Her Majesty Chose Violence, They Chose Her

Chapter 9: Chapter 9: The Late Emperor’s Order

Weak from poison, Xiao Yang lay in bed. Liu Yumian came to visit, dressed in magnificent robes and dripping with jewels. She sat in a nearby chair, a gloating smile on her face.

"Serves you right!"

"Xiao Jin, you’re only on the throne because you were lucky enough to be born from my aunt’s womb. You have my grand-uncle and my father to thank for your position, yet you dare to insult my father and defy the Empress Dowager? Be careful, or you won’t even know how you died!"

She held her teacup, her face filled with disgust and scorn. "If you didn’t have the title of Emperor, why would I have been forced to marry a waste of space like you!?"

’It was impossible to know if the original soul had been forced from this body or had chosen to hide, but no one would want to live these days—besieged on all sides, seemingly standing at the pinnacle of power but actually trapped in a living hell.’

Xiao Yang wanted to curse back, but her throat was too sore.

She shut her eyes. She would endure it!

The next moment, her eyes snapped open. She couldn’t stand it for a second longer!

She flung back the covers, shot up, and lunged at her, grabbing a fistful of her hair.

"Ahh! What are you doing!?"

"Help, help me!"

Xiao Yang couldn’t speak, so she channeled all her fury into her hands, yanking viciously.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty, let go!"

The whole room of Palace Attendants was terrified and rushed over to pull them apart.

Xiao Yang tore Liu Yumian’s exquisitely styled hair into a bird’s nest, snapped her necklace, and then landed two vicious slaps across her face.

SLAP! SLAP!

By the time the Palace Attendants finally pulled them apart, Liu Yumian had been reduced to a madwoman with a red, swollen face, ruined makeup, and a bird’s-nest hairdo.

Her eyes were filled with terror and helplessness. She looked utterly pitiful.

Then she saw the handful of hair in Xiao Yang’s hand. She reached up to touch her own head, and in that instant, her world came crashing down.

"Xiao Jin, I’ll kill you!"

Gritting her teeth, her fury boiling over, Liu Yumian lunged desperately at Xiao Yang, looking as if she wanted to tear her apart with her bare teeth.

But several people held her back tightly, preventing her from even touching Xiao Yang, and she was ultimately dragged out of the room.

Xiao Yang was helped to her feet, the triumphant smile not yet faded from her face, when Fang Ping approached with her eternally grim expression.

"Your Majesty seems to be in much better spirits. Excellent. Come and copy the Classic of Filial Piety."

She ordered some attendants to help Xiao Yang to a desk where a brush, ink, paper, and an inkstone were already laid out.

Fang Ping scolded her with a stony expression. "Of all virtues, filial piety is chief. The Empress Dowager has worn herself out with worry for Your Majesty; it’s time Your Majesty learned to be grateful. You will begin by copying the Classic of Filial Piety one hundred times."

As she said this, she had all the food removed, leaving only a single cup of tea.

"To show your sincerity, Your Majesty is forbidden from eating until you are finished."

Xiao Yang’s body was already aching, and after being manhandled like that, she was dizzy and seeing stars. ’Copy it a hundred times without being allowed to eat?’

She flipped the table. ’Copy my ass!’

"Scram!" Just shouting that single word sent a sharp pain through her chest.

Fang Ping remained expressionless, though a flicker of fury showed in her sinister gaze. She pulled a pre-prepared ruler from her sleeve. "It seems Your Majesty won’t learn without a little suffering."

Countless images of the original body being beaten flashed through Xiao Yang’s mind. Her expression turned cold. "Grand Tutor Xu’s ruler was bestowed by Emperor Taizhong. Yours is not. Who gives you the right to strike the Emperor?"

Fang Ping looked at her with contempt, her eyes those of a master looking down on a subject.

"I am instructing Your Majesty in the name of the Empress Dowager. For Your Majesty’s own good, certain... necessary methods must be employed."

She radiated a sense of superiority, born from the belief she could beat the Emperor and trample upon Imperial Power, and from her disdain for a mere young woman.

In her eyes, the person before her was a false emperor—a woman in disguise, a puppet who would never be fit to take the stage.

