Chapter 80: Regicide, Patricide—What Haven’t I Done? Part 3

“Stop pretending. Weren’t you waiting for me to kill him, so you could play the mantis stalking the cicada while the oriole waits behind?”

Cui Wangshu stared at the Empress Dowager with playful mockery. Ever since the Cui Family’s frequent troubles—and the Empress Dowager intervening only once—Cui Wangshu had known she was using her hand to eliminate Li Cong.

Thus, the Empress Dowager would clear obstacles for her. That was why Cui Wangshu dared act so boldly today, wasting no time on Li Cong—the true confrontation lay outside Yangxin Hall.

At these words, the shock on the Empress Dowager’s face instantly chilled. She stared at Cui Wangshu with keen interest, surprised that she realized it was a deliberate setup and had walked right into it anyway.

“It seems there’s reason you drove Cui Daoyuan mad. You do have some tricks.” The Empress Dowager arched a brow, eyeing Cui Wangshu narrowly.

Cui Wangshu sneered. “I thank Your Majesty for the praise.”

The Empress Dowager stared at Cui Wangshu, her tone icy. “Pity your greed knows no bounds—like a snake swallowing an elephant. Sovereign and subject have their places; some things aren’t for you to covet.”

Cui Wangshu watched her with amusement and chuckled lightly. “Then… how did Li Cong die?”

The Empress Dowager’s face stiffened. She was about to say that without her permission, Cui Wangshu couldn’t have pulled the guards away—when commotion erupted behind her.

Glancing back, the smugness froze on the Empress Dowager’s face. The Western Border Army poured in, tightly encircling them.

The guards stirred uneasily. The palace guards stood no chance against these battle-hardened border troops.

Cui Wangshu descended the steps leisurely and coolly reminded her, “Empress Dowager, can you still say what you just did?”

Perched high, believing class barriers insurmountable, thinking power flowed only within the imperial house—unaware that power forever belonged to those who grasped the military, regardless of sovereign or subject.

Xun An dismounted, tossed the Onyx Iron Fan into the encirclement. Cui Wangshu caught it steadily, snapped it open, and spun it in a circle. The nearest ring of guards had their throats slit; they clutched their necks and knelt to the ground.

The Empress Dowager stared in shock, never imagining Cui Wangshu knew martial arts. “You! You know martial arts!”

Cui Wangshu curved her lips, wiped the blood from the fan with her hem, and frowned slightly. “Why do you seem to know so little about me? Don’t you know ‘know yourself and your enemy, and you will never be defeated’?”

The Empress Dowager gritted her teeth, glaring at Cui Wangshu, and voiced her burning question. “Why?”

The Cui Family had no such ambitions—only Cui Wangshu did. Why?

Cui Wangshu said nothing. With a wave of her hand, the Western Border Army behind her charged, clashing with the guards.

The Empress Dowager hadn’t expected her to play so far outside the rules. She hurriedly shouted, “Protect the Empress! Protect me!”

Xun An mounted her horse and charged into the crowd with her long spear, picking off all the guards protecting the Empress Dowager one by one. When her gaze met Cui Wangshu’s, she hurled the spear with all her might.

The spear tip plunged deep into a crack in the ground. Cui Wangshu lightly tapped the shaft with her toe, borrowing the momentum to flip and spin through the air. She hurtled toward the Empress Dowager at breakneck speed.

Xun An drew her sword to clear the obstacles for her. With a flash of her figure, Cui Wangshu pressed the blades of her Onyx Iron Fan against the Empress Dowager’s neck.

Cui Wangshu panted for a moment before sneering, “Because… this throne was supposed to be mine in the first place, Aunt.”

By now, she had thoroughly investigated everything the Empress Dowager had done. It was truly surprising.

The Empress Dowager’s eyes widened as she stared fixedly at Cui Wangshu. Seeing that she did not seem to be lying, the Empress Dowager shook her head in disbelief. “Impossible… impossible…”

The palace guards could not match the border troops, and with the Empress Dowager captured, their morale crumbled. In no time at all, all the guards she had brought were slain, their blood staining the tiles outside Yangxin Hall red.

