Chapter 865: The Young Empress (1)

Translator's Note

Before we begin—I'll just borrow a few minutes of your time! 🌸

If you've seen my announcement about this novel, you'll already know that this is a story I genuinely love. I discovered it through the translations that were already available, started reading, and very quickly found myself thinking, I need to know what happens next.

And apparently I meant that quite seriously, because I ended up translating thousands of chapters for myself. 😂 Eventually, I figured that if I'd already gone through all that trouble, I might as well share it with other readers who might enjoy it too.

This novel was previously translated by Lilly Translations, which is actually how I discovered it. Their translation covers the majority of the chapters available in English, but it hadn't been updated for quite some time, and I still wanted to keep reading. So I started translating it for myself.

I'm beginning at Chapter 865, the start of the Young Empress arc, rather than picking up exactly where the previous translation stopped. I wanted to translate the entire arc myself so that names, terminology, titles, and other details would remain consistent. So if you notice differences between the earlier translation and mine, that's why! It's simply a matter of different translation choices, with my limited understanding🙈 (fret not, it is still pretty decent when it comes to readability and stuff- afterall, I read this novel through this tl hehe).

A little disclaimer

This is an AI-assisted and edited translation. I'm not a professional translator, editor, or proofreader, and this was originally a project I made for my own reading. I've edited and polished it myself, but there may still be typos, awkward wording, inconsistent terminology, or other mistakes.

I do my best to fix things when I notice them, but I'm doing this in my spare time alongside my full-time and part-time jobs, so please be kind. ❤️ Constructive corrections are always welcome!

Most importantly, I hope you enjoy the story as much as I did. Tang Guo is ridiculously capable, entertaining, and has enough personality and quirks to make being completely OP genuinely fun to read—which is exactly what I love in a QT protagonist.

And please support 杜了了 if you have the means to do so, whether by purchasing the original work or through other official channels. 🌸

Happy reading!

— Cy 🌸

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【Host, maybe one day we'll actually end up in one of those worlds where men can give birth, hehe. Don't be disappointed. We can treat this world as experience for the future.】

“I’m not disappointed. I was just asking.”

Tang Guo casually picked up another bite of food.

“I've read plenty of novels before. In female-dominated worlds, aren't men always the ones having children? I've always been curious about how exactly they give birth. Men's and women's reproductive systems are completely different. How do women get men pregnant? Eggs are so large—how do they even end up inside a man's body?”

The System froze.

That was true.

Egg cells were so large. How exactly would they get into a man's body?

That didn't make sense at all.

【Maybe...】 the System ventured weakly, 【in those worlds where men give birth, women's eggs are only as small as normal sperm cells, while men's sperm might be as large as egg cells?】

“And then how would they give birth?” Tang Guo asked. “Don't tell me their bodies contain female reproductive organs. If that's the case, they're not really men anymore. They're intersex.”

System: ...

His head was starting to spin.

Tang Guo smiled knowingly, clearly sensing his confusion.

“Stop thinking about it. You won't figure it out no matter how hard you try.”

But the System remained tangled in the problem.

So how did the egg get into a man's body?

And how exactly did a man give birth?

The more he thought about it, the more horrifying it seemed.

“I'm going to receive the memories now.”

After saying that, Tang Guo focused on eating and ignored the System completely, leaving him alone to wrestle with the mysteries of male childbirth.

This world was merely female-dominated.

The biological structure of men and women remained normal, so she had no interest in dwelling on such questions.

Even if things were different, it wouldn't matter to her.

She had never planned on having children anyway.

The nation she ruled was called the Western Sacred Kingdom.

It was a country where women held supreme status.

However, across the rest of the continent, men still dominated society.

That was why the biological differences between the sexes remained unchanged.

Long ago, the Western Sacred Kingdom had not been a female-ruled nation.

It had originally been governed by men.

Only after generations of oppression did a once-in-a-century female genius arise. Taking advantage of the nation's internal turmoil, she seized control and established a new order.

The name Western Sacred Kingdom was adopted only afterward.

As for this body, it was indeed only fifteen years old.

In the Western Sacred Kingdom, adulthood was reached at sixteen.

As the reigning Empress, she would only be permitted to summon and favor the men of her harem after coming of age.

Before then, however, political considerations still required her to accept numerous consorts into the palace in order to balance the interests of various factions.

The original host had ascended the throne at the age of ten.

She was an exceptionally capable ruler.

Her only weakness was her youth.

Fortunately, the late emperor had left behind enough political strength to protect her until she matured.

Yet during those crucial years of growth, unexpected changes occurred.

The events that followed ultimately caused this talented young Empress to die before reaching adulthood.

