Heroic Wife Reborn Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Refusing the Path of the Female Emperor

The emperor's orders were utterances that carried great weight–"a golden mouth with pearly words." Anyone who disobeyed him faced the threat of decapitation, so all of the imperial guards charged as one.

Afterwards…

Why did a group of highly skilled grown men all end up flying back 100 meters and smashed into Emperor Xiaozong's imperial carriage until they all lost consciousness? By the time Yu Xiaoxiao kicked away the nearest guards to herself, everyone was asking the same question in their heads. 

Yu Xiaoxiao's brow furrowed further. When she had watched the cruel female emperor's life story, she'd seen the people of this world fight so fiercely that they left rivers of blood behind. They looked tough, but why were their martial arts skills all so lacking? If this was the apocalypse, Yu Xiaoxiao thought as she looked around her, they'd be the first to die, ah!

Xiaozong was utterly floored once more. "You're Linglong?" he asked his daughter for verification.

"I am," Yu Xiaoxiao nodded. "Are we still fighting?"

Xiaozong only turned mute, completely dumbfounded. Seeing their emperor remain silent, the rest of the guards had no choice but to keep charging forward. 

For the sake of survival, humankind had undergone evolution in the zombie apocalypse. Thus, the normal human guards met with tragic ends against their opponent together. In the blink of an eye, 20 or so men were all sent flying backwards until they were sprawling on the ground. The only one left standing had been tossed between two tree branches until he was left stuck there. 

Xiaozong closed his gaping mouth. He must have gotten up on the wrong side of bed today!

By now, Consort Zhao had regained her senses. As soon as she saw Xiaozong, she let out a piteous mewl. "Your Majesty, ah!"

Yu Xiaoxiao felt gooseb.u.mps rise from her skin. She didn't understand how any human could make the same sound as a feline mating call. That wasn't scientific! However, the fault laid in the fact that Yu Xiaoxiao used to be a front line fighter in the apocalypse. All of the females there were tough women in an environment where spoiled and pampered lives would never survive. 

"Your Majesty, this isn't the princess's fault. It's this consort who's in the wrong!" Consort Zhao sobbed.

Xiaozong only felt that his beloved consort was a truly good and virtuous woman. Linglong had wanted to throw her to her death, yet she was still defending her. Right now, Consort Zhao was soaked through, her hair a mess and her makeup ruined. Her freakish appearance, however, still looked devastatingly beautiful in her lover Xiaozong's eyes!

"Her Royal Highness was only fretting over the Gu Clan," Consort Zhao said between her sobs. "She told this consort that she wanted to leave the palace temporarily to a different fief." In any case, w.a.n.g momo was the only one present during their conversation, while everyone else in the room were her loyal servants. Consort Zhao had no reservations about saying outright lies.

When Xiaozong recalled the betrothal agreement set by the empress dowager, Xiaozong's mood soured even further. "Does an emperor's daughter need to worry about getting married?" he asked.

Consort Zhao darted a look at the courtiers being led their way by one of the eunuchs while she had two retainers help her to her feet. She seemed on the verge of death as she walked heroically towards Xiaozong and said quietly, "Your Majesty, a woman's reputation is so important. Her Royal Highness is still young, so how could she bear the public's censure?"

Xiaozong said, "Then which fief should Zhen grant to Linglong?"

The various men of insight present at the scene only thought that enough was enough. Your Majesty, do you need to ask Consort Zhao about these things too? If you have a brain, you should use it to think, ah!

Yu Xiaoxiao walked to w.a.n.g momo and helped her up before murmuring, "Is this Gu Clan fellow a good guy or a bad guy?"

w.a.n.g momo wasn't someone to speak against her conscience, so she whispered back, "The Gu Clan is full of loyal subjects. He's a good guy."

If he was a good guy, then it was enough. Yu Xiaoxiao looked towards Xiaozong and said, "No need for such trouble, I won't leave the palace."

Xiaozong strode over to his daughter and said, "Consort Zhao was thinking of your welfare with all this."

She'd rather rush right over and bite me to death. Can't you tell? Yu Xiaoxiao shook her head and said, "I'll marry."

Xiaozong was infuriated. "Who are you going to marry? Why are you so disobedient? Do you know what crimes the Gu Clan carries? Colluding with the enemy, betraying the nation, and falsifying military reports! If not for the late emperor's golden token that spared them the death sentence, Zhen would have wiped them out by now!"

"Was the evidence conclusive?" Yu Xiaoxiao asked.

Xiaozong scoffed. "What do you mean by that? If you can't recognize someone who has your best interests in heart, don't blame imperial father for marrying you to the Gu Clan!"

"She's a good person?" Yu Xiaoxiao pointed at Consort Zhao while looking at her father as if he was a r.e.t.a.r.d.

"Fine, Zhen will issue a decree now," Xiaozong turned ruthless. "Go be a wife of the Gu Clan!"

Words spoken in the heat of the moment shouldn't be taken seriously, even when it was between an emperor and his daughter. But here in lay the probelm: the various officials who had decided to do their all to save the Gu Clan had arrived as well. After years in the court, they were no fools. The emperor's precious words sent them all to their knees as they supported him in unison. "Your Majesty is wise and brilliant!"

Xiaozong gave a start. How did he suddenly turn wise and brilliant?

"Your Majesty is wise and brilliant," Head Chancellor Ying Nianyun (英年允) exclaimed on his knees. "Your Majesty is willing to have Her Royal Highness the eldest princess marry the third young master of the Gu Clan. A promise from Your Majesty is worth a thousand pieces of gold. As a model to the people, we subjects feel ashamed of our inferiority. Your Majesty is wise and brilliant!"

Xiaozong stammered, "That's not it, that's not what Zhen–"

"Your Majesty!" Consort Zhao fell to her knees as well. "Although the Gu Clan has committed such grievous crimes, Your Majesty still upheld the promise to their family. You have repaid evil with good, moving this consort to tears of grat.i.tude! Your Majesty is wise and brilliant!" If that girl was going to toss her to her death, then she would push the girl into the fiery pits of h.e.l.l!

In a flash, everyone was supporting the emperor. All of them were scholars, so when they started piling on the praise, their words glimmered like pearls of all kinds. Xiaozong was completely flummoxed by all of the people praising his virtues. It felt like if he kept refusing, it would just be going back on his promises, abandoning all justice, and turning himself into a ruthless, petty, and shameless n.o.body. 

Yu Xiaoxiao copied the other courtiers and forced herself to kneel and kowtow to Xiaozong once as well. "Daughter thanks imperial father."

How did things turn out like this? Xiaozong thought. 

For the sake of avoiding the path of the cruel female emperor, Yu Xiaoxiao successfully married herself off on the first day of her transmigration.