Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The day before the coronation ceremony, Su Yu was taken to the palace, where she finally met Liu Sanen, who had been slow to see her.

Liu Sanen, in his early forties, was fair-skinned and plump, with a kind and benevolent smile that somewhat resembled a Buddha.

Unlike Li Jianzhang, who panicked after the old emperor's death, Liu Sanen, who held military power, was much more composed. He only came to see Su Yu after she entered the palace. Although he always smiled at her, Su Yu could sense his condescension. In his eyes, Su Yu was probably just a puppet in his hands.

Liu Sanen said, "I heard that Your Highness has kept General Yu in the capital and even conferred upon him the title of Yuan Cong Imperial Guard General?"

Su Yu did not deny it.

He chuckled and continued, "It's understandable since Your Highness is new here. Please rest assured, the entire palace is guarded by the Imperial Guards under my command, solid as iron. Those with ulterior motives won't be able to get in."

Su Yu widened her eyes, feigning naivety, and softly asked Liu Sanen, "How many people are in the Imperial Guards?"

Liu Sanen replied, "There are six thousand guarding the inner palace."

"Good heavens! That's twice the number of the Yuan Cong Imperial Guards!" Su Yu exclaimed in shock.

Liu Sanen was pleased, thinking that Su Yu had finally realized her own ignorance. "That's just for the inner palace. The entire capital has about three hundred thousand soldiers."

So what did her three thousand men amount to? Liu Sanen looked down on her from the bottom of his heart.

Su Yu opened her mouth but no sound came out, looking thoroughly frightened.

Liu Sanen didn't even lift his eyelids, glancing at her from the corner of his eye, then looking at Yu Chiyou, who stood like a wooden post beside Su Yu, and said with a smile, "Your Highness, get some rest. Tomorrow at the hour of Yin (3-5 AM), I will come to fetch you... After Your Highness ascends the throne, I will replace your personal guards with two more alert ones."

Su Yu's face betrayed some dissatisfaction, but thinking of the number of guards he mentioned, she quietly closed her mouth.

Liu Sanen nodded in satisfaction and left without bowing.

Su Yu glanced back at the young man, who had a cold expression. Yu Chiyou usually appeared simple-minded, but in critical moments, he could remain calm.

She smiled at him and patted his shoulder.

The young man nodded gravely at her.

...

The coronation ceremony began at the hour of Yin (3-5 AM).

Su Yu was awakened at the hour of Chou (1-3 AM). When she got up, her eyes were barely open. Having been here for over half a month, she still wasn't used to the routine of getting up before dawn to work. She secretly thought that the first thing she would reform in the future would be the working hours!

The sky was still pitch black at the hour of Chou, but the palace was brightly lit, with busy palace attendants coming and going.

Su Yu stood there like a mannequin, allowing the palace attendants to layer the heavy ceremonial robes on her.

The one who placed the crown on Su Yu was a still-attractive female official.

It wasn't Su Yu's imagination; as the female official placed the crown on her, her hands seemed to brush against Su Yu's cheeks.

Su Yu looked at the older female official in front of her, who was half a head shorter than her. When caught in her little act, the female official showed no fear but instead smirked and said, "Your Majesty's skin is even smoother than mine, and your waist is slimmer too. I heard that Your Majesty can handle seven women in one night. I wonder if that's true?"

Her gaze subtly wandered downward, her seduction completely overt. Su Yu lowered her eyes, her thoughts unreadable.

After the female official was called away, a young palace attendant whispered in Su Yu's ear, "Your Majesty, that is Lady Meng, General Liu's dining companion."

Although the coronation ceremony had not yet taken place, the palace attendants had already started addressing Su Yu as "Your Majesty."

Su Yu remained silent, merely glancing at the little palace maid who had spoken.

The little palace maid quickly lowered her head, trembling nervously.

Su Yu, however, smiled gently and whispered softly in her ear, "Thank you for that."

The little palace maid trembled even more intensely, her small face flushing red.

"Your Majesty, the sword," Yu Chiyou, seeing that Su Yu was fully prepared and ready to go, offered the monarch's sword.

The ancestors of Great Qi prized martial skill; the founding emperor had conquered the empire from horseback, and thus the sword became a mandatory symbol for the monarch's ascension. However, as time passed, the monarchs of Great Qi became increasingly corrupt, and the sword became merely an ornament.

