165: Listen to the Empress's desperate lament.
The night was as deep as ink.
Inside a side hall of the Cangwu Divine Palace, incense curled and Spiritual Qi billowed.
Han Yueying sat alone in silence upon a cloud bed.
The excited and submissive appearance she had shown during the day had long since faded.
In its place was a bottomless calm, along with a trace of madness and determination hidden beneath it.
She closed her eyes, and everything that happened today replayed continuously in her mind.
Han Yueyi's ecstatic joy, the blind worship of the officials, that familiar promise of "Ruling the World Together"... all of it seemed so laughable, so ironic.
"Good sister..."
"Great contributor..."
The corners of Han Yueying's mouth curled into a self-deprecating arc.
She had played the role of an obedient good sister for over a thousand years, and she had played it too successfully.
So successfully that Han Yueyi had long since taken her submissiveness for granted and mistaken her disguise for her true nature.
She thought again of the words of that young Imperial Son in the dungeon.
"Are you willing to accept this?"
Indeed, how could she possibly be willing!
She slowly opened her eyes and spread her palm.
In the center of her palm, the Flowing Light Jade Slip left by Jiang Yuan lay quietly, emitting a faint glow.
If she crushed it, she would completely betray the world that raised her, betray her nominal elder sister, and step onto a dead-end road with no turning back.
If she did not crush it, she would continue to play the role of that pathetic double.
Until one day, Han Yueyi found a more suitable flower and then ruthlessly discarded her.
Han Yueying had always known that her dear sister had a wish.
That was to find her biological younger sister, who might already be dead.
And then use everything belonging to Han Yueying to exchange for that biological sister's Peak!
If not for the appearance of that Imperial Son, she really would have had to walk that path.
In the Cangwu Great World.
She had no capital to defy a Great Emperor.
But now, she did.
By borrowing that Imperial Son's influence and his power.
So, was there even a need to choose?
Han Yueying's gaze became incredibly firm at this moment.
She no longer had any hesitation, and her fingers suddenly tightened.
"Crack—"
A crisp sound of shattering rang out in the silent palace, sounding exceptionally abrupt.
The Jade Slip shattered in response, turning into tiny specks of light that dissipated into the air.
An imperceptible spatial fluctuation instantly penetrated the Divine Palace's many Restrictions, crossed the endless Void Realm, and was accurately transmitted to the place it was meant to go.
Having done all this, Han Yueying let out a long sigh of relief, and her entire being seemed much more relaxed.
She knew that from this moment on, she was no longer Han Yueying, no longer the sister of the Cangwu Empress.
She was Lin Yue.
She would be the future Cangwu Empress... Meanwhile, inside the main hall of the dragon head warship.
Jiang Yuan was leaning against a soft couch of ten-thousand-year warm jade, holding the petite Qin Wanwan in his arms, enjoying Su Luli's shoulder kneading and Hu Mei's massage.
To the side, Liu Shenyin's delicate hands played the zither, the melodious notes flowing through the hall and cleansing everyone's souls.
On the other side, the Yaochi Empress Ye Lingxian was boredly fiddling with a small trinket she had swiped from Jiang Yuan—a compass that could reflect the trajectories of the stars in the heavens.
She also wanted to see if it was possible to have good luck like the Jiang Family and find a Great World lost in the Chaos void.
The atmosphere in the hall was peaceful and comfortable, completely out of place with the tense atmosphere outside.
At this time, Second Ancestor Jiang Wuya walked into the hall expressionlessly, casually wiping away the "emperor blood" from the corner of his mouth; it was merely a mouthful of forced-out Origin essence, insignificant to him.
"Damn, they can really act,"
The Sixth Ancestor also arrived. He sat down heavily, poured himself a large gulp of Immortal Wine, and wiped his mouth. "Old Second, that bit where you spat blood just now was quite realistic. Where did you learn that?"
Second Ancestor Jiang Wuya glanced at him coldly, ignored him, and instead looked at Jiang Yuan, saying in a deep voice:
"Yuaner, the people have been released. What is the next step?"
Ye Lingxian also yawned:
"Imperial Son, you asked me to go a bit easy, and I did. Aren't you afraid that after she goes back, she'll spill all our secrets?"
This was also the doubt shared by everyone else in the hall, except for the Sixth Ancestor.
Han Yueying was, after all, a Quasi-Emperor Seventh Heaven powerhouse and the number two figure of the Cangwu Divine Palace.
How could she be turned by just a word or two from Jiang Yuan?
Once that Empress calmed down and chose to hold her ground without coming out.
Or if she directly sacrificed the world's Origin to communicate with the Heavenly Dao and forcibly cultivated a new Emperor to fight to the death, then the subsequent war would be no different from starting a direct siege.
Jiang Yuan didn't even open his eyes as he said airily,
"She is merely a Quasi-Emperor. In the grand scheme of things, whether she is killed or released doesn't matter. Her true value has never been her cultivation, but rather her ambition that refuses to remain a shadow."
