The matter at the Ministry of Revenue reached Emperor Xuanwu's ears almost as soon as it unfolded. Given that he had been paying particular attention, it was only natural that news would arrive swiftly.
That Minister Yan had been persuaded so quickly came as no surprise.
After all, everyone in court knew that Minister Yan valued wealth above all else. And as for his own Xiao Wu, was she not gifted precisely in the art of making money?
With Xiao Wu personally taking the lead, it would have been far more unusual if Minister Yan had not relented.
What truly mattered now was the stance of the remaining officials in court.
How did Xiao Wu plan to convince the rest of them?
Emperor Xuanwu, curiosity piqued, dispatched more men to observe her next move. He expected to hear whom Yun Shu would target after leaving the Ministry. To his surprise, the report came back with something wholly unexpected—Yun Shu had gone nowhere else. She had simply returned to the palace to rest.
Emperor Xuanwu blinked in disbelief.
What?
Still, he reassured himself. Perhaps Xiao Wu merely needed a quiet space to think. After all, those old foxes in court were not easily swayed. Cunning and deeply rooted in their own interests, they would not yield without a struggle.
Considering that he had thrown her such a difficult challenge without notice, her ability to win over Minister Yan in such short order was already more than commendable.
As for the rest, there was no harm in taking her time.
If all went smoothly, he should see her next course of action by tomorrow. Comforted by that thought, Emperor Xuanwu ordered his men to keep a discreet eye on Yun Shu's movements the following day.
And yet, the very next morning, after court had adjourned, he found Yun Shu waiting for him inside the imperial study.
Emperor Xuanwu narrowed his eyes.
"You? What brings you before us at this hour?"
"Should Your Daughter not be here?" Yun Shu looked more bewildered than he did. "Did someone relieve me of my duties without my knowing?"
"What nonsense—"
He choked on his words, momentarily thrown off. He had assumed she was feigning ignorance. Scowling, he gave her a hard look.
"Should you not be busy persuading the rest of the court ministers? Have you given up after only one day?"
"Ah, that matter," Yun Shu said with a light smile, flicking her sleeve in mild dismissal. "It needn't be rushed. A few more days will do no harm."
"New Year's Eve is nearly upon us!"
His voice rose with impatience, only to falter as he caught himself. Narrowing his gaze, he studied her closely.
"You are plotting something again, aren't you? Dug a pit and now you wait for the fool to stumble in—
We know that look all too well."
"Father Emperor, truly—listen to what you're suggesting," Yun Shu said, widening her eyes in mock affront. "Could you really think your own daughter capable of such scheming?"
"You? Of that, We have no doubt."
"I won't deny it," she said plainly, lifting her chin with unrepentant pride. "But consider this, Father Emperor. I am not acting out of selfish ambition. I devote myself day and night to shaping Tian Sheng's future. If the nation flourishes, all benefit. Why should I bow and scrape to a bunch of stubborn old men who oppose me out of pure self-interest?
Tell me honestly, do I look like the kind of person who would tolerate such humiliation?"
He said nothing.
Of course she could not endure it. He had witnessed firsthand just how delicate this child was. He, the exalted Emperor Xuanwu, had bent over backward more times than he could count just to coax her into cooperation.
And those who had dared provoke her in the past? Dead, deposed, or nations lost.
With that in mind, the fact that she had only dug a small pit for the ministers to tumble into—well, that was downright merciful. If anything, they ought to be grateful she had shown such restraint.
"Then tell us..." Emperor Xuanwu exhaled, confirming to himself that she wasn't aiming her schemes at him. "What kind of pit have you prepared for them?"
She arched a brow, her voice playful. "Why not hazard a guess, Father Emperor?"
She tilted her head, studying him with a smile. Then she clicked her tongue softly. "Your Majesty looks almost delighted. Are you truly that pleased to see your loyal officials getting tripped up?"
"Delighted is too strong a word," he said stiffly, face adjusting into a more serious expression. Even so, her teasing had hit the mark. "It's just that those old fools have given Us no small number of headaches. It's about time someone taught them a lesson."
"Then perhaps I must disappoint you."
Yun Shu lazily picked up a memorial and flipped it open, eyes skimming the page. "The trap I've laid is really quite mild. Hardly a punishment."
"Then what, precisely, have you done?"
Emperor Xuanwu leaned in again, his curiosity gnawing at him like an itch. "Do you truly think We would betray you to the court?"
"Not in the slightest," Yun Shu replied, looking up at him with an open, guileless expression. "I only wished to trouble you a little. Consider it retribution—for flinging burdens at me without so much as a warning."
"..."
With a daughter like this, he could only admire her in silence.
Inside the imperial study, Emperor Xuanwu stewed quietly, his thoughts churning. He would be sending the Dragon Shadow Guard to investigate this girl's recent movements, that much was certain.
Meanwhile, outside the palace, the court officials had just returned to their residences or yamen offices. And in their hands?
The latest issue of the Capital Weekly.
There was no helping it. Their eccentric Crown Princess never issued warnings—she simply published explosive news without so much as a whisper beforehand.
In the beginning, many of the more self-important officials had scoffed at the paper. To them, it was filled with petty gossip and lowly tales. They saw no reason to bother with it.
But after several humiliating incidents—when key information reached the common people through the newspaper while they, the so-called pillars of the court, remained in the dark—they learned their lesson.
