Chapter 4: Her Highness the Crown Princess, a Thousand Years, a Thousand Years, a Thousand Thousand Years

“Girl—!”

The earth-shaking howl pierced through the thick stone walls of the underground hall, overpowering even the pungent stench of blood pooling across the floor.

The fully armed Imperial Guards, bristling with murderous intent, all stood frozen like tree trunks struck by lightning.

Their eyes were wide as they stared at their own Tyrant—the man who had just cleaved the chief eunuch in two without so much as blinking.

And now, this same Tyrant was kneeling in the bloodstained filth without a shred of dignity, clutching the thigh of the black-market boss!

The black-market underlings were scared out of their wits. They thought the Tyrant had suddenly gone mad.

“Those eyes, that nose, those lips...”

Su Zhen paid no attention to the way everyone around him was falling apart.

He tilted his head back, his eyes red-rimmed, tears pouring down his face like a burst dam.

He tugged up the sleeve of his dark-gold dragon robe—woven from silkworm silk worth a hundred thousand taels—and carelessly wiped the snot and tears from his face.

“She looks so much like you! Exactly like you!”

Su Zhen was so agitated that he could barely form a coherent sentence. His trembling finger pointed at Su Yaoyao’s face.

Su Yaoyao’s leg had gone numb from his embrace, and the corner of her mouth twitched violently.

She really couldn’t help herself. Right in front of this legendary Tyrant, she rolled her eyes so dramatically that it could have been considered an art form.

Who would have thought that this would only make Su Zhen cry even harder? He looked like a two-hundred-pound child who had been terribly wronged.

“Even the way you roll your eyes is exactly like your late mother!”

Su Zhen wailed. “It’s been eight years! I’ve been searching for you for eight whole years!”

“Back then, your mother died under mysterious circumstances, and you disappeared along with her as a newborn. I thought I’d never see you again in this lifetime!”

“Heaven has eyes! Heaven has eyes!”

Su Yaoyao sat stiffly in the white tiger-skin armchair, looking down at the Tyrant who was crying so hard his nose was running.

Inside, she was screaming like mad.

[No way! He recognizes me just like that?]

[Are ancient people really this casual when it comes to recognizing relatives? Don’t we need to go through some sort of procedure? A blood test, maybe?]

[He’s not even worried that I might be an undercover agent sent by someone else? He recognizes me just because I look like her and rolled my eyes once?]

Hearing these completely unrestrained thoughts, Su Zhen hugged her thigh even more tightly.

A blood test?

What did that crude trick, so easily tampered with, matter?

He could hear her thoughts!

Apart from his own flesh and blood, who else could share such a miraculous blood connection with him?

Even if she really was an impostor, she had warned him about the Qianji poison and saved his life. Either way, he had decided to acknowledge her as his daughter!

Although Su Yaoyao was ranting inwardly, her mind was already racing.

[Wait. Whether he’s mistaken or not, this is the Emperor of Dayuan!]

[The richest, most powerful man in the entire world, with an entire imperial treasury at his disposal!]

[If I latch onto him, why would I keep being the black-market boss? The whole world could become my source of money!]

[If I don’t seize this opportunity, I’ll regret it forever!]

With that thought, Su Yaoyao stuffed the solid-gold abacus in her hand into her arms.

She took a deep breath and swiftly adjusted her expression.

Then she forced two crystalline tears from her eyes and shouted with all the emotion she could muster:

“Father!”

The cry was clear and resonant, with enough feeling to make it echo through the entire hall.

Su Zhen’s whole body trembled. It was as though he had heard heavenly music, and his tears began to flow even more wildly.

“Ah! Good girl! My good girl!”

Father and daughter embraced each other tightly, patting each other on the back with perfect understanding.

In less than the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the most shameless father-daughter duo in history had officially been formed in the middle of a pool of blood.

Hearing his daughter calculating how to spend all his money, Su Zhen felt a strange sense of pride.

So what if his daughter liked money?

The imperial treasury was overflowing with it!

And if that wasn’t enough, he could always confiscate the estates of corrupt officials!

Su Zhen rose from the ground.

The sobbing old father vanished.

In his place stood the Tyrant, cold and ruthless, whose authority held sway over the four seas.

He swept out one great hand, his bloodstained sleeve cutting a fierce arc through the air.

“Deliver My imperial decree!”

The Imperial Guards immediately dropped to one knee in unison. The clashing of their armor rang through the hall.

“The operation to suppress the black market today was nothing more than a misunderstanding!”

“Effective immediately, the underground black market is no longer to be searched or seized. No one is to disturb it!”

Su Zhen’s powerful voice reverberated through the underground hall.

“Furthermore, from this day forward, this black market shall become the legal private property of the Crown Princess of Dayuan, exempt from all taxes!”

Crown Princess?!

Everyone drew in a sharp breath.

The black-market underlings had thought they were all going to be beheaded, with their entire families executed.

Yet in the blink of an eye, their boss had become the Crown Princess of Dayuan?

Didn’t that mean they were now the direct underlings of an imperial relative?!

The scar-faced man excitedly slapped himself across the face.

