Chapter 1: Transmigration and Instant Death

The grand palace, resplendent with gold and jade, radiated an air of opulence and decadence. The flames on the candlesticks flickered quietly, casting a glow on the serene and indifferent face of the woman reclining on the gilded throne. She wore a crown on her head, her expression lazy and casual, yet faintly exuding an aura of authority.

Time seemed to stand still, and everything in the hall looked like a beautiful painting. But no one would have guessed that just moments ago, the soul of Ji Wuchao, the only Empress among the Seven Kingdoms, had been replaced.

Neither did anyone know that the seemingly composed and dignified Empress lounging on the throne was, at that moment, engaged in a conversation with a system inside her mind.

[Ding! Congratulations, host, on binding to this system. Accept the main quest: Empress Ji Wuchao's wrongful death has accelerated the collapse of this parallel universe. Host, take on her identity and bear the responsibility of maintaining peace among the Seven Kingdoms, restoring this world to its proper trajectory.]

Song Yue: "This kind of tragic, heavy mission doesn't seem like a good fit for me..."

[Well, what can we do? Among all candidates, your compatibility with Ji Wuchao's body is the highest at 99.99%. No one is more suitable than you. Besides, if you don't fix this bug, the entire world will head toward destruction. Could such a kind person like you really bear to let that happen?]

Song Yue: "If I say I can bear it, will you send me back to my original world?"

[Can you stop joking? Time is running out!]

Song Yue: "..."

She curled the corner of her mouth slightly, lowering her gaze to glance sideways at the crowd of rebels below who were forcing her to abdicate. Taking a deep breath, she stood up.

From now on, she was no longer Song Yue, a correction officer from the Temporal Management Bureau. In this unknown dynasty absent from the history books, she was Ji Wuchao, Empress of Yan.

The last Empress of Yan, known for her obsession with alchemy and cultivation, had gradually been stripped of her authority by her ministers. She became a puppet ruler in name only, ultimately leading to her downfall. The Temporal Management Bureau had keenly detected the irregularities in this timeline and sent her to turn the tide.

If the world was a chessboard, she was merely one of its most pivotal pieces. Being inside the game, reversing the situation… might be difficult, but not impossible.

"How strange..." The people below began to whisper as they saw her rise from the throne with an imposing aura.

Song Yue had never worn anything so extravagant before. Lowering her gaze to examine the golden imperial robe draped over her, she struck a regal pose befitting an Empress. Her gaze swept slowly over the faces of the ministers below, memorizing their features and mentally adding them to her blacklist.

Starting off with a crisis right after transmigrating? Forcing her to abdicate, huh?

Amateurs!

If nothing else, her skill at escaping was top-notch!

[Escape? Host, how did you even qualify as a correction officer?]

Song Yue: "Heh, system. My retreat is strategic. Don't lump me in with cowards. I'm planning to withdraw temporarily and come back stronger, rising from the ashes..."

[... Isn't that still running away?]

Song Yue: "Shut up! Stop ruining my moment!"

Slowly rolling up her sleeves in front of the ministers, she smirked mysteriously under their curious gazes.

Taking advantage of their momentary distraction, Song Yue tensed her muscles and prepared to bolt. But just as she raised her leg to escape, a sudden dizziness overcame her. Losing her balance, she collapsed back onto the dragon throne behind her.

Clutching her throbbing chest, Song Yue gritted her teeth and whispered angrily at the system, "Hey... What's wrong with this body?!"

She'd barely started her act, and it was already falling apart?!

The system remained silent, feigning ignorance.

Seeing this, the people below withdrew their puzzled gazes and began muttering to each other, their expressions turning smug.

"A brief moment of lucidity before the end."

"I told you, the Lord's medicine can't possibly be fake."

"..."

She couldn't hear more fragmented words because a buzzing sound had started in her ears, as if this dying body had reached its limit.

Clutching her chest like an injured patient lying on the emperor's throne, Song Yue felt conflicted.

Based on their conversation, combined with the system's earlier explanation, she could guess the gist of it—she must have crossed over to the wrong time, right when Ji Wuchao was poisoned and about to die from it.

[I just scanned your body and found it's practically a periodic table of elements… From my analysis, it's likely not just the poison. Over the years, Ji Wuchao took too many alchemical pills, causing her organs to deteriorate severely. Coupled with the unnoticed poisoning, all these factors combined mean she might die even before the poison fully takes effect.]

Song Yue felt conflicted: So, I arrived at this exact moment? Crossing over just to die immediately?

When others transmigrate, they either start from the womb and grow up to outsmart everyone, or they become princesses or empresses enjoying a life of luxury. At worst, they're noble young ladies or even farm girls who manage to rise up. But her one rare opportunity to transmigrate landed her in the body of a dying empress, caught in the middle of a rebellion?

