The ministers fell silent!
A single sentence from Female Emperor Wu of Zhou left them dumbfounded!
What on earth?
To attack the Great Qin, you are driving the wolf to devour the tiger.
Not only are you sending a prince into a marriage alliance.
You are also opening a gap at the border to let the plainsmen through?
This single sentence practically paralyzed everyone with shock!
Prime Minister Di Qingyun was instantly drenched in sweat and cried out.
"Your Majesty, absolutely not!"
"The plainsmen are inherently brutal and overly ambitious. They are capricious villains!"
"Once they are allowed through the border, if they turn around and bite us instead, wouldn't that be inviting wolves into our own house?"
He knew Female Emperor Wu of Zhou was unconventional, but regarding such a matter, let alone an incompetent ruler, even a foolish emperor would not dare to put the nation in such peril.
Betting on the plainsmen to obediently follow your orders is worse than directly deploying troops to attack the Great Qin.
Facing Di Qingyun's earnest pleas, Female Emperor Wu of Zhou remained unmoved. Instead, she furrowed her brows and shouted coldly.
"Lord Di, is this the tone you use to speak to Us?"
She was also angered.
Slapping the dragon desk, she stood up.
"Why do you think We are doing this? Is it not for the sake of Our Great Zhou empire?"
"Do We not know that We could directly dispatch troops to attack the Great Qin? But have you considered the immense cost of moving provisions before the army even marches?"
"All the nations of the world are watching. If our campaign starts poorly, the consequences will be unimaginable!"
"Why can't we borrow the hands of the plainsmen to annihilate the Great Qin?"
"It is now the beginning of winter, and the plainsmen need food. We are pointing them to a clear path. They will be too busy being profoundly grateful to ever turn around and bite Us!"
As she spoke, her gaze filled with a murderous aura.
"Our decision is the imperial decree. Whoever dares to advise against it will be guilty of treason!"
"Issue the decree! The major tribes of our Mobei plains will deploy troops against the Great Qin! We will provide them with sufficient food and military supplies, guaranteeing their logistics!"
The entire hall fell silent!
Everyone was stunned by the female emperor!
Female Emperor Wu of Zhou sat back on the dragon throne, her face returning to its calm and confident state.
She swept her gaze over everyone, seeing them all lower their heads with no one daring to object again.
She smiled faintly and made the final decision: "Then the matter is settled!"
"Court dismissed!"
As her words fell, the female emperor stood up and left directly.
The ministers looked at each other in dismay, able only to sigh as they walked out of the great hall.
Only Prime Minister Di Qingyun remained deeply worried.
He could only hope now that those plainsmen would not turn around and bite them!
Otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable!
Before long.
The news about the prince being sent for a marriage alliance spread throughout the entire Great Zhou.
Countless scions of noble families were all dumbfounded.
No way, brother, are you kidding me?
On the contrary, the women cheered and jumped for joy.
They openly praised Her Majesty's mighty and domineering spirit, doing what even men wouldn't dare to do!
Suddenly, the image of Female Emperor Wu of Zhou grew even more towering and magnificent in their hearts!
Meanwhile.
A carriage carved with dragons and painted with phoenixes slowly left the imperial palace, heading in the direction of the Great Qin.
Inside this carriage sat a young man with delicate features and an outstanding temperament.
He looked gentle and refined on the outside, like an elegant scholar, but a touch of arrogance and majesty lingered between his brows.
But at this moment.
The young man held the imperial decree in his hands, his face pale and bloodless, his entire body trembling.
"What... they want me to go for a marriage alliance?"
He muttered to himself in disbelief, suddenly looking up ahead.
As the carriage curtain fluttered in the wind, he could see the Great Zhou imperial palace growing further and further away.
He was truly going for a marriage alliance!
At this moment, the young man finally broke down completely!
A tremendous sense of humiliation washed over him, driving him nearly mad!
From ancient times to the present, when has a prince ever been sent for a marriage alliance?
He was the first prince in history to do so, destined to be infamous for ten thousand years!
"No! I don't want this!"
"I just want to lie flat and be an idle prince. I don't want to be any emperor, nor do I want the Li-Tang empire anymore. Why won't Her Majesty spare my Li-Tang imperial family?"
"No!"
The wails from inside the carriage grew increasingly mournful.
But the eunuch sitting outside the carriage remained expressionless, completely unmoved.
The coachman was equally numb, continuing to drive the carriage forward.
After a long while, the eunuch's voice drifted in faintly.
