Chapter 1123 - 875: The Emperor’s Return

"Very well,"

Elsa beckoned, and all six of them stood up together.

"Take your stools back to your places,"

The ministers, as if granted amnesty, gratefully returned to their seats, sweat soaking their entire bodies.

"Alright, so what do you plan to do now? Continue to spout nonsense?" Elsa asked Sajia.

Sajia’s eyes and mouth were trembling violently, he sighed deeply, knowing he had once again lost his composure, leading to another failure. But this time, he didn’t feel the sense of defeat he had before, but instead just smiled and shook his head, saying, "No more, I agree to your proposal."

Elsa grinned, "Thank you for your generosity, Your Highness, the great First Prince. However, I have a piece of advice for you all. If I have any proposals in the future, and you want to refute me, you’d better bring something substantial, or else next time I won’t wait even half an hour."

After Elsa left, the inexplicable pressure disappeared, and everyone present heaved a sigh of relief. The pressure this young princess exerted on them was simply too great; even during the times when the Emperor was there, it was never this immense.

Yet, even though Elsa had left, she also took with her a host of mysteries. Why was she so insistent on dealing with those Ghost Spirits?

That very afternoon, Elsa issued an announcement, declaring that the old Imperial City was now completely open to the public. From that day on, the old Imperial City would become a safe zone, and all the Ghost Spirits would leave the old Imperial City, relocating to an area far removed from the dwellings of ordinary people.

Countless people flocked to see what exactly had happened, among them Selena and Sajia. And then, they witnessed a surprising scene.

Lead by Elsa, thousands of adorable little girls marched out of the old Imperial City. In their eyes was a curiosity for the people and things around them, but not a hint of aggression.

"Are these all your doing?" Selena approached Elsa and asked as she looked around at the large group of cute little girls.

"No, this is actually how they should have looked originally," Elsa said.

"I don’t understand," Selena admitted, thoroughly confused.

"Ghost Spirits are just a group of pitiable lives who have been manipulated. They don’t know where they come from or where they are going. They were given detestable tasks, and the Celestial Clan just happened to be within their range of attack. What I’ve done is to help them regain their senses, to return to their original forms. Now, I need to teach them how to behave as civilized individuals. Before achieving this, I will not allow them to easily come into contact with society, which would be dangerous both for Heaven Realm and for the Ghost Spirits themselves." Elsa’s words were a mix of truth and deception, and she did not lower her voice, so those nearby could hear clearly; soon, the words would spread.

"Do you plan to educate them there?" Selena asked.

"Yes, I’ll recruit a group of excellent teachers to instruct them in social knowledge, etiquette, and the most important aspect of interacting with people: language," Elsa said.

"Will people go?"

"Of course, after all, I’m offering a high salary," Elsa said with a smile.

"And then?"

"And then? Naturally, the next step is to reintegrate them into the world,"

"Do you think Heaven Realm will accept them?"

"Why not? They are beautiful and well-mannered, just like you and me. What purpose does rejection serve?"

"Well, despite thinking you may be oversimplifying it, I won’t stop you. However, one thing I am really curious about, what about their power?" Selena asked, looking at a cute little girl beside her.

"The former Ghost Spirits were merely fighting on instinct, but now I’ve begun to teach them combat techniques. If everything goes as expected, they should be much stronger than before,"

"And their parasitism..."

"Gone entirely, just as I said. They are now purely physical beings and no longer need to reproduce in that manner," Elsa said.

"That’s probably one of the best pieces of news I’ve heard today,"

"You forget, Youyou herself said it this morning,"

"No, I still trust what you tell me more,"

"Why? Are you not afraid that I will deceive you?"

"No, you won’t. Because you are too strong, you simply disdain to deceive people."

The conversation between the two princesses reached everyone’s ears, and in the eyes of the crowd, the departure of the Ghost Spirits from the old Imperial City basically signaled their complete victory over the Ghost Spirits. Some of those who had seen the little girls leave even felt a tinge of reluctance.

Without a doubt, this was Elsa’s intention. She portrayed the Ghost Spirits as lovable little girls solely to lower everyone’s guard against this reshaped race. Indeed, based on feedback that followed, most people had a positive impression of these little girls. Of course, there were also those with ill intentions who started spreading threatening theories, such as Elsa’s plans to raise these Ghost Spirits into a powerful force to usurp the throne, but such talk was quickly ridiculed as ignorant. After all, Elsa had never shown interest in becoming the Emperor; otherwise, based on her resounding achievements in the war against the Ghost Spirits, she could have easily gathered immense popularity in a short time.

