Chapter 4: Refusing the Path of the Female Emperor

The emperor’s orders were utterances that carried great weight–a “golden mouth with pearly words.” Anyone who disobeyed him faced the threat of decapitation, so all of the imperial guards charged as one.

Afterwards…

Why did a group of highly skilled grown men all end up flying back 100 meters and smashing into Emperor Xianzong’s imperial carriage until they lost consciousness? By the time Yu Xiaoxiao kicked away the nearest guards, everyone was asking the same question in their heads.

Yu Xiaoxiao’s brow furrowed further. When she had watched the cruel female emperor’s life story, she’d seen the people of this world fight so fiercely that they left rivers of blood behind. They looked tough, but why were their martial arts skills so lacking? If this was the apocalypse, Yu Xiaoxiao thought as she looked around her, they’d be the first to die, ah!

Xianzong was utterly floored once more. “You’re Linglong?” he asked his daughter for verification.

“I am,” Yu Xiaoxiao nodded. “Are we still fighting?”

Xianzong only turned mute, completely dumbfounded. Seeing their emperor remain silent, the rest of the guards had no choice but to keep charging forward.

For the sake of survival, humankind had undergone evolution in the zombie apocalypse. Thus, the normal human guards met with tragic ends against their opponent. In the blink of an eye, 20 or so men were all sent flying backwards until they were sprawling on the ground. The only one still standing had been tossed between two tree branches until he was left hanging there.

Xianzong closed his gaping mouth. He must have gotten up on the wrong side of bed today!

By now, Consort Zhao had regained her senses. As soon as she saw Xianzong, she let out a piteous mewl. “Your Majesty, ah!”

Yu Xiaoxiao felt goosebumps rise from her skin. She didn’t understand how any human could make the same sound as a feline mating call. That wasn’t scientific! However, the fault laid in the fact that Yu Xiaoxiao used to be a front line fighter in the apocalypse. All of the females there were tough women in an environment where spoiled and pampered lives would never survive.

“Your Majesty, this isn’t the princess’s fault. It’s this consort who’s in the wrong!” Consort Zhao sobbed.

Xianzong only felt that his beloved consort was a truly good and virtuous woman. Linglong had wanted to throw her to her death, yet she was still defending her. Right now, Consort Zhao was soaked through, her hair a mess and her makeup ruined. Her freakish appearance, however, still looked devastatingly beautiful in her lover Xianzong’s eyes!

“Her Royal Highness was only fretting over the Gu Clan,” Consort Zhao said between her sobs. “She told this consort that she wanted to leave the palace temporarily to a different fief.” In any case, Wang momo was the only one present during their conversation, while everyone else in the room were her loyal servants. Consort Zhao had no reservations about saying outright lies.

When Xianzong recalled the betrothal agreement set by the empress dowager, Xianzong’s mood soured even further. “Does an emperor’s daughter need to worry about getting married?” he asked.

Consort Zhao darted a look at the courtiers being led their way by one of the eunuchs while she had two retainers help her to her feet. She seemed on the verge of death as she walked heroically towards Xianzong and said quietly, “Your Majesty, a woman’s reputation is very important. Her Royal Highness is still young, so how could she bear any public censure?”

Xianzong said, “Then which fief should Zhen grant to Linglong?”

The various men of insight present at the scene only thought that enough was enough. Your Majesty, do you need to ask Consort Zhao about these things too? If you have a brain, you should use it to think, ah!

Yu Xiaoxiao walked to Wang momo and helped her up before murmuring, “Is this Gu Clan fellow a good guy or a bad guy?”

Wang momo wasn’t someone to speak against her conscience, so she whispered back, “The Gu Clan is full of loyal subjects. He’s a good guy.”

If he was a good guy, then it was enough. Yu Xiaoxiao looked towards Xianzong and said, “No need for such trouble, I won’t leave the palace.”

Xianzong strode over to his daughter and said, “Consort Zhao was considering your welfare with all this.”

She’d rather rush right over and bite me to death. Can’t you tell? Yu Xiaoxiao shook her head and said, “I’ll marry.”

Xianzong was infuriated. “Who are you going to marry? Why are you so disobedient? Do you know what crimes the Gu Clan carries? Colluding with the enemy, betraying the nation, and falsifying military reports! If not for the late emperor’s golden token that spared them the death sentence, Zhen would have wiped them out by now!”

“Was the evidence conclusive?” Yu Xiaoxiao asked.

Xianzong scoffed. “What do you mean by that? If you can’t recognize someone who has your best interests in heart, don’t blame imperial father for marrying you to the Gu Clan!”

“She’s a good person?” Yu Xiaoxiao pointed at Consort Zhao while looking at her father as if he was a retard.

“Fine, Zhen will issue a decree now,” Xianzong turned ruthless. “Go be a wife of the Gu Clan!”

Words spoken in the heat of the moment shouldn’t be taken seriously, even when it was between an emperor and his daughter. But here in lay the problem: the various officials who had done their best to save the Gu Clan had arrived as well. After years in the palace, they were no fools. The emperor’s precious words sent them all to their knees as they supported him in unison. “Your Majesty is wise and brilliant!”

Xianzong gave a start. How did he suddenly turn wise and brilliant?

“Your Majesty is wise and brilliant,” Grand Secretary Ying Nianyun (英年允) exclaimed on his knees. “Your Majesty is willing to have Her Royal Highness the eldest princess marry the third young master of the Gu Clan. A promise from Your Majesty is worth a thousand pieces of gold. As a model to the people, we subjects feel ashamed of our inferiority. Your Majesty is wise and brilliant!”

Xianzong stammered, “That’s not it, that’s not what Zhen–”

“Your Majesty!” Consort Zhao fell to her knees as well. “Although the Gu Clan has committed such grievous crimes, Your Majesty still upheld the promise to their family. You have repaid evil with good, moving this consort to tears of gratitude! Your Majesty is wise and brilliant!” If that girl was going to toss her to her death, then she would push the girl into the fiery pits of Hell!

In a flash, everyone was supporting the emperor. All of them were scholars, so when they started piling on the praise, their words glimmered like pearls of all kinds. Xianzong was completely flummoxed by all of the people praising his virtues. It felt like if he kept refusing, it would just be going back on his promises, abandoning all justice, and turning himself into a ruthless, petty, and shameless nobody.

Yu Xiaoxiao copied the other courtiers and forced herself to kneel and kowtow to Xianzong once as well. “Daughter thanks imperial father.”

How did things turn out like this? Xianzong thought.

For the sake of avoiding the path of the cruel female emperor, Yu Xiaoxiao successfully married herself off on the first day of her transmigration.