World's First Traitor System (443)

Chapter 443 - She is a Woman

Xiang Chong, Empress Dowager Li, and the civil and military officials did not need to travel a hundred li out of the city to welcome Fan Li. Just three li outside Peng City, Fan Chun ordered a high platform constructed, stating that Great Chu had not expanded its territory in many years. Today, having annihilated a nation, it was proper to offer sacrifices to Heaven and Earth and report to the past emperors.

The civil and military officials all felt this reasoning was sound, and Xiang Chong and his mother could offer no grounds for objection. Even if they had ample reasons, the two dared not voice them. Reason, no matter how sound, was not harder than a fist. They could not afford to provoke Fan Chun and his fifty thousand soldiers, nor could they provoke the returning Fan Li and his one hundred and fifty thousand strong army.

However, Fan Chun gestured for Xiang Chong alone to stand upon the high platform. Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, he looked like a commodity on display, appearing particularly abrupt and peculiar.

"They're here!"

"The grand army has returned victorious!"

"That's Duke Jin's banner, and the dragon carriage! It's the dragon carriage!" The officials of Chu stirred with excitement.

In truth, many among them only recognized Xiang Ning as the true Emperor of Chu. She was, after all, the legitimate bloodline of the former Emperor! As for Xiang Chong, his father was from a distant branch of the Xiang clan; his only claim was that his mother was the current Empress Dowager. If not for fear of Empress Yao Guang's power, Xiang Chong's throne would not have been stable even without Fan Li's presence in Great Chu.

From his position on the high platform, Xiang Chong took in the reactions of the officials below. His face turned ashen, and for the first time, hatred for the officials burned in his heart, even stronger than his hatred for Fan Li.

If I can rely on Emperor Jiajing, I'll kill all of you sooner or later! Xiang Chong thought bitterly.

The grand army halted not far from the high platform. Within the central formation, guarded by the troops, the officials saw only the dragon carriage; the figure of Fan Li, who should have been escorting it, was nowhere to be seen.

Where was Duke Jin? This thought arose in the minds of all the court officials. Guarded by one hundred and fifty thousand soldiers, Fan Li couldn't possibly have been abducted halfway, or gotten lost, could he?

Thus, the officials' gazes gradually focused on the interior of the dragon carriage. Unfortunately, obscured by the curtains, no one could see clearly.

Suddenly! Fan Chun raised his silver spear, pointing directly at Xiang Chong on the high platform.

"Seize the false emperor!"

"Strip him of his dragon robe and crown!"

"Await judgment from Her Majesty and Duke Jin!"

Xiang Chong had not expected the turn of events to come so swiftly. Although he possessed some cultivation, it wasn't high, and years of pampered living had robbed him of the ability to react quickly in a crisis.

Five men dressed as subordinate generals rushed onto the high platform, instantly restraining Xiang Chong's hands and feet and sealing the spiritual energy in his Dantian Qi Sea. He was, once again, rendered powerless.

"Insolence!"

"How dare you! Insolence!" Xiang Chong cried out in panic. Seeing it was useless, he turned to Empress Dowager Li below the platform for help. "Mother, save me!"

"Chen Gonggong, quickly make a move!"

Hearing this, the old eunuch broke out in a cold sweat, standing frozen in place, daring not to move. Fan Chun's sharp, knife-like eyes constantly scanned the vital points around the old eunuch's body. If he dared move even half a step, death would be certain.

Empress Dowager Li also cried out in terror, "Do you truly dare to rebel? But... but I am not a false Empress Dowager!" She was genuinely terrified, focusing only on self-preservation, having completely forgotten her usually treasured son.

Fan Chun easily controlled the scene. Movement came from the direction of the dragon carriage. The officials of Great Chu saw the curtains lift and, with remarkable synchronicity, knelt down in unison, shouting:

"Your ministers respectfully welcome Your Majesty back to court!"

"Long live my Emperor, long, long live!"

At this moment, anyone daring to support the false emperor Xiang Chong truly needed to visit Doctor Hua at the Imperial Hospital to have their head examined. Fortunately, Xiang Chong was extremely unpopular and had no supporters to begin with.

"Eh?"

"Um..."

