Chapter 1: Power and Influence

Liang Dynasty, second year of the Kangping era.

Snowflakes like willow catkins covered the palace's glazed tiles, yet set off the red walls, making them appear even more vivid and brilliant.

A carriage raced to the palace gates, drawing the surrounding commoners to stop and watch.

Xie Yuyan lifted the curtain and stepped down, raising her head to gaze at the majestic palace gates, a feeling of a lifetime away washing over her.

The Qi army had marched south; the Great Liang capital and the secondary capital had fallen. The Qi people installed Wang Huai as a puppet emperor, and Great Liang nearly perished. It was only after the Qi people left, and after many twists and turns, that the capital returned to Great Liang's hands.

"Demon Empress."

A piercing voice snapped Xie Yuyan back to her senses. A woman wielding a dagger rushed forward. The Imperial Guards protecting the Empress Dowager immediately stepped up, cutting the woman down with a single stroke.

Before the war, such a killing at the palace gates would have been unthinkable; the commoners would have watched in panic. But over these four months, countless had died in the flames of war. Everyone had grown accustomed to life and death, and instead of fleeing, more people gathered at a distance to watch.

"Mother!" A little girl of seven or eight burst from the crowd, crying as she threw herself at the woman. Halfway there, she suddenly changed direction, darting between two guards, and drove the wooden stick wrapped in broken porcelain in her hand viciously toward Empress Dowager Xie.

Warm blood spurted out, splashing onto the back of Xie Yuyan's hand.

Blood gushed from the little girl's neck, quickly staining her tender face red. Yet her eyes held no fear, only boundless hatred. The woman screamed, struggling to crawl toward her daughter, but was nailed to the ground by a guard's blade.

In the blink of an eye, two lives were gone.

Xie Yuyan wiped the blood drops from the back of her hand with a handkerchief, not sparing a glance at the mother and daughter on the ground, and continued walking toward the palace gates.

"The Qi people just left, and the Great Liang Sage Emperor ordered soldiers to seize the people's property everywhere, killing hundreds of our clansmen. To the subjects of Great Liang, the officials and soldiers are more ruthless than the Qi people and bandits. If we don't kill this evil woman... we have no way to survive."

"Let's fight to the death..."

The words had barely fallen when thirty-odd people emerged. Like that mother and daughter, they had tracked the Empress Dowager's movements, intent on assassinating her here.

These people swarmed forward.

Just as the Imperial Guards struggled to hold them off, an arrow flew in, striking the leader of the rioters.

A troop of cavalry charged in. The man at the front wore armor, his features handsome and refined—it was Wang Huai, the one who had once ascended the throne as the puppet emperor.

After the capital fell, the Xie clan's Empress Dowager, stripped of her title and forced to become a Daoist nun, had secretly carried on an affair with the puppet emperor Wang Huai. Bewitched by her, Wang Huai agreed to return power to Great Liang, and the Xie clan used this merit to restore her position as Empress Dowager.

During these days in the capital, the Empress Dowager committed every evil imaginable. She indulged her subordinates in plundering wealth, executing any who refused. The commoners, already mired in war, sank into even greater misery; abandoned corpses were a common sight on the roads.

The people seethed with resentment. So many royals and concubines had been taken away—why was this Empress Dowager Xie the only one left behind?

"Demon Empress... you will face retribution..."

In a short while, the rioters were slaughtered to the last man. Wang Huai dismounted and personally escorted Xie Yuyan into the palace.

The Ci'an Palace had long been readied. As the Empress Dowager entered, palace attendants stepped forward to help her dress.

Wide sleeves of deep blue, embroidered with five-colored pheasant patterns; the cloud dragons woven of red gauze seemed ready to soar into the clouds at any moment. Lady Cui, the Senior Lady of Ceremony, used her fingertips to carefully smooth the robes, allowing not a single crease, then adjusted the leather belt wrapped in blue gauze at the Empress Dowager's waist.

The Empress Dowager's attire was incomparably magnificent, as if she had returned to the heyday of Great Liang.

Wang Huai lifted the curtain and walked in, his gaze falling openly on Xie Yuyan. Once an outer minister, he now moved freely in and out of the Empress Dowager's bedchamber, with no one to stop him.

