The guest room suddenly fell into an eerie silence, the sound of a pin dropping could be heard.
Gu Changsheng and the Dowager Empress Xiao suddenly stopped speaking.
Sitting on the bed, the Dowager Empress Xiao looked at Gu Changsheng, her aged face gradually taking on a serious expression. Having lived to her age and experienced many body seizures, she thought there were few things that could make her be on high alert!
Unexpectedly, ever since she learned that there was soone in this world nad Gu Changsheng who had acquired the Southern Border’s Bashu and received the Nine Layers of the Celestial To, her dull and uneventful life suddenly began to be full of ups and downs!
Although, since knowing Gu Changsheng and Zhou Mu harbored intentions to enter the legendary Divine Demise Land, the Dowager Empress Xiao had a vague sense of unease, but until now, she realized just how accurate her feelings were!
In her twilight years, experiencing the impermanence of life once more, is this sothing to rejoice or to worry about?
Even the Dowager Empress Xiao herself didn’t know...
"Senior..." After a long while, Gu Changsheng finally turned slowly, her bright face also displaying an expression of somberness, as she slowly raised her hands, handing a command token to the Dowager Empress Xiao, speaking in a deep voice, "This is the Southern Country’s Jade Seal, Senior, here in Liaodong, I can only appoint you, I implore you to take my Southern Country’s Jade Seal and imdiately return to the Capital City!"
"You!" The Dowager Empress Xiao was astonished upon hearing this, looking at the piece of Ink Jade whose material couldn’t be distinguished, her expression was inexplicable, she paused for a while before continuing, "Are you still determined to go north? Knowing the potential dangers ahead, knowing the unpredictable path, are you still insisting on going forward?"
"Yes!" Gu Changsheng nodded, her expression showing a hint of arrogant defiance, "If it’s truly as Zhou Mu and I guessed, then the net has already been cast, Senior, we have nowhere to hide, no escape route!"
"I want to resurrect my mother, anyone in this world who blocks my path, I will eliminate them! Whether they are ghosts or gods and devils, since they have confronted , there’s no retreat, I can only face them head-on!" At this point, Gu Changsheng bowed to the Dowager Empress Xiao solemnly and perford a formal salute, "Senior, Changsheng is innately selfish, only this wish I hold steadfastly!"
The Dowager Empress Xiao looked at the captivating young woman before her, Gu Changsheng’s age was similar to her grandchildren’s, from an elder’s perspective, a child who wholeheartedly wants her parents to be reunited isn’t wrong, "But, you are the Emperor of the Southern Country, possessing half of the kingdom, everything concerns the stability of the Southern Country and the fate of the kingdom! A noble status should not stand under a precarious roof, do you realize that by risking yourself like this, you are placing the Southern Country that you have built in the flas?"
"I know!" Gu Changsheng nodded, then looked toward Dowager Empress Xiao with burning eyes, speaking resolutely, "That’s why I ask you, Senior, to return to the Capital City! Senior, you have overseen Liaodong for decades, known among people as a heroine, you bring the entire nation to surrender, in truth because the Nine Layers of the Celestial To in my Southwest Land threaten the existence of your Northern Country’s Liaodong, but last night you risked your life to save my child, showing loyalty and righteousness!"
"Senior, Changsheng is capricious and lacks the deanor of an emperor, the future is unknown, and this journey’s fortune is uncertain, hence I entrust the Southern Country to you, Senior!"
Upon hearing this, the Dowager Empress Xiao’s expression greatly changed, her old face looking toward the Jade Seal in her hand fluctuating with anxiety.
She thought Gu Changsheng entrusted her with this seal rely as a sign of trust!
rely to have her to return to handle matters in the Capital!
Unexpectedly, she actually!
She actually wants to entrust the Southern Country to her!
She brought the entire nation to surrender, only offering up Liaodong, which compared to the Southern Country is nothing more than a third of Southern Chen County’s existence, and now, this girl actually wants to entrust the Southern Country to her?
Even having experienced worldly affairs, the Dowager Empress Xiao was stunned by Gu Changsheng’s words!
In her heart, a subtle feeling of mutual sympathy and trust moved her...
The kind of trust entrusted with life and risk, it’s not sothing just anyone can accomplish!
"Girl..." Hesitating for a mont, the Dowager Empress Xiao didn’t know what to say.
Gu Changsheng, however, curled her lips into a smile and spoke slowly, "Senior, although my Foster Father possesses unparalleled talent under the heavens, he has never been in officialdom throughout his life. The decisiveness of an emperor, the capability to command and inspire, he, as a literary elder, ultimately lacks that iron-blooded spirit, Senior, I entrust the Southern Country to you to manage! You once managed Liaodong for several decades, long standing in high position, with high moral standing, my Southern Country, only entrusted in your hands can I proceed without worry, fulfilling my lifelong aspiration!"
The Dowager Empress Xiao held the small Jade Seal in her hands, as if it weighed a thousand catties, quietly listening.
"Senior, the Southern Country is sothing I created, I want to construct it into a certain kind of kingdom, you have resided long in the Heavenly Palace Traveling Palace, surely you know this already, Senior, I need you to imdiately return to Great Zhou, leading my Southern Emperor’s ceremonial army, along with the elder ministers of the Witch and Gu Tribes, back to the Southern Country, to oversee the Southern Country’s establishnt efforts!"
