Chapter 307: Look, I Won

The great rains were relentless, and floods ravaged the land.

Because the downpour began just as the Empress dispatched her armies against the Yue Country, it was inevitable that some would connect the two events.

Gradually, rumors began to spread, such as, ’The Empress’s tyranny has incurred heavenly punishment.’

As the number of victims grew, this rumor took deeper root in the hearts of the people. The common folk were filled with grievances, and some officials began trying to persuade the Empress to halt her campaign and not oppose the heavens.

Xiao Li looked at the assembled courtiers before her. The corner of her lip curled into a faint, nonchalant smile, her eyes light and cool. "Is this what all of you think as well?"

These officials naturally had no complaints against their Emperor; they supported her expansion of the empire. But the rain outside was too heavy, the floods were catastrophic, and now heaven’s wrath and the people’s resentment had aligned. It was all simply too strange.

The Vice Minister of the Ministry of Official Personnel Affairs, Wen Qian, stepped forward. "Your Majesty, I do not believe in talk of heavenly punishment, but the timing of these events is simply too coincidental. Your Majesty should perhaps halt the campaign. The insignificant Yue Country is not worth gambling Your Majesty’s reputation over. Once the floods have passed, it will not be too late to attack again."

The Assistant Minister of Rites, Zhang Zan, said, "I agree with Mr. Wen. Your Majesty is wise, but the common people are ignorant and superstitious. They deeply believe in gods and ghosts, and reason will not get through to them at a time like this. For the stability of the realm, I implore Your Majesty to suspend the campaign."

The other officials bowed. "We implore Your Majesty to suspend the campaign."

Xiao Li watched this scene, finding it all very interesting.

’The Heavenly Dao wants me to retreat, the people want me to retreat, and now my ministers are also advising me to retreat.’

’The Heavenly Dao’s consciousness was the one that stirred up this flood and disaster, yet in the end, everyone thinks *I* am the one who should back down.’

"The people are not wrong. It *is* a heavenly punishment."

As Xiao Li’s words fell, a massive clap of thunder echoed from outside.

KABOOM!

A bolt of lightning as thick as a water bucket struck the ground right before the main hall.

It was a warning to her, but it also confirmed that her words were true.

The group of officials all wore looks of utter horror.

"Your Majesty..." They stared in disbelief at the Emperor on the throne.

Yet, while others would be terrified and refuse to admit it when faced with heavenly punishment, their Emperor not only acknowledged it herself but did so with a smile.

She showed no fear of the thunder outside. "Do you, my dear courtiers, truly believe my sins are so grave that the heavens must claim me?"

Everyone immediately shook their heads. "Your Majesty is wise and divine, founder of a new dynasty, whose grace covers the world and benefits the people. Though you employ thunderous methods, it is only to purge traitors. You never harm the innocent. You are an enlightened ruler whose name will echo through the millennia, a peer to the ancient sages."

They were the children of poor families who had suffered under the oppression of the aristocracy. They were the poor scholars who had been frustrated and unrecognized for years. They were the lowly ones whose grand ambitions were crushed simply by the status of some noble’s child.

They had seen the most corrupt and filthy of nobles. They were the ones who would be devoured in a dog-eat-dog society.

It was because of the Empress that they had the chance to display their talents. It was because of the Empress that they could finally hold their heads high and walk with pride.

They were the courtiers the Empress had personally nurtured, the pearls she had rescued from the abyss.

To be drawn to the strong is human nature, regardless of gender. They followed the Emperor who had established a new dynasty and parted the clouds to reveal the clear sky for them.

They did not know what future generations would think, but for them, the Empress was their faith. The words that had just left their lips were absolutely from the bottom of their hearts.

Xiao Li gave a soft, smiling sigh. "See? This is the very reason for the heavenly punishment."

She rose slowly. "It is not that I have done wrong, but that *It* believes I am wrong."

"I should not be the Emperor. I should not have slaughtered the aristocrats to rebuild civilization. I should not have unified the world to create a golden age."

"*It* is jealous of me. Jealous that I have your trust. Jealous that my prestige is greater than *Its* own."

