World's First Traitor System (384)

Chapter 384 - The Great Zhou Celestial Empire

A piece of jade?

No! An Imperial Seal!

The Imperial Seal of Wu Zhou!

Fan Li had tossed Princess Chang Le a perfectly square seal, carved with dragons and phoenixes, a symbol of balanced yin and yang. Shangguan Wan’er’s face, as she recognized the seal, contorted in disbelief and rage.

“You imbecile!” She roared, lunging towards Fan Li, intent on killing him. But she stopped herself. She couldn’t allow Chang Le to obtain the seal. That momentary hesitation was her undoing. The seal landed squarely in the princess’s hand. Fan Li breathed a sigh of relief.

System support item: Imperial Seal of Wu Zhou. When Fan Li had received this item, he’d been baffled, unsure of its purpose. Now, he understood.

“Chang Le! Use it!”

The princess, momentarily stunned, reacted instantly, pressing the seal onto the Investiture of the Gods.

WHOOSH!

A sound like mountains crumbling and rivers reversing course echoed from the scroll.

Shangguan Wan’er’s hand clamped around Fan Li’s throat. A slight flex of her fingers would be enough to decapitate him. But then, her face paled, sweat poured down her skin. She felt her soul tremble, as if branded by a red-hot iron.

“No! No! I was raised by the Holy Emperor! I am loyal only to her! I will never…”

Her anguished cry was cut short. Terror, a crushing, all-consuming terror, gripped her. Only those who experienced it firsthand could truly understand the horror of having their name inscribed upon the Investiture of the Gods, their very soul bound, their life or death dependent on another’s whim.

Shangguan Wan’er trembled. The one hundred thousand Great Zhou soldiers felt the same paralyzing fear. Finally, one of them could no longer bear it. He fell to his knees, bowing towards Princess Chang Le. It was the ultimate gesture of submission to an Emperor. As his knees touched the ground, the pressure on his soul eased slightly. A thought flickered in his mind: Imperial grace is boundless.

Her Majesty has forgiven me! But this Majesty was no longer Wu Zhao. This was Chang Le.

One knelt, then a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand. Within moments, only Shangguan Wan’er remained standing, her knees trembling, urging her to submit. She resisted, her beautiful face contorted in a bitter smile.

“We have failed… Her Majesty… the former Emperor… also failed…” She lowered her head, tears were tracing paths through the dust on her cheeks. The silence was more heartbreaking than any wail of anguish. She could no longer resist Chang Le, who now wielded both the Investiture of the Gods and the Imperial Seal of Wu Zhou.

Shangguan Wan’er’s gaze calmed, only a lingering sadness remained in her eyes. She released Fan Li’s throat and looked at Chang Le.

“Live. Or die. I ask only once.” The princess’s voice was devoid of emotion, filled only with imperial authority.

She had succeeded. The Wu Zhou Empire, its one hundred thousand celestial soldiers, were hers. Her childhood dream, to become a true Emperor, unlike her weak and ineffectual father, Liu Xie, had been fulfilled. It was a dream born from witnessing her father’s constant humiliation at the hands of powerful ministers, a dream that had become an obsession, perhaps even a demon, haunting her.

She had once sought refuge in the Brahma Sound Pure Land, immersing herself in cultivation to numb the pain of her father’s suffering. She had once dreamt of inheriting the throne, of ruling the Great Han, of cleansing the court of its corruption, of restoring the Emperor's authority. But those dreams, those obsessions, had shattered against the harsh reality of her father’s death and the fall of the Han Dynasty. Now, seemingly hopeless, she had met Fan Li. Her gaze softened as she looked at him.

Fan Li. He had helped her obtain the Records of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, which had revealed the secrets of the immortal realm, the opportunity presented by the opening of the Heavenly Gate, the chance to usurp a defeated Celestial Emperor’s power. It was a slim hope, but her only hope. And she had seized it.

She had been incredibly fortunate. The Heavenly Gate had opened sooner than she could have hoped. Her meticulous planning, her willingness to gamble, had brought her to the brink of victory. Even when her plan faltered, Fan Li had provided the Imperial Seal. Luck, after all, was a form of strength.

Chang Le looked down at her subjects. All, except Shangguan Wan’er, knelt before her, acknowledging her as the new ruler of Great Zhou. She looked at Fan Li with soft gaze.

“Live. Or die.” Her words echoed in Shangguan Wan’er’s mind. She smiled wryly. There was no choice. Martyrdom was meaningless. Wu Zhao’s final, fragmented soul now resided within Princess Chang Le. Without it, Chang Le could never have inscribed one hundred thousand names upon the Investiture of the Gods. In a sense, Chang Le was Wu Zhao, and Wu Zhao was Chang Le. Chang Le was the dominant will, Wu Zhao the source of power.

“I… Shangguan Wan’er… bow before Her Majesty, the Holy Emperor of Great Zhou…” She knelt. The Chancellor, the highest-ranking official of Wu Zhou, on behalf of all its subjects, formally acknowledged Chang Le’s legitimacy.

Fan Li breathed a sigh of relief. Was it finally over? He looked at Chang Le, a wry smile on his face. This woman… she had actually usurped a Celestial Empire!

“Congratulations, Chang Le.”

“This Emperor thank you for your assistance, Fan Li.”

The formality felt strange. Xiang Ning also used it, but it had never felt awkward. Coming from Chang Le, however, it felt… unsettling. He even sensed a hint of… menace?

“You have aided me greatly, Fan Li. I will continue to require your assistance.”

He remained silent, sensing she wasn't finished.

“Fan Li, lead the Great Chu in submission to Great Zhou.”

Her words stunned him. He almost thought he’d misheard. Even Emperor Jiajing, when attempting to recruit him, hadn’t demanded unconditional surrender. Had Chang Le’s newfound power made her this arrogant?

As if reading his thoughts, she looked down at him, a flicker of affection in her eyes, quickly replaced by a hint of regret.

“You don’t understand.”

Those three words filled Fan Li with a strange sense of shame. Had he just been belittled by his own woman? Did Emperors truly turn on their allies so quickly?

“What don’t I understand?” he asked, suppressing his anger.

“The difference,” Chang Le replied, smiling. “the difference between immortal and mortal.” She gestured towards the kneeling figures. Shangguan Wan’er, the one hundred thousand Great Zhou soldiers, they were a breathtaking sight.

“Do you know, Fan Li, why Heaven sent three empires? Li Yu’s Tang and Shi Jingtang’s Jin were mere vassal states of Great Zhou in the immortal realm. Only after Wu Zhao’s death did those insignificant kingdoms dare to rebel. The Great Zhou Celestial Empire ruled an entire domain in the immortal realm. I will rebuild that empire. And to do so, I must first unify the mortal realm. Ming, Chu, Wei, Han, Wu, Ci, Tang, Jin… Submit to Great Zhou, or be destroyed. Live, or die.”