Suddenly, a woman's voice came from the forest.
"The harbinger of death has arrived!!!"
Several of the more timid individuals had already fainted from fright.
Pei Weiqi's originally pale face immediately lit up when she heard the familiar voice.
It was Gu Sang!
That voice was definitely Gu Sang's.
Under the gazes of the crowd, some terrified and others desperate, Gu Sang appeared with a powerful flashlight.
To the onlookers, it seemed as if Gu Sang was carrying the sun in her hand.
Wherever she walked, light followed.
Upon seeing Gu Sang appear before her, Pei Weiqi strode forward.
"Sang Sang, why are you here?"
"Weren't you only supposed to stay here for a month?" Pei Weiqi's expression was stern, but she couldn't hide the joy in the depths of her eyes.
Gu Sang tilted her head and smiled at Pei Weiqi: "I bargained with the system. They allowed me to stay in the ancient times for an extra half month."
Gu Sang didn't say much more, but Pei Weiqi understood that Gu Sang had stayed for her sake.
Just as Gu Sang said nothing now, Pei Weiqi understood the reason for her staying.
And Gu Sang equally understood her, knowing that she didn't want to trouble others, so she bore the pressure from the entire world alone.
The two of them were quite similar in some aspects, so without many words, they could understand each other's thoughts.
"Thank you!"
"There have been too many court affairs lately. Thank you for staying to help me."
"I really need your assistance right now."
Pei Weiqi didn't stand on ceremony with Gu Sang, frankly describing her current predicament.
The two of them looked towards the paper figures hanging from the trees, which were different from ordinary paper dolls.
These were very long pieces of paper with outlines, eyebrows, eyes, nose, and mouth drawn on them.
With darkness as a cover, they looked real from a distance, and because the paper was so light, they swayed eerily as they hung from the trees.
"What's that smell?"
Gu Sang keenly detected a faint, indescribable odor in the air.
Pei Weiqi sniffed, then her sharp eyes noticed a fine powder on the paper figures.
"It must be something on the paper figures, used for spontaneous combustion."
"Someone already performed a ghost fire appearance in front of me earlier."
At this point, Pei Weiqi and Gu Sang almost simultaneously exclaimed: "White phosphorus!"
They exchanged a glance, clearly having both guessed the same thing.
"This area should be surrounded by the imperial guard, right?"
"Arrange some men for me. With these high-powered flashlights, they won't be able to hide."
Gu Sang immediately volunteered to lead a search party into the mountains.
Pei Weiqi promptly summoned all the top experts from Shadow Gate and assigned one hundred guards to Gu Sang.
Gu Sang led the search throughout the mountains.
Meanwhile, Pei Weiqi personally ordered the outer perimeter guards to triple their defenses.
Shadow Gate experts protected Gu Sang on both sides, while the powerful flashlight in her hand proved to be a nighttime miracle.
It illuminated everywhere they went, exposing every hidden assassin.
The expressions of these captured assassins were surprisingly consistent: first glaring at Gu Sang with hatred, then resignedly looking at the futuristic weapon.
The future's technology was too overpowered!
They hadn't been defeated; they had merely lost to weapons from the future.
Most of them were now captured by the Shadow Gate members led by Gu Sang, with only a few assassins trying to break through the guards and escape.
But they were all killed one by one by the special forces led by Zhou Qichen.
It was already midnight when Gu Sang returned to the camp. Seeing Pei Weiqi's expectant gaze, Gu Sang shook her head disappointedly.
"I wanted to capture some alive, but they all had poison on them. They'd rather die than be captured."
Pei Weiqi smiled calmly: "I thought it might be like this. Since I ascended to the position of Empress, this kind of thing has happened more than once."
"When Pei Changying was still around, we didn't see them being so loyal."
"After Pei Changying died, they suddenly became loyal again."
Gu Sang sneered disdainfully, adding: "What loyalty? It's clearly just wild ambition."
"They all want to support a new emperor's ascension to the throne. At that time, it's hard to say whose empire it would be. It's all just to satisfy their own selfish desires."
The next day.
The Grand Princess ascended the Altar of Heaven, swearing to the heavens and promising the civil and military officials that she would lead the country further, ensuring that everyone in the land would have enough to eat...
Below the platform, Gu Sang watched this scene with a smile.
Looking at the person she had personally helped to the throne, Gu Sang felt a sense of pride.
She wasn't wrong in her judgment of people; Pei Weiqi would definitely be a great empress!
She believed that Pei Weiqi could lead this country further, ensuring that every household would have surplus food.
After the heaven worship ceremony, Pei Weiqi truly became the Empress of a generation.
Afterwards, Pei Weiqi publicly announced the change of the era name to "Century One."
Hearing this, Gu Sang smiled knowingly, understanding Pei Weiqi's intention in choosing the word "Century."
She had learned the word "Century" from Gu Sang and chose this name in hopes of entering a new century like in the future.
"The Plague City will henceforth be renamed Star City."
"Establish imperial examination halls and set up university professorships. Recruit talented students from across the nation. As long as they pass the exams, they can be exempt from tuition and fees..."
"Set up specialized examination halls for the Six Ministries. Anyone who has made achievements in agriculture, industry, water conservancy, or medicine, regardless of their birth or literary skills, can enter government service as long as they have real proof of their abilities..."
Pei Weiqi issued a series of imperial edicts, each one shocking the civil and military officials to a great degree.
For instance, the establishment of universities, although only in the capital for now, once this precedent was set, given the Empress's current resolve, there would surely be universities in every region in the future.
Another example was that since ancient times, only scholars could become officials, but now the Empress had decreed that regardless of birth or literary skills, if you were good at farming, you could also become an official.
Or if you were originally a carpenter with exquisite woodworking skills, and you were confident in your abilities, you could also apply to become an official.
The ministers all looked at each other, knowing that once these edicts were issued, scholars would no longer hold such high status.
It would no longer be true that "all trades are low, only studying is high."
Therefore, ministers quickly stood up to object.
"Your Majesty, if anyone can become an official, then officials will be as common as dirt. How will the court provide for all these idle people?"
"Forgive me, but I cannot agree with Your Majesty's approach. Oxen plow fields, roosters crow, and cats catch mice – this is the natural order of things."
"What Your Majesty is proposing now is no different from asking chickens to plow fields, or cats to plow fields. If all domesticated animals were to plow fields,"
"Then who would crow? If rats overran everything, who would catch them?"
Dozens of ministers stood up together.
"I also disagree."
"Your Majesty, I cannot approve."
"..."
Gu Sang stepped forward, slowly walking towards the ministers' positions. As she walked, she spoke: "There are three hundred and sixty trades, and each trade can produce an expert."
"This world shouldn't only value scholars; there should also be talented people in other professions."
"Only by embracing all possibilities can the country go further."
