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“Your Imperial Majesty.” Shen Ning smiled slightly, but her smile carried a bone-chilling coldness, “Long have I admired you.”
Yan Yunshuo’s lips thinned, his eyes fixed intently on Shen Ning.
Although the woman before him was unfamiliar, he felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
This familiarity made his heart skip a beat, and he couldn’t help but urgently ask, “Who are you?”
“The Regent’s Consort of the Yong Kingdom, Shen Ning.” Shen Ning spoke indifferently, “Is there anything else the Emperor would like to know?”
Yan Yunshuo’s eyes flickered with suspicion: “The Regent’s Consort personally leading troops into battle?”
“Is there any issue with that?” Outside the hall, a man slowly walked in, his figure tall and slender, his presence powerful, exuding an aura of nobility and intimidating pressure, “My wife can not only lead troops into battle, but she can also ascend the throne as an Empress in the territories she has conquered. She can become the first female Emperor of Nan Dynasty. Does the Emperor have any advice?”
Yan Yunshuo suddenly looked up, his gaze landing on Ji Yucang’s handsome and stern face, involuntarily clenching his fists, an inexplicable feeling of eeriness rising in his heart.
A female Emperor.
What did they mean by this?
The Regent and the Regent’s Consort.
If they truly had such great ambitions, it would make more sense for the Regent to become the Emperor. Why the Regent’s Consort?
A woman who lives dependent on a man could surpass her own husband and become the Emperor directly?
Yan Yunshuo clenched his fists, this was completely unreasonable.
“Regent, Nan Dynasty sent envoys to the Yong Kingdom for help, but the Yong Kingdom took advantage of our vulnerability to destroy our nation. Your actions are completely unjust!” The old minister lamented, “The Yong Kingdom is a powerful nation and should be maintaining peace among the nations. Yet, you… you instead wage war and attack other countries without reason. How are you any different from bandits?”
Ji Yucang glanced at him: “Nan Dynasty has already fallen. As a prisoner, you do not seek mercy but dare to stand here and lecture me about righteousness? Don’t you find it laughable?”
The old minister angrily retorted, “You have ignited the battlefield, you are the sinners of Nan Dynasty!”
“The Emperor of Nan Dynasty is incompetent and incapable of defending his own country. Those who stand in the court are a bunch of useless individuals, only good at using their mouths to shout.” Ji Yucang sneered, “Does this old man really believe that defending one’s home and country is done with just words?”
Yan Yunshuo stood proudly in the hall, though he had become the ruler of a fallen nation, he was unwilling to show weakness in demeanor: “I am indeed incompetent, unable to defend my country and people. My sins are heavy, and I should seek forgiveness from my ancestors.”
“I have heard that Nan Dynasty once had a war goddess, the Eldest Princess.” Ji Yucang took a few steps forward, standing not far from Yan Yunshuo, “I admired her for many years and thought of proposing marriage to Nan Dynasty, achieving an alliance through marriage and eternal friendship between our two countries, but unfortunately, I heard of her passing. Can the Emperor tell me why she, a perfectly fine Eldest Princess, who could remain unscathed on the battlefield for seven years, died just two years after returning to the capital? Who was responsible for her death?”
Yan Yunshuo’s face turned pale, his lips pressed tightly together.
Before his eyes, the image of a woman in red, sitting upright on her horse, appeared—so bright and dazzling, so defiant and spirited, like a pearl.
If she were still alive, Nan Dynasty would not have fallen so quickly. Even at the cost of her life, she would have protected Nan Dynasty’s territory and stabilized the country.
A sharp, piercing pain suddenly swept through Yan Yunshuo’s heart, a feeling of regret churning and fermenting in his chest. At this moment, he truly realized that he had made a mistake.
In the past, he believed that the stability of his throne was the most important, and the imperial power could not be threatened. Anyone who threatened the imperial power, anyone who made him feel a sense of crisis, he could not tolerate.
Better to kill mistakenly than to let them go.
But today, he understood that the threats felt by the imperial power were the foundation of the country’s strength. If even the threats were gone, who would protect his throne, the vast territory, and the myriad of people?
With the country in ruins and his family destroyed, he could no longer feel the threats, only the despair of being powerless to change the situation and the humiliation of being at the mercy of others.
Yan Yunshuo suppressed the tumultuous emotions in his heart, staring unblinkingly at Ji Yucang: “I do not understand what the Regent means.”
“Do not understand?” Ji Yucang stepped forward, his eyes suddenly cold, and with a fierce punch to his abdomen, he said, “Today, I will make you understand.”
The pain came suddenly and without warning.
Yan Yunshuo’s vision went black, his face instantly turning deathly pale, cold sweat rapidly emerging from his forehead and hair, his face almost twisted in pain, clutching his abdomen and curling up on the ground.
For a long time, he could not make a sound.
Ji Yucang just watched him, looking down from above, as if looking down at a dying ant.