Whenever there was a full moon, people’s hearts surged restlessly like the tide. Gaoshan Yangzi roughly tore off her clothes and walked onto the deck, bathing naked in the moonlight. The bright moonlight shone on her ivory-like lustrous skin, beautiful like a white jade statue.

In those shadowy corners, heavy breathing sounds were like bellows being pulled. Someone was peeking. As for who, Gaoshan Yangzi didn’t care. At this moment, in her heart there was only endless fury. Her swelling blood vessels tinged this white jade statue with a trace of crimson.

A hundred thousand armored troops all tied their hands—not one was a man. Gao Jianwu, Yeon Gaesomun—she had thought they were all heroes. Now it seemed they weren’t even as good as wild dogs in the mud.

The Great Tang was powerful, and Yun Ye was powerful too. So what? Without Liaodong, Goguryeo could defend the peninsula. Without the peninsula, Goguryeo could wage war in distant lands. In this world, as long as there were people, there was no worry about lacking territory.

This was also good. Since those men were all unreliable, she would rely on her own power to rebuild the Goguryeo state. She was Goguryeo’s empress and had this qualification. This great sea was so rich. Even with Yun Ye exhausting all his strength, he had only occupied seventy-two islands. This must be the limit of his power, right?

The tides continuously lifted the large ship up and then set it down, just like life—there were always peaks and valleys. Gaoshan Yangzi never believed there was such a thing as a dead end in the world. Military strategy said: when encountering enemies, remain calm; when encountering attack, show no alarm; when in an inferior position, fight to the death; when in a desperate situation, strive with all effort to survive. This is what’s called a brave warrior.

Gaoshan Yangzi looked at her own beautiful body. Previously she had been very proud of it. Now she detested it from the bottom of her heart. What should have been a chest hard as iron and stone now had two beautiful mounds rising. What should have been firm breasts now resembled a full moon. What should have been arms with knotted muscles were now tender as two shoots.

Displaying her beautiful body was something Gaoshan Yangzi needed to do periodically. She hadn’t discovered the benefits of doing this before. It was Cheng Jiu who reminded her, and only then did she discover that her body had become this group’s altar.

Staying at sea for a long time would turn people into perverts. When these men saw her body, what arose wasn’t bestial desire but rather something like worship. She had personally witnessed Cheng Jiu and Hua San dismember piece by piece pirates who spoke obscene and foul language. After that, whether she wore clothes or not made no difference to these pirates.

Many of her maids were already pregnant. Seeing their protruding bellies, Gaoshan Yangzi also very much hoped her own belly would swell. Perhaps only a child she personally nurtured could satisfy her requirements for a real man.

She had had spring dreams before. The objects were always changing—there were monsters, there was Yun Ye, there was even Zhang Zhongjian. Only her husband Yeon Gaesomun was absent. She didn’t know if he was still a man now.

Good land without good seeds wouldn’t work. Her child was destined to be king of the sea. She appeared on the sea every day—hadn’t the deities in the sea noticed her beauty?

If there were no deities, Yun Ye or Zhang Zhongjian would also be acceptable. Especially Yun Ye—thinking of this, Gaoshan Yangzi felt her body convulsing. If she conceived Yun Ye’s child, then the ocean was destined to become this child’s paradise.

Perhaps she should make an effort? Gaoshan Yangzi instructed her maids to dress her. She walked barefoot on the deck. Zhang Zhongjian didn’t know where he had gone—he hadn’t appeared in over half a year. The slaves he commanded—no one knew where they were hiding either. If she could know his lair, her gains would definitely be very great.

On the vast sea, trying to track a fleet was extremely difficult. If this fleet could evade, as long as they didn’t dump garbage into the sea, it was enough to conceal their whereabouts. Ocean currents were the only thing that could provide directional targets, and also the only means she could utilize.

Cheng Jiu walked over and said quietly to Gaoshan Yangzi, “Empress, we’ve been drifting long enough. We need to return. The supplies on the ship aren’t plentiful anymore.”

“Cheng Jiu, you and Hua San will soon become naval commanders of the Tang state. I won’t hide it from you—Goguryeo has surrendered. Tell me, what are your plans?” Gaoshan Yangzi directly began laying things out openly with Cheng Jiu.

Cheng Jiu’s body trembled. He said to Gaoshan Yangzi with alarm, “Empress, Goguryeo can surrender, but we cannot surrender. We and Yun Ye are mortal enemies. Once under his command, I dare assert that we’ll definitely die without a burial place. Not to mention that the Great Tang military’s war god Li Jing is Qiu Ran Ke’s sworn brother. The King of Goguryeo is just a surrendered general. How could he possibly contend with distinguished nobles like Li Jing and Yun Ye within the Great Tang? No matter what the result of their struggles is, we’re dead for sure.”

Gaoshan Yangzi laughed lightly and looked at Cheng Jiu with appreciation, saying, “Finally there’s still one real man. I thought you’d be very happy hearing this news. It’s rare that you can think more deeply.”

