“Your Majesty, how should we deal with these people?” After the King Dowager was escorted out of the throne room, Long Xizhao was the first to take the initiative to stand up amidst the panicked officials to inquire the Empress' intentions. Long Xizhao was infamous for her intelligence and cunning, always a step ahead of everyone else. But never in a million years did she expect for this abnormal, unexpected coup to be resolved so effortlessly.

“All the soldiers who partic.i.p.ated in the rebellion are fined for three years of service and transferred to the frontier's garrisons. All the generals with military ranks will be demoted three levels down. Without explicit military orders, they will not be able to move around without zhen's permission. Everyone is to heed zhen's command. Furthermore, these traitor rebels are to be detained in the Sky Prison until they receive their sentences. No one is allowed to visit them and the whole Situ clan is to be detained and taken into custody. If there are deserters, they are to be killed on sight!”

Originally, all officials present predicted that this coup would end peacefully and without any sight of blood, but it was never that simple. These defectors deserved to die for betraying the Empress, never to rise up again. The Empress decided to listen to Luo Yu's advice to spare the lives of the soldiers, but there would be others who would have to take fatal responsibility for their actions.

“Understood!”

The courtiers and officials who had defected to Situ Changqin's side begged for mercy, fear and horror contorting their pale-stricken faces. But under Long Xizhao's supervision, every single defector was arrested and thrown into the Sky Prison. Qianhe Liyou's words were summarily executed and obeyed. In only a few moments, two-thirds of the court's officials were imprisoned into the Sky Prison and the military generals were sent home, their expressions panicked and grim. The entire imperial palace was bathed into a tense atmosphere, and the fighting outside the imperial palace was getting bloodier and more gory as time went on. The pandemonium occurring outside the palace was due to the fact that the rest of the rebels still didn't know of Situ Changqin's death and were still resisting stubbornly. Additionally, the hengdao* (*TN: meaning righteous or judicious) unit belonging to the Qianhe family wiped out the rest of the rebels without any hesitation. In mere seconds, the road outside the palace was stained red, the smell of blood hovering thickly in the air, almost like a fine mist. People vomited as they got near the palace walls and the more timid didn't even dare to peek out the palace gates.

“Your Majesty, the rebellion has been effectively quelled and the fighting has mostly subsided. The remaining runaway officials are being pursued and arrested as we speak. Does Your Majesty have any other orders?”

For three consecutive days, Long Xizhao had been so busy that she didn't even have the time to close her eyes as she finally dealt with the final remnants and aftermath of the rebellion. Without even stopping to take a break, she hurriedly entered the Imperial palace to report to the Empress, only to find the Empress holding and leisurely reading a mysterious-looking book. Just looking at the Empress' relaxed state made her envious and she wanted to throw a tantrum. An official's life was really not easy ah!

“Zhen heard that your brother is the concubine of Situ family's eldest daughter?” In the three days while Long Xizhao had been dealing with her matters, the Empress had not been spending her time as leisurely as outsiders thought. Although she held a book in her hand, she had actually been pondering over the recent events that occurred over the last few days. It was a very novel experience for her as she tried to fully integrate the fragmented and muddy memories in her brain into her memory reservoir.

Due to these memories, she had developed a greater, more detailed understanding of the inner and outer workings of the imperial palace. Although the previous soul had been muddleheaded and corrupted, still, a person who could become Empress was not to be underestimated. In addition to the secret 50,000 man army in her hands, she also had a secretive Anbu Black Ops responsible for taking care of her dark and underhanded operations, and this wasn't even mentioning the hidden dragon that was under her control: a  wealthy and flouris.h.i.+ng commercial organization, Yin Long, that had trade dealings with all five major countries on the mainland. This combination of light and dark could be regarded as the lifeblood and true source of power for the royal family. The foundation created by past generations of the Qianhe Royal family cannot be fathomed.

As for Long Xizhao's younger brother, she had obtained this information collected by both the Anbu Black Ops and Yin Long's intelligence networks. On the second day of the aftermath of the rebellion, Qianhe Liyou had already obtained and learned of the rebels' backgrounds, names and connections in detail. According to her estimations, even if the body retained the original's soul, just based on Situ Chanqin's power, the result of the rebellion would have been disastrous, a clear loss.

“Your Majesty, this minister did not dare conceal it, this is indeed the case. This minister has already requested for her younger brother to wait for interrogation in the Sky Prison and absolutely dare not venture to ask the Empress to pardon him!” Long Xizhao hurried to kneel on the ground and said this with a severely solemn expression. Although her younger brother had secretly married Situ Wenyu, the eldest daughter of the Situ family as a concubine, she wasn't so ignorant as to believe that no one knew about this matter. But since the Empress brought this matter up immediately after her arrival, Long Xizhao was unable to feel out the Empress' true intentions. Alas, my naive and stupid brother, how could you have fallen in love with this villain Situ Wenyu in the first place? Not only had he taken a severe emotional hit, he also had to pay with his innocent life.

“Hear zhen's command, immediately retrieve your brother home and make him ruminate over his actions, but most importantly, do not ever come into contact with the Situ family again!” Although Qianhe Liyou didn't understand human emotion, she felt that the emotionally injured person was very stupid, but she still had a few cents of admiration for Long Xizhao's brother. Additionally, Long Xizhao was a loyal and upright official and Qianhe Liyou didn't want to leave Long Xizhao with any regrets.

“Your Majesty! Thank you for your royal kindness, long live the Empress, long live the Empress!”

Long Xizhao's initial apprehension quickly turned into overflowing surprise and relief. The reason she had not pleaded with the Empress to spare her brother's life was because she knew just how cruel and unsparing the Empress originally was. The Empress didn't give anyone face except the King Dowager, but she never thought that the Empress would be the one to bring the topic up first, how could she not be surprised?

