"Good heavens, I'm scared to death. Was I just dreaming? Pinching myself hurts a lot. Martial Saint's consciousness..."
The King of Zhenxi, who had suddenly woken up, was still somewhat disoriented. He quickly looked around, confirmed he was in his own sleeping quarters, then pinched himself hard and carefully examined the area around the main hall with his Martial Saint's consciousness.
He found that his secret guards and others were all present.
Only then did he believe he wasn't dreaming.
He had indeed woken up.
At the same time, he could still clearly recall everything that had happened in his dream, clearly remembering the words spoken to him by the Crown Princess of Yunxia. He couldn't help but murmur:
"Could it be that what happened in the dream was real?
But how is that possible? Didn't the Crown Princess of Yunxia just break through to Martial Saint recently? And I've never heard of any ordinary Martial Saint possessing such a peculiar dream-entering technique.
Could this be the Martial God technique she comprehended?
It's truly terrifying.
And since she can enter dreams, does that mean she can access my memories? If that's true, then it's understandable and natural for her to know me inside and out.
But this ability is simply too frightening.
From now on, who in the world will have any secrets left?"
After calming down, the King of Zhenxi quickly analyzed the available information. The result, instead of offering him any relief, made him feel even more chilled to the bone.
However, he was helpless about it. After all, someone with such terrifying power was not someone he could easily crush. After a long while, he could only quickly get up to wash and then promptly summon his subordinates for a meeting.
To analyze and determine the truth of the matter.
And also to discuss how to proceed next.
Compared to the King of Zhenxi's trepidation, fear, and mixed emotions, Ding Yun's feelings were much calmer and more stable. She got up at the normal time to wash and dress, then went to court to attend to state affairs with Emperor Qianyu.
Now that Ding Yun was Emperor Qianyu's only child.
He neither feared her nor needed to arrange for her to train by facing challenges. Moreover, with his days numbered, the only path left was to teach his daughter the art of rulership and the way of a monarch to the best of his ability.
Hoping to, within his limited time.
Cultivate her into a qualified monarch as much as possible.
Therefore, Ding Yun's current treatment was no less than that of Zhu Houzhao, the only son of Emperor Hongzhi of the Ming Dynasty.
Ding Yun not only enjoyed all the treatment that a Crown Prince would normally receive, but even more so. Emperor Qianyu's trust and leniency towards her were no less than Emperor Hongwu's trust in his eldest son, Zhu Biao, of the Ming Dynasty.
Ding Yun could inquire about all matters of the court, big or small.
She could also freely examine all memorials.
In addition, Emperor Qianyu was gradually introducing Ding Yun to the hidden forces unique to emperors, such as secret guards and spies, and was gradually transferring power to her. Beyond that, Emperor Qianyu even strongly supported Ding Yun in building her own faction.
To recruit and establish her own Eastern Palace court.
In short, anything that an ordinary Crown Prince would do that might provoke the emperor's suspicion, Ding Yun could do without hindrance, with no need to look back or worry about Emperor Qianyu's jealousy.
All these actions were enough for the officials to clearly see.
Emperor Qianyu's determination to have his daughter succeed him.
Although there were still many officials who were displeased, a considerable number of them were wise enough to stop interfering. Especially after Ding Yun recruited many women as officials in her Eastern Palace, the younger generation of officials became even more hesitant to resist Ding Yun by posturing.
After all, the current situation was quite clear: even if they banded together and refused to support Ding Yun or serve as officials in her Eastern Palace, Ding Yun could find enough people to help her, and they would all be women.
This undoubtedly meant that they were indirectly ceding power to those women. With the succession of a female emperor being temporarily unshakable, the reality of the situation was extremely unfavorable to them. Continuing to posture would only make things worse.
And they couldn't possibly stop being officials just because a female emperor was about to appear. After all, Martial Saints had a lifespan of a thousand years, and the Crown Princess of Yunxia might even break through to Martial God. Their families, let alone whether they would decline from having no officials for a thousand years, would decline rapidly from having no officials for even a hundred years.
The circumstances forced their hand; for the sake of their families, they had to compromise.
Although Ding Yun didn't particularly desire their involvement, she couldn't completely sever ties with them at this time. So, she could only raise the entry requirements, with a simple reason: her Eastern Palace already had many officials, and there were few remaining positions.
Only the best could be chosen.
Who told them they didn't come from the beginning!
No one could refute this statement.
Of course, these were minor matters. The truly important matters lay in Ding Yun's ongoing efforts to hybridize high-yield spiritual rice seeds from her soul space with the world's grain seeds to cultivate new spiritual rice strains.
In addition, compiling martial arts suitable for universal practice.
Increasing the output of steel and iron production.
The initial industrial revolution and the cultivation of talents in biochemistry and physics were all proceeding in parallel and in an orderly manner.
These were what Ding Yun referred to as preparatory work.
Before Emperor Qianyu's demise and her enthronement, Ding Yun had ample time to proceed slowly and prepare thoroughly. With this preparatory work as a foundation, future reforms would undoubtedly proceed smoothly.
...
One year after Ding Yun was enfeoffed as the Crown Princess.
Within a hidden secret realm of the Grand Zhou Imperial Dynasty's Imperial Ancestral Temple.
Emperor Qianyu looked at his High Ancestor, who had suddenly appeared and summoned him today, with some unease:
"High Ancestor Grandpa, is there something you need?"
Emperor Qianyu was the fifth emperor of the Grand Zhou Imperial Dynasty. Although his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather had passed away, his High Ancestor, that is, his great-great-grandfather, the founding emperor of Zhou, had not died. He had felt that being an emperor hindered his cultivation, and to break through to Martial God, he had quickly abdicated his throne to his eldest son after the empire was stabilized, faked his death, and left.
Unfortunately, the aptitude of his sons and grandsons was rather mediocre.
They all died before reaching two hundred years of age on average.
Emperor Qianyu had better aptitude, but unfortunately, his foundation was damaged in the great upheaval he encountered earlier, and he couldn't live for many years.
There were only rumors within the imperial family about whether the High Ancestor was still alive; no one could ascertain if he was still alive or had passed away.
They were even less sure if he had broken through to Martial God.
However, to suppress the martial artists of the world, it was generally stated that he was not dead, and even that the High Ancestor had broken through to Martial God, in order to deter the major sacred lands and maintain the stability of the Grand Zhou Imperial Dynasty.
At this moment, knowing that the High Ancestor was not dead.
And had even broken through to Martial God long ago.
Emperor Qianyu was both happy and worried. He was happy that his lineage had a Martial God-level ancestor suppressing the realm, and all his previous worries were gone.
His worry was primarily that the High Ancestor might be displeased with him for establishing his daughter as the Crown Princess and might want to depose her.