Chapter 1: Just Crossed Over and Already Targeted by the Tyrant

“Empress Zhus’ father, Zhu Huaining, has betrayed his country and defected to the enemy. His crimes are heinous! Today, I hereby depose Empress Zhu Wuhuan, send her back to the Zhu family, and three days later, she shall be executed together with her entire clan!”

The moment Zhu Wuhuan from the twenty-first century crossed over, she heard a stern yet captivating male voice resounding above her head.

Startled, she opened her eyes and saw a tall man clad in a black dragon robe, exuding fury as he strode toward the grand hall’s doors.

Lowering her head, she saw the magnificent phoenix robe adorning her own body.

Empress Zhu Wuhuan?

And a father named Zhu Huaining, accused of treason?

That name… this plot… it all felt familiar.

Wait!

Could it be she had crossed into the Great Ning Dynasty, thirteen hundred years ago, becoming the Empress Zhu Wuhuan—known in history as the empress who died the most tragic death?

Of course she knew this!

According to historical records, three days later, when the Zhu family was executed, the deposed empress Zhu Wuhuan cursed the tyrant Feng Changye at the execution ground. Infuriated, Feng Changye subjected her to the cruel punishment known as “Bone Drunk”!

It was utterly horrific!

Excited, she lifted her gaze toward the tall figure who had reached the palace gates.

If she was Empress Zhu Wuhuan, then that man must be the infamous tyrant Feng Changye?

If Zhu Wuhuan’s death was the most tragic in life, then Feng Changye’s was certainly the most tragic after death.

Historical records said that three years later, Feng Changye, only twenty-six, suddenly died of an acute illness!

By the twenty-second year of his burial in the Qinling tombs, the Great Ning Dynasty had collapsed!

That same year, a group of people found his mausoleum, dug up his grave, flogged his corpse, and—still unsatisfied—polished his skull into a wine cup to vent their hatred!

As for the rest of his bones, they ground them to ashes and scattered them in a cesspit so that he would be reviled for eternity…

What a pair they were, competing for who was the most tragic royal couple!

…At the palace gates.

The gaunt, cold-faced Feng Changye was just about to step over the threshold when his back stiffened, and he suddenly stopped!

Incredulous, he turned back to look at Zhu Wuhuan!

Her lips were clearly closed, so why could he hear her voice so distinctly?

Crossed over?

Thirteen hundred years into the Great Ning Dynasty?

Could it be his empress had been possessed by a soul from thirteen hundred years later?

He didn’t care about how the empress died. What mattered to him was that his strong, healthy self would suddenly die three years later!

And the Great Ning Dynasty would collapse only twenty-two years after his death!

He, the emperor of all under heaven, could be so easily desecrated—his tomb plundered, his corpse flogged, his skull turned into a wine cup, his bones ground and tossed into filth!

Impossible!

A violent storm surged in Feng Changye’s eyes, his handsome face darkened by the tyrannical aura rising within him!

Yet in an instant, he buried all trace of emotion deep within.

His gaze turned icy and calm as he slowly turned back, returning to the hall as though nothing had happened.

Tap. Tap. Tap—

Zhu Wuhuan was busy thinking of how to resolve the crisis when a pair of black boots appeared before her. She looked up, realizing Feng Changye had come back.

As she gazed at his face, her eyes uncontrollably grew feverish!

Feng Changye caught her fiery gaze and sneered inwardly.

Heh, shallow woman.

He lifted his robe and sat coldly on the wide throne, ignoring her crazed stare.

As a sovereign of unparalleled appearance and bearing, he was long accustomed to such frenzied gazes of obsession.

But what Zhu Wuhuan was staring at wasn’t his handsome face—it was his head!

Her thoughts blazed with excitement: Wow, it’s that very skull!

Before she crossed over, she had gone to the museum with her professor and had personally handled and studied Feng Changye’s skull—the one polished into a wine cup!

What a perfect skull!

In the sunlight, it gleamed with a chilling white sheen, carrying even the faint fragrance of wine!

At the time, she had deeply regretted not being able to witness the process of his skull being crafted into a cup.

Could it be Heaven sent her here just to fulfill that wish?

If she could outlive Feng Changye, she could join those grave diggers and personally participate in grinding his skull into a wine cup!

Hearing her thoughts again, Feng Changye: “…”

His gaze toward her suddenly brimmed with murderous intent!

So—she had touched his skull?

And wanted to personally grind it into a cup?

Very well. Once he uncovered her origins, he would subject her to the cruelest of punishments!

Knowing that she was eyeing his skull with feverish obsession, Feng Changye could no longer tolerate such a look.

Coldly, he spoke to divert her attention.

“Empress, why have you suddenly grown calm, no longer begging me to spare your Zhu clan?”

Zhu Wuhuan instantly slipped into her role, lowering her eyes in feigned despair.

“This concubine’s heart is weary, dead… I have no strength left to plead. I only ask the Emperor to allow me to return to the Zhu household. Since my family will be executed in three days, I wish to spend this brief time with them.”

Inwardly, she scoffed: Plead with you? For what?

In history, your empress knelt outside the palace gates, knocking her head until it bled, screaming her throat hoarse. Did you spare her? No! You ordered her slapped twice and had her dragged away in disgrace!

Knowing you’re a heartless tyrant who disowns even kin, would I still beg you?

I’d be a fool to waste my breath!

Better to go home, sleep soundly, then plot an escape far from the capital. After you’re dead, I’ll return to admire your skull—what bliss!

Heartless, kinless tyrant Feng Changye: “…”

He clenched his fists tightly!

Was his skull really that alluring?

Did she have to constantly yearn to admire it?

His icy eyes bore into her head, struggling to suppress his rage.

If not for the countless mysteries surrounding this soul from thirteen hundred years later, he would have smashed her skull open right now, taken out the bone, and “admired” it himself!

Taking a deep breath, he forced down his fury.

Since this soul from the future knew so much about what had yet to come, his eyes flickered with thought.

He spoke calmly, trying to probe her. “Empress, what do you think of your father’s treason?”

Zhu Wuhuan replied expressionlessly, “No matter how many times this concubine says it, it will always be the same: my father is innocent.”

In her heart, she muttered: This tyrant probably doesn’t know, but his empress and the entire Zhu family died unjustly!

According to historical records, Zhu Huaining never betrayed his country.

He only feigned surrender!

A month later, he crushed the Xiyuan tribe and returned in triumph!

But who could have expected that after braving countless hardships, he would return home not to reward and glory, but to find that his entire family had already been executed?