**Weiyang Palace.**
Ying Xu was throwing a tantrum. “Where is Xie Liu? I told you to fetch someone and now still can’t bring anyone! What use are you?”
As her words fell, the ground echoed with thuds. Countless precious ornaments, in all shapes and sizes, were smashed one by one without care.
The palace servants in Weiyang Palace knelt together, but not a single one dared to stop Ying Xu—if they tried to stop her, the things she smashed might fall on them, and they might lose their lives at any moment.
Indeed, as slaves, their lives were cheap. In terms of value, the lives of an entire palace full of people wouldn’t even equal one of the “treasures” smashed by Ying Xu. But who would want to die without reason? Especially when Ying Xu’s temper was so bad that no palace maid or eunuch could stop her when she acted up.
It was better to protect themselves. After all, for someone born noble, now the Empress, Ying Xu, those rare treasures were worthless in her eyes. Otherwise, how could it be that every time she threw a tantrum and broke countless things, new ones would always appear to replace them?
As the palace servants kept their heads down, watching the endless addition of broken pieces and intact ornaments, a streak of bright yellow fabric brushed past their eyes. Then the constant crashing sounds finally ceased.
The “culprit” responsible for all this was about to smash another new item when her wrist was caught by His Majesty.
The man’s gaze was cold and impassive as he looked at the extremely beautiful young woman before him, speaking in a tone tinged with impatience: “Ying Xu, have you finished this nonsense?”
“Breaking things every other day—do you want to demolish the entire palace before stopping?”
“I warn you, today is the last time. Next time, if you dare—”
His words were cut off by Ying Xu.
The strikingly beautiful young woman looked up defiantly, her voice loud: “I, this palace, am causing a fuss? Then why don’t you first tell me where the Yun brocade that was sent to me went?”
His Majesty was momentarily stunned by her words.
He had been full of anger when he arrived and hadn’t even asked the little eunuch who came to deliver the message why Ying Xu was causing trouble this time. After all, Ying Xu never needed a reason to act up. If she was in a bad mood or something annoyed her, she would find a way to vent.
But now, upon hearing this, he realized it was actually his fault—he had taken the Yun brocade that was meant for Ying Xu and given it to his beloved. For a moment, he felt guilty.
But only for a moment.
Now he was the Emperor. In this palace, everything and everyone belonged to him. He could give what he wanted to whomever he pleased, and no one could object.
He looked deeply at the young woman who, in his memory, had been betrothed to him by his father, the most spoiled and capricious girl in all of Jinling. Watching her expressions of joy and anger, the entire Weiyang Palace seemed to tremble with her emotions.
Recalling how happy his beloved was when she received even the smallest gift, he suddenly wanted to warn Ying Xu to have some restraint in the future, to understand limits, and not act so recklessly again.
But before he could speak, his gaze fell on the ground. Beyond the treasures she had smashed, there were numerous pieces of cloth—some whole, some torn—but all had been deeply cut with scissors.
He furrowed his brows deeply and asked: “What is this? For the sake of two pieces of Yun brocade, why is there so much destroyed? Such extravagance and waste. I see you don’t seem to be lacking those two Yun brocades anyway.”
“Heh.” Ying Xu immediately let out a cold laugh, raising her head to look at the Emperor, and said coldly: “So what if I’m not lacking? Today I have decided to cut these. This is to tell you: everything that belongs to me is mine alone, and no one else may touch a single piece.”
Under her gaze, the Emperor turned his head, his tone revealing a hint of embarrassment: “You crazy woman, simply unreasonable!”
“Being unreasonable is far better than being bullied!” Ying Xu raised her voice in response to the Emperor’s embarrassment.
She asked again, repeating her previous question: “So, tell me, who did you give my things to?”
“Xie Liu, tell me!”
Angry, she reached to strike him. Her delicate, fair hand landed on him with force—not weak at all. Though Ying Xu was petite, she was born from a military household; swords and knives were part of her childhood, and when she was truly angry, hitting someone really hurt.
The Emperor had no choice but to fend her off. Yet he could not tell Ying Xu that he had given the items to a palace maid—even if she was his beloved. If Ying Xu learned of the maid’s existence, she would never tolerate it; she would order her beaten or even killed, and would not stop until her life was gone.
However, under Ying Xu’s entangling grasp, his mind unexpectedly calmed. Suddenly, he remembered something—he wasn’t sure why he hadn’t stopped the beautiful young woman trying to strike him immediately. His gaze shifted to the palace servants kneeling nearby, holding items meant for Ying Xu, clearly from the treasury. He asked, with a stern face: “Who told the Empress about this?”
