Chapter 287: Ruthless and Decisive, Power Over Life and Death

Chu Lingyi was dumbfounded. ‘What does Your Majesty mean?’

“Your Majesty… is willing to accept me?”

Xiao Li asked with a smile, “I am recruiting a future female general. Are you one?”

“I am!”

Without a hint of hesitation, her voice was firm. She was certain she would become a future female general.

Xiao Li laughed. “Then it’s you.”

Chu Lingyi was ecstatic, but as she laughed in delight, she was caught off guard by her brother’s icy expression. Uh…

Feeling a pang of guilt, she slowly turned away.

‘My brother already revealed his face, but Her Majesty still didn’t want to choose him. That has nothing to do with me.’

‘Besides, my brother actually belittled me, saying he could kill me within three moves. I’m certainly not going to put in a good word for him with Her Majesty.’

—–

Two soldiers came in, placed Chu Lingyi on a stretcher, and carried her out. Soon, a doctor in his thirties came in to examine her. After confirming her condition was treatable, he immediately prepared to begin treatment.

Two women around forty years old, dressed in white, assisted by handing him things and organizing the tools. Everything was methodical, neat, and orderly.

After she drank a bowl of anesthetic, the doctor quickly cut open her flesh to release the congealed blood, then set the bone, applied medicine, and bandaged the wound.

The whole process was incredibly smooth and unbelievably fast.

The anesthetic didn’t make her lose consciousness completely. A woman holding a notebook approached and began asking questions.

“Name.”

“Chu Lingyi.”

“Age.”

“Eighteen.”

“What are your skills?”

“I know martial arts.”

“Can you read?”

“I can.”

“What books have you read?”

“I’ve read…”

“What’s your favorite color for clothes?”

“I like crimson.”

After the series of questions, the woman looked satisfied and prepared to leave with her notebook.

Chu Lingyi used what little strength she had to grab the hem of the woman’s clothes. “Miss, my brother… was he sent away by Her Majesty?”

The woman smiled. “Her Majesty took your brother to war. Whether or not he can become a general depends on his own abilities.”

Chu Lingyi’s eyes widened, and then she let out a laugh. “Her Majesty also said she wants me to be a female general.”

The woman’s smile faded, her expression turning serious. “Her Majesty is tolerant and protective of women, and it’s true she has no female generals under her command. If you have accepted Her Majesty’s offer, then please, you must do your absolute best. Do not disappoint Her Majesty, and set an example for all women.”

After speaking, she slowly backed away and performed a very solemn, formal bow.

If not for the anesthetic still in effect, Chu Lingyi would have leaped right off the bed.

“Miss, what are you doing?”

The woman looked up, her expression proud and self-assured. “I have yet to introduce myself. I am Wang Wanqing. I have followed Her Majesty for more than three years, and my goal is to become Her Majesty’s female prime minister. I see this as my life’s ambition and have sworn to achieve it.”

“Chu Lingyi, I look forward to the day you become a female general and stand beside me in Jinluan Hall.”

Chu Lingyi looked at Wang Wanqing’s confident and proud expression. The woman seemed to be glowing. For a moment, she didn’t understand what that light represented, but in that instant, it illuminated her own bewildered heart, seeming to give her a direction to pursue.

‘Becoming Her Majesty’s female general… this shouldn’t be a promise blurted out in a moment of excitement. It’s an honor, a chance to set an example for all women who practice martial arts. It’s an ambition worth pursuing until death.’

Chu Lingyi thought back to how she had been so easily swayed by the sweet nothings of Xiao Jingming, son of King Xian, and had stubbornly followed him to Changzhou despite her brother’s objections.

She had dreamed of an ideal husband and a romance full of mutual affection, fantasizing about a blissful and harmonious marriage. But it was all a lie, a scheme just to make her brother bow his head in servitude.

The ideal husband who once swore eternal love revealed his hideous true colors, allowing others to break her leg and even throwing her into a tiger’s cage.

‘Men? Marriage?’

‘That was the hell I glimpsed after taking just one step in.’

‘Now, I’ve escaped at the cost of a broken leg, and the Empress is offering me the dream of becoming a female general.’

‘The Empress’s female general… and the very first one at that…’

—–

Xiao Li’s target was Qinzhou, where King Xian and his entourage were currently located. However, she was in no hurry and went to Taiping City first.

