Chapter 9
The few small fry Prince Su had sent to abduct me could not withstand even one punch from Ning Rou’s clansmen, and I was rescued without difficulty.
I learned that Prince Su had declared war on Chu and that Chu Yunmo was personally leading the army to the front.
I frowned. The court had yet to be fully purged. It was hardly wise for the emperor to travel to the battlefield now.
After discussing the matter with Ning Rou’s clansmen, we decided to visit the front first and see what was happening.
Ning Rou belonged to one branch of a gu clan.
For years, rulers and commoners alike had rejected her people, forcing them to live in a barren wilderness.
In an accident, members of the clan consumed the wrong kind of gu. They grew nearly twice the size of ordinary people, and their appetites increased dramatically.
With the whole clan on the brink of starvation, they sent some members into the world to seek a way to survive.
Everyone else starved to death on the journey. Only Ning Rou’s mother survived, because a misplaced gu spell caused Prince Yong’an to fall hopelessly in love with her. As a result, Ning Rou was raised in his household as well.
Prince Yong’an treated Ning Rou well enough, but he kept estimating her appetite by his own standards. Thus, Ning Rou spent her life terribly hungry but never quite starving to death.
Not long ago, she ate her fill for the first time because I kept ordering more food. She immediately sent an urgent letter to her clan and told them to come seek refuge with me.
Under the collective gaze of a band of muscular men looking at their future meal ticket, I quickly nodded.
“Fine. Follow me, and you’ll always eat your fill!”
By the time we reached the army camp, the two sides were locked in a standoff.
Chu Yunmo wore dark hunting robes. His face was full of violence, and the hand gripping his longbow bulged with veins.
“Give! Her! Back!”
Prince Su refused to yield. Practically hopping with rage, he ordered his men to shout back.
“You’re doing this again!
“You snatched her away, and now you’re demanding that I return her. Seriously, I’m speechless!”
My steps abruptly halted. I spun around and hid behind the gu clansmen.
The clan leader asked in confusion, “You’re not going over there?”
“Hah! After what he just said, wouldn’t going over now make us look guilty?
“Besides, I have business with all of you. I’ll deal with that first!”
By the time I finished making arrangements, Chu Yunmo entered the command tent with the smell of blood still clinging to him.
Our eyes met. Chu Yunmo’s eyes reddened at once. He strode forward and pulled me into his arms.
“Cheng Ruo…”
Jiang Huai completed his mission. After rummaging through his system warehouse, I finally found something useful—the Anywhere Door.
With the Anywhere Door, I gathered every enfeoffed prince and general in Chu into one place.
Prince Bian said, “Why did you abduct me, you absolute menace? I didn’t rebel!”
Prince Chong said, “Damn, was I exposed? You found me even though I trained my army in a tunnel?”
General Wu’an said, “Your Majesty, please let me go back! I haven’t finished suppressing the bandits in my territory!”
General Fuyuan said, “Bah! Three hundred bandits have kept you busy for three years. You’re unbelievable.”
Everyone said, “Prince Su is the one rebelling, so why abduct us? Abduct him!”
Prince Su: “…Impressive.”
As the crowd argued, I cleared my throat loudly to call for attention.
All eyes turned toward me. I rose to explain.
“I brought you here today for one main reason!”
I pointed at Chu Yunmo. “The emperor. You recognize him, yes?”
Everyone fell silent.
At a wave of my hand, the Shadow Guards swarmed forward and placed a blade against every neck.
There. Now they recognized him.
Step one was complete.
“Prince Su is rebelling. As loyal subjects, shouldn’t all of you help stop him?”
“Uh…”
“The distance is too great. Our hearts are willing, but our strength falls short!”
“Lord Cheng, you don’t understand. My fief recently suffered a natural disaster. Even if I wished to help, I could do nothing!”
I smiled. “I am relieved to hear that every one of you is devoted to supporting the imperial house.”
“Then I’m sure you won’t mind that I took one small precaution to guarantee it!”
The crowd’s expressions changed. They started to surge to their feet, but the blades at their throats persuaded them back into silence.
An elderly prince of a different surname asked in a trembling voice, “What did you do?”
I pulled my lips into a smile and answered as casually as I could.
“Nothing much. I merely placed gu in everyone here. Hee-hee.”
I circled the room and stopped beside Prince Yong’an.
“It is a new kind of gu from Ning Rou’s maternal clan. The original refining method was lost, so it was born from a badly muddled process.
“It can be activated at will. When it will erupt is unknown. What effect it will have is unknown. How far that effect will reach is also unknown.
“In short, once it is activated, I have no idea who will die—but one of you definitely will!
“If you don’t believe me, ask Prince Yong’an. He knows all about this!”
As Prince Yong’an’s face slowly turned white, everyone received their answer.
“From this day forward, if anyone rebels, we activate the mother gu until the rebel is dead.
“Of course, if someone else is caught in the consequences, all I can say is that fate chose them!”
Prince Bian said, “Why? I wasn’t the one who rebelled!”
General Fuyuan said, “Exactly! Why should we suffer?”
“You may not have rebelled, but you didn’t stop him either!
“And why are you shouting at me? I’m not the one whose rebellion dragged you into this!”
Those words landed like a spark in a crate of firecrackers. With the Shadow Guards present, they dared not attack me and could only vent their anger on Prince Su, the man who had rebelled.
“This is all your fault!”
“I’ve always hated the sight of you, you stupid bastard!”
“…”
The princes’ ambitions were temporarily subdued. The officials in the capital no longer dared oppose Chu Yunmo openly, so they turned all their attention on him instead.
His conduct is inadequate, his judgment benighted, his behavior contrary to all proper order. He is no wise ruler.
After two days of listening to them curse him, my ears were nearly callused.
I considered the matter for a moment, then suddenly raised my head and called to Chu Yunmo on the dragon throne.
“If nothing else works, why don’t you write an edict and pass the throne to me?”
Chu Yunmo arched a brow. “Then I want to be the empress!”
I said, “Fine by me.”
Chu Yunmo said, “Great!”
As he spoke, he picked up a brush and began writing the edict. Then, amid the horrified cries of the assembled officials, he stamped it with the imperial seal.
“Your Majesty, you are simply letting her run wild?”
Chu Yunmo said, “Why are you asking me? Don’t you know the inner palace must not interfere in government?”
The officials: coughing blood.jpg
In the end, the entire court knelt outside Kunning Palace for three days and enumerated more than three thousand reasons why Chu Yunmo was a wise ruler. Only then did I agree to consider not making him empress and letting him continue as emperor.
Hah. People never treasure what comes too easily.
Later official histories recorded that Chu Yunmo, the new emperor of Chu, reformed the court under Imperial Tutor Cheng Ruo’s guidance and ushered in a golden age. During his reign, every official praised him as a wise sovereign, and no enemy dared cross the borders.
Unofficial histories recorded: The Imperial Tutor carried him to victory through pure villainy.