After confirming that he wasn’t dreaming, he immediately led the others in frantically kowtowing in the blood.

“Long live Your Highness! Long live Your Highness! Long, long live Your Highness!”

Su Yaoyao watched with satisfaction, her heart blooming with delight.

[This Tyrant of a father is surprisingly cooperative. He protected my business and even gave me a tax-exempt legal identity.]

[From now on, who in the capital will dare charge me protection fees?]

[Since that’s the case, I won’t stand on ceremony.]

Su Yaoyao hopped down from the armchair and swaggered over to the commander of the Imperial Guards.

She patted the commander’s priceless cold-iron linked armor.

“Now that the misunderstanding has been cleared up, we’re all on the same side.”

Su Yaoyao waved grandly toward the dozens of large redwood chests piled high with gold, silver, and jewels in the center of the hall.

“I’m going to acknowledge my ancestry and move into the imperial palace tonight.”

“There’s so much dowry—er, luggage. My men aren’t exactly built for heavy lifting, so they can’t carry it all.”

Su Yaoyao smiled sweetly at the dumbfounded commander of the Imperial Guards.

“Would you gentlemen mind setting aside your swords, spears, and halberds for a moment?”

“Please help Your Highness carry these chests back to the palace in one piece!”

The Imperial Guards were the elite of the elite, the royal force tasked with protecting the Emperor’s safety.

And now they had been ordered to do manual labor for a moving company?!

The commander of the Imperial Guards looked toward Su Zhen for help, hoping the Emperor would put a stop to Su Yaoyao’s outrageous behavior.

Instead, Su Zhen glared at him and barked, “Why are you looking at Me? The Crown Princess’s orders are My orders!”

“Didn’t you hear the Crown Princess? Get moving!”

“If even a single gold leaf of hers is damaged, I’ll chop off all your heads!”

The commander’s neck shrank back. He nearly burst into tears on the spot.

“Y-Yes, Your Majesty!”

The imposing Imperial Guards, who normally killed without blinking, all hung their weapons from their waists and began huffing and puffing as they hauled the heavy redwood chests.

“You, the tall one! Be careful with that chest of premium red coral. Even if we sold you, we couldn’t afford to compensate her if it broke!”

“And you! Keep those two chests of gold ingots covered tightly. Don’t let the wind blow any away!”

Su Yaoyao stood to one side like a wealthy landowner, pointing and issuing orders.

The scar-faced man and the other black-market underlings brought tea and refreshments as they watched the lofty Imperial Guards labor for their boss. The roughnecks were so delighted they nearly floated into the heavens.

Su Zhen stood with his arms crossed, watching his daughter’s money-loving ways.

The more he looked, the more he liked her.

Half an hour later, everything had been packed up.

The enormous procession departed from the filthy underground black market.

The Imperial Guards had transformed into heavily armored porters, hauling dozens of weighty chests.

Led by Su Zhen and Su Yaoyao, they swaggered toward the capital of Dayuan in full view of everyone.

Meanwhile, deep within the imperial palace of Dayuan...

Inside the resplendent Palace of Gathered Elegance, the brazier burned brightly, while the precious scent of ambergris incense curled through the air.

The most powerful woman in the imperial harem, Noble Consort Jing, reclined lazily on her chaise.

Her meticulously tended nail guards tapped against the rosewood table beside her as she waited for good news.

A trusted eunuch came tumbling into the hall, rolling and scrambling until he dropped to his knees with a thud.

“Your Highness! Your Highness, this is terrible!”

“What happened? Why are you making such a fuss? Have you no decorum?”

The Noble Consort did not even lift her eyelids. Her voice was coquettish yet cutting.

“His Majesty... His Majesty isn’t dead!”

The eunuch trembled all over, his voice quavering.

“Not only is he alive, Eunuch Li Fu was cleaved in two by His Majesty’s sword! The poison Eunuch Li Fu prepared wasn’t even needed!”

“What?!”

The Noble Consort sat bolt upright, her face drained of color.

“And that’s not all...”

The eunuch swallowed, his expression growing even more desperate as he continued.

“His Majesty recognized an illegitimate daughter at the black market. He’s now leading the Imperial Guards and making a grand spectacle of escorting that wild girl into the palace!”

“His Majesty even issued an edict before everyone, naming that wild girl the Crown Princess of Dayuan!”

As soon as the words left his mouth—

Bang!

The priceless Ru ware teacup beside the Noble Consort was swept to the floor by her hand and shattered into pieces.

Scalding tea splashed everywhere.

“The Crown Princess?!”

The Noble Consort’s face twisted with rage. Even her exquisite makeup could not conceal the venomous madness in her eyes.

She had fought her way through the imperial harem for years, exhausting every scheme and stratagem, yet had never even managed to come close to giving birth to a Crown Prince.

And now, some stray nobody picked up off the street actually dared to climb above her head and become the Crown Princess?!

The Noble Consort drew a deep breath, her chest rising and falling violently.

She rose to her feet, her sharp nail guards digging deeply into her palms. A chilling smile curled across her lips.

“A mongrel from the common folk thinks she’s worthy of becoming Crown Princess? Nanny Rong, prepare the carriage!”