The corners of Xie Yuyan's long, narrow eyes tilted slightly upward. Set off by the ceremonial robes, her face was radiant and dazzling.

Wang Huai's heart stirred. The Empress Dowager was already in her late spring years, but in his eyes, she looked no different from her youth.

The Xie and Wang clans were on good terms. He and Xie Yuyan had grown up together as childhood sweethearts. He had once secretly resolved that once he came of age, he would ask his parents to act as matchmakers and seek Xie Yuyan's hand in marriage.

Alas, the late Emperor suddenly selected Xie Yuyan into the palace. From then on, he could only carefully hide his admiration deep in his heart.

He thought it would be a lifelong regret. He never expected the Qi people would support him onto the throne, and he would personally bestow the title of Empress upon Xie Yuyan.

This was absurd beyond measure, yet it had one benefit: it fulfilled his long-cherished wish.

Palace attendants brought pastries. Xie Yuyan poured tea for Wang Huai.

"The Qi army is moving again," Xie Yuyan said. "Erlang once served the Qi people and commands troops. Now that he walks within the capital, the defending generals, seeing him, will surely harbor divided loyalties and be unwilling to fight to the death."

"I need to borrow Erlang's head for a purpose."

Wang Huai had once surrendered to the Qi, which led to him being installed as the puppet emperor.

With Wang Huai here, the other generals could not help but harbor侥幸 (false hopes / thoughts of surrender).

Wang Huai pondered for a moment, then drained the tea in his cup. He looked at Xie Yuyan: "I've said it long ago. As long as you are willing, whatever you ask me to do, I am willing."

"Then, many thanks, Erlang."

Xie Yuyan picked up a pastry and offered it to Wang Huai, but he caught her hand.

Wang Huai's gaze was scorching. Under such a look, Xie Yuyan recalled the many past events between them.

When Wang Huai returned power to Great Liang and handed over his troops to the court, he knew this day would come. He just hoped that when Xie Yuyan spoke of this outcome, her eyes would show hesitation and struggle.

But there was none... This was her. As decisive and ruthless as ever.

"My late uncle once said you are smarter than me. It's a pity I never improved, unable to help you much."

Wang Huai spoke of Wang Yan, the Chief Minister said to have been guided by an immortal. During Emperor Xuan's reign, he brought Great Liang to its zenith. Sadly, after his death, those new policies could not be carried on in Great Liang; otherwise, Great Liang would not be in its current state.

Wang Yan, because of his encounter with the immortal, was obsessed with cultivation and never took a wife in his life.

Xie Yuyan had met Wang Yan twice. Once, Wang Yan was napping in a pavilion. A butterfly she was chasing happened to land on his lapel. She hid to the side, watching intently, always feeling Wang Yan's features looked familiar, yet unable to recall which elder in the family he resembled.

The second time, still in that pavilion, Wang Yan shared pastries with her and Wang Huai.

"Ayuan," Wang Huai said, "Uncle said long ago that Great Liang would fall into great chaos within fifty years. It has come true. If he were still alive, perhaps there would be a way."

Wang Huai raised his hand to smooth Xie Yuyan's temple hair. Before everyone's eyes, he reached out and pulled her into his embrace. Xie Yuyan did not struggle, wrapping her arms around his waist.

After a long while, he let go: "Ayuan, I hope your future days are peaceful and smooth. The few thousand men under my command are at your disposal."

Wang Huai picked up a pastry and tucked it into his robe: "You made this yourself. Let me keep it as a memento!" With that, he stood and walked out of the hall.

Moments later, Imperial Guards carried in a head on a platter: "Minister Wang committed suicide."

Xie Yuyan turned to look. Wang Huai's eyes were tightly shut, a faint smile seemingly still lingering on his face.

"Ayuan, I'll go back and tell Father now. Maybe we can think of a way to keep you from entering the palace."

The youth's face was filled with sincere devotion. Only then did she know what the gaze of someone who liked you looked like.

She did not like Wang Huai. She only let him into her bedchamber to achieve her goals.

To her, it was merely a transaction of interests.

Lady Cui beside her couldn't help but say: "Empress Dowager... if you are grieved..."