Her death had not been an accident.

She had been murdered.

The people responsible for her murder were the men in her harem and her elder sister, Tang Nuoyue, the Moon Prince of the Western Sacred Kingdom.

To be precise, Tang Nuoyue was not really related to her at all.

The original Tang Nuoyue had been an idiot.

The person who later orchestrated everything was a modern woman who had transmigrated into Tang Nuoyue's body.

After arriving in this world, the transmigrator initially acted cautiously.

Gradually, however, the "fool" transformed into a perfectly normal person.

Naturally, the Empress became suspicious.

Any ruler would pay close attention to such a drastic change.

No emperor or empress in possession of a functioning brain would simply ignore it.

Especially when someone who had been mentally impaired for more than ten years suddenly became normal overnight.

A competent ruler would certainly investigate and place such a person under surveillance.

At that time, Tang Nuoyue's husband and several men who found her unusually interesting secretly informed her that the Empress was monitoring her.

As a result, Tang Nuoyue immediately became wary of the Empress and began imagining all sorts of conspiracies.

Those men with hidden motives gradually drew closer to her.

They carefully orchestrated countless situations designed to convince Tang Nuoyue that the Empress wanted to harm her.

Even Tang Nuoyue's original condition of being mentally impaired was blamed on the Empress.

In reality, Tang Nuoyue had been born that way.

The Empress had absolutely nothing to do with it.

But in order to achieve their goals and overthrow the female-dominated Western Sacred Kingdom, those men exploited Tang Nuoyue's simple and trusting nature.

Using her as a banner, they openly moved against the young Empress.

Men from the Empress's harem.

Men from Tang Nuoyue's harem.

The sons of influential court officials.

Even spies from neighboring countries.

All of them became participants in the conspiracy.

By the time the Empress realized something was wrong, it was already too late.

Every one of those men was exceptionally intelligent.

Working together, how could a fifteen-year-old Empress possibly stand against them?

Especially when even the people closest to her had already fallen under their control.

Tang Nuoyue sincerely believed those men loved her.

Combined with all the fabricated evidence proving that the Empress intended to kill her, she willingly allowed their schemes to proceed.

As far as she was concerned, all she had to do was wait until she became Empress and enjoy a life surrounded by handsome men.

In a sense, she succeeded.

She became the most honored woman in the empire.

But she also failed.

On the night of her coronation, while spending time with her husbands, a sword pierced straight through her heart.

The men finally revealed their true faces.

Mockery and ridicule filled their voices as they laughed at her innocence and stupidity.

Only then did Tang Nuoyue learn the truth.

Listening to them explain their real plans, she died with overwhelming hatred in her heart.

She hated the men who had manipulated her feelings and used her from beginning to end.

With that, the Western Sacred Kingdom collapsed.

The men divided the nation among themselves, plunging it back into chaos.

As for what happened afterward, neither the Empress nor Tang Nuoyue ever learned the answer.

【Host, what do you think of this world?】 the System asked eagerly. 【Have you ever considered trying a different man? Your precious darling might not be here this time.】

Tang Guo remained silent.

The System continued trying to stir up trouble.

【Eating the same dish every day gets boring, doesn't it? Changing flavors once in a while isn't necessarily a bad thing.】

“Little System,” Tang Guo drawled lazily, “you just want to watch the drama. Have you entered springtime? Looking for a female system?”

The System instantly felt alarmed.

“If that's the case, the next time we encounter a female system, we'll tie her up and leave her entirely at your disposal.”

【That's not what I meant!】 the System protested hurriedly. 【Host, pretend I never said anything.】

He was genuinely frightened.

A female system?

He had absolutely no interest in that.

Two strings of data falling in love sounded incredibly boring.

Compared to finding a partner, he'd much rather encounter a system he could devour and use to upgrade himself.

Even if it were a female system, he'd still choose to eat it.

Leveling up was far more important than romance.

Tang Guo continued eating at an unhurried pace.

“I'm going to give you a list of names. Monitor them and tell me what they're doing.”

【Please give your orders, Host.】

“Nanyun Chuan, Su Qing, Shan Ge, Yin Qiu, and Xiao Jin.”

These five men were the principal architects behind the conspiracy.

Among them, Nanyun Chuan and Su Qing belonged to her harem.

Su Qing was Tang Nuoyue's principal husband.

Yin Qiu was a young master from Tang Nuoyue's residence.

As for Xiao Jin, he was a hostage prince sent from the State of Qi.

Xiao Jin was both ambitious and highly capable.

His reason for joining the conspiracy was simple:

He intended to use the power of the Western Sacred Kingdom to help him reclaim the throne of Qi.