Reborn As A Villainous Cannon Fodder

“…”

The old ministers naturally saw through Nina’s plan.

This little troublemaker was truly exhausting.

It had been such a peaceful life, but she just had to come to the frontier and cause trouble…

This frontier bordered the Western Region, with complex networks of connections and shadowy industries behind it. How could a little princess like Nina possibly understand it all?

“Princess, stop being unreasonable!”

Hearing about auditing books, the old ministers immediately got flustered.

They’d all heard that this little princess had insisted on auditing the Lin family’s books back in the Dragon Palace, eventually causing chaos throughout the entire Northern Capital. It was only when the Lin family’s old Grand Tutor personally stepped forward to execute several corrupt generals and brought their heads to the door that the matter was settled.

That incident had left the Lin family and the imperial house at odds with each other.

Just as the old ministers were panicking, shouts came from the guards on the Western Province City walls:

“Your Majesty—!”

“There seem to be two righteous cultivators flying in from the west, and one of them looks like the white-robed young man Your Majesty has been mentioning!”

The guards raised their arms and shouted, extremely excited.

In an instant, not only did Nina freeze, but even the old ministers with their grim expressions stared wide-eyed in surprise.

“See! I told you Yino carries the will of heaven – he wouldn’t die so easily beneath the abyss!”

Nina’s face lit up with joy, and she naturally put her hands on her hips triumphantly.

For so long, she’d been hassled by Western Province City’s old ministers. Nina had endured all this pressure just to wait for this moment!

“How is this possible?”

One of the old ministers voiced his confusion.

But as soon as he finished speaking, the lead white-haired elder narrowed his hawk-like eyes and coldly rebuked: “Absurd! Beneath the abyss, all living things are reduced to ash – how could there be living people returning?”

“Elder, you mean…?”

The military leaders standing nearby keenly sensed the key issue and thought of something.

At the same time, the white-haired elder waved his arm:

“All troops on alert! Draw bows and nock arrows!”

“The abyss just retreated – these arrivals could very well be evil cult impostors, or they could be people corrupted by the abyss!”

“—?”

At these words, the white dragon girl’s previously eager face immediately froze.

She wanted to argue, but thinking it over, the elder’s suspicions weren’t entirely unreasonable.

Nina was caught in a dilemma.

No choice.

She simply leaped up, ignoring the obstruction of many soldiers, and jumped onto the city wall in a few bounds.

Nina gazed intently toward the western horizon, carefully observing the two figures, finally crying out: “Put down your arrows! That’s clearly Yino! I can see perfectly clearly!”

“…?”

On the city wall, the many Dragon Dynasty soldiers looked at each other uncertainly.

But just then, the old ministers also flew up onto the wall.

Unlike Nina’s rashness, they stood throughout with hands behind their backs, their gazes contemptuous, nonchalantly waving their hands and continuing to rebuke: “Continue the alert! The Western Region’s demonic abyss is a top frontier priority! How can we determine friend from foe so casually?”

“You’re deliberately opposing me, aren’t you!”

Hearing the old minister say this, Nina’s face immediately flushed red with anger.

“Your Majesty, you’ve never been to the Western Region and don’t understand the terror of the abyss. Even if these two cultivators have completely identical appearances and auras, they could very well be products of the abyss’s mirage illusions…”

“Bullshit! You dare question my eyes? I inherited the ancient bloodline of the Dragon Emperor – how could I be mistaken about something so trivial!”

Nina was furious, but bathed in the gazes of the old ministers, she felt like she couldn’t explain herself.

After all… Nina had disobeyed the National Teacher’s sacred decree first. No matter what she said next, these old ministers could claim Nina was just being a stubborn child.

“Your Majesty, please stop throwing tantrums. Border defense matters concern the safety of all Western Province City’s citizens. We must follow proper procedures for review – Your Majesty cannot be careless and willful.”

The old minister said leisurely, casually bringing up regulations and procedures.

Nina was about to lose her mind. She really wanted to slap this old bastard across the face.

But what made her even angrier was that as Empress, she couldn’t easily strike out like that, or even if she was in the right, it would become unreasonable troublemaking afterward.

“Guards! Arrest these two and throw them in the prison for standard examination of demonic suspicion!”

Seeing the two cultivators from afar about to land in Western Province City, the lead old minister simply waved his hand and casually issued the decree.

Unlike with Nina, when the old ministers spoke, the execution was extraordinary – the frontier soldiers immediately prepared for battle formation.

For a moment, Nina stood among the crowd, helpless.

That’s right.

This was Western Province City, the frontier territory farthest from imperial power.

Here, the Empress’s words really might not carry as much weight as the local elders’.

Moreover… The old minister was right – he was considering the people’s welfare by arresting these two suspicious cultivators for examination. Even considering popular sentiment, the soldiers couldn’t possibly support Nina’s word alone.

“They’re righteous heroes who fought against the abyss! And now you want to arrest heroes and throw them in prison?!”

“What a bunch of corrupt inflexible old fossils! Is this how Western Province City has always treated returning warriors?!”

Unable to win with reason, Nina just started letting loose.

The old ministers shrugged their shoulders and naturally weren’t about to coddle Nina.

But just as the white dragon girl was locked in verbal combat with the old ministers, the two righteous cultivators in the distance rudely flew straight over Western Province City’s gates—

“—???”

“Elders, those two cultivators seem to have flown straight through the barrier toward the east of the city!”

Old ministers: ????