Chapter 68: Restoring the Kingdom

Liang Taizu had numerous brothers, sons, and grandsons, but he had only one legitimate son: Emperor Wen. The empress back then had poor health and desperately gave birth to a rather frail prince. Emperor Wen had few heirs of his own. Several years after ascending the throne, he finally had a legitimate son, but rumors had long spread that the boy wouldn’t live long. As a result, his uncles and brothers began to harbor other intentions.

In the early years of Emperor Wen’s reign, vassal kings rebelled in multiple regions. To stabilize his throne and to ensure that his successor could inherit a peaceful realm, he planted a large number of informants within the imperial clan. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that if he wanted, he could even know what a vassal king in the farthest fiefdom ate for each meal that day and how many bites he took.

For instance, the map that the imperial consort had presented marked the location of King Su’s hidden troops. Meng Congyun had a copy of it too, but it wasn’t as detailed and comprehensive as hers. One could imagine just how deeply the other side’s influence had penetrated.

The leader of this group of informants held the No. 12 Dragon Token and was the member of the imperial clan whom Emperor Wen trusted the most. He had been granted the authority to directly execute traitorous members of the clan.

Unfortunately, after Emperor Wen’s death, that old prince seemed to have developed his own intentions as well. The little emperor apparently hadn’t received any help from him either; otherwise, he wouldn’t have so foolishly believed King Su’s lies.

That sly old prince was indeed very good at hiding his thoughts and putting on a facade. If he truly harbored any ulterior motives, it wasn’t impossible that he could have fooled even Emperor Wen. That was why, after all these years, he was the only one Meng Congyun hadn’t been able to find. If not for this incident, it probably would have been quite difficult to expose him.

He had lived for decades, only to fall at the hands of a woman. It was karmic retribution.

“Informants planted in the imperial clan?” It was the first time Nian Zhi’an had heard of this, and she was seeing one of the twelve Dragon Tokens for the first time as well. If Meng Congyun hadn’t explained it to her, she wouldn’t have known that Emperor Wen had arranged so much in secret.

Back then, her mission targets had been King Su and Meng Congyun. The System might know something, but it never wasted words on matters unrelated to her tasks.

“I never imagined that dead… I mean, the late emperor had left behind such a move. In that case, why didn’t he have me killed back then?” Nian Zhi’an propped her chin on her hand, feeling somewhat puzzled.

It couldn’t be that Emperor Wen still had any father-daughter affection for his daughter, could it? Ugh… Just thinking about it gave Nian Zhi’an goosebumps. The only bit of emotion Emperor Wen had was probably reserved for his son; not even the empress or his favored consorts got a scrap of it. Forget it—even her toes could tell that was impossible.

Then why was that? Nian Zhi’an lifted her head and glanced at Meng Congyun. Seeing the gentle expression on her face, she understood everything in an instant.

“It was you.” Nian Zhi’an rewarded Meng Congyun with a mwah. “Thank you.”

No wonder Emperor Wen had never come after her. It turned out her wife had been protecting her in secret all along. But as she thought back to what had happened that year, Nian Zhi’an’s expression dimmed a little.

“…That year was my fault.” She had broken the other woman’s heart, yet she had still protected her wholeheartedly. She was such a scumbag!

Meng Congyun shook her head, but before she could speak, Her Highness suddenly grabbed her hand and placed it on her waist. She had embraced that slender waist of Her Highness many times before, but she could never get enough of it.

She wasn’t the desireless nun that Her Highness claimed she was.

“As compensation, you can do whatever you want to me.” Nian Zhi’an felt she had hinted quite clearly.

“Anything at all?” Meng Congyun turned passive into active, wrapping her arms around Nian Zhi’an’s waist with a hint of delight in her expression.

“Of course.” Nian Zhi’an’s eyes lit up. After striving for so many days, she finally thought she could sink her teeth into some meat. But then her wife had someone bring over a book.

After that, she and her wife spent the entire afternoon calculating auspicious dates. Then they set the wedding date.

Hmm, her wife’s hint was quite obvious too: if she wanted meat, she had to get married first.

Meng Congyun was exceptionally enthusiastic. The paleness from her recent illness had faded from her face, replaced by a slight flush. Seeing her so happy lightened Nian Zhi’an’s slight regret, and she began to look forward to her second ancient-style wedding.

There was a lot to prepare for the prime minister’s grand wedding. Meng Congyun wanted to give Her Highness the best, but as a mere subject right now, she was tightly bound by ritual and protocol in many matters.

Thus, the prime minister—who had tolerated the Liang Kingdom for so many years—was entertaining the idea of pulling the little emperor off the throne as quickly as possible for the first time.

The six-year agreement had arrived, and the Living Buddha could only buy the Liang Kingdom so much time. If Meng Congyun willed it, the Zhao Kingdom’s armies across the various regions could seize half of the Liang Kingdom in an instant. Even if the Duke of Zhen reacted and immediately mustered his troops to counterattack, she would have already taken the capital city by then.

And right at that moment, in order to seize power from her and to avoid arousing the little emperor’s suspicions, the Duke of Zhen had left his army outside and returned with only a small contingent of soldiers. Meng Congyun had been pondering how to minimize losses, but now that sleepiness had brought her a pillow, it would seem impolite not to accept it.

However…

Meng Congyun had hesitated all this time, remaining inactive despite repeated urgings from others, for only one reason.

