"What?"
"What on earth?"
"Let the scions of noble families assist Her Majesty in personally leading the military campaign?"
The civil and military officials of the entire court cried out in shock, their eyes wide with disbelief.
Has the Female Emperor of Wu Zhou gone mad?
Letting those noble scions go to war, isn't that just sending them to their deaths?
Those young masters of noble houses were experts at embezzling money, hoarding wealth, and oppressing the common folk.
But letting them fight a war was simply courting death!
And for the Female Emperor of Wu Zhou to personally lead the troops, isn't this pure folly?
"Your Majesty! This is absolutely out of the question!"
An old general knelt on the ground, his hair white, pleading bitterly.
"Emperor Wenzong once said that the scions of noble families must not enter the court as officials, much less hold military power!"
"Please, Your Majesty, retract this order!"
"Your Majesty, acting like this will ruin the court!"
"Your Majesty!"
"Please think twice!"
A crowd of ministers spoke up one after another to admonish her.
Giving noble families power, especially military power, was no different from inviting wolves into the house!
The Female Emperor of Wu Zhou's face darkened, her eyes revealing deep anger.
"Insolent! Since when do my actions require an explanation to the likes of you!"
"So what if the noble families hold power? It is still better than you bunch of traitors!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the court instantly fell into a dead silence!
Traitors?
The Female Emperor of Wu Zhou actually called them traitors?
If they hadn't painstakingly supported Wu Zhou, this empire would probably have changed hands long ago!
They had been fiercely loyal for years, only to end up with the title of traitors!
At this moment, everyone's eyes were blank, completely at a loss.
They had never done anything to betray their master for personal glory.
Why would she call them traitors?
The Female Emperor of Wu Zhou scanned the ministers and let out a cold laugh.
"Now Temujin has invaded Wu Zhou, and Qin Xiao is also knocking at our gates with the Prince of Yan! I do not believe you are unaware!"
"All of you are jealous of me and cannot stand to see me prosper! You all want to force me to step down and support the Prince of Yan to take the throne!"
"I am telling you, this Wu Zhou empire will forever be my empire!"
"My subjects are inexhaustible and endless, why would I need a group of rebellious ministers who are about to commit treason!"
The Female Emperor of Wu Zhou grew increasingly furious as she spoke, pointing at the ministers and roaring ceaselessly.
The expressions of the ministers became increasingly unsightly.
It was not out of fear.
But a profound grief and indignation from the bottom of their hearts!
Many veteran ministers of Wu Zhou who supported the female emperor were so angry that they coughed up mouthfuls of blood on the spot!
"Your Majesty! When have we ever spoken of treason? You cannot just convict us of rebellion based on a mere thought!"
"Indeed! We old ministers have bowed our heads and dedicated all our efforts to assisting Your Majesty, even if it costs us our lives, we would not hesitate!"
"Your Majesty, how can you suspect us for something that hasn't even happened?"
One after another, white-haired and bearded old ministers knelt on the ground, speaking with absolute heartbreak.
They could not figure out why things had turned out this way!
The Female Emperor of Wu Zhou smiled, looking down coldly at the ministers, and spoke indifferently.
"Just because you haven't rebelled now, doesn't mean you won't in the future!"
A single sentence silenced everyone present.
What did she mean by not rebelling now doesn't mean you won't in the future?
Could she arbitrarily determine that they would rebel just based on her own imagination?
This was simply too absurd!
"Your Majesty!"
Di Qingyun frowned and took a step forward.
Confronting the Female Emperor of Wu Zhou head-on.
"Your Majesty, where has that once wise and martial ruler gone?"
"How have you become so suspicious and paranoid now!"
"Could it be that just one Prince of Yan has thrown you into such disarray, causing you to lose the broad-mindedness a sovereign should possess?"
Di Qingyun's questioning brought a surge of emotion to everyone's hearts.
The female emperor indeed should not have done this.
If she discarded this entire court of civil and military officials and employed the noble families, then what hope would the Wu Zhou empire have left?
The foundation they had painstakingly built up would probably collapse very soon!
Di Qingyun's words sent the Female Emperor of Wu Zhou into a towering rage!
"Prime Minister Di!"
Pointing her finger at Di Qingyun, her eyes red, she rebuked angrily:
"Why, why is it that even you do not understand me!"
"I treated you as a close friend, as my confidant, why are you also here to point out my faults!"
She knew exactly how despicable the origins of her throne were.
To secure her throne, she had slaughtered tens of thousands of the Li Tang royal family!
And killed countless officials loyal to Li Tang!
The evil deeds she had committed were too numerous to record!
If Wu Zhou experienced even the slightest turmoil, those old ministers supporting Li Tang would probably be the first to draw their swords against her!
