Chapter 110: "This Subject... Greets the Empress!
"Your Majesty."
Rong Yin walked to Xiao Yang’s side and, as if no one else was watching, took her hand.
At that moment, no one suspected them of being lovers, but he noticed that even more eyes were now fixed on Her Majesty.
Not just men’s eyes, but women’s too!!
Xiao Yang tried to pull her hand back, but Rong Yin held it tight.
Tsk!
"Regent King, so many people are watching. Behave yourself."
’I can’t restrain myself in the slightest.’
’If I weren’t afraid of how it would affect her reputation, I’d be carrying her in my arms right now.’
"Your Majesty... This subject has many injuries as well..."
Meng Xuechen had taken a blow, but he had also been slashed several times by the assassin. Qing Feng had just wrapped his bandages so tightly he almost looked like a silkworm cocoon.
He was just good at enduring pain; it didn’t mean it didn’t hurt.
’If Meng Xuechen could shamelessly use his injuries to get Her Majesty’s attention, then so could he.’
Xiao Yang looked at Rong Yin. He smelled of blood and medicine, and though his clothes were too dark to show anything, his face was indeed much paler.
Xiao Yang stopped trying to shake him off and instead squeezed his hand in return.
Rong Yin’s shoulders instantly straightened, and he followed her with his head held high and chest puffed out.
Meng Xuechen narrowed his eyes slightly. ’As expected,’ he thought, ’my intuition was right.’
Xiao Lv and the others were speechless.
’Are we just invisible?’
Only Xie Liuzheng, who was trailing behind, was ecstatic watching this scene, wriggling with glee like a maggot.
(*@ο@*) Wooow~~~~
’A chaotic scene. I love to see it.’
The system couldn’t understand. "Who do you actually like?"
Xie Liuzheng replied, "Her Majesty, of course! She’s handsome, cool, and totally domineering! An Empress! Who wouldn’t love that?"
The system extended a tendril of power to probe her: ...That statement was actually true.
’Just what kind of being am I bound to?’
By the time Xiao Yang and the others arrived at the Imperial Ancestral Temple, Prince Jing had already opened the doors. All eight gates stood wide open, and from the outside, one could see the dense rows of ancestral tablets. The newest one, in the very center, belonged to the late Emperor.
The civil and military officials stopped at the entrance. The interior was in full view, and they all remained silent, waiting to see how Prince Jing would petition the ancestors of the Xiao Family.
Prince Jing first lit some incense and offered it to each ancestor. Believing that the people behind him couldn’t hear, he muttered continuously.
"Oh, esteemed ancestors, it’s not that I, your descendant, am unfilial and want to help that little girl. It’s just that she’s too sweet-tongued. Her calling me ’Uncle’ over and over again has completely melted my heart. If you ancestors could manifest your spirits, you wouldn’t be able to resist her either."
"The little girl is sweet-tongued and very capable. She has eliminated corrupt officials and punished treacherous villains, striking terror into the hearts of those parasites. She’s a capable one. Even though she’s a young woman, she can suppress the courtiers so they don’t dare to act out of line. She has the natural talent of an Emperor. Although there has never been an Empress in any of the past dynasties, all those dynasties fell. We shouldn’t follow their example. Besides, if our Xiao Family produces a powerful Empress, it would be a unique achievement in the annals of history. The history books would need a whole new volume dedicated to it. So, esteemed ancestors, don’t be too old-fashioned."
The long-dead ancestors who had been gone for who knows how many years: ...
As Prince Jing reached the middle tablets, he came to the ancestors he had known in life.
"Grandfather, Imperial Father, my niece was harmed by that venomous woman, the Empress Dowager. She was just a baby who knew nothing when she was schemed against. Please forgive her."
"She was so adorable when she was little, all fair and soft. Even as a Princess, you would surely have adored her."
"I, your unfilial son and grandson, am incompetent. I cannot protect the nation or control the court. If this country were to fall into my hands, I’m afraid it would truly be lost. She can definitely do a great job. Please, help her."
He placed the last stick of incense into the censer for the late Emperor, Xiao Shuo.
"Sixth Brother..."
He heaved a long sigh and was silent for a long while. "This is your only daughter. She... has suffered a great deal. It was I, her uncle, who failed to protect her... That child of Consort Hui... Forget it, let’s not speak of her... You just need to know that you have only one daughter, Xiao Jin. You doted on this child so much when you were alive. For the sake of all the hardships she has endured, forgive her for deceiving you. Now she has been forced into this situation. If you have a spirit in heaven, please watch over her."
