If you're made a fake emperor, why did you change the country's name?

As dawn approached, a thin line of pale light began to spread across the eastern horizon.

Inside the Hall of Mental Cultivation, the flickering candlelight cast eerie shadows on the massive beams and pillars.

The palace doors were pushed open, and a chilly morning breeze rushed in.

Sun Pinru was brought in by two Imperial Guards. The ropes binding her were very tight, and her once magnificent red dress was now full of wrinkles, stained with dust and dried blood.

Her hair was already disheveled, with a few strands of black hair sticking to her pale cheeks, and traces of blood left by the backlash of the spell still remained at the corners of her mouth.

But she still stood tall.

The hall was packed with people.

They were all dressed in flying fish robes and embroidered spring knives.

They stood silently on both sides like hundreds of lifeless black statues, bathed in the interplay of morning light and candlelight.

The entire hall was eerily quiet, with only the faint crackling of candle flames popping open.

Sun Pinru was escorted to the center of the main hall, her knees buckled, and she was roughly forced to kneel on the cold gold bricks.

The sharp pain of her kneecap hitting the ground gave her a jolt of energy.

She looked up.

High on the steps of the imperial palace, on the dragon throne, Zhao Yu was looking down at her.

He was dressed in a black casual suit, his face expressionless, revealing neither joy nor anger.

"Princess Zhennan, Sun Pinru."

Zhao Yu's voice rang out, not loud, but it echoed in the empty hall.

Do you know your crime?

Sun Pinru's lips twitched slightly.

"crime?"

She seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world. She first laughed softly, then her laughter grew louder and more shrill, sounding particularly jarring in the deathly silent hall.

"Haha...hahahaha!"

Zhao Yu didn't interrupt her, and just quietly watched her smile.

The imperial guards around her remained motionless, as if the one kneeling there was not the princess of the dynasty, but a talking stone.

The laughter stopped abruptly.

Sun Pinru suddenly raised her head and stared intently at Zhao Yu.

"What crime have I committed?"

"But you, a beggar who crawled out of a ditch, dare to sit on this dragon throne and question my crimes?"

Zhao Yu raised an eyebrow slightly.

"I don't understand what you mean."

"Don't you understand?"

Sun Pinru burst into laughter again, her laughter filled with sarcasm.

"As the Princess Consort of Zhennan, a member of the royal family, you enjoy all the riches and honors."

Zhao Yu's voice remained steady.

"Why would you try to kill me? Aren't you afraid of death?"

"I?"

Sun Pinru's voice suddenly rose to a high pitch, becoming extremely shrill.

"You dare call yourself 'I'?"

She took a deep breath, and with all her might, shouted at the top of her lungs towards the Imperial Guards on both sides of the hall:

"My lords! You have all seen clearly!"

"The 'His Majesty' you're all loyal to is a complete imposter!"

"He is not the real Emperor Zhao Yu!"

"He's just a stand-in pushed onto the stage! A beggar!"

The sound echoed endlessly within the hall.

She finished shouting.

She anticipated a huge uproar in the palace, and expected the Imperial Guards to show expressions of shock, suspicion, and anger.

She even prepared her next remarks and was ready to face the chaotic scene.

however--

Dead silence.

A deathly silence so profound you could hear a pin drop.

Nothing happened.

Those Imperial Guards dressed in flying fish robes didn't even lift a finger.

They remain sculptures, shadows, and silent machines.

The madness and smugness on Sun Pinru's face gradually froze.

She turned her neck in disbelief, looking to the left and then to the right.

Everyone had a blank expression.

A loyalty that transcends all else in the world except for the dragon throne before him.

No, this is not loyalty.

This is... absolute obedience.

She had seen the well-trained Imperial Guards and the fearless personal guards.

But she had never seen such a thing before.

A terrifying word popped into her head.

Deadpool...

Sun Pinru's voice trembled uncontrollably, filled with undisguised terror.

"You...you actually trained so many Deadpools..."

How is that possible?

Training a Deadpool requires countless resources and time, and the success rate is extremely low.

These hundreds of people in front of me...

How did he, a fake emperor and a beggar, manage to get so many loyal servants who only obey his orders?

Zhao Yu smiled.

He stood up from the dragon throne and walked down the high steps, one step at a time.

The hem of the dragon robe brushed against the ground, making a soft rustling sound.

His shadow, as he moved, slowly enveloped Sun Pinru, who was kneeling on the ground.

"and then?"

His voice was soft, yet it carried a mountain-like pressure.

"Even if I'm a fake, so what?"

"You're going to oppose me just for the sake of that real Zhao Yu?"

"You surely know what I've been doing all this time, don't you?"

Zhao Yu stopped in front of her, looking down at her.

Sun Pinru clenched her teeth, her body trembling slightly with fear and anger.

Her biggest trump card, the killer move she thought could turn the tide in an instant, slipped away so easily.

In the face of these deadly servants, whether the emperor is real or fake is completely irrelevant.

The important thing is who gave the order.

"I'll give you a chance."

Zhao Yu's voice rang out again.

"Tell me who's behind you, tell me the whole truth."

"Perhaps, I might consider sparing your life."

Sun Pinru remained silent.

She looked at Zhao Yu's boots, at the dragon pattern embroidered on them with gold thread.

a long time.

She finally spoke again, her voice hoarse.

"Make them all step back."

There are some things I'll only say to you.

Zhao Yu looked at her for a moment.

He waved.

"All of you, get out."

"Yes."

A unified response rang out, and hundreds of Imperial Guards turned around simultaneously, their movements swift and clean, without making a single unnecessary sound.

They filed out, with Qiu Ping being the last.

He walked to the door, glanced back at Zhao Yu, then bowed and left.

"Squeak—"

The heavy palace doors slowly closed, cutting off the sunlight streaming in from outside.

Inside the hall, only the flickering candlelight and two people remained.

One standing, one kneeling.

Sun Pinru slowly raised her head, her expression becoming complicated beneath her disheveled hair.

"You want to know the truth?"

Her voice no longer held the previous madness, but instead possessed a strange calmness.

"Then I'll tell you."

"All of this I did was not for Zhao Yu at all."

She paused, then spoke slowly and deliberately.

"I did it for...my younger brother."