Chapter 944: “Empress Dowager (3)”
The Emperor’s words rather surprised the Empress Dowager. She had not been the least bit aware about this.
But when those same words fell onto Jun Wu Xie’s ears, it was immediately clear to her that those people who had come to seek the Emperor out must have been people from one of the palaces among the Twelve Palaces!
“Imperial Grandmother! They told your grandson, if your grandson does not follow their orders to continue seeking out whatever is on the map, they will kill your grandson! Your grandson really doesn’t dare to hand the human skin map over. They will really kill me!” The Emperor was shaking like a leaf, his face filled with terror.
The Empress Dowager’s eyebrow lifted and she turned to look at Jun Xie.
However, Jun Wu Xie told her: “That map, I cannot do without.”
The Empress Dowager could not do anything but sigh as she told the Emperor: “Rest assured. After you hand the item over, I will bring you away from here and find us a place to live in seclusion. They will definitely not be able to find you.”
The Emperor was highly terrified as he looked at the Empress Dowager. He hesitated a long while before he nodded his head slowly. He crawled over to the throne and he reached for the base and took out a brocade box from a secret compartment. The Emperor’s hand holding the brocade box was shaking as he walked to come before Jun Xie, as he trepidly handed the box over.
At that moment, the Emperor already knew that he was completely defeated. He and his sons were no longer capable of reproduction and Jun Xie possessed a high level of power. Moreover, the Empress Dowager had already made a decision and it did not matter how much longer he struggled against it, it would only bring him more agony.
Might as well, he wasn’t a moron, and he knew that there was nothing he could do to change the situation, so why shouldn’t he choose to be cooperative where he would at least be able to save his own life.
Jun Wu Xie took the brocade box and opened it to take a look, and a piece of human skin map sat neatly within.
“Today, you will announce your abdication, and everything between us will be written off henceforth.” Jun Wu Xie put the brocade box away carefully, having no intention to waste any more of her breath on the Emperor. Her aim in coming to the Fire Country had been achieved and the people who provoked her have all been punished. Hence, she did not want to waste any more time here.
The Emperor retreated meekly and went to stand beside the Empress Dowager. The only person who could protect him would only be the Empress Dowager. Although the mysterious strangers were extremely powerful, the hidden bodyguards behind the Empress Dowager were not people to sniff at either.
“After he announces his abdication, I will reveal the First Emperor’s Imperial Decree to the public, and from today onwards, you are the Emperor of the Fire Country.” The Empress Dowager said, finally having fulfilled one of her wishes that had been in her heart for so many many years.
Jun Wu Xie raised up her hand suddenly and said: “No need. You only need to hand the throne over to Lei Chen and that will do.”
Lei Chen was taken aback.
The Empress Dowager seemed to want to say something more, but Jun Wu Xie did not want to stay in that place any longer. She called out to Drunk Lotus and walked straight out of the main hall, to climb onto Lord Meh Meh’s back, calmly leaving the place under shouts of surprise from the Imperial Guards.
Within the main hall, it had fallen deathly quiet.
The Empress Dowager’s eyes widened, as she stared at the little back view that was leaving with uninhibited abandon. When she had been hidden within the secret room earlier, she had heard Jun Xie say those very same words, but she had thought that Jun Xie was only using it to agitate the Emperor, never having expected that she really did not care for the Fire Country’s throne.
“Empress Dowager!” Lei Chen said as he suddenly knelt before the Empress Dowager.
“I am not the Fire Country’s Emperor! And neither do I want to be the Emperor. I will do everything I can to convince Jun Xie, to have her take up all of it.”
The Empress Dowager was a little surprised as she looked at Lei Chen. But Lei Chen had immediately gotten up to chase after Jun Xie the moment he finished saying those words.
The Emperor who was yearning so badly for the throne, saw Jun Xie and Lei Chen not showing any interest in it the slightest, the bitterness he felt in his heart at that moment could not be described with mere words.