Damn it, I was almost scared half to death, and you are pulling this kind of trick?
Good, good, good...
Isn't it just a mere Edict of Self-Reproach?
You can have it!
Ren Tianye's mood shifted from anxiety to wild ecstasy. He was just about to head to the imperial palace when his personal guards announced that Su Jin requested an audience.
Let her in.
Duke, the matter regarding the Empress has been thoroughly investigated, and we have secured the evidence. She is indeed not the biological daughter of the late Emperor, Xiao Jingyuan.
As Su Jin spoke, she presented the gathered evidence.
Ren Tianye took it and glanced over it.
The evidence was extremely detailed, constituting absolutely ironclad proof.
With this evidence of her illegitimacy, Xiao Mingzhao could be completely stripped of her position as Empress. Moreover, not only would she be deposed, but it would also deal a profoundly heavy blow to all the righteous warriors across the realm who revered the Xiao family's Great Yu Dynasty.
After all...
The person sitting on the throne did not possess the Xiao family bloodline.
What was even more infuriating was that the late Emperor Xiao Jingyuan had known about this all along. In fact, he was the one who had orchestrated the entire thing!
Calling this news an earth-shattering revelation would not be an exaggeration.
Once this bombshell was dropped, if Ren Tianye played his cards right, he would be able to win over the hearts of even more people in the world!
However...
Looking at the evidence before him, Ren Tianye instantly extinguished the idea of making it public right away.
After all, under the current circumstances, keeping Xiao Mingzhao as the Empress was much more useful to him.
We will wait until we have dealt with Lin Zixiao before announcing this.
Having made up his mind, he turned to Su Jin and said, You must have worked very hard recently to gather this evidence, right? Your face is quite pale. If there are no major matters in the Demon Suppression Division for the time being, you should take some time to rest.
If anything comes up, let Zhou Ze, Xie Changfeng, and the others handle it.
The Demon Suppression Division is full of talented people now. You just need to supervise them more; there is no need to do everything yourself.
Ren Tianye's words stemmed entirely from a superior's care for his subordinate, but they warmed Su Jin's heart so much that she could hardly hold back her tears.
Why did she work so tirelessly?
Wasn't it just to do as much as she could for the Duke while she still had the chance, so that when the earth-shattering trouble involving her third sister Su Li finally arrived, she would have enough merit to protect herself?
Did she want to exhaust herself like this?
But did she dare not to?
It took her a long while to steady her emotions. She looked up at Ren Tianye's retreating figure as he strode heavily toward the imperial palace. Even though he could not see her, Su Jin still kowtowed deeply toward him.
Meanwhile, Ren Tianye rushed to the imperial palace with burning urgency.
This Lin Zixiao was probably poisoned by the Same Heart Alliance as well. Instead of being a normal human, he insisted on being a hypocrite. Ren Tianye had to fulfill Lin Zixiao's wish.
Therefore, he had to wake Xiao Mingzhao up.
He could write the decree himself and stamp it with the imperial seal, but he worried that Lin Zixiao had likely seen Xiao Mingzhao's handwriting before and was quite familiar with it.
Thus, what Lin Zixiao needed had to be a decree written by Xiao Mingzhao herself.
Only an edict personally written by Xiao Mingzhao would be reliable.
With these thoughts in mind, he arrived at the Sijun Hall.
Xiao Mingzhao was playing the sleeping beauty as usual. Her complexion was rosy, and her beauty could topple nations, but she simply would not wake up.
How is Xiao... How is Her Majesty doing?
Ren Tianye asked the imperial physician standing nearby.
This physician was one of their own, specially brought in by Su Pengcheng. Not only were his medical skills top-notch, but he also obeyed Su Pengcheng's every command, which meant he completely obeyed Ren Tianye.
Regarding Her Majesty's condition, after taking her pulse, I can say it is actually quite good. Her pulse is stable, but... getting her to wake up completely is not that easy.
She can only wake up occasionally, and then she falls back asleep shortly after.
I need her awake right now. Can you do it?
Yes! the physician answered decisively. However, it is highly likely to cause damage to Her Majesty's body, and I cannot say for sure how severe that damage might be.
Therefore, unless it is an absolute emergency, I do not dare to try it.
Now is an absolute emergency! Ren Tianye's voice rang out like clashing metal. Wake Xiao Mingzhao up for me immediately.
Yes, Duke.
The physician did not waste any words. He brought out his small medical box, opened it, and took out a row of silver needles. With a flick of his wrist, the silver needles accurately pierced various major acupoints on Xiao Mingzhao's body, exactly as he intended.
One needle, two needles, three needles...
Fifty needles!
Ren Tianye watched clearly from the side.
After the acupuncture, Xiao Mingzhao's complexion underwent a drastic change. It flushed red and then turned pale, as if the blood and qi inside her were surging violently.
It actually made him a bit nervous.
He was afraid the physician might accidentally needle Xiao Mingzhao to death.
Just as this thought crossed his mind, Xiao Mingzhao, who was lying on the bed, suddenly opened her eyes. Before Ren Tianye even had time to rejoice, she abruptly sat up.
Then...
She spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.
Her face instantly turned as white as snow, but her eyes were exceptionally bright.
Ren Tianye immediately gave the physician mental praise.
He then ordered the physician to remove the needles and withdraw at once.
Yes, Duke.
As soon as the physician left, Xiao Mingzhao's eyes instantly locked onto Ren Tianye's face.
Tianye, I... I have been dreaming a lot these days, dreaming of you...
I... I finally realize that in my heart, the most important person is actually you. In the past, whether it was Zhan Shubai, Tuoba Xiangtai, or Xiangxiang, they were all just fleeting illusions in my life.
The one I truly love is you!
As soon as Xiao Mingzhao opened her mouth, her words were filled with tender affection. I have decided. I will never test you again. If you are willing, I...
I am willing to entrust the Great Yu Dynasty, along with myself, to you!
Tianye, are you willing...
Before Xiao Mingzhao could finish her sentence, Ren Tianye let out a cold sneer and interrupted, Forget it. Even a dog wouldn't want the Great Yu Dynasty ruled by you and your father.
I'd be better off conquering it myself.
At least it would be stable!
Pausing for a moment, Ren Tianye grew increasingly impatient.
Stripped of her halo as the Empress, Xiao Mingzhao's image, which was already poor in his eyes, plummeted straight into the eighteenth level of hell.
Consequently, he directly tossed the evidence Su Jin had found in front of Xiao Mingzhao for her to see.
Heh, besides, what does this Great Yu Dynasty have to do with you?
Is your surname Xiao?
You are not even Xiao Jingyuan's biological flesh and blood, yet you boldly talk about the Great Yu Dynasty. Ridiculous, simply ridiculous!
Ren Tianye originally intended to use this method to pressure Xiao Mingzhao, forcing her to obediently submit to him. After all, without the royal bloodline, Xiao Mingzhao was just meat on the chopping block, entirely at the mercy of others.
But to his surprise...
After looking at the evidence Ren Tianye presented and hearing his words, Xiao Mingzhao's face showed not a single trace of shock. Instead, she remained quite calm and composed, as if...
This matter was not a big deal to her at all.
Xiao Mingzhao said, Does it matter whether I am my imperial father's biological daughter or not?
My imperial father's doting on me and his grace of raising me for so many years have long surpassed biological ties. Whether I possess the Xiao family bloodline or not is no longer important to me.
...
world slacker. But a genius female disciple just had to get clingy, insisting that he take her as a disciple. Not only that, she was always making advances on him, thoroughly disrupting his peaceful slacker life...
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