"If His Highness the Prince of Yan is unwilling, you may take your own life after arriving in the Great Qin. In this way, you can preserve your reputation, and it will also give our Great Zhou a justified reason to deploy troops against the Great Qin."
This single sentence instantly turned the Prince of Yan's heart to ashes, sending chills all over his body.
He tightly clutched the imperial decree, looking through the gap in the cloth curtain at the old eunuch's cold profile.
At this moment, his fury reached its peak!
His chest heaved violently, his eyes turning bloodshot!
"I am the very last person left in the Li-Tang imperial family!"
"Even if I ignore court politics and only care about touring the mountains and waters, is that still not enough?"
"So, the female emperor never intended to spare me from the very beginning!"
The Prince of Yan smiled miserably, tears bursting from his eyes.
At this moment, he finally understood.
As someone with royal blood.
Even if he didn't fight or compete, it wouldn't do!
His very existence was the greatest threat to the emperor!
"Big Brother! I hate you so much! Why did you insist on yielding the throne to that witch of a female emperor back then! You turned our Great Tang into a laughingstock!"
The Prince of Yan's heart-wrenching roar echoed within the carriage.
And the old eunuch met it with silence.
Letting His Highness the Prince of Yan vent his anger.
After all, in his eyes, once they reached the Great Qin, the Prince of Yan would undoubtedly die!
As early as ten years ago, Female Emperor Wu of Zhou had abdicated.
The second emperor of the Li-Tang dynasty inherited the great lineage.
He was also the Prince of Yan's eldest brother.
After he took the throne, his first act was to abolish all the policies of Female Emperor Wu of Zhou.
He took the lead in choosing to rest and recuperate, reducing taxes on the common people while increasing taxes on the noble families.
Within three years, the national treasury became abundant.
It was during these crucial three years that he vigorously developed trade, reclaimed land, and trained the army.
Three years later, the emperor launched wars.
In less than four years, he subdued Mobei in the north, pacified Baiyue in the south, annihilated the Xirong in the west, and conquered Fusang in the east...
Not only did he recover lost territories, but he also expanded the vast borders!
Moreover, even while the army was at war, he ushered the nation into the prosperous Kaiyuan era!
The people of the world all called him a wise ruler and erected monuments of merit for him!
However, in his tenth year of rule.
Female Emperor Wu of Zhou made him abdicate and conveniently bestowed a cup of poisoned wine to kill the emperor.
Simply because she was wary of the emperor, fearing he would disobey her and rebel.
At that time, the emperor commanded a massive army of hundreds of thousands right in the capital!
Fierce generals under his command were as numerous as the clouds.
Many people advised him to directly kill Female Emperor Wu of Zhou.
But the emperor still chose to abdicate and drink that cup of poisoned wine.
Before his death, he still issued a final edict: whoever did not obey the decrees of Female Emperor Wu of Zhou was to be killed without mercy!
Simply because Female Emperor Wu of Zhou was his mother.
As a son, he could not disobey his mother's orders.
And just like that, the emperor who had personally created the prosperous Kaiyuan era met his end.
Meanwhile, Female Emperor Wu of Zhou ushered in her second era of ruling the world!
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
【Prologue: The Beginning of It All – Use holy water to heal the saintess tainted by demonic energy, then converse with her.】 Shen Nian stared at his older sister sipping yogurt, lost in thought. So you’re telling me my sister is the saintess, and yogurt is the holy water? 【Main Quest 1: Brave Youth, Become an Adventurer! Reward: Rookie Adventurer Title.】 【Side Quest 1: Find the Adorable Kitty! Reward: 1000 Gold Coins.】 Shen Nian: "Wait, I’m a high school senior here—did some guy who got isekai’d accidentally bind his system to me?" Hold on, completing quests gives gold rewards? Titles even boost stats? Is this for real? (A lighthearted, absurd campus comedy—not a revenge power fantasy.)
lity and could only live as an ordinary mortal. He only wished to live a peaceful life. Yet he didn't know— The dog he adopted, because it ate his food, became a legendary demon king. The kitchen knife he casually forged became a peerless divine weapon, causing numerous experts to fight desperately for it. The young disciple he took in became an immortal lord that led an era, due to cultivating the techniques Ye Feng taught him. Even the skeletons he looked down on the most were ominous demon kings that suppressed countless worlds. Many years later, looking at the void shattered with a punch, Ye Feng murmured to himself: It turns out the peerless kings were myself all along...
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
