Chapter 3: The King of Chu, The Beautiful Lady

“Pass down my order: have all the sika deer in the Imperial Garden slaughtered—leave not a single one alive!”

Within the Imperial Palace’s Garden, a bloody wind swept through. The imperial guards’ blades were stained with fresh blood, as if they had just returned from a brutal battle.

The one issuing commands was, shockingly, a woman.

She was dressed in a robe of imperial yellow, her bearing regal and dignified.

As a squad of guards, their swords still dripping, filed past her, the woman’s composure never faltered.

In stark contrast stood Emperor Xiang Ning of Chu, cowering like a frightened child, seeking safety in the woman’s embrace out of fear.

“Mother… I feel so wronged…” The Emperor’s voice was small and tearful, only daring to speak once the guards had withdrawn, leaving behind a handful of trusted eunuchs and maids.

The Empress Dowager of Chu, however, uttered a thunderous secret.

“Are you so weak and weepy because you want everyone to see through your disguise as a man?”

These words deepened Xiang Ning’s sense of grievance.

“Must I keep up this act of being a man in court and not even shed a few tears in the harem? The treacherous Fan family bullies me day after day—I wish I could tear Fan Li to pieces!”

But even Xiang Ning herself knew that to destroy Fan Li would be to prepare for the fall of the Chu royal line.

The Empress Dowager ignored her, turning instead to speak with the old chief eunuch beside her.

“Those guards just now—they’ve all seen my child’s loss of composure.”

The old eunuch seemed like a withered autumn leaf, threatening to fall at any moment, yet his eyes glowed with unyielding vitality.

“Rest assured, Your Majesty. I will return swiftly. They’re but a few Golden Core-stage guards, selected from the garrison. Killing them will save us trouble.”

The capital’s garrison of one hundred thousand had long since fallen under the Fan family’s control.

“Afterwards, simply claim that assassins infiltrated the palace and these guards died a heroic death in defense of the realm. Have General Fan Chun comfort their families.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

With a bow, the old eunuch’s figure dissolved into a wisp of black smoke, vanishing on the spot.

Listening to her mother and the chief eunuch’s exchange, Xiang Ning felt both admiration and anxiety.

To kill Fan family’s men, then make Fan’s own family pay to comfort the bereaved? If Fan Li, that villain, ever learned of this, he’d likely lose sleep for nights on end.

Xiang Ning’s spirits actually lifted.

“Your Majesty, the Emperor.”

“I am here.”

“Since childhood you have practiced the secret art of our ancestor, the Hegemon King—have you yet reached the Nascent Soul stage?” the Empress Dowager inquired.

A faint flush rose on Xiang Ning’s cheeks. Despite the dragon robe and masculine attire, she could not hide her girlish manner.

“I am at the eighth grade of the Golden Core stage…”

The Empress Dowager only shook her head.

“Mother, I’m only nineteen! Among commoners, most cultivators at nineteen are still tempering their bodies!”

“How much of the royal treasury’s resources and rare treasures have been poured into you?”

“Eighth grade of Golden Core—do you think that’s high?”

“The current Fan generation has four siblings. Fan Yuehua, same age as you and also a woman, has already reached the peak of the Nascent Soul stage.”

“The eldest brother, Fan Ming, is at the third grade of the Divine Transformation stage.”

“The third, Fan Chun, famed as the God of War, is already at the ninth grade of Divine Transformation!”

Even the Empress Dowager’s moon-bright eyes dimmed with a layer of gloom.

“Throughout history, the Emperor must be the realm’s strongest. When the sovereign is weak and the subject is strong, it is the omen of a nation’s demise!”

The Empress Dowager’s words made Xiang Ning lower her head, tears pattering onto the ground.

Just then, the old eunuch returned.

A wisp of black smoke coalesced into a human shape—the eunuch’s deathly pallor unchanged. Not a stain marred his garments, not even an extra crease.

But both the Empress Dowager and Xiang Ning knew that several palace guards had, this day, vanished from the world forever.

A thought seemed to strike Xiang Ning. She probed, “Eunuch Chen, didn’t you say Fan Li’s cultivation is extremely weak? Could I not send you to assassinate him?”

Eunuch Chen smiled and bowed. “Fan Li’s cultivation is not weak—it is nonexistent. He is but a mortal.”

“Then wouldn’t it be even easier to kill him?” Xiang Ning said excitedly. “Even someone like me at eighth grade Golden Core could crush him with a finger, let alone a master like you!”

Eunuch Chen nodded, then shook his head.

“If Your Majesty commands me to kill Fan Li, I can act at any time. But Your Majesty must also be prepared.”

“Prepared for what?” Xiang Ning was puzzled. If it was an assassination, surely there would be no evidence—it could not be traced back to her.

Eunuch Chen spoke quietly. “First, I would not return alive. You and the Empress Dowager would lose a servant of the Integration stage. Secondly, the Fan Trading House, wealthiest under heaven, and the empire’s elite garrison of one hundred thousand would become your enemies.”

Xiang Ning was dumbfounded, unable to believe her ears.

The Empress Dowager, however, remained calm, unsurprised by the response.

“Mother, is this true?” Xiang Ning still could not accept it.

The Empress Dowager nodded. “Killing Fan Li will not bring down the Fan family. Otherwise, even at the cost of Chen’s life, I would have ordered him to do it.”

Eunuch Chen bowed low. Even if commanded to die, he did not hesitate.

A wave of despair swept through Xiang Ning’s heart.

She thought of how, in court that morning, the entire civil and military establishment had bowed to Fan Li’s domineering power, forcing even her to call him ‘Father Chancellor.’

“Will I truly be the sovereign who brings about Chu’s ruin?” Xiang Ning murmured.

Why must the ancestors of Chu have left this burden to a daughter?

“Silly child, have you forgotten how I have urged you again and again to devote yourself to cultivation?” the Empress Dowager reminded her.

“The foundation of the royal line far surpasses anything the Fan family can muster. Once you reach the Nascent Soul stage, you may attempt to unlock the seal on our ancestor’s divine weapon.”

“Unseal the Hegemon’s Spear, and the four Fan siblings are destined to fall by your hand.”

At the mention of the Hegemon’s Spear, Xiang Ning’s spirits soared.

The ancestral divine weapon had once swept the world. Legend held that Xiang Yu, the Chu ancestor, had used it to slay gods.

“Mother! I will reach the Nascent Soul stage within the year, and with the Hegemon’s Spear, defeat the Fan siblings and restore the majesty of the royal house!” Xiang Ning declared, her excitement renewed.

The Empress Dowager nodded in satisfaction.

“With such ambition, you need not attend court for a time. Enter seclusion and focus on your cultivation. The Tri-Emperors’ Conclave approaches, and as the Son of Heaven, no one will fault you for seeking to strengthen yourself.”

The Tri-Emperors’ Conclave was the periodic alliance summit of the emperors of Chu, Han, and Ming. Though the three realms had known peace for years, each schemed to swallow the other two. The conclave was a chance to gauge the strength of rivals and plot accordingly.

Newly emboldened, Xiang Ning accepted at once. Yet she blushed and asked in a small voice, “Mother, I have dressed as a man for so long—may I wear my old gowns while I cultivate? This male attire is so uncomfortable…”

The Empress Dowager looked at her with gentle affection.

“You are the Emperor now, yet still so willful? Very well, have it your way this once.”

“Thank you, Mother!” Xiang Ning exclaimed with delight, her voice no longer disguised—a clear, melodious trill, as if a lark had sung.