Not to mention, Qin Xiao was now right outside the pass!
And he had brought the Prince of Yan with him!
Internally within Wu Zhou, Temujin was burning, killing, and looting.
The current situation in Wu Zhou was plagued by internal and external turmoil!
She could not afford to gamble!
Even less could she bear to see the Wu Zhou empire, which she had poured her heart and soul into, change hands back to Li Tang!
Right now, the female emperor did not dare to trust a single one of the civil and military officials in the court.
The only ones she could heavily rely on were the noble clans and powerful families.
"Di Qingyun! You dare to contradict me. From this day forward, you are no longer the Prime Minister of my Wu Zhou!"
The female emperor roared, her eyes filled with a cold gleam.
"I declare that your position as Prime Minister is abolished, and you are demoted to a Censor!"
The Prime Minister was a high-ranking official in charge of all officials, possessing an extremely high status, and was a leading figure among the civil officials!
What's more, Di Qingyun had always been fiercely loyal to the female emperor, a fact obvious to everyone.
Yet the female emperor had directly dismissed the Prime Minister.
The expressions of the civil and military officials all drastically changed in unison!
They looked at Di Qingyun, their eyes full of pity and sympathy.
Even his former political enemies could not help but feel regret.
Di Qingyun's face turned deathly pale, his body swaying unsteadily as he staggered back a few steps.
When he raised his head again and looked at the Female Emperor of Wu Zhou.
He found that there was not a single trace of emotion in her eyes.
There was only bone-chilling indifference!
And a faint, threatening murderous intent!
It seemed that if Di Qingyun did not obey, his head would roll in the next second!
Di Qingyun gave a miserable smile and fell to his knees.
"This subject... obeys the decree!"
He buried his head heavily against the ground.
His heart was filled with desolation.
He and the Female Emperor of Wu Zhou had once been both teacher and friend, confidants to each other, deeply admiring each other's talents.
The female emperor appreciated him, elevating him from a poor scholar to the Prime Minister of Wu Zhou.
And he, in turn, had given his all for Wu Zhou, working his heart out.
This debt of gratitude for recognizing his worth could not be repaid in a lifetime!
But now, the female emperor wanted to kill him!
Tears blurred his vision, streaming down his cheeks onto the floor. A tearing pain radiated from his heart, as if he were being subjected to death by a thousand cuts.
At this moment, Di Qingyun finally understood a truth.
Sovereigns are cold-blooded and cruel!
A sovereign only cares about their own interests.
Once you offend a sovereign's interests, no matter who you are, there is only one outcome, and that is... death!
The Female Emperor of Wu Zhou looked down, watching Di Qingyun kneeling on the ground to show his submission, and felt very satisfied in her heart.
"Di Qingyun, it is good that you know your mistake. I will not punish you any further."
pression Bureau] Transported to a fantasy world overrun by demons and monsters, Gu Qingfeng becomes a jailer in the Demon Suppression Prison of the Great Yan Dynasty's Demon Suppression Bureau. From this point on, bizarre cases frequently occur in the Demon Suppression Prison, once known as hell on earth and infamous for its gloomy, terrifying atmosphere! Why do the demons and monsters in the prison wail miserably every night? Why has the corpse demon, capable of transforming into various beauties, donned black stockings and switched careers to become a foot massage therapist? Why has the eye demon, expert in soul-snatching and illusions, turned into a VR headset? Why is the fox spirit performing otaku dances? Are all these occurrences a twisted expression of demonic nature, or a descent into moral depravity? After peeling away layer upon layer of mystery, all clues ultimately point to a jailer named Gu Qingfeng. Gu Qingfeng: "Hehehe... My dear demons and monsters, whose card shall we flip today?"
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
uld barely embark on the path to immortality. Just as he was on the verge of death, his golden finger awakened. No matter whether it was poison, drained blood and vital energy, diminished lifespan, or any other physical debuff caused by paying a price—once midnight passed, everything would be refreshed. From then on, whenever someone asked what kind of person Chu Ran was, the answer was simple: Forbidden arts that other cultivators dared not learn? Chu Ran would learn them. Prices that even demonic cultivators dared not pay? Chu Ran would pay them. Lifespan that even righteous cultivators dared not burn? Chu Ran would burn it. All the blood essence in his body? Take it. Want both his hands and feet? He would cut them off and send them to you. You say he’s finished? He wasn’t built to sit idle. You think he’s gone mad? No—he was simply waiting for midnight. From that day onward, Chu Ran would respect neither Heaven nor Earth, bow to neither gods nor ghosts. He had only one wish: For midnight to arrive a little sooner.