Popularity could sometimes play a much greater role in becoming Emperor than one might expect.

However, Elsa no longer cared about these matters, for she had already left that place of strife behind.

The day after Elsa’s departure, at the morning court assembly, all ministers witnessed a shocking scene. The Emperor, who hadn’t appeared once since Elsa’s return, was actually seated on the throne!

"This throne has been vacant for too long!" the immensely haggard Emperor declared to the ministers below.

"Your Majestic Emperor!"

All ministers knelt in unison, exclaiming loudly for the Emperor.

"Father!"

Sajia and Selena both cried out in surprise, but Sajia felt one part surprise to nine parts joy, while Selena experienced nine parts surprise to one part joy. The topic of their father had always been avoided between Selena and Elsa due to the incident that befell Elsa, which was almost entirely the Emperor’s doing. If not for the baffling prophecy put forth by the Emperor, Elsa’s Light Wing would not have been severed, and none of these subsequent events would have occurred. But to everyone’s surprise, not only had Elsa not perished, but she had also returned from the Human Realm even stronger!

With the Emperor’s disappearance and Elsa’s inexplicable aid to Selena, Selena thought that Elsa attributed all their hatred to their father, and the Emperor’s mysterious absence further convinced her of the Emperor’s guilt!

Now, with Elsa gone and the Emperor returning almost immediately, what did this imply?

Selena dared not think too much about it; the mere thought filled her with fear.

"During my absence, I am pleased to see my son and daughter have governed the Celestial Clan so well, and I have even noticed that the threat of the Ghost Spirits has vanished! Prince Sajia and Princess Selena deserve immense credit for this!" the Emperor continued.

"Father, the greatest credit for our recapturing of the lost territories goes to my little sister Elsa!" Unable to accept such praise with a clear conscience, Selena spoke out. As she did, her heart rate accelerated; she was unclear about the Emperor’s sudden return, and by bringing up Elsa, she aimed to shift the conversation toward her sister.

"Indeed, Your Majesty, for reclaiming our lands and driving away the Ghost Spirits, thus ending their millennia-long threat, Princess Elsa undoubtedly deserves to be recognized as the leading hero!" the ministers said one after another.

"Oh? Is that so? I distinctly remember it was First Prince Sajia who bravely charged into battle, pushing the Ghost Spirits back to where they are now," the Emperor said with displeasure, and then he looked at Sajia and asked, "Isn’t that right, my son?"

Sajia was taken aback. He had been almost ineffective in the affair with the Ghost Spirits; the majority of the credit truly belonged to Elsa, a fact that was nearly indisputable. The Emperor should have known this.

"Actually, Father, this time it truly was Elsa who..." Sajia didn’t want to tell such an obvious lie, so he decided to be honest. However, the Emperor suddenly roared, "Is that so!! My son!!"

Sajia’s eyes widened as he looked at the Emperor, whose face now bore a smile tinged with ferocity.

The excited expressions on the faces of the assembled ministers vanished, for they could all sense that something was amiss. Was the Emperor forcing Sajia to acknowledge deeds he had not done? Was the Emperor intentionally erasing Elsa’s existence? Could it be that the feud between the Emperor and Princess Elsa was far from over?

The entire hall fell utterly silent as Sajia stared into the Emperor’s eyes, unsure of what had transpired. Yet in the end, he chose subservience, "Yes, Father, as you have said."

In the midst of astonished expressions, Sajia admitted to deeds he had not committed. Even Sajia himself blushed with shame and dared not meet the gazes of the surrounding ministers. For with just a glance from the corner of his eye, he could see looks of scorn, some even from those who once belonged to his faction.

But Sajia ultimately dared not defy the Emperor.

"Is that so? I knew it. Make sure you all remember that," the Emperor said, his demeanor returning to one of affable kindness.

Selena’s heart rate reached a peak; she keenly felt that something was terribly wrong. Could this be some kind of omen?

"So, do any of the ministers have proposals?" The Emperor asked warmly, his gaze sweeping over each minister.

The ministers looked at each other, their spirits dampened by the recent turn of events. In fact, some of the more astute ministers had already realized that things might be more serious than they had imagined. The Ghost Spirits had almost certainly been driven away by Princess Elsa’s solitary effort and it was she who had recovered the lands. Now, with the long-absent Emperor suddenly appearing and so publicly stripping Elsa of all her accolades, considering Elsa’s temperament, would she tolerate this? (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you are welcome to support it by casting recommendation votes and monthly tickets on Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)