My System Is Three Thousand Years Early

The Great Zhou Emperor, nearly concealed by the tiger's claw.

Empress Dowager Li spoke in a barely audible whisper.

So soft that Empress Wang and the multitude of Noble Consorts and others did not hear it.

Aside from the King of South Ming and the Queen of the South Ming, only Wu Yuemei, who was closest to Empress Dowager Li, and Wu Ling heard what she said.

Upon hearing Empress Dowager Li's words, the King of South Ming's eyes flashed with shock, and the Jade Bead he was fiddling with paused slightly, the tense expression on his face slowly relaxing.

Watching the Divine Palace,

the figure of the Great Zhou Emperor, enveloped in blood and growing less visible, the King of South Ming was startled to sense the Emperor's presence fading away.

How could it disappear?

Is he dead?

Thoughts churned in the King of South Ming's mind, and he almost laughed out loud.

He had not expected the White Tiger Devil Emperor to kill the Great Zhou Emperor in one fell swoop, his toils not in vain.

The King of South Ming sighed in relief, his expression growing relaxed and comfortable.

"You must be missing him,"

Empress Dowager Li exhaled slowly, turned her head, and gazed at the King of South Ming.

"I knew it. I couldn't hide it from Mother. All these years, I seldom came to the capital, even attending royal ceremonies without much interaction, leaving right after the ceremony, and rarely seeing Mother."

"All to avoid arousing Mother's suspicion."

"It seems my approach was correct."

As the King of South Ming spoke, the smile on his face thickened.

His voice carried without hindrance,

and Empress Wang and the array of Noble Consorts nearby, who hadn't heard Empress Dowager Li's question, along with the Court officials close by, all turned their gaze toward them.

Empress Dowager Li silently watched the South Ming King, a figure at once familiar and estranged, and fell silent.

Her gaze returned to the now still Divine Palace.

With a glance raised,

she saw no trace of the blood-soaked claws.

All had seemingly settled into dust.

As these words settled, the summit of Shenyue Mountain, already disturbed by the Devil Emperor's assassination of the Great Zhou Emperor, suddenly fell silent.

Empress Wang, who stood closest and had heard the exchange between Empress Dowager Li and the King of South Ming, showed shock on her delicate face, incredulously turning toward the King of South Ming, then back to Empress Dowager Li.

Overwhelmed, she didn't know what to say.

Although she had not clearly heard what Empress Dowager Li said at the start, from the subsequent words of Empress Dowager Li and what she heard from the King of South Ming,

she knew that the King of South Ming was indeed the crown prince.

And this most beloved and doted-on feudal king of Great Zhou, the King of South Ming, was actually the crown prince!

Who could have imagined that the King of South Ming was none other than the crown prince, missing for decades!

The man Emperor Zhou desperately sought for decades was hiding right under his nose!

In disbelief, Empress Wang clenched her fists, quickly shielding Wu Ming and the young Prince Wu Ji behind her and furiously rebuked the King of South Ming, "Crown prince, why would you collude with the Devil Clan to assassinate His Majesty!"

"Why indeed?" Upon hearing Empress Wang's angry shout, the King of South Ming pondered for a moment, then, smiling, said, "Well, it is quite worth it, Mother. I was supposed to be the Emperor from the beginning; the throne was rightfully mine."

"I was the crown prince for a full three hundred years!"

"Three hundred years, how many three hundred years does a person have in their life?"

"Father sought to pass the throne to me, but Mother, and the Duke of the State, and Wu Shang forcibly took the throne from my hands."

"I couldn't accept it."

"Mother, I couldn't accept it."

The King of South Ming said softly,

his voice calm.

But Empress Dowager Li, Empress Wang, Wu Yuemei, and Wu Ling standing next to the King of South Ming

could each feel the turmoil in his seemingly tranquil voice.

Empress Dowager Li slightly furrowed her brows and shielded the royal kin behind her, facing the King of South Ming alone with her somewhat stooped body.

"I've done nothing wrong. Wu Shang killed me; I will kill him."

"So what if I've allied with the Devil Clan?"

"To tell you the truth, Mother, it's not just the Devil Clan using me, the Demonic Race too,"

"They treat me as a pawn, a stepping stone to enter the Four Directions Mortal World, but so what? They need me."

"In the Four Directions Mortal World, I can still be an Emperor, and Great Zhou will not perish."

"So, Mother, you can still be the Empress Dowager. Under my leadership, Great Zhou will remain unchanged; there will be no difference."

"Wu Shang must have been killed by the White Tiger Devil Emperor by now. I can sense that he has no life left in him, and right now, I am the only one who can inherit the throne."

"To inherit the throne as King of South Ming will probably face less opposition throughout the land."

"After all, who can prove that I am the crown prince? No one can."

Laughing softly, the King of South Ming saluted Empress Dowager Li.

"Mother, I am not the crown prince but the King of South Ming. The Emperor has fallen to the crown prince, and by assuming the throne as King of South Ming, I don't think the people of the world will have anything to say about it."

Moments later, the blood-red pillar of light began to dissipate from the heaven above.

The sky gradually brightened.

Empress Dowager Li listened, her aged face as calm as still water, her eyes filled with noble cloudiness, staring intently at the King of South Ming for a long while before she slowly exhaled.

"I do not agree!"

"The people of the world do not agree!"

"Haven't you caused enough disaster already?"

The tension had just begun to subside.

Below Shenyue Mountain, officials, the Imperial Guard, and guards rushed anxiety, in a frenzy to arrive.

Some Court officials had just reached the vicinity of the Divine Palace, not yet able to investigate the fate of the Great Zhou Emperor, when they heard Empress Dowager Li speak.