Li Cong’s head had long since been kicked off somewhere amid the fighting.

In the center of the crowd stood two figures, and Cui Wangshu’s words rang clearly in everyone’s ears.

“When the Imperial Astronomical Bureau tampered with the prophecy and ruined Da Yong, who colluded with the Cui Clan to usurp the throne and deceive the people? Do I need to recount it again?” Cui Wangshu gritted her teeth, her tone icy.

The Empress Dowager swallowed hard, her voice tense. “I didn’t! They forced me.”

“Yang Jue!” Cui Wangshu barked sharply.

No one had called that name in so many years. Yang Jue froze for a moment, staring blankly at Cui Wangshu. Cui Wangshu fixed her with a deathly glare. “Did my father and mother ever force you? Who was it who insisted on marrying into the Li Clan? A princess of the realm, willing to become a mere concubine in the Li household—who forced you?”

Yang Jue suddenly lost control, tears streaming down her face as she roared, “Everyone forced me! I was more suited to be emperor than Yang Lian, but just because I’m a woman, I had to let that fool take the throne. Why? Why!”

Cui Wangshu frowned, her eyes filled with complex emotions as she listened to her continue.

“What else could I do but marry Li Huacheng? That was my only path. I wanted to show the world who truly deserved that seat.”

Cui Wangshu closed her eyes briefly and sighed. “Greed will be the death of a person.”

Yang Jue suddenly stared at her, agitated. “Aren’t you driven by your own greed now? The world is vast, and I’m all the family you have left. Why don’t we rule it together, niece?”

Cui Wangshu looked at her as if she were mad, frowning slightly. “I’m not like you. I’m not doing this to prove anything, and you’re not my only family. I have my love.”

Yang Jue paused, then burst into wild laughter. “Your love? You don’t mean that woman you brought back from the countryside, do you?”

She had investigated and knew that the only woman close to Cui Wangshu lately was that one. She had no idea what she looked like, but she couldn’t be much to look at. And Cui Wangshu called a country bumpkin her love?

Cui Wangshu’s gaze darkened, displeased by Yang Jue’s insult to Jiang Chenbi. “Actually, you should know her.”

“She’s from my mother’s Jiang Clan—the former Empress of Great Zhao, Jiang Chenbi.”

Yang Jue’s smile froze on her face. She turned to stare at Cui Wangshu and saw no complexity in her eyes. A suspicion flashed through her mind. “Jiang Chenbi?”

She really hadn’t died, but that wasn’t important.

What mattered was…

After Jiang Chenbi’s death in the Cold Palace, the scattered clues Yang Jue had gathered, combined with their relationship, made her laugh. The laughter was eerie, as if it came straight from hell.

“What? Didn’t she tell you she might be your twin sister?”

Yang Jue’s lips curled in a cold smile as she stared at Cui Wangshu.

Even without evidence, it didn’t matter. As long as she planted the seed of doubt in Cui Wangshu’s heart, even if she lost today, Cui Wangshu wouldn’t fare much better.

Yang Jue’s words struck like a hammer blow. Cui Wangshu’s heart jolted, a chill running down her spine as long-ignored details suddenly connected.

Jiang Chenbi’s words echoed in her ears: “Think about what you’ve done today—don’t discard me so easily.” Cui Wangshu hurriedly suppressed her thoughts and reined in her heart.

She needed to hear it from Jiang Chenbi’s own mouth. Anything else didn’t count.

“Shut up.”

Cui Wangshu’s tone was bone-chillingly cold, her dark eyes swirling with complex emotions. She pressed the Onyx Iron Fan harder against Yang Jue’s neck, drawing blood.

