Whether she wanted to or not was not something Nan Gong Cai could control.
Not long after the imperial decree was issued, Nan Gong Yu entered the East Palace and became the crown prince.
It was also in this year that the Empress and the Emperor decided to send troops to the Azure Dragon Country.
The entire Vermillion Bird housed over six hundred thousand troops, with at least half of them in their hands. Whether to fight or not was up to them, and the civil and military officials had completely given up.
Their Majesty had always been ambitious, and they knew very well that the unification of the world was only a matter of time. Now, the people of the Azure Dragon Country were living in dire straits. Attacking now was undoubtedly the best opportunity.
In the autumn of that year, Zhu Qin and Chong Yan once again personally led the expedition to attack the Azure Dragon Country.
This time, Prime Minister Lu, who had championed the Azure Dragon Country more than a decade ago, not only did not plead for his former country and monarch, but instead volunteered to be the strategist for this expedition.
The Azure Dragon Country was now rotten from the inside out, its entire system corrupted. From the ruler to the local county magistrates, there were hardly any upright officials. Everyone was scrambling to become an official solely to extort and oppress the common people.
Therefore, Lu Chong Yuan not only did not oppose Zhu Qin, but eagerly anticipated the campaign.
The current pass was no longer Qiu Ling Pass. There had been some friction between the two countries before. To preserve his position, the emperor had willingly ceded territory and paid reparations, gifting two cities not far from Qiu Ling Pass to the Vermillion Bird.
At the time, the displaced people thought they had been abandoned by their country and had no hope for the future. Little did they know that this cession had freed them from their suffering.
When the people of the Azure Dragon Country heard that the Vermillion Bird was leading an army to attack, they were not afraid. Some even risked being killed to help forge a path, allowing the Vermillion Bird's soldiers to bypass the rear and kill many of the men sent by the Azure Dragon Emperor.
Then, under Lu Chong Yuan's instigation, the generals who were supposed to fight directly defected, bringing their troops with them.
The Vermillion Bird army advanced like a broken bamboo. In just half a month, they dispersed all the obstructing forces. Some surrendered willingly, while those who resisted stubbornly were not killed by Zhu Qin, but rather imprisoned for the time being.
They fought all the way to Ying Zhou City, the capital of the Azure Dragon Country. As they were breaking down the city gates, the defending army, which had been resisting fiercely, suddenly gave up.
Immediately afterward, they heard a piece of news.
The Emperor of the Azure Dragon Country, the Fourth Prince who had ascended the throne with twenty-three million taels of silver, had been beaten to death in the palace by more than a dozen of his concubines.
This turn of events was unexpected by anyone, and no one felt the need to investigate.
Just like more than a decade ago, the death of an emperor could hasten the end of the war and reduce the suffering of the people. There was nothing wrong with that.
After conquering the Azure Dragon Country, Zhu Qin did not annihilate the royal family. Although she did not bestow titles as the previous dynasty had, she granted them houses and land. If they behaved themselves, living a good life would not be difficult.
Taking this opportunity, she re-divided the lands of the Azure Dragon Country and the Xuan Wu territory, which had not been truly integrated, as well as some of the Vermillion Bird's lands. The more than ninety prefectures, departments, and cities that had been vaguely demarcated were more clearly divided into over sixty prefectures and departments, governing more than four hundred cities. Officials were re-selected, government offices were established, and laws were unified.
One of the most eye-opening decrees was the promulgation of the monogamy law.
In fact, it had already been implemented in the Vermillion Bird. Although there were no explicit laws, the late Emperor's decree that one could only take concubines after the age of forty, coupled with long-standing customs, meant that families with multiple wives were rare in the Vermillion Bird. Influenced by this, Xuan Wu had also gradually developed such unspoken customs over the years.
As for the Azure Dragon, there would undoubtedly be resistance in the short term, but once the law was enacted, things would change over time.
In addition to these regulations, Zhu Qin did something that surprised everyone: she abolished the title "Vermillion Bird Country" and changed it to a dynastic name. The current dynastic name was "Ning."
Many people believed that this character sounded the same as her name. In reality, Zhu Qin and Chong Yan simply hoped that the people of this land would live in eternal peace.
Not long after the three countries of Vermillion Bird, Xuan Wu, and Azure Dragon merged, the White Tiger could no longer hold on. As the only country not annexed, the White Tiger's royal family was not happy but lived in constant fear.
Finally, the Emperor of the White Tiger wrote a personal letter to Zhu Qin, over thirty pages long, with a particularly complex content.
The White Tiger Emperor first stated his willingness to submit and become a vassal of "Da Ning," then pleaded with Da Ning not to attack them, saying he would give his life for the peace of his people. He then offered to send his crown prince to be the consort of Da Ning's Crown Princess...
He was clearly terrified and his thoughts were somewhat jumbled.
After reading it, Zhu Qin replied with three words: "I have read it."
A month later, the Emperor of the White Tiger personally arrived, submitted, and became a prince of the Da Ning Dynasty. The last country was officially incorporated into Da Ning, achieving true unification.
This was now a true golden age.
Once everything was on track, Zhu Qin and Chong Yan enjoyed a period of peace.
Nan Gong Yu also began to engage in state affairs. When Zhu Qin asked her if she was willing to become the Crown Princess, she was already mentally prepared. Her studies over the years had equipped her with her own set of skills for managing national affairs, requiring almost no effort from Zhu Qin.
Zhu Qin gradually relinquished power.
When Zhu Qin was forty-five years old, she formally abdicated, allowing Nan Gong Yu to become Emperor.
At that time, Nan Gong Yu was in her twenties, a young Empress filled with ambition, eager to make the country better and better.
In the following decades, she did not disappoint Zhu Qin and Chong Yan's expectations, ushering in hundreds of years of glory for Da Ning.
No one knew when the much-revered Empress Sheng Ning and Emperor Chang An had passed away. Their mausoleums had been completed long ago. Then, one day, the tomb keeper rushed into the palace to announce their demise.
Nan Gong Yu, now in her fifties, entered the mausoleum with the court officials. They saw two people lying side-by-side in crystal coffins.
Their appearances had reverted to how they looked decades ago. They were dressed in red, as if they were not dead but rather a couple lying together on their wedding night.
Nan Gong Yu knelt down, and the officials behind her followed suit.
Later, a popular saying emerged that Empress Sheng Ning and Emperor Chang An were celestial beings who descended to earth to save the people from suffering, their virtues immeasurable.
Immeasurable virtues...