Some things Ming Yi had wanted but never received; now that they were offered, she no longer cared as much.

“I’ll treat the people of Chaoyang City well, you don’t need to tell me. As for you, stop trying to get close to me. I won’t keep you in the inner court. There’s a palace on West Mountain, you can—”

Before she could finish, Ming Yi noticed from the corner of her eye that Ming Li’s head was slowly drooping.

She paused, frowning at him. “What game are you playing now?”

Crimson blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, dripping onto Lady Yan’s face. Lady Yan lay quietly, showing no reaction.

Ming Yi’s heart sank. She quickly stood and moved to check Ming Li’s pulse—

Gone.

His body was still warm, but his pulse had stopped.

Her pupils constricted in disbelief as she bent to check Lady Yan, only to find her body already cold.

The two of them, one standing and one lying, had died for their city.

“By order of the Grand Master, power shall be transferred to the strongest. All military deployments shall be handed over to the first person who steps through this door,” the Celestial Official knelt before Ming Yi, holding the decree.

Ming Yi didn’t hear a word. She felt as if she were dreaming.

How could two people who loved wealth and glory so much die for their city? She hadn’t asked them to, hadn’t even mentioned revenge. She hadn’t even let a single Muxing soldier enter. Why did they choose to die?

To punish her? To make her feel guilty?

Ridiculous! Why should their suicides have anything to do with her? Why should she grieve or feel guilty?

Stumbling to her feet, Ming Yi turned and walked out.

The death knell sounded, and everyone in the inner court knelt. She didn’t. She walked past the servants and maids, through corridors and courtyards, but was stopped by a group of elder statesmen just as she was about to leave the inner court.

“The Six Cities have no precedent for a woman inheriting the throne, but Your Highness’s name has never been removed from the ancestral tablets. Your ascension is legitimate and rightful. It won’t lead to more bloodshed. It’s the best outcome,” Shen Tianlin knelt at the front, holding up the crown. “These are desperate times. We beg Your Highness to take on this great responsibility.”

“We beg Your Highness to take on this responsibility,” the others echoed.

Ming Yi was still dazed, staring at him blankly, unsure what to say.

Shen Tianlin moved closer and said softly, “It’s far better for you to take this crown now than for Ji Bozai to take it. If he comes to claim it, Chaoyang will become a vassal state of Muxing. But if you ascend, Chaoyang remains Chaoyang.”

Since the city was bound to change hands, everyone naturally preferred a familiar face as the new ruler. Even if Ji Bozai had a closer blood relation, he was too ruthless to be a wise ruler.

Some were dissatisfied with Ming Yi, as she was a woman. With a female ruler of Chaoyang City, they feared it would lead to a trend of female dominance. But the shattered Realm of Darkness above their heads left little room for debate. They had to let Ming Yi take the throne for now and deal with the consequences later.

Ming Yi gradually calmed down. She took the dragon crown from Shen Tianlin’s hands, suddenly wondering if Ji Bozai had calculated even their thoughts, which was why he let her enter the city.

He seemed to be in a hurry, choosing the quickest methods. Next, did he truly intend to conquer New Grass City’s floating island for Chaoyang?

“We welcome the Grand Master back to the city,” Shen Tianlin led the elder statesmen in a bow.

After a moment’s hesitation, Ming Yi placed the crown on her head.

The other four cities had been waiting for this war to end so they could intervene in the name of maintaining balance. But a month later, there was no movement.

Chaoyang City’s gates opened, and Ji Bozai entered as a guest with Muxing City’s soldiers. After doing something unknown, he stationed his troops in the distant suburbs.

Zuyue City sent a message to Chaoyang, asking if they needed help, but Chaoyang’s reply said all was well.

Could it be over just like that?

New Grass City was unwilling to accept this. Being closest to Chaoyang, they had hoped to seize a few small islands while Chaoyang was at war. They immediately sent envoys to investigate.

However, as soon as their envoys landed at Chaoyang’s dock, they “accidentally” killed Chaoyang’s Grand Master, Ming Li.

Chaoyang City immediately went into mourning and declared they would avenge Ming Li, pointing their swords at New Grass City’s floating island.

New Grass City rolled its eyes at this. It was just an excuse to take their island. With their Grand Master dead, how could Chaoyang still want war? They must be dreaming.

They immediately accepted the challenge, and the two sides faced off.

But as the battle progressed, New Grass City’s people felt something was amiss. When did Chaoyang’s soldiers become so numerous? And they were using divine artifacts as if they were free. The price of soft iron in their city was so high, how could they afford to use so much in military equipment?

Before they could figure it out, their city’s Realm of Darkness was in danger.

New Grass City had no choice but to declare a ceasefire and voluntarily cede the floating island to Chaoyang.

But they weren’t satisfied and continued to harass the area around the floating island.

After two months of reorganization, Chaoyang’s forces used the terrain of the floating island to their advantage and broke through New Grass City’s Realm of Darkness in one fell swoop.

It was only then that the other cities finally realized something was wrong.

Chaoyang and Muxing had joined forces to attack other cities. If even New Grass City couldn’t withstand them, what hope did Zuyue and Cangxue have?

So when Ji Bozai sent them invitations, the Celestial Officials of these cities didn’t hesitate to meet with him in person to negotiate.

His demands were simple: unify the currency of the Six Cities, implement the same laws, and while each of the six inner cities would still have their own Grand Masters, the Six Cities would need to accept him as their leader and pay tribute.

“Doesn’t this mean he’ll be the king of the Six Cities?” The people of Zuyue City were very dissatisfied.

The people of Feihua City calculated: “This way, the tribute we pay will be less, only a third of what we paid when we were in the lower three cities.”

“But we originally had a chance to be in the upper three cities,” grumbled the people of New Grass City.

“Upper three, lower three, isn’t it all up to Ji Bozai now?” someone sneered. “Don’t tell me Feihua City thinks they could have taken second place on their own?”

Feihua City remained silent, while Cangxue City quite agreed. After all, Cangxue had always been exploited and never entered the upper three. This system seemed beneficial to them.

It was a mutually beneficial arrangement for all cities. A unified currency would facilitate trade, and resources could be allocated more efficiently. But the Grand Masters of each city had objections. They had been rulers of their cities; who would willingly accept someone above them?

Ji Bozai didn’t expect to convince them in one meeting. He merely wanted to inform them of his intentions. As for what came next, that would be settled by force.

So as soon as the meeting ended, while the other cities were still hesitating, the armies of Chaoyang and Muxing were already on a small island not far from Zuyue City.