"Perhaps the esteemed officials should rise first? Once Her Majesty emerges, we can all kowtow properly again?"

The first person to step out of the dragon carriage was, unexpectedly, Fan Li. He stood outside the carriage, watching the assembled civil and military officials kowtow deeply to him, their heads pressed against the dirt, and felt a wave of awkwardness.

The court officials recognized Fan Li's voice and dazedly lifted their heads, only then realizing they had kowtowed to the wrong person. So, Duke Jin had returned riding in the Emperor's dragon carriage? They were surprised, but not overly so; it even felt somewhat expected.

So, should they rise or not? The officials felt no sense of loss kowtowing and performing the grand salute to Fan Li. An old minister even smiled while kneeling. "Perhaps Duke Jin could alight from the carriage, so that your ministers may perform the rites of subject to sovereign towards Her Majesty?"

Fan Li also felt that standing up only to kneel down again was quite troublesome. "Alright," he agreed. He leaped down from the dragon carriage and stood at the very front of the officials' ranks.

Inside the carriage, someone distinctly coughed twice, clearing their throat. The voice, following the coughs, gained a slightly neutral, husky, and magnetic quality.

Xiang Ning stepped out of the dragon carriage. After so many years, she finally saw the scene of the officials kneeling in welcome once more. It felt like a lifetime ago, as if everything were a dream.

"We respectfully welcome... Your Majesty back to court!!!"

The officials finally saw Xiang Ning's appearance clearly. Compared to her youthful immaturity years ago, she had indeed gained a measure of composure. They were incredibly excited! The true Emperor of Great Chu had finally returned to Peng City!

However, Her Majesty had become even more beautiful, ah no, even more strikingly handsome? The officials tried hard to convince themselves of this, but an audacious guess pressed insistently in their minds. Was it a trick of the eyes? Impossible, right? How could it be!?

They shouldn't have had such thoughts, but in recent years, Empress Yao Guang had deeply impressed herself upon their minds. The words 'Female Emperor' lingered persistently in the officials' thoughts. Great Chu had never had a tradition of a woman ascending the throne. How could anyone accept this?

"Beloved ministers..." Xiang Ning's heart surged with emotion. But as her gaze met those of the officials, she clearly sensed their feelings. Shock? Fear? Bewilderment? Xiang Ning instantly understood what was happening. She panicked, subconsciously taking half a step back, even entertaining the thought of hiding back inside the dragon carriage and never coming out again!

When the former Emperor passed away, Xiang Ning's time on the throne had been short, too short for her to worry about her disguise as a man being seen through by the ministers. But now? As she grew older and more mature, had the soft charm of a young woman become impossible to hide?

"Hahaha!"

"Hahahahaha!"

Atop the high platform, Xiang Chong suddenly burst into loud laughter, instantly drawing everyone's attention.

"None of you are blind, are you?"

"You can all see it, right?"

"Her!"

"Xiang Ning!"

"She's a woman!"

"The former Emperor had no son at all! Xiang Ning wasn't the former Emperor's only son; she's his only daughter!"

"Do you want to enthrone a woman as emperor, just like the Great Ci Dynasty?"

"A hen crowing at dawn! What face will you have to meet the ancestors of Great Chu after you die?" Xiang Chong roared unrestrainedly.

From beginning to end, the five subordinate generals of the Garrison Army restraining him made no effort to silence him.

"Pay him no mind." Fan Li conveyed this meaning with his gaze, and Fan Chun understood immediately.

Atop the high platform, seeing the officials' shock and Fan Li's indifference, Xiang Chong grew even more reckless!

"Mother!"

"Mother, say something!"

"Tell the officials that Xiang Ning is actually your daughter!"

Empress Dowager Li had also regained her composure after the initial panic. She lifted her head, once again becoming the incomparably noble Empress Dowager.

"Esteemed ministers," she addressed them. "As you have heard, Ning'er is not an imperial prince, but the princess whom I carried for ten months. Back then, the former Emperor had no sons under his knee and was forced to temporarily pass the throne to Ning'er."

"Now, the state has a rightful ruler. Why must you place the vast lands and the heavy burden of the state upon the delicate shoulders of a woman?"