Chapter 7

Only when the hall doors were pushed open from outside.

I carried the child, wrapped in a warm blanket, and slowly entered the hall.

The entire court erupted in whispers.

Xiao Changge’s fingers suddenly clenched around the armrest of the dragon throne. His expression twisted for a moment, then he quickly suppressed it and forced a smile.

“Mother Empress, you’re unwell. Why trouble yourself by coming to court? I’ll have someone escort you…”

“No need.”

My voice wasn’t loud, yet it drowned out the entire hall.

I walked to the center and fixed my gaze on the man seated on the dragon throne.

“I have come today to present a case. It must be made clear before all the civil and military officials.”

I gave him no chance to speak.

“The Emperor’s fate is incomplete. He needs the phoenix fate to keep himself alive. He ordered Consort Wei to switch the princess and used dark sorcery on the newborn to absorb her fortune. When the truth came to light, he silenced Consort Wei in the Cold Palace.”

I paused.

“The killer was not Consort Wei. It was him.”

I pointed straight at the dragon throne.

The entire court fell dead silent.

“Outrageous!” Xiao Changge shot to his feet. “The Empress Dowager has gone mad! Guards!”

The hall doors burst open with a crash. Armored Imperial Guards poured in like a tide, their swords drawn and flashing coldly as they all pointed them at me.

Three thousand armored soldiers surrounded the hall so tightly not even water could pass through.

The officials dropped to their knees in panic.

Xiao Changge stood before the throne, his lips twisting into a vicious smile. This was his trump card. He thought he had won.

I lowered my head and looked at the sleeping child in my arms.

Then I raised my eyes.

And smiled.

“You think… you can command them?”

The Ghost King’s pressure surged to its absolute peak.

Over the past three days of military preparations, my ghostly shadows had already slipped into the shadows of every Imperial Guard commander. Their souls were in the palm of my hand.

The commanders’ pupils contracted, and their wrists turned almost imperceptibly.

Three thousand blades shifted direction as one.

Every sword pointed at the dragon throne.

Xiao Changge’s smile froze on his face.

“No… Impossible…” He staggered backward, knocked over the throne, then tripped and fell to the ground. “What are you…?”

I walked toward him one step at a time.

Gently, I handed the baby in my arms to the Empress. She was kneeling to one side, trembling as she received the child, tears streaming down her face.

I turned back and stopped before him.

Looking down.

“Kill you?” I whispered. “That would be too easy on you.”

I reached out and pressed my palm to the crown of his head.

Yin power poured into him—not to kill, but to strip him bare.

I drew out every last bit of fortune from his fate, tearing away all the phoenix fate he had stolen. I left him with a rotting mortal body to suffer the backlash of the Heavenly Dao.

Xiao Changge let out a gut-wrenching scream.

He would not die. But from that day on, he would feel his body rot away bit by bit. Day and night, he would live a life worse than death.

I withdrew my hand.

Then I took my best friend back from the Empress.

The little bundle stirred, nuzzled her tiny head against my chest, and fell asleep again.

I lowered my head and kissed her forehead.

Then I looked around the entire hall.

“From this day on, I will raise this child myself.”

My voice was not raised, yet it rang like a bell from the Nine Netherworlds, striking every soul in the hall.

“If anyone dares touch even a single hair on her head…”

I smiled.

“Ask the ten thousand ghosts beneath the Nine Netherworlds whether they approve.”

The three thousand armored soldiers and every civil and military official in the hall prostrated themselves on the floor.

Not one person dared lift their head.

The End

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