She looked at Her Highness, who was nestled contentedly in her arms like a dog wagging its tail, and tentatively asked, “Your Highness, are you willing to become the empress of the Zhao Kingdom?”

Nian Zhi’an looked up at Meng Congyun, furrowing her brows in thought. She pondered so long that Meng Congyun grew a little uneasy before finally saying, “No interest.”

“Unless you’re the Zhao Kingdom’s female emperor.” The someone deliberately paused for a big breath. Then, seeing the flicker of tension on Meng Congyun’s face, Nian Zhi’an couldn’t help but burst into a mischievous grin.

Smack. Nian Zhi’an’s smile froze on her face. She then bared her teeth and said, “How bold!”

“…G-Give me a little face, will you?” Nian Zhi’an rubbed her butt, which didn’t hurt at all, and huffed.

“Yes, this subject is bold.” Meng Congyun tightened her embrace around Nian Zhi’an slightly and softly continued, “This subject still has one more bold thing to do.”

“Hm?” Nian Zhi’an tilted her head slightly. Her hair brushed against Meng Congyun’s neck, bringing a faint itch.

“This subject wants to restore the country name to Zhao.”

Oh, so it was just that. She had thought it was something major, given how suddenly serious she had become. Nian Zhi’an quietly patted her chest and then said, “Sure, I’ll help you conquer the world, and you can stay home looking beautiful!”

A certain former long princess of the Former Liang Kingdom was quite confident in her ability to wage war. The prime minister was a military genius too, but her constitution was weak. Even carefully nursing herself at home carried the risk of falling ill at any moment—what more if she went to the battlefield? If she did, Nian Zhi’an wouldn’t be able to sleep soundly!

“How could I let Your Highness handle such a matter…”

“What’s there to be shy about? Helping my fiancée conquer the world is only natural. Or does Prime Minister not want to acknowledge this marriage?” Nian Zhi’an lifted her chin “nobly and coldly,” looking just like the haughty cat overlord from the street next door.

“Of course I acknowledge it!” How could she not? “But Your Highness, this is still the foundation of your grandfather…”

“So what? The unworthy descendants of the Liang Kingdom won’t miss one more like me. If they’ve got the guts, let that bastard come beat me up. Anyway, he couldn’t beat me.” Nian Zhi’an stuck out her tongue, carrying a bit of a punch-me vibe.

“It’s settled then. I’ll be the vanguard. You just think about what to do after taking the Liang Kingdom—but don’t overdo it. Focus on resting more. In a month, I want to see you two pounds heavier!” Nian Zhi’an held up two fingers. For others, that might just mean snacking more, but with Meng Congyun’s frail health and her kitten-like appetite, gaining two pounds truly wouldn’t be easy.

“While I’m gone, have that Assassin Girl Zhao Yanqi protect you in my place.” Whenever Nian Zhi’an had free time lately, she would occasionally give pointers to that assassin girl. After all, she was the only student of an old friend and had learned a portion of her saber technique—though poorly, which was an eyesore to a saber master.

So under Nian Zhi’an’s devilish training regimen, Zhao Yanqi’s skills had advanced by leaps and bounds. If her internal energy were a bit higher, defeating this world’s top expert wouldn’t be hard.

Thus, Nian Zhi’an planned to give her a boost of internal energy, so she could set out with peace of mind.

“She’s my old friend’s only disciple. She might look silly and be fun to tease, but don’t bully her too much, okay?” Nian Zhi’an instructed somewhat worriedly.

Even though she was the one who bullied her the most usually.

“Your Highness, the matters of the battlefield should be left to the generals. There’s no need for you to handle them personally.” Meng Congyun gripped Nian Zhi’an’s wrist, refusing to let her go somewhere dangerous.

“But…” If she went herself, she would definitely outperform those ordinary generals. She could move fast, minimize losses, and make the Liang Kingdom’s troops howl in defeat. No one else had her ability to take down enemy generals one by one with single strikes.

“Your Highness, the battlefield is dangerous. I don’t want to experience that feeling about you again!”

Meng Congyun’s voice carried a plea. How could Nian Zhi’an refuse? She immediately gave up the idea of heading to the battlefield to stretch her limbs and nodded in agreement. “Alright, alright. I won’t go. I’ll stay right here with you.”

Nian Zhi’an feared that Meng Congyun might encounter danger on the battlefield, and Meng Congyun—who had already experienced it once—probably never wanted Your Highness to have anything to do with battlefields for the rest of her life.

“But the Duke of Zhen’s army will be tricky, and it’s the only real threat. Have you figured out how to deal with it?” Originally, Nian Zhi’an had wanted to divide and conquer them—persuade some to surrender while suppressing the rest with force.

“No problem. As long as King Su can team up with that eunuch to bring down the Duke of Zhen, I have my own ways to make them walk right into the trap.” Meng Congyun breathed a slight sigh of relief as she held Your Highness, who was getting restless and trying to run outside.

Meng Congyun didn’t have Nian Zhi’an’s overwhelming martial prowess, but she had even more ruthless methods. Their effects might be more efficient, even if they involved more bloodshed.

“Then I’ll go add some fuel to the fire, or else we might miss the wedding date we just picked. By the way, hasn’t Princess Consort Su already been ‘invited’ somewhere by you? Lend her to me for a bit?” Nian Zhi’an reassured Meng Congyun. She had fully mastered all the various methods her teacher had taught her back then, so the Prime Minister only needed to stay home, sip tea, and watch the show. Soon enough, she would hear good news from her student.