The Mad First Emperor

In this life, Chu Jinghong had only one husband, from beginning to end—and that was Ye Xuan.

Yet, in the most difficult years after the Great Jin Immortal Dynasty had just been established, when its foundations were still unstable and enemies surrounded it on every side, she had no choice but to form a marriage alliance with the eight ancient sects of the Central State in order to borrow their strength.

Back then, Great Jin was nowhere near as powerful as it was now.

Although she was the First Emperor, her position on the throne was far from secure.

Countless ancient inheritances watched her like tigers eyeing their prey. Countless aristocratic clans and sacred lands waited to see her make a fool of herself. There were even many ancient monsters who had hidden themselves deep within the river of time, hoping to strike while her foundations were still incomplete and strangle this newborn Immortal Dynasty in its cradle.

To survive.

To ensure Great Jin could establish itself.

She had agreed to the marriage alliance.

Eight ancient sects. Eight Imperial Consorts.

To the outside world, this was proof of the First Emperor’s unparalleled political cunning and formidable methods. But to Chu Jinghong herself, it was a humiliation she had never been willing to look back upon.

Because she knew.

This was not merely a betrayal of her own feelings.

It was also a trampling of Ye Xuan’s dignity.

That man, who had once placed his entire heart before her, the man who should have become her only Imperial Consort, had been utterly disheartened by that marriage pact and fled from the wedding.

Thus, in Chu Jinghong’s heart, those eight so-called Imperial Consorts had never been her husbands.

They were merely tools she had been forced to accept, holding her nose in disgust, for the sake of Great Jin.

Later, Great Jin grew stronger step by step.

Once she had completely taken control of the Immortal Dynasty and secured her position as the First Emperor, no longer needing the support of the eight sects, the very first thing she did was begin settling accounts.

The eight Imperial Consorts died one after another.

Some died in secret realms.

Some died in assassinations.

Some died from cultivation deviations.

Some died amid the internal power struggles of their own inheritances.

On the surface, none of it had anything to do with her.

But in truth, only a tiny handful of people knew that Chu Jinghong had a hand in all of it.

She could not tolerate carrying such a stain on herself forever.

Nor could she accept the thought that, if she ever truly reunited with Ye Xuan in the future, these eyesores might still be hanging around her.

Therefore, they all had to die!

Of the eight Imperial Consorts, only Lin Jiutian had survived to the present.

It was not because Chu Jinghong had shown mercy.

It was because this man was too clever.

After suffering a meticulously planned ambush and sustaining severe damage to his origin, Lin Jiutian had realized his situation almost immediately.

He did not remain in Great Jin to await death.

Instead, he dragged his heavily wounded body back to the Nine Heavens Sacred Land and withdrew from the world, never showing himself again.

The Nine Heavens Sacred Land possessed unfathomable foundations and overwhelming strength.

On the one hand, Chu Jinghong had been wary of the Sacred Land’s power and had not wanted to sever ties with it completely at the time. On the other hand, she had already seen clearly that Lin Jiutian’s origin was crippled and his lifespan was nearly exhausted. He was nothing more than a useless man clinging to life, and there was no great need to continue attacking him.

And so, he survived.

For that very reason, he became the only one of Chu Jinghong’s Imperial Consorts who was still alive.

He was also the only one who constantly reminded her of how repulsive and humiliating that marriage alliance had been.

Chu Jinghong closed her eyes, forcibly suppressing the murderous intent roiling within them.

But when she opened them again, the gloom in her gaze had only deepened.

“Tell him to get lost.”

The palace maid’s face paled, and she was just about to acknowledge the order.

But at that moment—

Creak.

The door to the bedchamber was pushed open from outside.

A cold breeze carrying a faint scent of decay swept into the room.

Chu Jinghong abruptly raised her eyes.

At the doorway stood a thin, withered old man draped in a black robe. He slowly walked inside.

He looked extremely old.

Not old in the ordinary sense, but with the decayed air of someone whose origin had been nearly hollowed out and whose lifespan had reached its end.

