What they did not know was that the two words the reigning Empress now feared hearing most were "rebel traitors."
She had been unable to focus on morning court for several days.
Every day at court, her mind wandered far beyond the heavens. She had no idea what petitions or accusations her ministers presented below.
The memorials awaiting her review had piled up like a mountain.
What truly baffled the ministers was the order Mu Xuehuang issued that day, one that left everyone scratching their heads—wipe out every rebel throughout every province of the Dynasty!
Mountain bandits, brigands—anyone connected to such activities was to be killed.
No justification was needed!
Even those who showed any inclination toward rebellion were not to be spared!
Mu Xuehuang's entire mind and body were consumed by the rebels who would one day overturn her realm.
Since the future would fall into those rebels' hands, what she feared most at present was hearing the words "rebel traitors."
Because once rebels appeared, it could very well herald the turning of fate's wheel.
All she could do was wipe out as many rebels as possible, strangling their growth in the cradle.
Mu Xuehuang refused to believe it. If she exterminated every rebel and solved the problem at its roots, why should she still fear their rise?
Fate could be reversed. She had already defied heaven and changed her destiny more than once.
Who could have imagined that a concubine-born daughter from a humble family would ultimately become the founding Empress of a dynasty?
As she basked in her own achievements, a sudden argument interrupted her thoughts.
It was between Yue Zhenling, a veteran minister who had served two dynasties, and Wang Yong, the Minister of Personnel.
"Your Majesty, the treasury is empty. This minister believes we should no longer pour manpower and money into encircling and exterminating rebels!"
"Exterminating rebels treats only the symptoms, not the root cause—as long as we live in troubled times, bandits can never be killed off! Kill one group, and there will be a second, a third... a tenth!"
"The best solution is to address the problem at its roots and stop commoners from being driven into banditry!"
Yue Zhenling's voice was deep yet forceful, ringing throughout the hall.
His words amounted to a proposal for reform.
Yue Zhenling had a piercing eye. At a glance, he could tell that Great Li's apparent prosperity was merely a surface illusion.
The real problems affecting the people's livelihoods remained unresolved.
There was no way to count how many impoverished people took to the mountains as bandits each day!
Yet Mu Xuehuang's brows knitted tightly as she listened.
My realm will soon be lost, yet Minister Yue wants me to stop exterminating rebels?
Wang Yong stepped forward. "Lord Yue, I have a different view. Since Her Majesty has focused her efforts on exterminating rebels, she naturally has her reasons. As it happens, I have uncovered rebel activity in one location, and the situation is truly grave. Your Majesty, please take a look!"
"Hmm?"
The unexpected words instantly roused the drowsy Mu Xuehuang. She sat upright, a sharp light flashing in her eyes. "Rebel activity?!"
Since issuing her order to encircle and exterminate rebels, she had encountered nothing that qualified as "rebel activity."
What sort of situation deserved that description?
A sizable, well-trained force that inflicted tremendous losses on the local people and their property.
Mu Xuehuang hurriedly took the report and read it, her expression visibly growing grave.
"Qingzhou? Flowing Sand?"
Besides the basic details, the letter Wang Yong submitted also contained information on Ning Que and his wanted portrait.
As she studied that face, two sharp gleams suddenly shot from Mu Xuehuang's eyes.
She immediately dismissed court and hurried out of the hall.
Her unusual behavior left all the civil and military officials bewildered.
Her Majesty... dismissed court again?
She's been leaving early rather often lately...
Although she had ordered the extermination of rebels throughout the realm, every operation had ended in an overwhelming victory. Far from satisfying Mu Xuehuang, those results only filled her with anxiety.
The images from the simulation had shown that those rebels possessed considerable strength and had someone leading them.
They were harder to deal with than some local armies.
Any rebels who could be wiped out so easily could not possibly be the ones from her simulation.
Perhaps the young man who would lead the rebels to destroy the Dynasty's foundations had not yet embarked on the path of rebellion.
Perhaps he was still a commoner.
Her most pressing task now was to determine who led those rebels.
The young man in her memory had a face like white jade and a gentle, refined bearing—a jade-like figure upon the path, a peerless young gentleman beneath the heavens.
Someone like him should have become a pillar of the Dynasty. How could he have become a rebel leader?
As for why Mu Xuehuang had taken notice of the portrait on the wanted notice Wang Yong submitted?
It was entirely a matter of instinct.
First, Ning Que was young enough. Second, there was a ruthless edge to his gaze.
It readily brought to mind the young man from her memories...
[Ding! Time until the host's next simulation: ten, nine, eight...]
Just then, the simulation's notification sounded in Mu Xuehuang's mind.
In an instant, it swept away her gloom and restored her spirits.
At last, I can run another simulation!
Do you have any idea how I've gotten through these past few days?
As the countdown reached "one," Mu Xuehuang felt as though a great burden had been lifted from her shoulders.
Every minute, every second of waiting had been torture.
Knowing that the Dynasty's foundations would collapse in her hands had robbed her of any desire for tea or food.
Until this matter was resolved, she might never be able to concentrate on anything else.
Soon, Mu Xuehuang settled into her seat and closed her eyes.
Her objective for this simulation was simple: she only needed to discover who was truly leading the rebel army forward.
Before long, new images appeared in her mind.
The scene opened on a battlefield stretching across a vast expanse of sand.
Fierce winds howled through the air, heavy with murderous tension. The rebel army stood below the city walls, while tightly packed archers lined the battlements above.
At a single command from the Provincial Governor, a sky-filling rain of arrows would descend.
Mu Xuehuang held her breath, her eyes fixed unwaveringly on the scene.
These rebels had already stretched her nerves taut. She desperately needed a great victory to reassure her—Great Li had the power to prevent all of this!
But in the next moment, a young man with a face as fair as jade slowly emerged from the rebel ranks and looked up at the city walls.
At the sight, Mu Xuehuang widened her eyes and scrutinized the young man in the scene.
Surely he must be the rebel leader?
The young man who stormed the imperial palace!
Although the view was distant, Mu Xuehuang could still tell that he did not match Ning Que's portrait on the wanted notice.
For some reason, she felt a slight sense of relief.
Yet in the very next moment, something happened that Mu Xuehuang found inconceivable—and utterly chilling—
Rumble...
With the rebel army pressing down upon it, the city actually opened its gates of its own accord.
There was no bloody battle, no desperate fight to the death. The gates simply opened, allowing the rebels to enter freely.
"This..."
Had this not been a simulation, Mu Xuehuang would surely have thought she had gone mad.
The court's soldiers actually surrendered to the rebels?
Mu Xuehuang immediately turned pale with rage. Her chest heaved violently, countless flames of fury burning within her with nowhere to escape.
She could not understand why the city's Provincial Governor had willingly opened the gates to welcome them.
Was he intimidated by the rebels' strength, or were there traitors within the Dynasty?
Either possibility was intolerable to Mu Xuehuang.
She forcibly suppressed her anger and continued watching.
After entering the city, the rebels did not launch a massacre.
The first thing they did was climb the walls and take down Great Li's battle flag.
In its place, they raised their own banner.
Written upon it in five bold characters, with strokes like soaring dragons and dancing phoenixes, were the words: Heaven-Warring Great General!
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