Shi Sheng patted Ling Yue’s hand before turning to scan the surroundings.
The sounds of battle had already ceased. Jiang Zhi was nowhere to be seen, but Qin Hua had been captured by her guards. The rest of his people were lying on the ground.
Where’s Jiang Zhi?
‘FL-sama, are you planning on ascending the heavens ah?! Even all of my(lz) people were unable to stop you!’
Her guards shook their heads in confusion. No one had seen where she had gone.
Your Excellency, what should we do with him?
Someone pointed at Qin Hua.
Should we just kill him?
He’s the Heir of Qin; do you think it’s appropriate to just kill him like that?
Shi Sheng rolled her eyes.
Bring him to the Empress and let her do it.
Everyone,
…
‘What’s the difference? Wouldn’t he still end up dead either way?’
Shi Sheng brought Ling Yue to the palace on her horse, leaving the rest of them to drag Qin Hua along as they sprinted after her.
‘We only have two legs to run, while Her Excellency has four! There’s no way to catch up, okay?!’
The palace was completely surrounded by the Prime Minister’s forces. Placed under house arrest, the Empress could do nothing but vent by smashing porcelain vases again.
By the time Shi Sheng arrived with Ling Yue, she saw the floor covered with porcelain shards yet again.
‘Just how many vases did they prepare for her to smash?!
The last time I came here, there were porcelain shards everywhere. And this time, there’re porcelain shards everywhere again! What a waste! Wait a few centuries and that’ll be worth so much money ah!’
The Empress was properly dressed up. Not a single one of her consorts were in sight.
She glared viciously at Shi Sheng.
All of her plots had failed against this woman. Before she even had the chance to execute them, this woman would always cause a series of unforeseen events that would catch her off guard.
You were already old in the first place, but after that tantrum, you look even older.
Shi Sheng tsked, ignoring the Empress’s dark expression as she spoke,
Bring him in.
Qin Hua was brought in. Regardless of whether it was intentional or not, the guards bringing him in kicked his calves as he stepped over a bunch of shattered porcelain, forcing him to his knees atop the shards. His knees started to ooze fresh blood.
The guards behind him revealed gleeful expressions. ‘Who told you to plot against Her Excellency? And on her wedding day too! Isn’t that just seeking death?’
The Empress coldly watched them. Her words no longer held any sway.
She had lived half of her life respected by all, yet this was how she ended up.
Shi Sheng personally went to pick up a chair and placed it before Ling Yue. She got him to sit before turning to look at the Empress.
The Heir of Qin tried to rebel. How do you think he should be dealt with, Your Majesty?
‘Aren’t you the one who wants to rebel?!’
The Empress’s teeth itched with hatred. If she had the chance to bite Shi Sheng to death right now, she would take it in a heartbeat.
Just deal with him as you see fit, Prime Minister. What’s the point of asking us(z)
?
‘All the power is in her hands now. Isn’t she just trying to humiliate me?’
Seems like you’re still in the dark.
Shi Sheng’s lips tugged into a malicious and taunting smile.
Your daughter…the Ning Princess, has brought the Protector General here to try and root me out.
Hearing this, the Empress’s eyes lit up. ‘The Protector General!’
Do you think Jiang Zhi would forgive you?
Shi Sheng’s words were like a bucket of cold water dumped over her head.
The memories of sending people to eliminate the Ning Princess were still fresh in her mind, as if it had happened just yesterday.
‘She brought the Protector General here, but would she save me?’
Reason told the Empress that she would not.
If it had been her own Imperial Mother who wanted to eliminate her, the Empress wouldn’t have forgiven her either.
Even if she was family.
There had never been any feelings of kinship in the imperial clan to begin with.
Hahaha…
The Empress suddenly raised her head began to laugh. She stepped backwards, tripping over something and falling to the ground.
The hysterical laughter ceased as the Empress suddenly held her face and cried.
‘I must be the first Empress in all of history whose rule was so pathetic. What will the history books say about me?’