Xie Yuyan said: "Actually, Erlang doesn't know. The few thousand troops under his command have long been under my control. If he refused to die, someone would have made a move eventually."

"Long before I entered the palace, Grandmother said: for others to survive in the palace, they must spend a lifetime learning how to scheme and fight. You only need to do one thing. Never let anyone know what you are thinking in your heart."

If people are born divided into good and evil, she was the latter.

She had once feigned virtue and gentleness, relying on that reputation to be made Empress by the late Emperor. Sadly, she ultimately could not compete with the Emperor's favored consort and was deposed.

Later, she returned to the palace again, reclaiming the position of Empress. Those who didn't know would think she had learned some tactics in the brutal palace struggles, unaware she was merely revealing a sliver of her true nature.

The second deposition was because of the Crown Prince dispute.

The late Emperor schemed every way to pave the path for his beloved son. But that beloved son had been on the throne for only two years before the capital was breached.

She watched with her own eyes as the Emperor, his favored consort, and the princesses were taken captive. When Wang Huai appeared beside the Qi people, she knew her chance had come.

She incited Wang Huai to become the puppet emperor. Once the Qi people left, she could return the capital to Great Liang.

In such chaotic times, anything was justified. The most important thing was to keep her life in her own hands.

Xie Yuyan closed the box containing Wang Huai's head once more.

"Send the head to Grand Preceptor Xie."

With the puppet emperor's head and sufficient military funds, the war against the Qi army temporarily had no rear concerns.

...

When the capital was besieged once more, Xie Yuyan had just woken up and was having Lady Cui style her hair in her favorite fashion.

Her long hair was only half-pinned; the rest hung like crow feathers at her waist.

It exuded a sense of unrestrained ease and freedom.

Making one momentarily forget the tense war outside.

The court's hundred-thousand-strong army had just engaged the Qi and suffered a crushing defeat. The newly enthroned Great Liang Emperor lost all confidence in fighting, fleeing south protected by a retinue of officials and generals.

"Grand Preceptor Xie has also led his men to surrender to the Qi."

The eighty-four-year-old Grand Preceptor Xie could no longer wage war, but his status and reputation were a backbone of Great Liang.

"Your Highness, the Grand Preceptor not only became a surrendering minister but will also assist the Qi army in marching south."

Having said this, the spy paused. "The Grand Preceptor said...

'You are not of the Xie bloodline. After raising you all these years, you should repay us. When he and the Qi army arrive at the city walls, you will order the gates opened, helping him achieve the first merit for the Qi state. In the future, the Xie clan being enfeoffed as kings will naturally be the Empress Dowager's reliance.'

'Your Highness, as Empress Dowager, if you go to the Qi state, you will also have a bright future.'

'Just based on... just based on the fact that Your Highness lost the Empress Dowager position twice and regained it twice... shows... you have the means. If you go to Qi and bear a son, who knows, one day you might become the Empress Dowager of Qi.'"

Xie Yuyan suddenly laughed, her face bearing a natural, bewitching charm. At this age, her grandfather still wanted to use her face.

"Is this urging me to marry a third time?"

The atmosphere in the room froze.

Xie Yuyan said indifferently: "Remarrying is not impossible, as long as he can be like Wang Huai, letting me control the capital."

Xie Yuyan clenched her hand. Her father had died before she was born. Her mother had been in poor health and passed away after giving birth to her. After that, she grew up by her grandparents' side. They had always treated her well. When she was made Empress, the Xie clan rose with her, elevating her grandfather to the position of Grand Preceptor in one fell swoop.

She knew that to the Xie clan, she was more of a transaction of interests. But... how could she not be of Xie blood? Her mother was her father's legitimate wife; how could the child in her womb belong to another?

What the truth was, she no longer had time to investigate.

...

Shouts gradually rose outside the palace.

After the city fell, Qi soldiers and commoners shouted to capture the Empress Dowager.

Dragging the Empress Dowager who brought calamity to the country out of the palace would not only vent their resentment and anger but also allow them to hand her over to the Qi for a reward.

Xie Yuyan stood in Ci'an Palace, watching her junior fellow disciple busy in the courtyard. When she was stripped of her title, she had gone to a Daoist temple to cultivate. This simple-minded junior brother had followed her.