“It’s truly so. Yun Ye is famously petty. In his eyes, only Tang people are trustworthy. The rest are not in his circle of trust. These past years we’ve continuously fought with the Lingnan Navy, with casualties on both sides. I dare say as long as we’ve ever killed a Tang person, Yun Ye will exile us to Crab Island. Being pecked into skeletons by seabirds is our only ending.”

“Empress, don’t you want to surrender either?” Cheng Jiu’s eyes immediately lit up.

Gaoshan Yangzi stroked Cheng Jiu’s rough face with her hand and said, “What a pity. You have vision but lack great ambition. You can’t become an overlord. Otherwise, your child with me would be king of the sea.”

The light in Cheng Jiu’s eyes gradually extinguished. He said quietly, “I understand. I’m not Yun Ye, not Zhang Zhongjian. They are the best fathers for your child. I only want to follow you, watch you become the most noble woman on the sea.”

Gaoshan Yangzi pulled Cheng Jiu’s hand over and placed it on her chest. The two people lay side by side under the moonlight, looking at the sky full of stars. Gaoshan Yangzi’s voice rang out faintly, “This body is destined to nurture the overlord of the ocean. As long as this task is completed, Cheng Jiu, she will be yours. We’ll cultivate a king together. I guarantee this process will intoxicate you even more than those pleasures between men and women.”

Perhaps the ocean heard her whispered conversation and gradually became violent. Surging waves began to appear. A whistle-like sound also appeared in the high sky. A great wind was coming. With this strong wind, the entire fleet would be sent to the distant Great Tang coast. This was perhaps Gaoshan Yangzi’s best opportunity to enter the Great Tang again, and also the last time.

Yun Ye sat in the great hall of the Ministry of War, staring blankly at the official document in his hand. The Goguryeo people hadn’t yet entered the capital, but the document from Gaoshan Yangzi requesting to enter the Great Tang’s inland seas had already been approved. Now he needed to make the final seal, and then it could be implemented.

“You’re called Hua San? I remember you used to be Qiu Ran Ke’s sworn brother. Do you want me to introduce Duke Wei Li Jing to you? He’s also Qiu Ran Ke’s sworn brother. A brother’s brother is also a brother. Duke Wei will definitely give you a good reception.”

Hua San wasn’t surprised and still stood very straight. His feet were different from those of people on land. Standing there, his five toes spread out wide. This was a habit on ships—trying to let one’s feet contact the deck more to stand more steadily.

The whip had already torn his clothing into shreds. Hua San had already considered himself a dead man. No matter what Yun Ye asked, he only said he was a captain in the Great Tang navy.

Anyone who made a living on the sea knew how terrifying this short-bearded man sitting in the Ministry of War’s great hall was. Without a determination to die, it was best not to meet him. He had already said he was Great Tang navy, yet this person still seemed to have no intention of letting him go.

“How clean the Great Tang’s inland seas are. Why must some strange people surge in? The Great Tang navy is such a clean force. Why must a bunch of dregs be mixed in?”

“Don’t resent me. I’m also compelled to do this. This beating has a name—it’s called the authority stick. If you’re a good man, endure it. If you endure it, we can be brothers. In the future when fighting at sea, I’ll turn my back to you. You won’t stab me from behind, will you?”

“Look, so defiant and untamed. These are all bad habits from being a pirate. Hey, whoever—dip the whip in salt water. Don’t spare the salt, apply more. Right, apply it on the whip. Continue whipping. If you want to be a soldier and eat rations, first you must know to answer when a superior asks questions. Someone who knows nothing when asked three times—who knows if you’re a spy sent by pirates?”

The sound of the leather whip striking flesh rang out once again. Hua San’s screams also became increasingly shrill. Not far from the Ministry of War was the Secretariat. Fang Xuanling put down the memorial in his hand and said irritably to Du Ruhui, “Can’t you go take a look? They’ve been whipping someone with a whip all morning. Those who know understand this is the Secretariat and Six Ministries. Those who don’t know would think they’ve arrived at the King of Hell’s palace.”

Du Ruhui glanced toward the Ministry of War and said, “I hear this is the Ministry of War’s authority stick. Back in the day, Duke Yi, Duke Lu, Duke Lu—which of these great generals didn’t receive it? Yun Ye is disciplining his own subordinates. That’s within his jurisdiction. It wouldn’t be appropriate for me to intervene.”

“Besides, the person who came is just a pirate. Yun Ye is the overlord of the seas, commanding a navy that’s all properly registered government soldiers. Having such a thing mixed in—no wonder he’s angry.”

“Old Fang, you’re also someone who followed the army fighting across the land. You’re not unfamiliar with military affairs, right? Those commanders leading great armies all have their own methods. Why should we get involved?”

Fang Xuanling sighed and said, “I’m worried about changes in the Goguryeo matter. That woman on the sea is a noble woman of Wa. Her status is different. If by chance she turns to rely on Wa, it won’t be good for our Great Tang.”

“Old Fang, you know Yun Ye’s temperament. He wishes he could stamp the Great Tang’s official seal even on fish butts. Would he allow a nobody to lead a fleet and swagger around in our Great Tang’s inland seas?”

“By the way, when did Yun Ye start having this rule? How come I never heard of it before?”

“This morning. He only established it this morning.”