"For generations, so have been willing to lurk in your Liaodong, naturally, there are also those lurking in my Southern Country. These people have been plotting for ages; finding them is akin to climbing to the heavens. Thus, we can only remain passive to exert control!"
"Senior, you have long held high positions, not lacking in iron-blooded asures. I want you to singularly suppress all rebellions within Southern Country, ensuring our national peace, opening trade routes, unifying currency, standardizing asurents, vowing not to give those lurking villains any opportunity. Can you do this?"
"This palace..." Upon hearing this, Dowager Empress Xiao let out a long sigh and finally nodded. "Very well! Now that this palace has co to submit with the whole nation, I am your household servant. I dare not decline your request! Thus, this palace will temporarily manage the Southern Country’s affairs for you until you return!"
"Senior, now that I’ve headed north, my father certainly won’t delay long. If the old man decides to head north, I ask you to ensure soone accompanies him, guaranteeing a safe journey north!" Gu Changsheng said, bowing again in salute.
"Very well!" Dowager Empress Xiao solemnly nodded.
Gu Changsheng thought for a mont, then retrieved sothing from his chest. After hesitating for a mont, he still handed it over, speaking slowly, "Senior, this is the military command token for Zhou Mu’s hundred-thousand-strong army. Before I ca out, he entrusted it to ..."
Upon hearing this, Dowager Empress Xiao’s expression changed again.
"Senior, Great Zhou altogether has just over two hundred thousand troops, and those truly capable of fighting are the one hundred thousand under Zhou Mu’s command. I also entrust this to you! I hope you regard Southern Country, Great Zhou, and your Liaodong as equals, ensuring peace in this world!"
"You... he... you all..." Dowager Empress Xiao was suddenly a bit dazed. Such shock was evident, making even soone like her lose composure. "This palace... This palace is your household servant. You entrusting Southern Country to is understandable, but for Great Zhou..."
Godfather!
There are two pieces of the military protection token for Liaodong, one of which she gave to this girl upon her national surrender, and one remains in her hand!
And now, the Southern Country’s Jade Seal is in her bosom!
Great Zhou’s military command token is right before her!
In this vast world, once there were only Four Kingdoms. Beyond the Four Kingdoms, there was the Southern Border Bashu, and a similarly secluded Far North Land. Now, except for the North Mongolian of the Northern Desert and the Far North Godfall Site of the North of the Northern Desert, this entire world is right before her!
Even though Dowager Empress Xiao has lived so long, she has never been faced with such grandiose stakes!
It made her sowhat apprehensive and uneasy!
"Senior, you are my household servant, and I have a marital agreent with Zhou Mu. I have issued a second Celestial To in the Capital City, and Southern Country and Great Zhou are long inseparable. You wield this Tiger Talisman—why hesitate?" Gu Changsheng gently smiled, stretching his hand forward with the Tiger Talisman again. "Senior, although I have no desire for world domination, the world today is primarily under my control. Hence, I entrust it all to you now!"
"Girl..." Staring at the Tiger Talisman placed in her hand, Dowager Empress Xiao suddenly found herself at a loss for words. Last night’s fierce battle left her body still sowhat weak. Struggling to her feet from the bed, she barely had ti to put on shoes, then she hurriedly held a Jade Seal in one hand and a Tiger Talisman in the other. With a sweep of her long sleeve, she lifted one side of her skirt, solemnly kneeling on one knee, lowering her head to speak in a deep voice, "Servant, of the Xiao Clan, will not fail the entrustnt of my lord! I will ensure the world remains unhard until the return of my lord!"
Gu Changsheng silently watched the kneeling Dowager Empress Xiao before him for a long ti, without speaking.
It was the first ti Dowager Empress Xiao knelt before her. Even when she ca to submit with her whole nation, at the gates of the Capital City, she rely bowed and greeted, never kneeling!
This was the dignity of a ruler, as well as the ultimate limit of a superior!
But today, she was kneeling before her, casting aside her inherent pride!
This was a woman who once stirred the winds and clouds!
She and Zhou Mu eloped, leaving the Capital City on a whim, without any prior arrangents. In truth, after they left, the old and feeble Emperor Zhoulin was incapable of governance. Mr. Ban Shan, though esteed, had never held high office. The elderly ministers of Southern Country, compared to an emperor, ultimately lacked vision and foresight. And her father, focused solely on her mother, had no interest in state affairs. Thus, surveying the whole world, the only person Gu Changsheng and Zhou Mu could comfortably entrust with responsibilities was this elderly Dowager Empress Xiao!
When she handed these tokens to her, it wasn’t without consideration. If she had accepted them straightforwardly, Gu Changsheng might have suspected ulterior motives, but she saw clearly the reluctance and gravity in Dowager Empress Xiao’s eyes!
A female hero like Dowager Empress Xiao, her pride rging into her very bones, once she accepted, she accepted this arduous task, never would she betray!
"Senior, please rise. Last night, you still complained to about being so impoverished that you couldn’t even repair Liaodong’s city walls. Now you are truly among the richest in the world! Haha!" Gu Changsheng bent down, helping Dowager Empress Xiao up from the ground. Raising an eyebrow at her with a roguish look, she continued, "I allow you, within reasonable bounds, to favor Liaodong a bit, but do not overdo it..."
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