The worst part was that this rebellion had already reached its final stage. Even if she wanted to change the outcome, she couldn't. She could only watch helplessly as those people closed in on her!

[I'm just as helpless. I don't know what to do either…] The system's voice sounded contemplative.

Song Yue realized that her body was now entirely paralyzed; she couldn't even move her fingers, let alone force herself to vomit or run out to find an antidote. She could only stare helplessly at the ceiling. Suddenly, a shadow loomed over her head as the crowd parted neatly, making way for a man in white who walked forward with steady and deliberate steps until he stopped in front of her.

With the light behind him, most of his face was obscured by shadows, leaving only his strikingly refined silhouette visible. At his waist hung a jade pendant with a missing corner, engraved with the character "

Bei" (North). His aura was so oppressive that it made her tense up unconsciously.

"..."

Who is this? What does he want?!

"Your Majesty, we've been waiting for this day for a long time." He leaned close to her ear, his voice soft yet deep and pleasant, tinged with a hint of amusement. "When you destroyed my Chu Kingdom, did you ever think that one day you'd live to see your own country fall? That the royal family of Yan would ultimately carry the blood of their enemy? Isn't it ironic?"

"..." What the hell! I just transmigrated and haven't even processed the memories yet! How am I supposed to keep up with their pace?

Song Yue stared blankly as this darkened poppy-like figure approached her, her mind involuntarily filling in strange political drama scenarios.

Could it be this is a revenge story? A prince of a fallen kingdom, enduring humiliation and biding his time, infiltrates his enemy's court, successfully kills his foes, and crowns himself emperor? But it seems like I've transmigrated into the body of that enemy emperor—the ultimate villain in every drama.

There's a saying passed around the Time-Space Administration Bureau, and now she was experiencing it firsthand—"The worst plot imaginable is transmigrating into the body of a demon king about to be slain by a hero."

Seeing the faint trace of fear in her eyes, the man appeared satisfied, raising his head slowly and drawing a dagger from his sleeve.

Though he was smiling, his elegant movements were filled with deep-seated hatred, the cold metallic glint of the dagger reflecting murderous intent.

Song Yue's eyes widened, trying desperately to scream, but no sound came out. Her body was completely paralyzed by the poison, leaving her to watch helplessly as the dagger plunged into her heart. Yet she didn't pass out from the pain; her heart trembled violently as she remained conscious.

This wasn't some virtual trial simulation in the Time-Space Administration Bureau; it was real—gritty and blood-soaked.

As the world slowly darkened around her, she tried her best to etch his face into her memory but soon lost all consciousness.

...

[Host, wake up.]

[Stop pretending to be dead and slacking off! Remember your mission to maintain world peace!]

The noisy voice in her mind made Song Yue furrow her brow slightly. But the voice sounded so familiar that it forced her to open her eyes: "What mission… I didn't die?"

[You came very close, but I managed to save you.]

"..."

[At the moment of your near-death, I activated time travel. You've now been reborn ten years earlier in Ji Wuchao's body!]

"What?"

[I'll now begin transmitting Ji Wuchao's memories to you.]

"Wait! Can I back out of this? Who said ancient worlds were peaceful? They're full of danger! Can I switch missions and return to the harmonious modern world?"

[Keep dreaming. You can have whatever you want in your dreams.]

As soon as the system finished speaking, memories surged into her mind like a tidal wave. Scenes played out one after another, finally freezing on the present—

Ji Wuchao was a reigning emperor of the Yan Kingdom. Just days before Song Yue's transmigration, Ji Wuchao personally led an expedition, taking troops to conquer the Chu Kingdom. Now, she was on her way back to Yan, riding on horseback with her army.

To be fair, Ji Wuchao, despite disguising herself as a man, was skilled in martial arts and adept at leading troops in battle. However, her intellect seemed somewhat lacking; she believed in the exaggerated claims of charlatans about alchemy and immortality. Instead of governing her country, she spent her time pursuing eternal life and transcendence.

What's more, she completely trusted her favored minister, Xuan Si Bei. Shortly before her death, this minister exposed her female identity. In an era where men were dominant, this revelation was a death sentence for an emperor who had already been stripped of power. Xuan Si Bei continued to exert pressure on both political and public fronts, leading to her eventual demise.

Song Yue lowered her gaze to the pure white horse she was riding, then glanced back at the capital of Chu Kingdom, now nearly emptied. Half of the city's weathered walls had collapsed. Suddenly, a thought struck her, sending a chill down her spine.

The man in white who had just killed her with a dagger had a jade pendant at his waist, engraved with a large character "Bei." According to her memories, he was Xuan Si Bei!

Poor Ji Wuchao had only realized at the very end that the minister she trusted and favored the most, Xuan Si Bei, had concealed his identity as a member of the Chu royal family, patiently biding his time for ten years, all for the sake of overthrowing her Great Yan!