After speaking, he slowly stepped back, walked to the prayer cushion in the very center, and knelt with utmost reverence. He announced in a loud, clear voice,
"Xiao Xuan, the one hundred and seventeenth-generation descendant of the Xiao Family, along with my niece, Xiao Jin, hereby petitions our ancestors! Can a daughter of our Xiao Family become the Empress of Da Wei?"
"Can Xiao Jin be the Emperor of our Da Wei?"
Xiao Xuan kowtowed deeply.
Xiao Yang stood at the entrance, gazing at the rows of ancestral tablets.
’I am a woman, an Empress.’
’According to custom, I am not allowed to enter the Imperial Ancestral Temple.’
’But today, I must walk inside.’
Xiao Yang possessed no supernatural abilities, but matters of gods and ghosts were often man-made. Since she had asked Prince Jing to come, she had naturally made preparations to stage a ’miracle’ convincing enough for everyone.
However, before her people could act, dark clouds suddenly gathered in the sky. The midday sky turned as black as night. A fierce wind howled, rolling the clouds into a churning vortex that seemed to brew with a destructive power.
The civil and military officials watched this scene, their faces filled with terror.
"Could it be that the ancestors of the Xiao Family have truly manifested their spirits?"
"It looks like they’re enraged."
"They do not approve of a woman becoming the Emperor!"
The crowd shouted, "The Xiao ancestors do not approve of a woman as Emperor!"
Hearing the commotion, Prince Jing scurried outside in fright, his heart trembling.
’So all those nice things I just said were for nothing, weren’t they?’
’How can the Xiao ancestors bully people like this?’
’It’s over, it’s all over!’
Prince Jing looked toward the Little Emperor, afraid that she would fly into a rage, which would make the situation spiral out of control.
’I’ve botched the job. The Little Emperor isn’t going to kill me, her own uncle, is she?’
’Everything today was under the Little Emperor’s control. What others saw as a grand power struggle was merely a show she orchestrated, riding the momentum to prove her own identity.’
’From the moment the Little Emperor tricked me onto this pirate ship, I knew I could never become the Emperor, nor could I ever outsmart her.’
’But now, a force majeure has appeared. The show is a flop.’
’What am I going to do?’
Everyone stared at the apocalyptic scene, as if they could be easily torn to shreds. Their sense of awe had reached its peak.
No one noticed Xie Liuzheng huddled in a corner, a wicked and wild grin on her face like a final boss.
"Be shocked! Tremble! You mortals will eventually become ants groveling at Her Majesty’s feet!"
As soon as the words left her mouth, a leaf flew over and—THWAP—stuffed itself right into her mouth.
"..." Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey. ’Guess I really shouldn’t open my mouth so wide on a windy day.’
Suddenly, the fierce wind stopped. For a moment, the world fell into a stagnant silence.
Immediately after, the dark clouds slowly parted, and a single golden sunbeam descended from the sky, perfectly and exclusively enveloping the Little Emperor.
Everyone present watched this scene in shock, their gazes shifting between the Little Emperor and the sky.
’Miracles can be man-made, but this is the sky. What kind of person could achieve something like this?’
In that instant of golden light, the Little Emperor stood tall and straight, her aura proud and imposing. Her eyes held the disdainful majesty of a true sovereign. Her handsome face and the Dragon Robe she wore both glittered brilliantly in the light.
Everyone saw her lips curl into a smile, a look of someone who has everything under control, who looks down upon all living things.
The next moment, the dark clouds in the sky abruptly dispersed, and brilliant sunlight shone down upon the land. But the miracle was not yet complete.
The dragon embroidery on the Dragon Robe came to life in the final ray of golden light. After coiling once, it leaped into the air, transforming into a golden dragon phantom dozens of feet long. It circled the Little Emperor once before charging into the Imperial Ancestral Temple.
Wherever the golden dragon passed, all the ancestral tablets trembled, and the characters inscribed on them all began to glow with golden light.
The golden dragon vanished, but golden specks of light emerged in sequence from the characters on the tablets. They all fell to the ground, forming a path that extended from the prayer cushion all the way to the Little Emperor’s feet.
The ancestors of the Xiao Family had personally paved a path for the Little Emperor to the Imperial Ancestral Temple.
And so, under the watchful eyes of all, Xiao Yang walked into the Imperial Ancestral Temple as a woman.
As she walked, the golden specks of light on the ground returned one by one to her Dragon Robe.
Xiao Yang knelt and kowtowed to her ancestors.
Outside, hundreds of people were gathered, but at this moment, it was utterly silent. It was as if even breathing had ceased.
Finally, Xiao Yang finished her kowtow and rose. The moment she turned around, Prince Jing took a deep breath. He was so emotional that tears welled in his eyes and his voice caught in his throat, but he managed to shout with all his might, "This subject... pays respects to the Empress!"