His hair had long since turned gray and white. Deep grooves covered his face, and even his back was slightly hunched, as though a gust of wind might knock him down.

And yet, despite all that, his eyes still held the profoundness and sharpness that had once belonged to a supreme powerhouse.

Lin Jiutian.

Once the most renowned True Immortal Seed of the Nine Heavens Sacred Land and the nominal Legitimate Imperial Consort among Great Jin’s eight Imperial Consorts, he had now been reduced to this half-dead state.

Standing there, the withered face beneath his black robe slowly twisted into a mocking, cold smile.

“Seeing your husband doesn’t seem to make you very happy.”

The moment those words left his mouth, the anger in Chu Jinghong’s eyes erupted.

“Husband?”

She suddenly took a step forward. Her imperial might swept out like a raging sea, and the space throughout the entire bedchamber warped violently beneath her fury.

“I have only one husband!”

“And that is Ye Xuan!”

“You came at just the right time.” She stared at Lin Jiutian, her voice filled with bone-chilling killing intent. “I was just thinking of killing you.”

Facing her almost tangible murderous aura, Lin Jiutian did not retreat even half a step.

Instead, he let out a low laugh.

“Kill me?”

“Chu Jinghong, you ambushed me and severely wounded my origin, reducing me to this neither-human-nor-ghost state. Even if you don’t kill me, I won’t live much longer.”

His tone was surprisingly calm as he said this.

Chu Jinghong let out a cold laugh, her gaze as though she were looking at a corpse.

“Then why have you come here? Did you come to offer up your life before you die?”

Lin Jiutian’s gaze slowly swept across her still peerlessly beautiful face, upon which not the slightest trace of age could be found. A profound complexity flickered through his eyes.

Had he ever loved Chu Jinghong?

Of course he had.

Even now, he had to admit that the woman before him remained so beautiful that no one dared look directly at her.

She was lofty and peerlessly stunning, controlling the lives and deaths of countless beings.

She was a Female Emperor born for the throne.

And she was born ruthless.

Back then, he had not been unaware that there was someone else in her heart.

Nor had he been unaware that she had married the eight of them solely for the sake of Great Jin.

But people were like that.

They could never help but indulge in fantasies.

He had fantasized that he would be the special one.

He had fantasized that, given enough time, she would eventually look back at him.

He had fantasized that once they shared the name of husband and wife, once they had children and countless interests and ties binding them together, this lofty Female Emperor might develop even the slightest bit of affection for him.

But reality had proven it.

He had been too foolish.

Foolish to the point of being laughable.

Thinking of this, the mockery at the corner of Lin Jiutian’s lips grew even stronger.

“Haven’t you heard?” he asked unhurriedly, his voice hoarse. “Your husband, Ye Xuan, is going to marry Ye Jiuhuang, the Sword Sovereign.”

Chu Jinghong’s expression instantly became hideous.

She clenched her teeth so tightly that they nearly creaked, and the madness deep in her eyes could no longer be suppressed.

“I know.”

Seeing her like this, Lin Jiutian suddenly felt a surge of satisfaction.

A satisfaction that had come tens of thousands of years late, laced with the taste of blood.

All these years, he had clung desperately to life, enduring the agony of his torn origin day and night, waiting to die within the cold, empty cavern abode of the Nine Heavens Sacred Land.

He had long since stopped fearing death.

Instead, seeing Chu Jinghong—clearly lofty and in control of everything, yet unable to obtain what she desired, forced to watch helplessly as the person she wanted most belonged to someone else—made him realize for the first time that there truly was something more comforting than death in this world: revenge.

And so, he smiled.

“What difference does it make if you know?”

“Chu Jinghong, stop deluding yourself.”

“You two can never get back together.”

He stared at her, each word like a blade deliberately driven into the most tender part of her heart.

“Back then, for the sake of profit—for the sake of Great Jin—you bore eight children, one for each of our eight sects.”

“Ye Xuan could never want you.”

“If it were me…”

Lin Jiutian paused briefly, then the corners of his lips curved into an almost cruel smile.

“I would choose Ye Jiuhuang too.”