Reborn As A Villainous Cannon Fodder

———

The autumn wind was picking up, and City Lord Li had no official duties today. He was gathering with several Immortal Alliance elders for tea and music.

But half an hour ago, several subordinates burst into the teahouse in a panic, delivering a letter from Western Province City into Li Yu’s hands.

Li Yu was in a good mood and casually tore open the envelope, reading it with dismissive snorts.

As he read, the disdainful expression on his face gradually froze. Even his casual posture with crossed legs became proper and formal…

“Old Li, a letter from Western Province City – probably just another request to borrow troops for the Demon Abyss tide, right?”

“Such a small matter, why the panic?”

Several Immortal Alliance elders picked up their teacups and chuckled.

Over the years, Western Province City, as the frontier of the Great Dragon Dynasty, would request troops from Jin City whenever the Demon Abyss tide came.

Although somewhat troublesome for Jin City, it had become routine – just reporting military supply subsidies to the court afterward.

“Old Li, it’s your turn to move in chess.”

The old man across from him said leisurely while fanning himself.

But as his words fell, Li Yu suddenly slammed the table and shot up, his face darkening—

“Forget the damn chess! The young master from the Grand Tutor’s Mansion has come to our Jin City, and you guys aren’t rushing out to welcome him!”

“The young master from the Grand Tutor’s Mansion?”

Several elders exchanged glances, not understanding Li Yu’s urgency.

There were many young masters in the Grand Tutor’s Mansion, and the Great Dragon Dynasty had three Grand Tutor families – the He, Lin, and Liu clans. They couldn’t possibly treat every young master like royalty, could they?

“That’s the one from Pavilion Master Xinyao’s family! And those old bastards from Western Province City are leading people to arrest that young master!”

“Pfft—!”

Upon hearing “Xinyao,” one white-haired elder immediately sat up and spat out his tea.

In less than half a second, he was already getting dressed and standing up.

“Quick, quick, quick! Old Li, matters concerning Pavilion Master Xinyao cannot be delayed!”

The white-haired elder looked like he’d seen a ghost in broad daylight.

In an instant, even the slower elders were shocked and hurriedly put down their teacups.

Simple reason – that woman was not to be messed with.

She controlled black market operations with her left hand, holding dirt on these old guys, and had connections in the Grand Tutor’s Mansion with her right hand, able to petition the National Master directly at any time…

Any old guy who’d made it in the western regions had to give that woman some face.

“Damn, those old bastards from Western Province City are blind!”

Within 5 minutes, several Jin City veterans were angrily heading toward the city outskirts.

Fortunately, the timing was perfect. When Li Yu arrived from afar, the Western Province City guards outside the gate had just landed.

“Hold it!”

“This is Jin City territory. Our Immortal Alliance cultivators – when did Western Province City patrol guards get jurisdiction to enforce law across borders?”

Although he had personal stakes, Li Yu still spoke with righteous authority.

Hearing this, the gate guards reacted immediately.

They quickly lined up with spears ready, forming a defensive formation to shield Yino and the others.

When Li Yu and his group arrived, the guards made way, revealing two rows of elders from both cities facing off.

“Old Xiao, instead of guarding the western Demon Abyss, how do you have time to meddle in Jin City affairs?”

Li Yu stood with hands behind his back, stepping forward with cold mockery.

Seeing him, the white-haired elder called Xiao looked uncomfortable.

“Damn… that woman must have tipped you off…”

Xiao didn’t dare curse loudly in public, only muttering under his breath.

“Old Li, although these two are righteous cultivators, they appeared from the Demon Abyss direction, suspected of being tainted… Moreover, they crashed through checkpoints without accepting inspection and fled here. Don’t they have guilty consciences?”

Xiao stood with hands behind his back, pointing at Yino with reasonable arguments.

But as his words fell, the white-robed young man just shrugged and spread his arms to accept questioning:

“You’re right, I’ll accept inspection now.”

Actually, Yino didn’t know why Li Yu had arrived so timely.

He’d originally planned to wait for the Western Province City elders to catch up, then report to authorities on the spot, having Jin City’s Immortal Alliance elders arrest him for inspection.

But unexpectedly… Before Yino could report anything, these influential Jin City veterans had all rushed over.

Someone must have tipped them off in advance.

Holy maiden Yunmei?

Or perhaps, the Pavilion Master of Hundred Spirits…

Thinking of this, Yino raised an eyebrow.

“Someone, arrest these two young heroes and bring them to the City Lord’s mansion for questioning!”

Li Yu chuckled, cooperating perfectly with Yino to give him an out.

Xiao’s face darkened, so angry his beard seemed to stiffen.

He was certain Yino had planned this.

This brat must have known Western Province City wanted to detain him, so he ran to Jin City for refuge, and Jin City had prepared for inside cooperation in advance.

“Damn…”

Xiao muttered another curse.

From a legal standpoint, he really couldn’t touch Yino now. Snatching people under Jin City’s nose would be Western Province City overstepping boundaries and provoking internal conflict.

