Palace Coup! Blue River in Chaos!

Blue Star.

Lan Xiao stared at Yan Mei's darkened avatar, his eyes red beyond measure.

He smashed the tablet in his hand to the floor, then sat on the throne, laughing like a madman.

"Thirteen years, thirteen years... Yan Mei, is your heart made of stone? I held you close for thirteen years, yet no matter what I did, I could never warm you...

Back then, you were the one who came looking for me, weren't you?

Why are you treating me like this? Why are all of you treating me like this?"

He rose to his feet and looked down at the throne behind him.

It was forged from gold, its engraved patterns delicate and exquisite, its inlaid rubies gleaming brightly.

He grabbed the throne, turned, and hurled it viciously onto the floor below.

"Was this seat ever one I wanted to sit on?"

Hurried footsteps and the clatter of armor came from outside the grand hall.

Elisa strode in amid an escort of Imperial Army soldiers.

When Lan Xiao saw how she was dressed, he laughed even louder!

Elisa was not wearing the European-style gown with its usual sweeping skirt. She had changed into a somewhat androgynous suit, with a floor-length cape trailing behind her.

She wore an empress's crown upon her head.

The ministers in the hall were startled. One after another, they rose and stared at Elisa, condemning her for treasonous insolence!

Elisa had the Imperial Army drag the people blocking her path aside. She walked to the throne Lan Xiao had thrown down, set it upright, and sat upon it.

"Treasonous insolence? Gentlemen, open your eyes and take a good look. Supporting me as the Empress of the Blue River Empire is the inevitable course of events!"

She pointed at Lan Xiao.

"Lan Xiao, you