Shi Sheng,
…
‘The hell are you crying for?!’
After crying for roughly a minute, the Empress wiped the tears away and stood up. Having been Empress for so many years, she still had some dignity left to her.
Jun Liyou, what do you want? Just say it.
Since things had already come to this, she had no other choice.
Shi Sheng shrugged.
I just wanted to hand over this traitor, who tried to rebel. You decide his punishment.
The Empress stared at Shi Sheng with bloodshot eyes, as if trying to read her intentions.
Shi Sheng’s gaze was calm, as she held Ling Yue’s hand in hers.
The Empress’s gaze shifted to Ling Yue for a moment. In the end, she took a deep breath and gave the order that sealed Qin Hua’s fate.
Take him away. Execute.
Someone covered Qin Hua’s mouth, so he was unable to speak and could only glare hatefully at Shi Sheng.
Shi Sheng shot him an uncaring smile.
‘The winner is the king, while the loser is the thief. Who told you to lose?’
On this night, the Prime Minister got married.
On this night, the Protector General besieged the city.
On this night, the Heir of Qin was put to death.
……
It seemed that Qin Hua’s death pushed Jiang Zhi to convince the Protector General to finally attack the city.
Shi Sheng’s troops had already been set up within the city. The cries of battle seemed to shake the very heavens and earth, scaring the commoners even more.
Just a few hours ago, they had engaged in the revelry of the Prime Minister’s wedding.
Yet that very same night, rivers of blood flowed and the city was in danger of being taken.
The battle to root out the traitors and rescue the Empress had begun.
The Protector General’s troops had marched a long way from the border to get to the capital. Yet, they weren’t even allowed proper rest before being sent into battle. Hence, they lost the first few skirmishes.
But after those initial battles, they actually started to win.
Well, they did have an FL-sama who came from the future, so it wasn’t surprising they would win. All she had to do was to put in a little effort to implement the simplest of modern-day strategies, which were much more refined than this period’s.
The morale of the Protector General’s troops rose greatly.
Ning Princess, you are truly a genius!
Jiang Zhi and another armour-clad woman stood together in the main tent of the encampment. The woman gave her a hearty pat on the shoulder.
They were just little tricks.
Jiang Zhi wasn’t smiling. She felt unable to smile right now.
Jiang Zhi suspected Shi Sheng was also a transmigrator like her, but she had no evidence to back it up. She could only place her hopes on ending this war without giving Shi Sheng time to counterattack.
You are too humble, Ning Princess.
The Protector General laughed heartily once more.
Without your tactics these past few battles, we probably wouldn’t have been able to win.
The two discussed matters of warfare and eventually settled on certain strategies and tactics, which the Protector General immediately sent for people to arrange.
Once the arrangements were in place, the Protector General found Jiang Zhi standing outside the tent, her figure rather desolate.
The Protector General couldn’t help but feel the urge to comfort her.
Don’t be upset. You’ll be able to avenge them soon.
She patted Jiang Zhi’s shoulder.
The latter didn’t reply, merely staring at the city walls off in the distance.
The Protector General sighed and followed her gaze.
The city walls were brightly lit and one could see human figures bustling about atop it.
Even from this distance, they could tell the people on the walls were very busy.
What are they up to?
The Protector General muttered. ‘Why are they busying themselves atop the wall this late at night, instead of going to bed?’
Hearing the Protector General’s words, Jiang Zhi’s mind returned to the present and she focused on the happenings atop the walls.
At their current distance, it was hard to tell what exactly the defenders were working on.Jiang Zhi frowned and watched for a while, but she still couldn’t figure out what they were up to.
The Protector General had already sent scouts to check, and they had just returned.
Hearing their reports, Jiang Zhi and the Protector General engaged each other in discussion and came to a conclusion:
They were planning on attacking with cannons.
Jiang Zhi couldn’t help but reveal a ridiculing expression.
She had already thought of this and deliberately ordered the troops to camp further away. With the technological standards of this era, there was no chance of cannonballs reaching them at this distance.