Satisfied to see the flicker of panic in her eyes, Yang Jue smirked. “Hahaha, what a Cui Wangshu—usurping the throne and now bedding your own sister…”

Before she could finish, Cui Wangshu thrust the iron fan forward. Yang Jue could say no more and slowly slid to the ground.

Yang Jue clutched the wound on her neck. In her final moments, staring into Cui Wangshu’s downward-gazing eyes, a flash of madness passed through hers.

Cui Wangshu’s hand still gripped the Onyx Iron Fan, blood dripping from its sharp edge onto the ground drop by drop. Yet its owner now wore a grim expression.

Veins bulged at her temple as she coldly stared at the dying Yang Jue. The words that left her mouth were enough to shock the world.

“Regicide, patricide—what haven’t I done? Even if she’s my sister, I’d love her all the same.”

As Yang Jue’s unwilling and shocked gaze faded, Cui Wangshu’s taut nerves finally relaxed.

Though her words were bold, no one knew better than she did how panicked she felt inside. She had merely shelved the matter for now—there was no time to verify or confirm if Yang Jue spoke the truth.

Whether those words had been for Yang Jue or to convince herself, only Cui Wangshu knew.

The bodies in front of Yangxin Hall still needed handling, and the unrest in the Imperial City had to be quelled before any announcements could be made.

Everyone present had heard the exchange, but the woman before them was about to become the ruler of this vast realm. All fell silent, pretending they had heard nothing.

Xun An’s worried gaze fell on Cui Wangshu’s expressionless face. She was covered head to toe in blood, standing motionless in place.

Nothing could be more shocking than one’s lover possibly being one’s own sister. Even Xun An had been stunned upon hearing it, unable to imagine how Cui Wangshu, who loved Jiang Chenbi so deeply, could face it.

Especially if it came from a lying lover.

The Capital City had not yet been fully pacified. The city garrison and the troops from the various ducal estates would be a tough fight. Cui Wangshu took a deep breath, her suppressed dark eyes sweeping over Xun An.

“Mount up. Clear the Capital City.”

Xun An pressed her lips together, suppressing her thoughts. She handed her sword to Cui Wangshu, mounted her horse, and followed her charge outward.

Cui Wangshu’s stargazing had been accurate—the Luo River’s flood season had indeed come early. The moat’s waters surged high, trapping the city garrison tightly within.

Xun An led a small squad to storm the Imperial Palace, but outside, the Huguo Army and Western Border Army continued their relentless slaughter. Emerging from the palace, the ground was soaked in blood, slick and sticky.

The stench of blood filled the night. A coup was always a bloody, terrifying affair.

Cui Wangshu slit a throat with her sword, more blood splattering her clothes until her white robes were almost entirely red.

The battle raged for a long time. With the Huguo Army and Western Border Army under her command, the outcome was clear.

As dawn neared, snow began to fall from the sky.

The corpse-clearers froze. Winter had long passed—summer was almost here—yet snow fell from the heavens. It was eerie.

Cui Wangshu looked up, a snowflake landing in her eye, icy cold. Her throat bobbed as she spoke in a hoarse, trembling voice. “Is there a cliff next to Tianhu Temple?”

Xun An pressed her lips together. “There is.”

Clang—

The sword clattered to the ground, ringing sharply. Cui Wangshu mounted her horse and galloped toward the city outskirts.

Xun An hurriedly mounted and chased after her.

Cui Wangshu rode at a furious pace, as if her life depended on it. The snow grew heavier, obscuring vision and making the ground slippery. Xun An nearly fell from her horse several times before catching up.

Seeing her direction was Tianhu Temple, a foreboding premonition slid through Xun An’s heart.

There was a sharp bend ahead. Xun An failed to keep up. By the time she rounded it, Cui Wangshu was gone. Xun An gritted her teeth, spurred her horse with a cry of “Hyah!”, and hurried after her.

When she found Cui Wangshu’s horse, her pupils contracted, her heart turning to ice.

On the cliff beside Tianhu Temple, a large patch of fresh blood stained the snow. Cui Wangshu knelt beside it.