’So what if she hit her? Even if the Emperor complained to the Empress Dowager, the Empress Dowager would only praise her for keeping the girl in line.’

Fang Ping’s ruler swung down with a sharp whistle.

Just as Xiao Yang was about to counter-attack...

CRACK!

The ruler struck a palm.

Not on Xiao Yang’s palm. Bi Fang had caught the ruler in his hand.

Fang Ping frowned. "Bi Fang, what do you think you’re doing?"

Bi Fang straightened his spine. "I belong to Your Majesty now. Protecting Your Majesty is my duty."

Fury blazed in Fang Ping’s eyes. "The Empress Dowager sent you to watch His Majesty, not to join her in rebellion!" she snarled.

Bi Fang said, "Nor did the Empress Dowager say you could beat His Majesty at will and expect me to turn a blind eye."

"You..." Fang Ping yanked at the ruler but couldn’t dislodge it. Her eyes shot daggers. "Fine. You’re really asking for it!"

Furious, she spun around and stormed off, no doubt to tattle to the Empress Dowager.

Xiao Yang looked at Bi Fang in confusion, unable to comprehend his actions.

Xiao Yang caught the scent of blood and medicine coming from Bi Fang. Frowning slightly, she suppressed the pain in her throat and spoke slowly, "You’re injured?"

Bi Fang lowered his gaze, replying stiffly, "I was negligent and allowed Your Majesty to be poisoned. I deserved to be punished."

Xiao Yang: "Was the poisoner found?"

Bi Fang said, "The one who administered the poison was acting on the Regent King’s orders. At least, that’s what the Empress Dowager’s people are saying."

’The Empress Dowager’s people?’

Xiao Yang heard the hidden meaning in his words. "Then whose man are you?"

Bi Fang seemed to have been waiting for that question. He lifted his gaze to meet Xiao Yang’s, his calm, profound eyes tinged with scrutiny. "Whose man does Your Majesty wish me to be?"

’Is this some kind of fill-in-the-blank question?’

’Bi Fang was Liu Sheng’s replacement. If he wasn’t one of the Empress Dowager’s most trusted confidants, why would she have sent him to the Emperor’s side?’

’This isn’t about loyalty. If the Emperor’s identity as a woman were exposed, the Empress Dowager’s entire faction would be doomed. Even if the Empress Dowager had lost her mind, she would never make a mistake like that.’

Xiao Yang’s mind raced with conspiracy theories.

’What trick is the Empress Dowager playing now? Setting someone up to oppose her faction, protect me, and make me lower my guard?’

While she was lost in thought, Bi Fang had already set the ruler aside, righted the desk, presented a cup of tea, and knelt before her.

"Before the late Emperor passed away, he made three arrangements. First, he appointed Duke Rong, Prime Minister Song, and Grand Tutor Xu as Guardian Ministers to assist Your Majesty. Second, he made Prince Rong the Regent King to act as a check on the Empress Dowager. And third, he concealed his last contingent of Hidden Guards—the ones who never acted in the open—and gave them a single order..."

Bi Fang looked up at Xiao Yang, his gaze peaceful yet resolute. "The late Emperor commanded that once the new Emperor came of age, should your will diverge from the Empress Dowager’s, we are to give our complete loyalty to you. We are to protect Your Majesty’s life and help you assume personal rule."

Bi Fang produced a golden order and a letter from his robes. Written clearly on the letter were four words: *For My Dear Child*.

She didn’t recognize the handwriting, but the memories of the original owner did. It was, without a doubt, her father’s script.

Xiao Yang was speechless.

’She never would have guessed that Bi Fang was a secret weapon—one of the late Emperor’s men!?’

Everything Bi Fang said seemed perfectly logical.

The late Emperor only had one son—the original owner of this body. It was inevitable that the Empress Dowager would "assist" the new Emperor, so to limit her power, he created a Regent King. Then, to prevent the Empress Dowager and the Regent King from acting recklessly, he appointed three Guardian Ministers.

He even considered that the Emperor would want to rule personally after coming of age, so he left behind a hidden force for *her* to use when she inevitably fell out with the Empress Dowager.

The original owner had always been under the Empress Dowager’s thumb, so Bi Fang never revealed himself. Now that she had fought back a few times, he had finally appeared.