"Pass down the order, kill all the deer in the imperial garden, leave none behind!"
In the imperial garden, a bloody windstorm was underway. The guards' blades dripped red, as if after a great battle. The one issuing orders was actually a woman. Dressed in bright yellow robes, she appeared extremely noble.
As a group of guards with blood-stained steel blades walked past her, the woman remained calm and composed.
In contrast, Chu Emperor Xiang Ning seemed like a frightened child, hiding in the woman's embrace out of fear.
"Empress Mother...your son's grievance..."
After all the guards retreated, leaving only over a dozen trusted eunuchs and palace maids, the Chu Emperor finally spoke in a low voice tinged with crying.
The Empress Dowager of Great Chu, her first words were earth-shattering inside information!
"Always so timid and weepy, are you afraid others can't see your woman disguising as a man?"
Hearing this, Xiang Ning felt even more aggrieved. "Does your son not even get to cry for a bit in the harem after pretending to be a man in court? That villainous Fan pesters me all day, I wish I could tear him into ten thousand pieces!"
Though even Xiang Ning herself knew, wanting to tear Fan Li into pieces, the Chu imperial clan had better prepare for the destruction of the country.
The Empress Dowager ignored her and turned to speak with an old eunuch by her side. "Those guards have just seen my son lose composure."
The old eunuch seemed like a withered leaf about to fall in late autumn. But his eyes were bright and vivid, brimming with vitality!
"The Empress need not worry, this old slave will go and return shortly. They are but some guards at the Golden Core stage selected from the Divine Tiger Guards, better to kill them to avoid trouble."
The 100,000-strong capital garrison had been controlled by the Fan family for years.
"We'll just say assassins appeared in the palace later, these guards died heroically protecting it. Have the Divine Tiger's General Fan Chun go console their families."
"Yes."
The old eunuch acknowledged and his figure dissipated into black smoke at the same spot.
Listening to the conversation between her mother and the chief eunuch, Xiang Ning only felt awed and nervous.
Killing the Fan family's troops, yet having the Fan family pay their death compensations? If that villain Fan Li were to know, he might be so angry as to lose sleep! Xiang Ning finally felt her mood much improved!
"Your Majesty."
"Your son is present."
"You have cultivated our ancestral overlord's secret arts since young, yet still haven't formed your Nascent Soul by now?" The Empress Dowager asked.
Xiang Ning's face flushed slightly red. Though in male emperor's robes, she now clearly carried some maiden shyness. "Your son has reached the eighth stage of Golden Core..."
Hearing this, the Empress Dowager only shook her head.
Xiang Ning anxiously added: "Mother, your son is only 19 this year! Among commoners, most cultivators at 19 are still at the Body Tempering stage!"
"With all the treasury accumulated by our imperial clan over generations, how many heavenly materials and earthly treasures have been used on you?"
"You think eight-stage Golden Core is very high?"
"In this Fan generation's four siblings, Fan Yuehua the same age and gender as you has already attained the Nascent Soul stage great perfection."
"Eldest Fan brother Fan Ming is at the third stage Divine Transformation."
"Third Fan brother Fan Chun with the moniker War God is even at the ninth stage Divine Transformation!" The moonlight-like gaze of the Empress Dowager also gradually dimmed. "Ever since ancient times, the emperor must be the strongest in the country. Once the ruler is weak and ministers strong, it spells the doom of the nation!"
Xiang Ning hung her head low under her mother's words, tears plopping onto the floor.
By now, the old eunuch had returned. The black smoke coalesced into a human shape. The old eunuch still wore that half-dead sinister appearance. No blood stains on him at all, even his clothes were completely untouched. Yet Xiang Ning and the Empress Dowager knew, among the imperial guards, some had just permanently vanished from this world.
As if recalling something, Xiang Ning tentatively asked: "Master Chen, didn't you say Fan Li has extremely low cultivation? I can send you to assassinate him!"
Chen Gonggong smiled with a bow: "It's not that Fan Li has low cultivation, but no cultivation at all. He is merely an ordinary mortal."
"Then it'll be even easier to kill him right!?" Xiang Ning excitedly exclaimed: "Not just someone at your Unity realm level Master Chen, even with my eighth stage Golden Core strength I could crush him dead with one finger!"
Chen Gonggong nodded then shook his head. "If Your Majesty orders this old slave to kill Fan Li, I can take action anytime. But Your Majesty must also prepare accordingly."
"What preparations?" Xiang Ning puzzledly asked.
She felt that since it was a secret assassination, there would naturally be no evidence traced back to her.
Chen Gonggong slowly explained: "Firstly, this old slave will certainly not return alive, so Your Majesty and the Empress Dowager lose a Unity realm servant. Secondly, the Fan clan's commercial firm, the wealthiest under heaven, and the 100,000 elites of the Divine Tiger Guards will all become Your Majesty's enemies."
Xiang Ning stared dumbstruck, wondering if her own ears had problems.
The Empress Dowager's expression remained normal, evidently not surprised by the old eunuch's reply at all.
"Mother, is this true?" Xiang Ning still half doubted.
The Empress Dowager nodded: "Killing Fan Li cannot make the entire Fan clan crumble. Otherwise, even at the cost of Chen Gonggong's life, We would have certainly ordered him to do the deed already."
Chen Gonggong bowed with full etiquette. He didn't even hesitate a bit, even if ordered to his death.
A strong sense of despair gradually crept into Xiang Ning's heart. She recalled today's scene in court, all the civil and military officials kneeling under Fan Li's lewd might, even herself forced to address him as 'Father'.
"Could I become the last emperor of fallen Chu?" Xiang Ning murmured. With generations of glorious Chu ancestors watching over, why should this burden fall onto a young girl like her?
"Foolish child, have you forgotten Mother's repeated urging for you to focus on cultivation?" The Empress Dowager gave a reminder.
"How can the heritage of the Chu imperial clan compare with some mere Fan family? Once you reach the Nascent Soul stage, you can attempt to unlock our ancestral divine weapon's seal."
"As long as you can unseal the [Overlord's Spear], the entire Fan household is doomed to die under your spear!"
Hearing the words "Overlord's Spear", Xiang Ning also regained much spirit!
The ancestral divine weapon had once conquered all under heaven. Legend said her Chu ancestors' overlord Xiang Yu had once slaughtered gods with the Overlord's Spear!
"Mother! Your son vows to reach Nascent Soul within this year, then use the Overlord's Spear to defeat the Four Fan siblings and restore imperial dignity!" Xiang Ning passionately declared.
The Empress Dowager nodded in satisfaction. "Good that you have this resolve. There is no need to hold early court in the coming days. Go into secluded cultivation to enhance your strength. Coincidentally the Three Emperors' Conference is approaching. As Chu's Son of Heaven secluded in cultivation, the ministers can say nothing."
The Three Emperors Conference referred to the regular summit held between the Chu, Han and Ming rulers. Despite no wars for years, the three countries still sought to annex one another. The Conference served for the emperors to probe their rivals in preparation.
Xiang Ning was greatly motivated and immediately agreed. But she couldn't help shyly asking in a soft voice with reddened cheeks: "Mother...after pretending to be a man for so long, may I cultivate in my old dresses? Men's robes are truly uncomfortable to wear..."
The Empress Dowager affectionately glanced at her. "You are emperor now yet still so willful? Oh well, just once to satisfy your wish."
"Ning'er thanks, Mother!"
Xiang Ning was overjoyed, and even her voice was no longer disguised, and she completely restored her lark-like female voice.