The Flower Viewing Banquet continued. Having glared the offender into submission, Luo Wushuang puffed out her chest like a proud prize rooster, tilting her head triumphantly toward Shangguan Liqian.
When she caught the look of praise in her sister’s eyes, the mirth in the depths of Luo Wushuang’s gaze became even more pronounced.
Little did she know that the ministers seated below were nearly frightened to death by their sovereign’s abnormal behavior.
Everything was fine, so why was Her Majesty smiling? Could it be that someone else was about to meet a miserable end?
After all…
At the start of Her Majesty’s reign, she had ascended the dragon throne in the Hall of Diligent Government with that exact same beaming smile, stepping one at a time up white jade stairs that were cluttered with severed heads and mangled limbs.
Back then, the Hall of Diligent Government had been bathed in a sea of crimson, both inside and out.
Blood had stained Her Majesty’s golden dragon boots and seeped into those frost-cold eyes. Most terrifying of all were the few drops of fresh human blood still clinging to her sharp, youthful face.
At the time, Her Majesty had leaned lazily against the dragon throne, looking down at the assembly with a half-smile that carried no warmth. Her gaze was indifferent, as if the people standing below were not the pillars of the Kingdom of Luo, but merely a herd of pigs and sheep waiting for the slaughter. (She didn’t think of them as oxen, for oxen were still needed to plow the fields).
“Death, or submission?” Her voice, thick with murderous intent, caused everyone to instinctively overlook the youthful greenness of the face atop the throne.
After a moment of silence, an elder statesman stepped forward, trembling as he pointed at the figure on the throne and barked, “You rebel! This act of yours will destabilize the foundations laid by hundreds of years of our ancestors! You will be remembered as the eternal sinner of our Great Luo!”
Luo Wushuang waited patiently for him to finish his tirade before offering a smile and a word of praise: “Well said!”
Then, her gaze shifted to the Golden Guard—whom she had long ago secretly brought under her command—and she gave a calm order: “Kill.”
Following a single wretched scream, another head rolled onto the floor, its eyes wide with lingering resentment.
Seated high upon the dragon throne, Luo Wushuang watched with casual detachment as the head rolled a few times before coming to a rest. The smile on her lips didn’t fade in the slightest. It was as if the person who had just died wasn’t a living human being, but merely a blade of grass or an ant.
Her unwavering command stunned the officials for a heartbeat.
However, another man soon stepped forward. “You… you rebel…”
This man was not as old as the previous one, yet his voice shook violently. It was clear he had been terrified by her previous display.
Hearing the man stuttering without a single original thought to offer, Luo Wushuang lost her patience. She glanced at the Golden Guard holding the blade and spoke without emotion: “Kill.”
Another flash of the blade, another head spinning across the floor.
Finally, this string of cold-blooded killings sparked a wave of indignation among the ministers.
A relatively young official stepped out, his voice ringing with righteous indignation as he reprimanded her. “Absurd! The Kingdom of Luo has never had a woman—”
The young official’s hand was still raised, and his impassioned words were only half-spoken when the woman on the dragon throne repeated that same phrase with a bright smile: “Kill.”
The three round heads on the floor formed a stark, gruesome contrast to the radiant smile of the woman on the throne.
Unable to endure the suffocating atmosphere of slaughter any longer, one official was the first to collapse to his knees. His voice trembled as he cried out: “This humble servant greets Your Majesty! Long live the Emperor! Long live, long live, may you live for ten thousand years!”
With a leader taking the initiative, the resolve of the remaining ministers crumbled. Their knees hit the floor with a collective thud as they bowed toward the girl who had only just reached the age of fifteen.
Note: In ancient times, a girl reached the age of fifteen and had her hair pinned with a gaya (hairpin), marking her transition to adulthood.
Looking down at the kneeling officials, the woman on the dragon throne wore a look of blatant mockery. “Hmm? Am I not a rebel?”
“Is a woman ascending the throne not ‘absurd’?”
“You ministers are the Pillars of the State, so why are you kneeling?”
Three questions in a row—each sharper than the last, each more aggressive and overbearing.
The ministers remained pressed against the floor, their heads bowed so low they dared not even breathe loudly.
Luo Wushuang let out a cold sneer before finally giving a look to one of her own people within the court.