Su Yu took the sword, unsheathed it, and the candlelight glinted off the cold steel, also mirroring her face.

She was born with a pair of alluring peach blossom eyes, and the dimples that appeared when she smiled made strangers less guarded against her striking beauty.

This was her advantage.

Su Yu smirked, slowly sheathed the sword, hung it at her waist, and with her long ceremonial robes trailing behind her, marched out.

She stood atop the high steps, gazing down at the assembled ministers, waiting for Su Yu to lead them in the sacrificial rites to heaven, earth, and the ancestral temple.

The sky was still pitch black, and the towering palace buildings cast only jagged, looming shadows in the night. The lanterns floating in the cold wind intersected with the shadows, as if weaving a vast, entangling cage or a monstrous beast ready to devour everyone.

Su Yu pointed to the lone bright star in the east, the Morning Star, and said to Yu Chiyou, "The star rises in the east, a good omen."

Yu Chiyou's eyes shone like stars, barely containing his excitement for the great task ahead, and he followed closely behind Su Yu.

At dawn, the sun rose over Fusang, and the night melted away.

Su Yu, adorned in her resplendent robes, descended from the altar and, surrounded by hundreds of officials, walked step by step towards the main hall, the Hanyuan Hall.

A chair that seemed ordinary to Su Yu took on a different meaning once she sat upon it, as the ministers knelt and bowed, chanting "Long live the Emperor."

Su Yu looked down at the people below her. Whatever their thoughts, at this moment, they all bowed to her.

Her gaze fell on Cui Xuan, kneeling in the front row. Despite wearing the crimson official robes, the head of the Cui family radiated an icy, detached aura. Even as he knelt before her, it did not seem like he was paying homage. His back was straight, his expression indifferent, as if he were the one sitting atop the peak, not her.

What Cui Xuan did not know was that in Su Yu's eyes, he had a ticking clock of rebellion over his head, and paired with his lofty demeanor, it gave Su Yu a humorous sense of amusement.

Thinking this, Su Yu's peach blossom eyes curved even more, and she eagerly anticipated Cui Xuan's reaction later.

She sat patiently on the dragon throne, waiting for Liu Sanen to finish reading the edict and announce the new era name as "Tianyou"—

This era name was not chosen by Su Yu; Liu Sanen had decided it without consulting her. And based on Su Yu's historical knowledge, emperors with the era name "Tianyou" did not fare well.

So, at this moment, she stood up.

She was taller than Liu Sanen, and the heavy ceremonial robes added to her stature, giving him a sense of pressure as she stood beside him.

Liu Sanen instinctively looked over, but the hanging jade beads obscured Su Yu's eyes, making it hard for him to see clearly, only her crimson lips.

He thought the new emperor looked somewhat like a woman and did not take it seriously. In front of all the ministers, he reminded Su Yu, "Your Majesty, the ceremony is not yet over. I still have an edict to read."

Su Yu had no intention of disrupting the current state of the court, but Liu Sanen did.

Liu Sanen held military power, and the palace eunuchs and maids all obeyed him. Once Su Yu entered the palace, she would be entirely under his control, and everything would be decided by him. He did not care about Yu Chiyi's three thousand men, nor did he acknowledge the deal between Lu Zhenghan and Su Yu, especially since there were few of his own people in the court now.

In Liu Sanen's view, the new emperor's ascension was an opportunity to promote his own people. The edict he held was added by himself, and once he announced it in the emperor's name, neither Lu Zhenghan nor Zhang Xiu could do anything about it.

Su Yu glanced at the edict in Liu Sanen's hand and smiled. Just as she was thinking of a reason, Liu Sanen handed it to her directly.

"An edict? What edict? I have never seen this edict before," Su Yu said.

Liu Sanen did not expect Su Yu to stand up to him in public. His face darkened, and he was already considering candidates for the next emperor.

Su Yu stared at Liu Sanen and asked the system, "System, what is Yu Chiyi's current affection towards me?"

The system replied, "Host, it is 50."

Su Yu asked again, "With a male lead's affection at 50, this level of favorability should be enough for me to kill a minor character who isn't much better than me, right?"

"In theory... wait, host, are you planning to kill someone?!"

Before the system and Liu Sanen could react, Su Yu had already drawn the sword at her waist and thrust it straight into Liu Sanen's abdomen...