"*It* stirred up a great flood to force me to retreat, and in the future, *It* will force me to my death. When that happens, a new emperor will rise, bringing the dormant aristocracy back to power. If I die, none of you will live either. The nobles will be nobles once more, the poor families will remain poor families, and there will be no more fairness, no more chance to rise."

She slowly turned her back to the rain, her presence proud and piercingly cold.

"Tell me, should I retreat?"

She took a single step back. In that instant, a terrifying bolt of thunder descended, and the world was filled with a blinding, dazzling light.

Their vision was filled with searing white, their ears with a deafening roar.

"Your Majesty!"

The crowd was scared out of their wits. Many collapsed to their knees in terror.

After an unknown amount of time, their vision finally returned. They saw the Empress, still standing out in the open.

Alive and completely unharmed.

The lightning had been so immense that even they had felt its painful power, yet it had not harmed the Empress in the slightest. Moreover, the rain had stopped. The post-rain sunlight began to slowly spill down.

The world, washed clean by the water, was fresh and pure. Raindrops reflected the sunlight, making the heavens and earth glitter. The Empress stood there, seemingly glowing.

From behind, a figure in silver walked toward her, stepping through the puddles, carrying something in his hand.

He finally walked step-by-step up the stairs, stopped before the Empress, and knelt on one knee, holding a box up with both hands.

"The Yue Country has been broken. The criminal king Murong Yu put up a desperate last stand and was beheaded on the battlefield."

"Murong Yu’s head is here. I present it for Your Majesty’s inspection."

Xiao Li smiled. Her expression was defiant and wild, but her tone was casual and leisurely. "See? I won."

’Using myself as bait, I’ve won this chess game against the heavens by half a move.’

’I am human, a mere glimmer of light. To the Heavenly Dao, I am but a drop in the ocean, yet they cannot kill me.’

’They are the world’s consciousness, the Heavenly Dao, the Demonic Dao—incomparably powerful.’

’And though I am weak, I am also a Dao—the Dao of the mortal world.’

This was why Xiao Li had taken up the Jade Seal in the first place.

She never wanted to be some emperor. She had always felt that this world she was in wasn’t real. ’What’s the point of playing a game and being an emperor?’

But her unreality was their—and even *Their*—reality.

’They fought and fought, whether it was Prince Chen or Lu Nianqing, all of it revolved around the throne.’

’So this must be something They care about a great deal. In that case, I’ll just sit here and see what kind of tricks They try to pull.’

As it turned out, she had not been wrong.

They couldn’t kill her. They were powerless against her. They were even beginning to fear her.

’How amusing. The powerful consciousness of the world, an existence that blankets the entire globe, is actually afraid of me, a mere human soul from another world.’

’I’m the winner here. Have you ever seen a winner at a gambling table back down and return their winnings?’

The wild, defiant Emperor, standing in the sunlight after the thunder, deeply shook the hearts and souls of everyone present.

It is unknown who knelt first.

"Long live Your Majesty! Ten thousand years, ten thousand times ten thousand years!"

"Long live Your Majesty! Ten thousand years, ten thousand times ten thousand years!"

At this moment, their shaken spirits, their hearts overflowing with admiration and submission, could not be expressed in words. There was only the cheer.

The Empress, composed and regal, with an air of domineering authority, flicked her sleeve and departed, taking Chu Yungui, who carried the head, with her.

However, not long after she was out of everyone’s sight, Xiao Li spat out a mouthful of blood and nearly collapsed on the spot.

Rong Qing and Chu Yungui reached out at the same time to support her.

"Your Majesty..."

Rong Qing gently moved to lift her into his arms, but Xiao Li raised a hand to stop him.

"I am fine."

’It’s just a bit of blood. It’s not like I’m going to die from it, anyway.’

She glanced back at Chu Yungui. "Go to the study. Write down the details of the battle. I will see you again in a while."

The sight of the fresh blood on the ground stung Chu Yungui’s eyes. He didn’t dare say more. "As Your Majesty commands."