Rong Qing had managed to take soldiers from here by killing quite a few people, but Taiping City was Duan Ji’s main garrison. A cancer like that couldn’t be cut out with a single strike.

As was her custom, she first investigated the high-ranking military officers and officials like the governor and deputy governor. Those who were found wanting were to be killed.

Xiao Li glanced at Chu Yungui with a smile. “This Divine Weapon of the Chu Family is wasted on you. It hasn’t tasted much blood over the years, has it? Go on, let it have a feast.”

In the Empress’s eyes, human lives were as worthless as weeds.

But Chu Yungui had personally seen the evidence of their crimes. It was ironclad. These people deserved to die.

‘But to have me act as an executioner with Du?’

Chu Yungui didn’t move for a long moment.

Xiao Li said nothing more, simply turning to handle other matters.

‘A warrior brave enough to kill a tiger is certainly formidable, but one who cannot kill men can never become a general!’

A moment later, Chu Yungui returned to Xiao Li, long spear in hand. Blood dripped from its tip. Now stained red, the spear gleamed with a chilling light, and one could almost hear it humming with pleasure.

A Divine Weapon born for slaughter and stained with countless blood should be used just like this.

And after killing those men, the look in Chu Yungui’s eyes had changed.

Before, they were merely cold and proud, yet clear and righteous. Now, they were steeped in slaughter, his dark, deep eyes tinged with the color of blood.

At this moment, Chu Yungui was like a full-grown, bloodthirsty tiger.

“A good general cannot be without good armor. Men, bestow the armor upon him!”

Donning the silver armor was a sign of the Empress’s approval, the glory of a military general.

Of course, even with his superior martial arts, Chu Yungui could not immediately be made a General.

The Silver Armor Army had a strict hierarchy, divided into five ranks.

The lowest was the reserve corps. These were volunteers who wished to join the Silver Armor Army but had not yet met a certain standard, such as full literacy, and thus could not yet wear the silver armor.

The fourth tier was the Silver Armor Army proper—the regular soldiers. They wore the armor, followed commands, and also managed the reserve corps.

The third tier was the Silver Armor Army Commander, who commanded the regular Silver Armor Guards. They held a fifth-rank official position and were responsible for administrative duties in addition to their martial arts.

The second tier was the Colonel, holding a fourth-rank position. They could lead teams on independent missions, like the commanders of the Silver Armor Guards who had previously followed Prince Wei.

The first tier, naturally, consisted of men like Rong Qing and Yang Jun. They held the rank of a second-rank official, with the title of General, and answered directly to the Empress.

Chu Yungui had joined midway. Although his martial arts were comparable to Rong Qing’s, he had not yet performed any meritorious deeds nor earned everyone’s respect, so it was impossible for him to be made a General.

However, because he met all the other requirements for the Silver Armor Army, he was allowed to bypass the assessment and directly don the silver armor.

As for how high he could climb in the future, that would depend on his own abilities.

In the three days Chu Yungui followed the Empress, he killed nearly one hundred people for her.

Corrupt officials—killed!

Soldiers who committed treason and colluded with the enemy—killed!

Those who bullied the weak, violated women, and preyed on the young—killed!

He experienced the Empress’s cruelty and cold-bloodedness firsthand. He killed until he grew numb, and at the same time, the Empress in his mind became completely detached from words like ‘woman,’ ‘lady,’ or ‘beauty.’

Decisive in action, holding the power of life and death—that was an Emperor, the ultimate holder of power, regardless of gender.

“Your Majesty…”

Chu Yungui was somewhat bewildered. “There are thousands of laws and thousands of ways to punish people. Why kill them all?”

Xiao Li smiled. “Chu Yungui, do you want to be the Living King of Hell?”

Chu Yungui didn’t understand, so Xiao Li tossed him a book on criminal law to study on his own.

It was the new criminal code drafted by the Ministry of Criminal Justice. Given the sins of those people, they deserved to have every single instrument of torture in the Ministry’s arsenal used on them.

Scum like them? No one would have survived it.

Xiao Li found it too troublesome and ordered them killed directly, which was a mercy. If they had been left for the Ministry of Criminal Justice to interrogate, they would have been tortured alive for one or two months, suffering a fate worse than death. It’s uncertain if even a few taels of their flesh would have been left in the end.

Chu Yungui didn’t want to kill them directly, instead wanting to send them to the Ministry of Criminal Justice to go through the proper procedures. Wasn’t that the very definition of a Living King of Hell?