Behind her, the city had already been looted to the point of near emptiness. In the distance, amidst the billowing smoke, faint flames still seemed to flicker from some high buildings. Half the city had been destroyed. If she had been sitting in the palace, watching her country fall into such ruin, she would probably have gone mad—especially seeing some victorious general swaggering through the streets on horseback. Her lungs would likely have exploded from anger.

This is bad. This is very bad… The war is over, and the seeds of hatred between nations have been deeply sown. Even if she wanted to fix things now, it was far too late!

"Your Majesty, do you have any further instructions?" asked Li Deshun, the chief eunuch by her side, keenly observing her expression.

"I… I'm feeling conflicted," Song Yue said, massaging her forehead and forcing herself to calm down.

Song Yue: System, can you do me a favor and send me back to before Chu Kingdom was destroyed?

What's the point of playing a doomed game when the outcome is already set in stone? She wanted to reverse the situation, but couldn't the system at least give her some tools to salvage this deadlock?

[Don't even think about it! Stop pushing your luck! To save you, I've not only violated the rules by using my authority, but I'm also about to completely deplete my energy. Once I enter sleep mode, if anything happens to you, you'd better start praying!]

Song Yue: Energy? How do I recharge you?

[I'm an energy storage system, currently attached to the ring on your left hand. I can convert the internal energy within your body into energy points. Once the points reach a certain amount, you can exchange them for some gadgets in the system shop. But given your feeble skill level

, I doubt you can even unlock the shop.]

Song Yue: … Falls into deep thought

She sat on the horse's head, bouncing slightly, her face filled with worry as she looked around at the desolate hills and the seemingly imposing army trailing behind her. The sycophantic Li Deshun and the rest, sensing the emperor's displeasure, fell silent.

Suddenly, the young emperor raised her right hand and struck her left hand heavily.

The people below were startled, raising their heads in confusion. Song Yue realized her action had been a bit over-the-top, so she cleared her throat, glanced down, and pretended as if nothing had happened.

She had just gathered all the internal energy in Ji Wuchao's body to strike the ring, wondering how much energy this impact could convert and hoping for a glimpse of the legendary system shop.

[Internal energy absorbed. Energy value: 10.]The system's voice chimed in.

Breathing heavily, Song Yue slowly came to terms with her dire situation, forcing herself to stay composed: See? I told you my internal energy was sufficient! Now open the shop and let me take a look!

[Opening the shop requires 1,000 energy points. Keep working, host.]The system replied, with an obvious tone of disdain.

"…" Song Yue shook her now reddened hand. "What use are you then…?"

"Your Majesty, you just now…" Li Deshun, having never seen the emperor act so capriciously, felt a growing sense of unease.

The young emperor wasn't very old. Perhaps she hadn't fully grown into her features yet, making her appearance androgynous. However, she exuded a certain strength. While her martial skills weren't particularly impressive, she had at least been on the battlefield. Her eyes, especially those deep phoenix-shaped eyes, radiated a sharpness akin to a killing intent. Could it be that after this conquest of Chu, she had finally matured?

"You misheard, you misheard. I wasn't talking to you," Song Yue replied casually, shattering Li Deshun's hopeful fantasy.

Analyzing the current situation based on her memories—Li Deshun, the eunuch by her side, was loyal and capable, though excessively devoted, always agreeing with her no matter what. There was also a highly skilled Imperial Guard commander, whose family had served the Ji lineage for generations and would never betray them.

As for the other officials, some had been bought off by Xuan Si Bei, while others were opportunists who swayed with the wind—an absolute headache. Not to mention, her imperial uncle, who had yet to be dealt with, was still watching like a tiger eyeing its prey, while the women in the palace played their endless schemes of intrigue, making her head spin.

The affairs of her court were internal troubles but weren't urgent. Xuan Si Bei, however, was an external threat and had directly caused her death. If he were to target her again, the tragedy would undoubtedly repeat itself.

Weighing the pros and cons, Song Yue glanced back at the flattened capital city of Yingdu. Her expression remained calm, but countless thoughts swirled in her mind.

How could she win over Xuan Si Bei, the seemingly pure and godlike villain, who in truth harbored a dark heart?

Right now, he was still young, just at the age when his worldview was being formed. The city had already fallen, and there was no room to turn back the situation. She would have to start molding him from a young age…

[Host, don't tell me you're planning to kill him while he's still a child?]

Song Yue: Of course not… Do you know one of the timeless principles of the older generation? If you want to win, don't always think about eliminating your enemies—convert them to your side instead. I want…

[To win him over?! That does sound like a good idea…]The system followed her train of thought naturally and instinctively considered one of the greatest tools of countless female transmigrators. [Are you planning to use your beauty to seduce him and make him yours?]

Song Yue: Bah! Don't overestimate the power of love to control men, especially a dark-hearted villain like h

im. No—I'm going to make him my godson!