Shen Zhengfeng, the Minister of War, had only recently joined Luo Wushuang’s camp. Eager to curry favor, he spoke up with righteous authority: “Her Majesty possesses the Late Emperor’s succession edict and is the Late Emperor’s only legitimate child. Her ascension to the throne is entirely justified and proper.”
Seeing that the new Emperor’s reign was a settled matter, those ministers with lingering doubts could only suppress their thoughts for the time being, shouting in unison: “We concur!”
Luo Wushuang watched the reactions of the ministers with cold eyes, feeling very little joy in her heart.
From the moment she had resolved to seize the throne, she had anticipated this scene. There were no surprises here.
Compared to the imperial throne, what she truly craved—what she truly plotted to obtain—was that woman who had lived in her heart since childhood.
A woman, just like her.
She knew clearly that only by sitting in this cold, high seat could she make everyone fear her. Only then would she have the right to claim the one she had so carefully hidden in her heart… Her.
Thus, from the very start of the rebellion, she had made up her mind. Success, or death!
It was precisely because of this ruthlessness that she was able, at the mere age of fifteen, to step over blood and bone to take her place upon the throne that symbolized the Supreme Sovereign.
Thinking of the woman hidden in the depths of her heart, a flicker of excitement finally appeared in Luo Wushuang’s Phoenix eyes.
“Rise, my ministers.”
Her gaze swept across the faces below—faces filled with panic, fear, or resentment.
Luo Wushuang’s smile deepened as she spoke in a seemingly harmless voice, “In three days, I shall hold the coronation ceremony at the Hall of Heavenly Grace. I trust that you gentlemen will not be late.”
The ministers, rising with trembling limbs, bowed their heads so low they nearly touched their knees. They didn’t forget to respond with quaking voices: “We would not dare. We congratulate Your Majesty on inheriting the Great Tradition and ruling all within the universe!”
“We congratulate Your Majesty on inheriting the Great Tradition and ruling all within the universe!”
The voices of the crowd grew louder, and their shaking bodies gradually steadied, though their complex expressions remained difficult to describe.
Luo Wushuang understood the frustration of being forced to submit, so she did not continue to make things difficult for them.
She merely observed the officials’ expressions with great interest before clapping her hands and laughing loudly. “Excellent!”
Then, she stepped down from the dragon throne in the Hall of Diligent Government.
Seeing Her Majesty approaching, the officials on the floor knelt once more, bowing their heads with utmost reverence. However, the slight tremors in their bodies were a silent testament to their terror.
Luo Wushuang acted as if nothing were amiss. Walking to the very front of the assembly, she casually kicked aside several of the round heads blocking her path.
The blood-splattered heads rolled across the floor once more, their dead, glaring eyes coming to a stop right beside the robes of several ministers.
Accompanied by several gasps of suffocating terror, Luo Wushuang left the Hall of Diligent Government with a booming laugh.
Three days later, not a single member of the imperial family or high-ranking official was late to the Hall of Heavenly Grace; everyone arrived early and waited in silence.
This left Luo Wushuang, who had originally wanted to use punctuality as an excuse to make another example out of someone, feeling rather disappointed.
She completed the coronation ceremony with a dark face the entire time. Even as the ministers’ congratulations and the waves of “Long live the Emperor” echoed around her, not a single trace of joy appeared on her face.
She had been hoping to keep killing chickens to scare the monkeys, but it turned out there were no monkeys left to scare.
How boring.
However, through the careful scrutiny of the court officials thereafter, they managed to get a slight grasp on this Empress Regnant’s temperament.
Generally, the more brightly Her Majesty smiled, the more miserable the end would be for those who—intentionally or otherwise—offended her.
Conversely, if Her Majesty had a dark face or remained expressionless, it meant their lives were temporarily safe.
Right now, the ministers were guessing based on past experience: Her Majesty was smiling so “eerily” at this moment… did that mean someone was about to suffer a terrible stroke of bad luck?
![Female Lead Was Coaxed Away by the Villain Again [Quick Transmigration]](https://i1.wp.com/dobytranslations.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/transmig.jpg?resize=151,215 "Female Lead Was Coaxed Away by the Villain Again [Quick Transmigration]")