Ying Xu, who indulged in extravagance purely for her amusement, could not possibly remember that two Yun brocades were missing—how could she recall everything she owned?
Upon hearing the Emperor’s question, her briefly suppressed anger surged again: “What do you mean?”
She felt both annoyed and wronged: “You dare bully my people in front of me. What’s next? Are you going to bully me too?”
Her voice rising, Ying Xu grabbed a pair of scissors from the dressing table beside her.
She was about to stab at the Emperor, but he quickly raised his hand and pushed the elegantly dressed young woman down, shouting: “How dare you! Using a sharp weapon in front of the Emperor! Don’t you know this could be considered regicide?”
Without any warning, Ying Xu was pushed to the ground.
Her beautiful phoenix-like eyes blinked twice, a faint confusion in her expression—she clearly hadn’t expected him to treat her this way, looking both obedient and pitiful.
But now, the Emperor had long lost any sense of tender pity. He looked down at Ying Xu from above, and for a moment, he seemed to recall something. His voice turned cold as he gave her a final warning: “Ying Xu, this is the last time. If it happens again, I will depose you.”
After speaking, the Emperor did not look at her further and turned to leave.
Just as he reached the entrance of Weiyang Palace, Ying Xu seemed to come to her senses. Her beautiful phoenix eyes showed disbelief.
Then, recalling his words about deposition, she shouted furiously at the back of his bright yellow robe: “How dare you!”
With that, she threw the scissors in her hand forcefully at his back. Judging by the strength, no one would doubt that if the distance hadn’t been far enough, the Emperor might actually have been impaled by her today.
The palace servants kneeling inside only heard the Emperor’s angry voice from outside: “The Empress’s salary for the next three months is halved!”
And the clear, sharp voice inside replied just as fiercely: “I’d like to see who dares!”
“Also, she is to be confined for one month!”
The palace servants bowed their heads even lower, fearing the war between Emperor and Empress might spill onto them.
In less than two months, the three encounters between Emperor and Empress had all ended unhappily, each worse than the last.
Especially the third meeting, in which the Emperor even mentioned deposition. Naturally, the palace servants were all concerned for their own futures.
Though the palace was always a place of hierarchy, and when a master lost favor, the servants might slacken, Ying Xu’s past strictness meant that even now, when the Emperor clearly disliked her, no one dared treat her poorly materially.
—No matter how fallen she was, she was still the Empress. And one with many matters, making people secretly curse her in their hearts.
As the saying goes, “The arm cannot twist the thigh.” The palace servants did not wish to challenge the temper of the capricious Empress—especially when she was confined by the Emperor and already frustrated.
However, although the Emperor ordered Ying Xu to remain in Weiyang Palace, she did not fully obey.
Even during her confinement, she went out sometimes, and her daily attire and appearance remained unchanged. Her life showed no real difference.
For the palace servants, the greatest fortune was that Ying Xu had not made any excessively difficult demands.
Perhaps, as the saying goes, people can become too fixated on something. The palace servants thought that maybe, due to being coldly treated by the Emperor, the Empress had suddenly become more obedient, no longer deliberately tormenting them.
One day, Ying Xu rose and, looking at the flawless white banyan tree outside the window, whimsically said: “From today onward, go collect the morning dew of winter for me.”
In the bitter cold of winter—where would they find morning dew?
Upon hearing this, the palace servants could not help but complain in their hearts.
Yet despite their complaints, they knew that when Ying Xu spoke, no one could oppose her. If anyone tried to reason, saying the requested items didn’t exist, she would consider them useless, send them to labor, or punish them.
Even with such a difficult request, they could only hope for a miracle and a few days of peace. Though Ying Xu had many demands, the treatment in Weiyang Palace was far superior to other places.
After several attempts, they finally presented a few satisfactory results. Ying Xu nodded slightly, barely content, and sat at the dressing table to change her hairpin.
Just as she removed the ornament from her hair, a flat, mechanical voice suddenly sounded in her mind:
【System loading 90%…】
In the empty palace, a strange voice suddenly rang out. Ying Xu first thought someone dared to scare her.
She frowned and said unhappily: “Who? If you don’t leave immediately, I’ll annihilate your nine clans.”
【System loading complete.】
【Ding! The Cannon Fodder Counterattack System sincerely serves you!】
【Please do not panic or fear, the system harbors no malice toward you!】
**Author’s Note:**
Xu Mei: ? But I have malice toward you.