Chapter 313: From Now On, It's Called Longsheng

The Silver Armor Army didn’t just kill. Before anyone could react, four Silver Armor Guards rushed in.

They rolled the bodies up in black sacks and carted them away, then immediately covered the ground with a special cloth that absorbed the blood.

In the blink of an eye, the bodies and blood were gone.

Aside from two empty seats, it was as if nothing had happened.

The Beicang King’s hand, clutching his cup, trembled incessantly. It was hard to tell if it was from anger or fear.

Xiao Li leaned back in her chair, resting one arm on the armrest. Her gaze was profound, her expression a faint, friendly-looking smile. “What was the Beicang King about to say just now?”

The Beicang King set down his cup, forcing himself to remain calm. “N-nothing. I… I’m getting old… my eyesight isn’t what it used to be…”

‘So I saw nothing, and I heard nothing.’

He had only heard rumors of the Empress’s brutality before. Now, faced with such cruelty firsthand, he found it rather difficult to stomach.

It wasn’t that the Beicang King was particularly benevolent; he had killed his fair share of people.

However, he had always been the one giving the orders, commanding others to do the dirty work in his capacity as king. He had almost never done it himself. But now, someone with more power than him was holding a blade to his throat.

After years of living in luxury, he had grown old, but his courage had shrunk. He clung to life, terrified of death.

THUD.

Someone suddenly fell to his knees. It was the Seventh Prince, Xia Dun, his face pale with shock. “Father… that was my maternal grandfather!”

The Beicang King was speechless. ‘And? Your grandfather was asking for death. Are you trying to get your own father killed along with him?’

“Stand down!”

Xia Dun, having been rebuked, stared at the Beicang King in disbelief, his expression a mixture of anger and disappointment.

‘The majestic ruler of a nation, watching someone murder people in his own Royal Palace, yet he doesn’t dare say a word.’

Xia Mu went to pull him back. “Don’t cause a scene!”

Xia Dun shoved him away and glared at Xiao Li. “You think you can just kill anyone you want because you’re the Empress? This is Beicang, not Longsheng.”

Hearing this, Xiao Li smiled with great interest.

“This… Seventh Prince, you’re absolutely right. Beicang is not Longsheng.”

After speaking, she cheerfully drank a cup of wine, then turned to the Beicang King with a smile. “I wish to unite the world. What are your thoughts, Beicang King?”

The Beicang King’s face went white with terror and rage. “I have not offended you, Empress. Why must you be so determined to destroy Beicang?”

Yang Jun interjected, “Has the Beicang King forgotten about the incidents in Changzhou and Qinzhou?”

The Beicang King immediately tried to argue his way out. “That was not my intention. It was Xia Jie who incited it. I was momentarily confused, and I have regretted it ever since. I punished him afterward and have been wanting to apologize to the Empress.”

He tried to phrase it as tactfully as possible, hoping to maintain a shred of his dignity as a king, but inwardly he was terrified.

He had sent envoys with gifts to apologize several times, but none were ever granted an audience with the Empress. He knew this day would come.

Yang Jun sneered. “A fine ‘momentarily confused.’ Beicang has only about thirty thousand truly effective soldiers in total, yet you sent fifteen thousand to Changzhou. Why didn’t your confusion lead you to simply hand over all of Yue Country to King Xian?”

The Beicang King had long been filled with regret and anger. He was a king, after all. How could he tolerate being admonished so bluntly? And yet, he didn’t want to die.

He ignored Yang Jun and raised his cup to the Empress beside him. “I apologize to you, Your Majesty. I beg that Your Majesty, in your magnanimity, will forgive me this one time. From this day forward, Beicang wishes to form an eternal alliance with Longsheng and will never betray you.”

Xiao Li leaned back in her chair with a smile. “Beicang King, you are old.”

A king’s promise is only valid while he lives. Once he dies, who can stop the new ruler from doing as he pleases?

Besides, Xiao Li had never wanted any “eternal alliance.” Between nations, there were only mutual interests or annihilation.

The Beicang King had not yet grasped why the Empress had called him old when the sound of clashing swords suddenly erupted from outside.

A Silver Armor Guard came in to report, “Your Majesty, we have found the fugitive Xu Nianqing, King Xian’s strategist.”

Xiao Li gave a playful smile. “This is the Beicang Palace. How did a fugitive from my Longsheng end up here?”

How was the Beicang King supposed to know? He didn’t even recognize the name Xu Nianqing. “This has nothing to do with me! I truly know nothing of this!”

Xiao Li’s patience had run out. Unwilling to waste any more breath on him, she took the handkerchief Hong Yue offered and wiped her hands. “That’s not important. This Royal Palace is quite nice. Let’s call it the Beicang Traveling Palace.”

As her words fell, Silver Armor Guards stormed in and seized all the Beicang people.

The Beicang King, the only one still seated on the high platform, turned pale with fright. He tried to stand, but his legs gave out and he collapsed to his knees from his seat.

“Empress, you’ve gone too far!”

He forced himself up, his face twisted with rage and his hands trembling. “This is Beicang…”

Xiao Li gave him a lazy glance. “I know this is Beicang. But from now on, it is called Longsheng.”

With that, she rose to her feet and, without a second glance at him, strode toward the door.

Behind her, any of the Beicang people who dared to shout curses at the Empress was cut down with a single stroke. After three or four were killed, the rest knew to shut their mouths. Even the Beicang King on his throne, his face flushed with fury, did not dare to utter a single curse.

When Xiao Li reached the entrance, a group of Silver Armor Guards was surrounding and attacking Xu Nianqing and his companions.

Besides Xu Nianqing, there were two women and three men.

One woman was dressed like someone from the Southern Domain, her silver ornaments jingling. Seeing her use poison as she fought, it was clear she was the one who had rescued Xu Nianqing before.

The other woman was very strong. Her moves were fierce and powerful, and she looked a bit like Niu Jiahua, but it didn’t seem to be her.

The three men’s martial skills were also impressive. They surrounded Xu Nianqing, managing to hold their own against the Silver Armor Guards.

Xiao Li stood at a distance, not moving closer. She wanted to see how Xu Nianqing planned to escape in broad daylight, surrounded by so many people.

However, the moment Xu Nianqing saw her, his expression changed. His dark, furious gaze locked onto her as if he were seeing a mortal enemy from a blood feud. The next instant, he started rushing toward her, heedless of everything else.

His five companions saw this and immediately tried to hold him back, but they couldn’t stop his advance.

Xiao Li watched as, seemingly aided by the gods, he and his companions astonishingly fought their way through the Silver Armor Guards.

Xiao Li raised an eyebrow. ‘Is the golden consciousness helping him? Or is it sending him here to die?’

Rong Qing raised his saber, about to move forward, but Xiao Li spoke: “Let him approach.”

The Silver Armor Guards suddenly parted, and the six intruders, surprised, also stopped fighting.

They looked at Xu Nianqing, only to see him staring at the Empress with an incredibly complex expression: resentful, nervous, and yet… hopeful.

Finally, he began walking toward the Empress, each step heavy. He was stopped about ten feet away. He made no attempt to get closer, but simply stared intently at Xiao Li, as if trying to see her for who she truly was.

“You know who I am. You remember everything, don’t you?”

Xiao Li’s lips curved into a playful, almost wicked, smile. “Yes. I remember everything.”

Hearing the answer he wanted, Xu Nianqing felt no joy. Instead, his heart sank.

She had admitted it, but her expression was all wrong.

There was none of the motherly affection he had expected, no guilt, no hatred—only the look of a predator eyeing its prey.

‘Is she truly the mother I’ve been searching for?’