Chapter 2: He is a Tyrant

“Your Majesty, you must not believe in such astrological nonsense. How could our child possibly be a disaster star?” Concubine De, exhausted and weak, knelt on the ground.

“I promise, I will keep the child in the Cold Palace. Neither she nor I will ever trouble Your Majesty.

I only ask that, for the sake of the child just being born, you spare her life.”

After waiting for a while without hearing a response from the Tiansheng Emperor, Concubine De’s heart sank into despair.

She looked up at the Emperor, her eyes flashing with a determined and defiant light. “If Your Majesty truly wishes to kill my child, then I beg you to grant me death alongside her.

I will accompany my child on the road to the afterlife.”

Concubine De repeatedly knocked her head against the ground, bruising her forehead.

This was the child she had carried for ten months; no matter life or death, she would stay with her child.

She would not leave her alone!

【Mother, please don’t cry】

【After I die, beautiful mother, you must find a way to leave the palace and move on with your life】

The tyrant: “…”

Leave the palace?

If he, a man, couldn’t even protect his own child and woman, what right did he have to rule a nation?

Li Yuqing watched the scene, secretly delighted.

So what if he couldn’t read fortunes or observe the stars?

The Emperor still listened to his every word!

Even the life and death of a little princess were under his control.

Today, he was just a minor censor, but who knows—someday, he might become the Grand National Master.

At that point, wouldn’t the Tiansheng Dynasty be under his rule?

All those empresses in the harem and the General’s Mansion would have to show him respect.

Li Yuqing was eagerly waiting for the Emperor to give the order to strangle the little princess.

But then the Tiansheng Emperor spoke.

“Concubine De, has the child been named?”

Concubine De, still in the middle of kowtowing: “???”

Li Yuqing, daydreaming about becoming the Grand National Master: “???”

“As the Tenth Princess of the Tiansheng Dynasty, she doesn’t even have a name? Let her be called Ah Bao. Her formal name will be Di Jiaoyang.”

Ah Bao blinked in surprise.

【What a great name! It suits me perfectly! It’s exactly the same as my name in the underworld. What a coincidence.】

The two of them: “…”

The underworld?

Poor Ah Bao, a lonely wandering soul, must have suffered greatly in the underworld.

The tyrant looked at Ah Bao with a mixture of pride and a trace of tenderness in his domineering gaze. “From now on, you will be my Tenth Princess, my little Ah Bao.”

Concubine De was still in a daze.

But Li Yuqing was not having it!

“Ah, Your Majesty, no—” Li Yuqing dropped to his knees with a thud, so abruptly.

【Scumbag dad, just look at this charlatan. He’s trying to brainwash you again.】

Brainwash him?

He was the ruler of a nation—how could his mind be washed by mere words?

The tyrant suddenly turned to look at Li Yuqing.

Just one glance was enough to freeze Li Yuqing in place with fear.

“Li Yuqing, I heard that last month, the Prime Minister of the Ziyun Country had a daughter, and overnight, flowers bloomed everywhere. Have you looked into what that celestial phenomenon signifies? Has the Ziyun Country shown any signs of declining national fortune recently?”

The Ziyun Country was a neighboring country with strength equal to that of the Tiansheng Dynasty. The two nations were the greatest competitors among the Seven Kingdoms.

The tyrant was always looking for a way to subdue the Ziyun Country.

Li Yuqing immediately broke into a cold sweat.

He had prepared a long speech, but now the Emperor was asking about matters in another country.

He began muttering to himself, pretending to calculate.

He really didn’t know how to calculate such things.

But he was good at pretending.

“Your Majesty, the matter you mentioned caught my attention last month.

I was planning to compile a secret report on it, but since Your Majesty has inquired, I will have to reveal the secrets of heaven ahead of time.

Your Majesty need not worry; according to my calculations, that daughter in the Ziyun Country is also a disaster star! The Ziyun Country’s national fortune will gradually decline over the next ten years… Ah!”

The tyrant kicked Li Yuqing squarely in the head.

Li Yuqing fell backward, letting out a scream of pain.

“You dare deceive your emperor, Li Yuqing! The Ziyun Country exterminated the entire Prime Minister’s family six months ago. What daughter? What celestial signs? None of it exists!”

Li Yuqing was completely dumbfounded.

【Hahaha, I knew the tyrant brought up Ziyun Country for a reason. He was digging a big trap for Li Yuqing!】

【The tyrant is truly mighty!】

Suddenly, the tyrant felt a stir of emotion in his heart after being praised.

Little Ah Bao always spoke the plain truth.

He was the ruler of a nation; if he wasn’t mighty, who would be?

“I see you for what you are, Li Yuqing—a charlatan! You attempted to harm the Tenth Princess. You’re tired of living, aren’t you?”

Li Yuqing began trembling, utterly terrified.

“Guards! Take Li Yuqing away and behead him immediately.”

Whoever tries to brainwash him loses their head.

【Yes, that’s the tyrant’s persona—beheading anyone at will, without bias, entirely based on his mood.】

But in the story, Li Yuqing wasn’t supposed to die this quickly.

The tyrant’s mouth twitched slightly. He was a tyrant, but he wasn’t a fool!

【Scumbag dad, you can’t just behead Li Yuqing. He bought his way into power, so there must be someone behind him pulling the strings.

Follow the trail from him, and you’re sure to uncover a whole network of corrupt officials buying and selling government positions.】

【After you’ve squeezed all the value out of Li Yuqing, then you can execute him. That way, you at least make good use of the trash.】

Ah Bao’s suggestion sparked an idea in the tyrant’s mind.

The imperial guards entered and began to drag Li Yuqing away.

“Wait! Hand Li Yuqing over to the Ministry of Justice first. Conduct a thorough investigation and find out how this charlatan managed to get into the Imperial Astronomy Bureau.”

【Huh? Scumbag dad’s thoughts are actually the same as mine.】

【Sigh—】

Both the tyrant and Concubine De felt a chill run down their spines.

Whenever Ah Bao sighed, they couldn’t help but feel uneasy, as if something major was about to happen.

【I’m feeling a bit hungry—what should I do?】

Little Ah Bao’s stomach let out a loud grumble, and her tiny face scrunched up in discomfort.

The tyrant: “…”

Concubine De: “…”

Still kneeling on the ground, Concubine De spoke softly, “Your Majesty, Ah Bao might be hungry. She needs to be fed…”

There was no wet nurse in the Cold Palace.

【Milk!!】

【I’m really starving to death here】

Ah Bao had never felt such intense hunger before.

One moment she was fine, and the next, she was utterly famished.

It was unbearable.

It must be that this newly born body had a great need for food.

As soon as Ah Bao managed to get a drop of milk, she sucked twice before her eyelids grew heavy, and she couldn’t keep them open any longer.

Sleepiness overtook her, and she drifted into a deep sleep.

The tyrant couldn’t resist glancing at the baby in the swaddling clothes.

The more he looked, the more he liked her.

So soft and cuddly.

He had nine sons before Ah Bao, but he had never looked at any of them with such careful attention and patience.

Ah Bao was different.

Even though the tyrant was present, Concubine De was quite frightened of him. After all, she had long learned to be wary of the tyrant’s unpredictable moods over the years.

She wasn’t sure if the emperor liked Ah Bao, or if he might remember the prophecy about the disaster star and decide to kill her in a moment of displeasure.