“You may leave now, make sure to handle the rebellion matters well, do what you should do and don't do what you shouldn't.”

Qianhe Liyou's cold and indifferent tone made the still surprised Long Xizhao immediately stand up and cautiously put on a respectful face. The Empress was different, really different today. She didn't know whether the Empress was too good at hiding her true emotions or what stimulus the Empress had received during this matter, but she could feel that the brutal and terrifying Empress from before had changed. Now, Empress had become colder, unfathomable and even more aloof. Just a faint sentence from Qianhe Liyou had made Long Xizhao shudder as sudden chills traveled down her spine, a feeling she had never felt before.

“Yes, this minister obeys!”

Indifferently looking at the cautiously withdrawing Long Xizhao, Qianhe Liyou flung the book in her hand and stood up.

The court was in turmoil and panic, She didn't say anything, but she had already pondered over what happened and what her next steps should be. After all the rebels had been arrested, the ones that should be killed were killed, the fined punished and then there was that big bloodbath to kick those useless traitors out of her sight forever, bringing new blood into the imperial court. The previous Empress paid close attention to the checks and balances in the court, but she was not the previous Empress and would not manage the dynasty in that way. She planned to use her own methods to govern the country. Yes, this country, from the east borders to the west borders, was her life project and toy to play with now. Qianhe Liyou wanted to experience a different life here and moreover, she wanted to live under life under her own morals.

It was just that, the affairs of the court were easy to handle, but some things made her feel like her new life would be a bit troublesome. The chief source of the trouble was the person in charge of the harem, the King Dowager Luo Yu. She didn't know what type of att.i.tude to deal with Luo Yu, this made her feel a bit suppressed and besides Luo Yu, there were dozens of concubines and consorts in the harem. From the King Consort to the lowly concubines she didn't even know their names. As long as she has touched them, or they were regarded as a distinguished person, in her cognition, they all belonged to her. She would have to carry the responsibility to take care of the lives of these people, which made her feel like it was a very troublesome matter because she only planned on taking care of the basic necessities for them. Thus, she was confused about how to treat these people. It would be obviously inappropriate to treat these people as just souls trapped in mortal sh.e.l.ls. She wasn't fond of these people and naturally had no desires to become intimate with the members of her harem. She had been a zombie cultivator for 10,000 years and naturally understood the matters of intimacy, but never experienced it for herself. After all, a zombie's body had no carnal desires, but now she was in a mortal body. While she wouldn't be able to reject the physical desires and needs that came with being human, she wouldn't indulge excessively like the previous soul in this body had. It was just that, according to customs here, these people in her harem were already left with no other paths except to stay as mere dolls in her harem. She will let those who want to live, live, and those who want to die, die. These concubines and consorts would have absolutely no ability or power to resist. They were an extremely fragile existence to the powerful Qianhe Liyou and although she preferred to not care about them, these people had become her responsibility. After thinking about this matter for the past three days, although she still found it troublesome, she reluctantly came to a decision…..

They were to become her responsibility. She will take care of them so that they can live a comfortable life and protect them from other people's bullying and oppression, but she will never indulge these people, nor will she force them to become intimate with her. This matter involved state, national and family principles. Her morals were extremely principled and Qianhe Liyou hoped that no one would violate her bottom line.

“Your Majesty, do you want to take a walk?” A cautious question was launched in the direction of Qianhe Liyou's back. It was the King Consort who had been serving at her side, Luo Weiqing. Qianhe Liyou had given orders that the King Consort would be responsible for her meals and other daily necessities. It seems that this King Consort had been turned into a mere and ordinary waiter, but no one at court dared to say another word about the Empress' actions.

And the reason for doing so was precisely due to her cultivation habits of keeping 'food' by her side as one of a zombie cultivator's must-dos.

“King, zhen despises harem intrigue and constant plotting. As zhen's King, you should have the character, will and courage of one. Pa.s.s on zhen's will to the rest of the concubines, consorts and attendants in the harem. Tell them to stay put and don't cause trouble. Any one who insists on staying dishonest and continues to use cunning, underhanded methods, will bring their heads to zhen as punishment, do you understand?”

The previous Empress was brutal and corrupt, even going as far as to have three to five concubines die on the dragon bed every few days, but the major n.o.ble families in the capital still sent a steady stream of men to enter the Empress' harem. It was self-evident as to why they did so. Among the harem, these intrigues and conspiracies weren't any less treacherous or influential than the Imperial court. But this was something she would never allow to happen again!

“Yes, this consort understands, this consort will do it!” The previous Empress had always indulged her concubines and never managed the infighting that occurred within the harem. Luo Weiqing didn't know why such an order was suddenly given, but since the Empress awoke, he felt like the Empress had changed. The Empress's eyes had chilled, becoming indifferent to everything and her frigid gaze deeply scared Luo Weiqing. But despite those changes, she had still requested for Luo Weiqing to serve at her side, surprising everyone.

Moreover, the most surprising was the lack of indulgence practiced by the Empress. Previously, the Empress would favor an imperial concubine every day, switching concubines to sleep with everyday. But since the rebellion had been squashed, the King Consort was the only member of the imperial harem allowed to serve the Empress and Luo Weiqing thought he would be favored. However, the Empress did nothing, she had even slept on the couch at night. The palace attendants who waited by the Empress clearly witnessed this and these rumors had spread rapidly, so naturally everyone in the palace knew by now…

Everyone had guessed the reason and the answer that was more acceptable to everyone in the end was that the rebellion had sobered up the Empress. But for how long the Empress would be out of her stupor, only time could tell.

But in any case, the Empress had obviously changed. This character change wasn't obvious, but it was felt by everyone who came into contact with her…