Jiang Yuan opened his eyes, his gaze sweeping over everyone. His voice wasn't loud, but it was powerful:
"When my Jiang Family acts, we never rely on petty schemes, but on upright open strategies and absolute strength sufficient to crush everything. No matter how many calculations or how exquisite the layout, if there is no corresponding strength to manifest them, they are ultimately just illusions."
"What the Cangwu Empress cannot give, my Jiang Family can. An opportunity to become a true Empress—as long as she isn't stupid, she knows what to do."
His tone carried an unquestionable confidence.
He believed that Lin Yue, having tasted the flavor of hope, would never again be willing to return to that shadow named Han Yueying.
This was also something Jiang Yuan had considered repeatedly.
Promising her an Emperor's position.
Only, this Emperor's position wasn't one of those vacant positions, but Han Yueyi's.
In other words.
Using Han Yueyi's Emperor's position to give to Lin Yue, making her loyal to the Jiang Family and loyal to Jiang Yuan for ten thousand years.
The last Emperor's position would naturally be consumed internally by the Jiang Family.
The reason for such a promise, besides the need to turn her,
Was more importantly because even if the Emperor Immortal Great World annexed the Cangwu Great World and the Emperor Immortal Heavenly Dao kept both great emperor dao fruits for the Jiang Family,
Absorbing, refining, and proving the Dao would still take time.
Proving the Dao of a Great Emperor is not like being a Pseudo-Emperor; it takes a hundred years at the shortest and a thousand years at the longest.
The variables during this period were too great.
But Han Yueyi's great emperor fruit position was different.
Firstly, Lin Yue was a native of Cangwu.
Secondly, she shared one heart with Han Yueyi and could invoke a portion of the Great Emperor's power that only Han Yueyi could use.
Thirdly, Han Yueyi herself had a Mid-stage Great Emperor cultivation. By sacrificing that cultivation, Lin Yue could be rapidly elevated to the Great Emperor Realm, greatly shortening her time to Attain the Dao.
Although the price might be that it would be difficult for Lin Yue's cultivation to grow further for a period in the future,
What did that have to do with Jiang Yuan? It even happened to be convenient for the Jiang Family to control her.
In this way,
The Jiang Family would secretly gain an additional Empress.
At a critical moment, she might have a miraculous effect on enemies.
Just as he was thinking this, his hand stroking Qin Wanwan's head paused.
Before him, a speck of faint light emerged out of thin air and quietly burst open.
"Oh? Has she made her choice?"
A smile of having everything under control appeared on Jiang Yuan's face.
"What choice?"
Ye Lingxian raised her eyelids, blinked, and asked curiously.
"Nothing."
Jiang Yuan did not answer directly, but instead stood up while holding Qin Wanwan, placed her on the soft bed behind him, and stretched.
"It's just that the future master of the Cangwu Great World has just sent us an invitation."
The future master?
Ye Lingxian was so intelligent that she instantly understood the meaning in Jiang Yuan's words.
In her deep and beautiful eyes, a flash of surprise and amusement passed.
"You actually really turned her?"
Although she knew Jiang Yuan had promised an Emperor's position,
It was just a promise. Whether it would be honored was hard to say.
To betray the entire Cangwu Great World for a mere hope?
This... "That little girl has probably become the hero of Cangwu by now, right?"
The Sixth Ancestor said with a face full of schadenfreude.
He was the only one in the hall besides Jiang Yuan who knew how he had persuaded her.
"More than just a hero."
Jiang Yuan smiled, "She is also their trusted strategist. I think that Han Yueyi must have already believed the false intelligence we gave her. In three days, she will likely gather all her forces to launch a fatal blow against our dragon head warship."
"Beating them at their own game?"
"Exactly."
Jiang Yuan snapped his fingers, "Since she wants to play a general offensive, we'll play a big one with her."
He stood up and walked to the center of the hall, his gaze sweeping over everyone present. His voice was no longer lazy, but became powerful.
"Sixth Grandfather, take half of the Quasi-Emperor powerhouses and circle to the rear of the Cangwu Great World. Set up an inescapable net; make sure not even a single fly can get out."
"Second Grandfather, Senior Ye Lingxian, Shen Yin, you will stay with me to command the central army and wait for them to enter the trap."
"The rest of you, move the warships back thirty million miles, creating the illusion of being severely damaged and preparing to retreat. You must act out this play realistically for me."
One command after another was issued in an orderly fashion.
"Yuaner, you are planning to..." The Second Ancestor seemed to understand something.
"Catch a turtle in a jar."
"She thinks she is the hunter, but little does she know that from the moment she steps out of that turtle shell with all her foundations, she has already become my prey."
"In three days, I want the entire Cangwu Great World to hear their Empress's desperate mournful cry."