Chapter 866: The Young Empress (3)

Translator's Note:

Yes, the arc chapter number did skip (2) but it was this way in the raws I found. However, I found that these two chapters seem to be a direct continuation, so you aren't missing anything 💮

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Xiao Jin was also the man Tang Nuoyue loved most.

Yet it was this ruthless man who ultimately drove a blade through her heart, shattering it into pieces.

The moment Tang Guo finished listing the names, the System began monitoring the men.

As his energy reserves continued to grow, the area he could cover expanded as well.

At present, monitoring two or three cities simultaneously posed no problem for him, let alone the imperial capital and the palace grounds.

Tang Guo first spent some time observing her own harem.

Nanyun Chuan was currently drinking tea in his palace residence, playing chess by himself.

It was one of his favorite pastimes.

This man was full of schemes and calculations. His mind was overflowing with tricks and hidden plots.

Su Qing, meanwhile, was playing the qin.

A trace of melancholy lingered between his brows, but the cold gleam that occasionally flashed through his eyes was truly startling.

Just as Tang Guo was about to shift her attention elsewhere, she noticed a man practicing swordsmanship within a slightly more luxurious palace.

For a moment, she forgot to look away.

Narrowing her eyes, she watched him carefully before speaking to the System.

“Zoom in a little. I want a closer look at this fellow.”

【Right away, Host.】

As the image drew nearer and his handsome features became clear, Tang Guo immediately found his identity within the original host's memories.

This body's Imperial Consort.

Jing Cheng.

He was the very definition of a manly man.

Ever since childhood, he had loved swords and spears and dreamed of marching across battlefields.

Unfortunately, his noble status had determined his fate long ago.

In the end, he was selected to become the Imperial Consort of the Western Sacred Kingdom's Empress.

In other words, her husband.

Men were not forbidden from becoming officials.

However, compared to women, they faced difficulties a hundred times greater.

Likewise, they could join the military, but advancement remained exceptionally difficult.

After more than a thousand years of female rule, women had grown increasingly powerful.

The government had long been dominated by women.

The armies were filled with more and more female soldiers, and those women were becoming stronger with every generation.

As a result, men had gradually been weakened, marginalized, and pushed into lower social positions.

Eventually, many were raised in seclusion, much like daughters had once been in male-dominated societies.

Some men were even raised into delicate ornaments—fragile flowers that seemed as though a strong breeze might knock them over.

Most of those came from ordinary households.

There were also women who particularly enjoyed such delicate men.

They teased them, played with them, and treated them as possessions.

It was not much different from how men treated women in male-dominated worlds.

The only difference was that the genders had been reversed.

【Host, is there something special about this Imperial Consort Jing Cheng?】 the System asked curiously.

Tang Guo smiled.

“Nothing special. I just think he looks particularly handsome when he's practicing swordsmanship.”

The System was horrified.

W-Was that so?

Had the Host finally fallen for someone else?

No, wait.

That wasn't right.

The Host never carried romantic attachments from previous lives anyway.

【Actually... he is pretty handsome,】 the System immediately agreed, slipping into full sycophant mode.

“All right, switch the view to Tang Nuoyue's side. By now she should have already transmigrated. Let's see what the people in her residence are doing.”

As far as Tang Nuoyue was concerned, Tang Guo felt that the woman was merely foolish.

The truly dangerous ones were those men.

Every single one of them possessed frightening intelligence and extraordinary skill at plotting.

Tang Nuoyue was only a modern woman who had just graduated from university.

She had never experienced any real hardships.

Then she was suddenly thrown into a completely unfamiliar world, living every day in fear and uncertainty.

At such a time, several elegant, handsome men appeared before her.

They showered her with affection.

Spoke sweet words.

Looked at her with eyes full of admiration.

What woman wouldn't be moved?

Step by step, she fell deeper into the web they had carefully woven.

As someone from the modern world, how could she possibly have anticipated that people from this era would be so calculating?

In the end, she was simply another pitiful victim.

Nothing more than a tool used by those terrifying men.