This was the current environment of the Great Dragon Dynasty.

In remote Western Province City, local forces could dominate, but closer to the Central Plains, local officials increasingly revered the imperial family.

“Hmph, we’re leaving!”

Seeing his disadvantage, Xiao waved his hand and led his people away in frustration.

After the crisis passed, Li Yu finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He wiped cold sweat from his forehead, glad he’d come quickly. If Xiao had taken Yino back today, given his grudge with the Hundred Spirits Pavilion Master, he would’ve detained him for at least a week to negotiate leverage.

However… If it were just the small grudge with the Pavilion Master, Xiao shouldn’t have made such a big fuss, right?

“Tsk, that weird old man doesn’t know what got into him today.”

Li Yu waved dismissively, too lazy to think more, and turned around.

But when he focused his gaze to check if Yino was injured, Li Yu’s attention was drawn to a white-haired girl standing beside Yino.

“…”

She had silver-white hair in an updo. Besides her extraordinary beauty and temperament, her cheeks and inner arms showed silver dragon scales glittering like starlight in the sunlight.

“Wait, Your Majesty the Empress, why are you here?!”

Li Yu was so scared he dropped to his knees.

This was Jin City, without demon clan fusion. All the population was her people, and even the main military forces directly served the imperial family. Li Yu himself was a city lord assigned here by the old Dragon Emperor after topping the Dragon Palace imperial examinations.

Therefore, separated by one city, different elders’ attitudes when meeting the empress were like night and day.

And if City Lord Li Yu was so respectful, what about the other Immortal Alliance elders who directly served the imperial family?

In an instant, everyone knelt in unison, clasping hands and bowing.

“Ugh…”

Being respectfully recognized brought Nina no pride, only more distress.

She’d already offended her master once by exposing her identity in Western Province City.

Now it was worse – Nina had shown her face in Jin City again. Mistake upon mistake. When she returned home, her master would hang her up and beat her bottom until it is red.

“You there, absolutely do not tell anyone about seeing me today!”

After brief consideration, Nina pointed, giving orders like a general.

Unlike Western Province City, Jin City’s elders all respectfully nodded. Although their eyes didn’t show much imperial awe, they showed more love and tolerance for their little princess.

But in Nina’s view, their doting princess looks weren’t much better than the Western Province City elders.

None of them treated Nina as an empress anyway…

However, the cruel reality was that Nina had been in power for over two years!

“Aren’t you going to arrest these two and take them back for inspection?”

Nina crossed her arms, pretending imperial demeanor and speaking indifferently.

Hearing this, Li Yu first pondered the relationship between Nina and Yino, then instinctively smiled apologetically:

“Haha, we’re all family here, what’s there to inspect…”

But Li Yu didn’t expect his apologetic words to be coldly refuted by Nina.

“How can that be! These two escaped from beneath the Demon Abyss, they definitely need investigation!”

“Ah…?”

Li Yu blinked in confusion about Nina’s meaning.

He saw the dragon girl cross her arms, glance at the young man beside her, then snort with a meaningful smile: “However, this inspection won’t trouble you elders. Later, take them to the prison and lock them up. I’ll personally interrogate them!”

“Ah…?”

“Ah what! They’re suspects I caught. What’s wrong with me interrogating them!”

“No, nothing, Your Majesty certainly has that right…”

Li Yu’s lips twitched as he glanced at Yino.

But right now, Yino was also looking back at Nina with confusion.

“Hey, is this how you backstab your comrades? We at least fought side by side against the witch—mmph!!!”

Yino protested angrily.

But as soon as his words fell, he was gagged by the white glove Nina casually removed.

“Shut up! So disrespectful, who said we were comrades! I’m the Empress of the Great Dragon Dynasty!”

The dragon girl’s cheeks flushed slightly, but she still scolded with righteous indignation.

Yino was gagged by the girl’s fragrant, soft glove and could only shake his head making muffled sounds.

Nina glanced at him, put her hands on her hips, and curved her lips playfully:

“In Great Dragon Dynasty territory, my words are the rules!”

“Later, I will tie you up and interrogate you properly about the specific process of how you defeated the Heart of Pain in the Demon Abyss!”

…

…

…

CRASH!!!

At the City Lord’s mansion, Li Yu’s front door was suddenly kicked open.

Before Li Yu, who’d just sat down, could take a sip of hot tea, the pleasant sound of silver bells stepped into the main hall:

“Li Yu, I see you don’t want to be a city lord anymore!”

“This lady told you to protect my young master and treat him well – how dare you lock our family’s young master in the prison for interrogation!”

“Got a death wish!”

The phoenix girl’s temper flared. Quick as lightning, she slammed her leg up onto the tea table in front of Li Yu. Her delicate foot, tattooed with golden phoenix feathers, crushed the ceramic teapot on the table.

Li Yu looked troubled.

“Miss Xinyao, please calm down!”

“I don’t want to make things difficult for our young master either, but now… now there’s a girl with more authority than you interrogating the young master downstairs!”

“Hah—?”