Murong Yan stood in front of the mirror, letting the palace maids dress her in heavy dragon robes and crowns.
Sometimes, fate is just that ridiculous.
What she wants, she can never hold onto; what she doesn't want, she's forced upon her.
Since the night she quelled the rebellion, she had established a very high level of prestige in the army, and the 80,000 imperial guards followed her every command.
Anyone who attempted to question her succession as a woman was arrested as a traitor.
Murong Yan understood their intentions.
If he were to succeed to the throne, the Imperial Guards would be doing a great service by supporting the emperor; but if a member of the collateral relatives were to succeed, it would bring them no benefit whatsoever.
Those in the court who wanted to promote a member of the imperial family to the throne were also hoping to gain merit for themselves in supporting the emperor's rise to power.
The world is bustling with activity, all for the sake of profit.
The world is a chaotic place, and everyone is driven by profit.
Unfortunately, their seventh princess was a madwoman, a madwoman who saw through everything yet had no desires.
"Your Majesty, all the traitors have been captured. What should be done next?"
"Kill them."
Murong Yan said indifferently.
“Yes…” The general hesitated for a moment, then said, “Your Majesty, what about the nine generations of relatives who were imprisoned with the traitors…”
"Kill them all."
The general gasped inwardly, "Yes."
The general had just left when another eunuch approached, "Your Majesty..."
After bowing, the eunuch hesitated and couldn't continue speaking.
Murong Yan said, "Someone come here..."
The eunuch knelt down with a thud and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. It is the officials in the court who have submitted memorials urging you to choose a consort as soon as possible..."
Murong Yan's pupils contracted, and her bright red lips revealed a smile that could captivate all beings.
"Your Majesty...which ministers are urging you?"
"Very well, several, including the Grand Counselor, the Vice Minister of Rites, the Duke of Ying, the Duke of Chen, and..."
"Then capture all their sons and bring them to my harem."
"yes?"
The eunuch finally realized what she had said and stared blankly at Murong Yan.
Murong Yan nodded with a smile that was both normal and somewhat unnatural. "All of them."
The eunuch ran away in a cold sweat.
On that day, the sons of several ministers who had urged His Majesty to marry were all arrested by the Imperial Guards and escorted into the palace.
Which of these wealthy and high-ranking officials doesn't have a son who is their precious heir to carry on the family line?
The women in the family were devastated and nearly hanged themselves on the spot to threaten their husbands.
The next day, the ministers who had submitted their memorials knelt before the gates of Murong Yan's sleeping quarters to beg for forgiveness.
Murong Yan left these people hanging for three days, and on the fourth day, she finally had their sons thrown out.
These usually dashing and debonair young talents were now pale and emaciated, with dark circles under their eyes, walking unsteadily, and dressed in tattered clothes, resembling famine refugees fleeing a disaster.
When asked what they had encountered in the harem, none of them would tell him, no matter what.
Actually, even without being told, just by looking at their faces, which resembled those of some kind of demon who had drained their life essence, one could roughly guess what they had experienced in the past three days.
The shadow cast by Her Majesty the Queen over everyone deepened once more.
Murong Yan was like a severely mentally ill patient, treating the imperial court and the world as her playground, squandering it at will.
The world was in chaos, and rebel armies rose up everywhere.
Of course, the world under Daxing had long been in chaos. As early as when Murong Yan's father was in power, there were rebellions here and there, and the more bandits were suppressed, the more numerous they became.
It's just that things are even more chaotic now.
Murong Yan knew this, of course, but she couldn't be bothered to care and spent her days in a drunken stupor.
She stood at the pinnacle, manipulating the killings, waiting for this aging empire to fall, waiting for her own life to come to an end.
Until a portrait of a rebel leader was brought to her desk.
The familiar, handsome face in the portrait brought her heart back to life.
When the emperor was alive, he used the witchcraft case to punish the virtuous concubine and the prime minister. The prime minister's former residence had long been confiscated and the clan exterminated by the previous emperor.
No matter how much Zhang Tian disagreed with his family, he was still the prime minister's illegitimate son, so it was only natural for him to rise up in rebellion.
The traitor Zhang Tian, riding the coattails of the world, led his army unimpeded into the capital, carrying the Empress of Daxing on his shoulders and bringing her into her palace.
After the fall of the Daxing Kingdom, Zhang Tian declared himself emperor and changed the kingdom's name to "Yun".
After Emperor Yun ascended the throne, he recruited talented individuals and promoted those from humble backgrounds, breaking the monopoly of the court by powerful families that had existed in previous dynasties.
Later historical records state that Emperor Yun never established an empress or took any concubines in his life. He only kept one woman in a golden house. There is no portrait of her in any official or unofficial history, nor is there any record of her name or life story.
Later generations only know that this woman gave birth to two sons and one daughter for Emperor Yun.
After Emperor Yun ascended the throne, he implemented benevolent policies, allowing the people to recuperate and thrive, selecting virtuous and capable officials, punishing evil and promoting good, and the world gradually became peaceful.
Later, in order to block the enemy from the grasslands, Emperor Houyun established a large camp in the northwest of Dayun, and appointed his second son as the King of the Northwest, granting him the northwest as his fiefdom, and ordering his descendants to guard the northwest camp for generations.
With peace restored throughout the land, the number of unjustly killed people decreased, resentment dissipated, and this world returned to normal operation.
Countless people set up longevity tablets for Emperor Yun in their homes, praying every day that Emperor Yun would live forever!
The people's faith flowed through the longevity tablet and gathered on Zhang Tian, then was intercepted by d031 and transmitted to Zhang Yun.
The divine power that Lian Yao consumed when condensing d031 has long been replenished.
"So that's how it is..."
In Qingju Garden, Lianyao felt the endless flow of faith filling him with divine power, and a thoughtful expression appeared on his face.
Suddenly, Ye Chen hugged him from behind, resting his head on his shoulder and saying, "If I'm not as good as you think, would Lian Yao not want me?"
Lian Yao paused for a moment, recalling the question Murong Yan asked him after she confessed all the crimes she had committed when Zhang Tian carried her into the palace.
"I am not the gentle, virtuous, and kind woman you imagine. Are you still willing to continue being with me?"
He and Ye Chen saw it clearly from the side: Murong Yan had prepared kerosene around and below the palace, and had also lit sleeping incense in the room.
If Zhang Tian had made even one punctuation mistake in her answer, their fate would undoubtedly have been to go to the underworld together.
It just so happens that we're going the same way as Lianyao and the others, so we can all get together for a table.
However, Zhang Tian was very successfully educated by d031, reaching the highest level of sycophancy and successfully achieving the goal of "sucking until the end and getting everything".
If the two of them were to die, Lianyao would suffer a complete financial loss.
Lian Yao chuckled inwardly when he realized that the system had steered his tone as if he were a businessman.
He raised his hand and tapped Ye Chen on the head. "Idiot, of course not."
"You are what I like."
Ye Chen was overjoyed and wanted to push him to the ground and kiss him again.
But Lian Yao pushed him away, saying, "Stop fooling around. The karma here is over. We should go to the underworld to find my memories."
Ye Chen nodded, "Okay!"
Lian Yao took out a bone from the Void Mirror.
This is a teleportation token given to me by Fairy Meng Po at my birthday banquet. It can be used to go directly to the underworld.
Lian Yao grabbed Ye Chen's hand, "Hold on tight."
Actually, his advice was unnecessary; Ye Chen wished he could stick to him all the time.
After Ye Chen hugged her tightly, Lian Yao activated the token with her divine sense.
The light and shadow shifted before their eyes, and the two found themselves in a dark and gloomy world.
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