gets to the part where the maid gets amnesia, we might see snow in the throne room."
"Don't spoil it!" Li Fan snapped. "I haven't written that part yet!"
Being the Chancellor of the Amber Dynasty was supposed to involve tax reform and border security. Instead, Li Fan found himself the showrunner of the multiverse's most dangerous soap opera.
Empress Ling Xue of the Upper Realm was not just reading. She was feeling. And when an Immortal King of Ice feels frustration at a plot hole, the mortal realm gets a blizzard.
"We need a distraction," Li Fan said, wiping sweat from his brow—cold sweat, literally. "The manuscript for Volume Two isn't ready. I need more time to flesh out the 'evil mother-in-law' arc."
He stood up, grabbing the partially finished pages. "Ming, you're coming with me. We're going to the Embassy."
"To the feather?" Ming looked terrified. "Chancellor, that thing turned a Stoneheart spy into a popsicle last week."
"Yes, but now it's a critic. Different kind of danger."
They rushed to the Eastern Garden. The "Frost Embassy" was no longer a gentle autumn grove. It was a howling vortex of emotional winter. The blue feather hovered in the air, vibrating with indignation.
As Li Fan crossed the barrier, his [Ice-Heart Clarity] buff flared, shielding his mind from the crushing pressure. He bowed deeply.
"Oh, Great Sovereign of the Void," Li Fan shouted over the wind. "I sense your displeasure!"
The wind stopped instantly. The feather projected the holographic image of Empress Ling Xue. She looked... disheveled. Her pristine white hair was slightly messy, and her eyes were wide with a mix of fury and betrayal.
"He left her," she whispered, her voice echoing like cracking ice. "At the airport. In the rain. Because of a misunderstanding?"
"It is the Dao of Drama, Your Majesty," Li Fan said solemnly. "Tragedy breeds character development."
"It breeds rage!" Ling Xue stood up from her ice throne. "I demand he turn the car around! Immediately! Or I will bury this garden in a glacier so deep your archaeologists won't find it for an era!"
[System Alert][Client Dissatisfaction Detected.][Quest Update: The Bored Goddess.][Task: Resolve the Cliffhanger without compromising narrative integrity.]
Li Fan's mind raced. He couldn't just give her what she wanted immediately; that would ruin the story tension (and his leverage). But he couldn't let her freeze the capital.
He needed to use his new ability.
[Ability Activation: Ice-Heart Narrative Weave]Effect: Projects mental imagery/stories directly into the minds of Ice-attribute cultivators. Costs 50 Favor Points or significant mental stamina.
"Your Majesty," Li Fan said, stepping forward. "The written word is too slow for your divine intellect. Allow me to... show you the next scene. Live."
Ling Xue paused. "Show me?"
"A technique from my homeland. We call it... a Table Read."
Li Fan turned to Ming. "Ming, you're the Laundry Maid."
"I'm the what?"
"Just read the lines!" Li Fan shoved a script page into her hands. He grabbed a nearby Stoneheart spy who had been lurking in the bushes (frozen from the waist down since the previous chapter's incident, but still conscious and terrified). "You. You're the Evil Mother-in-Law."
The spy blinked. "I... I am an elite assassin of the Stoneheart..."
"Read the line or stay frozen forever," Li Fan commanded.
He turned back to the projection. "And I... shall be the CEO."
Li Fan activated the [Ice-Heart Narrative Weave]. A shimmer of blue light connected his mind to the feather. He wasn't just acting; he was broadcasting the intent of the scene directly into Ling Xue's psyche.
"Ming, go," Li Fan whispered.
Ming, trembling, looked at the paper. "O-Oh, CEO Li... how could you... believe her lies?"
Li Fan stepped forward, channeling every ounce of his politician's charisma. "I didn't know, Xiaoyu! The DNA test was faked!"
The Stoneheart spy, seeing Li Fan's intense glare, stammered out his line. "Hah! You... you foolish peasants! The... uh... family fortune is mine!"
It was terrible acting. It was absurd.
But through the [Ice-Heart Narrative Weave], Ling Xue didn't see a trembling alchemist and a frozen spy. She saw the heartbreaking rain-slicked streets of a mortal city. She felt the anguish of betrayal. She saw the Evil Mother-in-Law's twisting, aristocratic sneer.
The projection of Ling Xue leaned forward, clutching her chest. "The DNA test... was faked?" she gasped. "The treachery!"
The frost in the garden began to recede, replaced by a gentle, sorrowful snow.
"Yes," Li Fan said, panting from the mental exertion. "But to find the real test results... they must travel to the forbidden... Switzerland."
"Switzerland," Ling Xue breathed, savoring the exotic word. "A realm of secrets?"
"The most secretive," Li Fan confirmed. "But that... is Volume Two, Chapter One."
He cut the connection. The "Table Read" ended.
Ling Xue sat back on her throne, looking emotionally exhausted but satisfied. "You play with my heart, Li Fan. It is... stimulating. I grant you three days to produce this 'Volume Two'. Do not make me wait longer."
The projection vanished. The feather settled back into the moss.
Li Fan collapsed onto a stone bench. Alchemist Ming dropped the script, hyperventilating. The Stoneheart spy just stared at them, utterly confused.
"Did we just... save the city with a soap opera?" Ming asked weakly.
"We bought three days," Li Fan corrected. He looked at the spy. "You. You have a good villain voice. Want a job?"
The spy looked at his frozen legs, then at the feather, then at Li Fan. "Do I get dental?"
[System Alert][Quest Milestone: "The Cliffhanger" Resolved.][Reward: 50x Favor Points (Ice Attribute).][New Item Unlocked in Store: "Universal Translator (Script Grade)"]
Li Fan laughed. He had turned a celestial threat into a captive audience.
But as he looked at the clear sky, his smile faded. He had felt something else during the connection. Ling Xue wasn't just bored. She was looking for something. The "Romance" was a cover. She was scanning the energy signatures of the Mortal Realm through the story.
She was hunting. But for what?