Night swirled, stirring ripple upon ripple. Everything was so peaceful that the footsteps outside Ganlu Hall sounded particularly grating.
Inside the hall, the Female Emperor's face was peach-red. She bit her lip tightly, still enduring the pain brought by the merging cultivation techniques and her healing body.
At the same time, she circulated her cultivation technique, allowing the two kinds of dragon qi to merge and entwine.
Amid her suffering, she suddenly heard those footsteps. Her pupils contracted, and a rare trace of alarm appeared on her face, even panic and fear.
Such feelings were unprecedented for her, filling her with shame and indignation, but she quickly forced them down.
She drew a deep breath, regained her former cold demeanor, and spoke icily.
"Who is outside?"
"Your Majesty, the chancellor requests an audience. He says there are important matters to discuss."
The guard spoke cautiously, his voice trembling slightly, afraid of angering the Female Emperor. After all, her wrath was not so easily endured.
"The chancellor?"
The Female Emperor narrowed her phoenix eyes, a trace of puzzlement showing in them. She really was somewhat curious.
The Tang Kingdom's chancellor was a resourceful and capable man who had helped her rise to the throne. His contributions to her successful accession had been considerable, so she had given him a token allowing him to seek an audience at any time.
But the chancellor also knew his etiquette. He rarely came at this hour, and whenever he requested an audience, he waited outside the palace.
An arrival as abrupt and hurried as tonight's was unprecedented.
Could it be...
Had some exceptionally serious, rarely seen unrest broken out within the kingdom? Otherwise, why would this happen?
At that thought, solemnity appeared in the Female Emperor's phoenix eyes. She was no muddleheaded sovereign ignorant of