Now, reviewing the Capital Weekly had become a daily habit. They treated it as seriously as any official duty.
Today was no different.
The moment they unfolded the paper, two bold red characters leapt out from the front page.
"大国"— "A Great Nation"
Reading further, they discovered that this was the title of a new serialized novel set to run for only seven days. Just a short piece.
Ordinarily, they would have flipped right past it. Most court officials only scanned the paper for essential announcements. Serialized fiction rarely interested them.
But this one was different.
As their eyes brushed over the first few lines, something halted the motion of their hands.
Strange.
Unlike previous stories printed in the Capital Weekly, which were written in plain, popular prose for the masses, this one adopted the style of political commentary. It read less like a novel and more like the historical chronicle of a true great empire.
[...And when the First Emperor rose, he harnessed the might of six generations, raised his long spear to command the realm, conquered the dual Zhou dynasties and eradicated the feudal lords, ascended to supreme authority and unified the land, striking with hammer and whip to bring the world under his rule. His power shook the four corners of the earth...]
The ministers read on, frowning. The air grew still.
They had no idea what Yun Shu's true intention was yet—but one thing was clear.
This was no mere story.
It was the opening salvo of a challenge to the court.
===
So, a little random ramble from me ( ･ω･)ﾉﾞ
I rarely go searching for new novels to read ever since I started posting on Webnovel. If you haven't noticed yet, my favorite tags are NoCP first, then FemaleMC. Those two are my "core" tags, so whenever I go hunting for something new, I always start with those. After that, I'll look at "sub tags" or other tags that pair well with them, like #Infrastructure, #Historical, #Xianxia, #Rebirth, #Game, #Counterattack, #Transmigration, #System, #Apocalypse, #QT (quick transmigration), #BehindTheScenes, and #Entertainment. Basically, all those are genres I love, as long as they're built around a NoCP + FemaleMC setting.
It's already been 157 days since I uploaded my very first translation, I Became a Fairy and Lived Forever in the Fairy World, up to my latest project, The Cube Queen's Apocalypse Feast. And in all that time, I honestly haven't gone looking for new novels—I've just been focused on translating nonstop, from the moment I wake up at morning/noon until I crash at morning. I haven't had a job this whole time (◞‸◟;), so honestly, your donations on my Ko-fi and Patreon are my main source of income. That's also why I can pour all my time into translating. This is what my schedule has been like: I usually sleep around 4 am and wake up at 6 or 7. If I have something to do in the morning, I just sleep for those few hours. If I have no activities or my sleep quality was good, I go back to sleep and don't truly wake up until 2 pm in the afternoon.
Out of my ongoing projects, 3 are the ones that need the most attention: Troublemaker's Guide to Immortality and The Cube Queen's Apocalypse Feast both already have more than 200 chapters queued up in drafts, while True Heir of Chaos: From Villainess to Empress has around 100 (because I've been rushing to finish Mom's Apocalypse Survival Log and Reborn as the Fallen Idol, I Leaned Into the Chaos!). And for the 2 projects that are serialized, I've also stocked up plenty of draft chapters for those like what I said yesterday.
So, since I've been feeling a little "free," I wandered over to xxsypro, which is usually where I search for novels rather than other sites. The reason? The filters there are actually useful! You can pick "state" (all, serial, completed), "property" (all, free, paid), and even "renew" (last update within 3 days, 7 days, 15 days, or a month). There's also word count filters (like within 200k, 200k–300k, 300k–500k, 500k–1m, 1m–2m, or more than 2m), plus sorting options like "Comprehensive Popularity," "Best Seller," and "Most Favorites."
You can even narrow it down by "type" (Ancient Romance, Modern Romance, Fantasy Romance, Sci-fi, Fairy Tale, Short Stories, Game Competition, etc.), and "labels" (Popular Tags, Profession, Identity, Character, Background, Plot, School, Style). For example, under "Popular Tags" you'll see things like System Flow, Farming, Strong Women, NoCP, Game Alien World, Quick Wear, etc. Basically, the filters are complete, easy to understand, and—most importantly—actually clickable (unlike some sites that write categories/tags but don't let you click them… so annoying).
Anyway, since I was already there, of course my first stop was the NoCP section, and wow, there were tons of new novels with really interesting intros. And now I'm kinda tempted to add another serialized novel project to translate. Don't worry, if I do pick one up, it'll definitely be something with a smaller chapter count or word count. I'm not crazy enough to throw myself at a monster-length novel right now with the way things are (¬_¬;)
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And guess what… I just came back from browsing the NoCP section, and my eyes were literally sparkling ☆:.｡.o(≧▽≦)o.｡.:☆. I found 13 new novels with less than 200 chapters and 7 more that already have over 200 chapters. The intros were so good, my soul got hooked instantly.
Not to mention if I start diving into other sections like Female Supporting Role, Strong Women, Cultivation, Infrastructure, Playing Pig and Eating Tiger, Empress, Boss, Game Otherworldly, Apocalypse, Counterattack, Heroine, Super A, Rebirth, Entertainment, and Vest… that's basically heaven on earth for me (≧◡≦).
Of course, sometimes "NoCP" isn't listed under the tags. Instead, you'll see it written in the description/intro like "无CP", or sometimes not mentioned at all, which means you have to either catch the hints in the intro or rely on your NoCP radar being strong enough (lol).
Anyway—decision, decision, decision. (Important things must be said three times!) (╯✧▽✧)╯