Even now, the junior brother still believed in some so-called "Heaven-Defying Grand Formation." He brought her to the formation's eye, busily arranging it, then solemnly activated it.

The result... naturally had no effect whatsoever.

The Imperial Guards could hold on no longer. The palace gates were smashed open. Soon, those people would find Ci'an Palace.

Palace maids and eunuchs all picked up weapons.

The white-haired old general Yang Qin walked up to her.

This old general's true talent lay in reading. Unfortunately, born into a merchant family, he could not take the imperial examinations. He barely entered the military camp and earned merit, but due to a falling out with his clan, his rank was repeatedly suppressed. He was simply driven off to patrol a Daoist temple.

A lifetime of talent, wasted.

Yang Qin said: "Is the Sage Emperor preparing to wait here, or kill a way out?"

Kill a way out, not break the encirclement.

In the current situation, escape was impossible, but it was still better than waiting here to die.

Xie Yuyan shared a horse with Yang Qin.

Old General Yang cleared the path; Xie Yuyan seized the moment to draw her bow and shoot.

In the distance, she saw the Xie clan members. Xie Yuyan did not hesitate for a second, decisively loosing an arrow, instantly shooting down a paternal cousin.

"The Empress Dowager is here."

The Qi people never expected the Empress Dowager to actually shoot a bow. Caught off guard, they suffered a momentary setback, but quickly reacted, more men swarming forward.

Sharp spears, without hesitation, stabbed toward them.

"Kill the Demon Empress."

Spears pierced her heart. Xie Yuyan felt the pain.

Yang the Old General, blocking in front of her, had long been pierced by five or six spears.

Xie Yuyan took a deep breath.

Cheers rang in her ears, all for the sake of killing her.

The Empress Dowager with ruthless methods, deep schemes, and profound cunning was finally going to die.

Xie Yuyan looked at the cheering crowd, the commoners rushing in, wishing they could tear her apart and eat her.

This life of hers, from the moment she entered the palace, was like a caged bird.

Fortunately, she had never been tamed by her clan or imperial power.

In these final days, she stood above imperial power; even in a dead end, she walked to the finish line on her own.

If there is a next life, she hopes to be born in a prosperous era, free and unfettered, never to enter the game again.

As for marriage...

The Empress Dowager who married twice truly did not want to do it a third time.

Xie Yuyan smiled faintly. Let it end like this.

A shout came from her junior brother behind her. She didn't hear clearly what he said. Her eyes, which were about to close, suddenly caught a flash of light, and then everything sank into darkness.

...

Unknown how much time passed. Xie Yuyan vaguely dreamed a dream. All past events gathered and scattered in her mind like mist. She drifted in them until she gradually regained sensation.

She heard rustling sounds by her ear. She felt her tightly fastened collar being undone. A hand touched her neck, caressing for a moment, seemingly not enough, continuing to explore downward.

Xie Yuyan frowned. Could it be she hadn't died, but fallen into the hands of the Qi?

In shock and anger, she snapped her eyes open. Her gaze collided directly with the person beside her.

Different from what she imagined, the person before her was not a Qi soldier, but a young boy.

About seven or eight years old, his features childish, his facial features bearing some resemblance to Yang Qin.

Could he be a descendant of Old General Yang?

The two just stared at each other quietly, as if neither had recovered from the current situation.

"You..."

After a long while, Xie Yuyan made a sound. The boy's expression turned even more horrified. As Xie Yuyan reached out her hand, his eyes rolled back and he fainted.

Am I that scary?

Xie Yuyan looked down at herself in bewilderment. She was dressed in a bright red wedding gown, currently sitting inside a coffin.

No time to think further. Shouts came from outside the house.

"Qin Ge'er, Qin Ge'er, are you in there?"

Qin... Ge'er?

Xie Yuyan looked at the boy again. A name subconsciously surfaced in her mind

Yang... Yang Qin?

The new book meets everyone. It's two months later than planned. During this period, I made some adjustments to the female lead's personality. This version fits my heart's expectation of the female lead better.

Hope the new story brings everyone joy.

The new book needs care during its launch. Please collect, follow, and comment. Thank you~

(End of Chapter)