Master Fleshcrafter

“Get everything ready for the Divine Empress and her Speaker!” I shouted at the people managing the chests. She was clearly in one of her moods. The fact she was injured and had appointed a Speaker did not bode well.

Her energy was off and her complexion waxy, but the fact she had been gone so long meant she had to have been injured heavily. The fact that she hadn’t repaired such an injury yet and it was localized on her front indicated that she had healed the rest.

Also she could be playing it up. I knew how much control she truly had. That was why these idiots were all being suckered in by her act and killed off. One did not doubt the Divine Empress. She was going to purge the Forbidden City, I just needed to make sure that I survived no matter what by not doing anything stupid.

The Divine Empress’s control over her energy had always been impressive and she often liked to sneak around and change her signature to not let other people know it was her or spot her from a distance. She was tricky like that. She would never say it, but her favorite thing to do was to surprise people and then brutally murder them.

The Speaker and the Divine Empress’s energy being off was probably a ploy at weakness to draw out anyone harboring any seditious thoughts. Those Black Talon commanders had been idiots, but it confirmed it was her the way her new minion brutally dispatched them. That was why I had sent them on ahead to test the waters.

She was clearly replacing the Envoy. He had failed too many times and that Hei Nu was a monster under that armor. Well not literally, but brutally ripping people apart with just a glance from her was all the proof I needed that it really was the Divine Empress crushing all weakness and descent upon her return.

I wasn’t going to be one of those idiots who didn’t know which way the wind was blowing. I had avoided any motivation from her for this long and was her favorite. Nothing was going to change that. “Faster! Faster!” I yelled at the treasury people to hurry up as she approached.

No time to stick around. She had given me an order and I rushed back to the palace. I hurried to the throne room and glared at the prisoner sitting on the throne.

“Back already Dum Dum.” The words echoed in my head, and I glared at the person daring to sit on my masterpiece of a throne. The screams echoed out around us but did nothing to block her words.

“Just you wait. The Divine Empress has returned. While we may not dare kill you. You will regret your insolence.” I had brutalized the prisoner and we hated each other. The tortures I had inflicted on her was something only reserved for those who truly displeased her Majesty. While she might have crawled her way out of her hole her insolence had finally run out and she would be put in an even deeper one.

“I will be happy to speak to her. Hehe.” I frowned at that. Was she trying to get someone to kill her? I couldn’t wait to put her back in her pit and leave her there. I grit my teeth before letting out a calming breath. The Divine Empress was back, and I just needed to remain her favorite person and everything would be all right.

Hopefully she wouldn’t want to redecorate everything in spikes. That would be costly and annoying. But whatever she wanted, she would get as the Divine Empress.

Ruth

I grit my teeth as another soldier had their way with me. With my stats as I viewed as a luxury and reward for the upper ranks. I had not been idle, but I had taken the time to learn Chinese in my spare time.

Once I escaped this place, I would have my revenge. “The Divine Empress has returned! Stop messing about.” The soldier pulled out of me and rushed off. I could hear the talk about me. I cleaned myself off. They had tried to break me, and I had made them believe it had worked. But I was going to survive and get my children back no matter what.

I had made mistakes, but no one was smarter than me or more tenacious. The knowledge I had picked up and learning the language would give me options no one else had. I pulled out the crystal I had stolen during our coupling and put it into my stash along with all the others.

Being cooperative meant I got my own room to freshen up and maintain for the elite soldiers. Couldn’t have the elites use me in any run down building. Well, I would take whatever I was given and leverage it to my advantage.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Once I had enough, I would summon an army to me and break out of this hell. One I was outside the city, I would not allow myself to be captured ever again. I had learned quite a bit and I had heard something about another powerful person who opposed the Divine Empress and had power to spare.

The Astrologer was his name. I would have to find him after I got out of here. The nice thing about restorations was that they fixed all the parts that might get worn out. It was cheaper to heal me than find another woman with my stats. Foolish of them, but my revenge would be all the sweeter once I escaped.

I just had to wait for the city to fall into turmoil, then I would make my move. The Divine Empress returning might be a precursor to something, but I needed chaos, not order to kill my way out of this hell.

She was on my list along with Michael. That asshole had condemned me to this hell. He would pay, oh he would pay so much for what he had done. Maybe the Ritualist had used him as an experiment. That thought brought a smile to my face thinking about how he went from one type of mindless brute to another type of mindless brute.

The Envoy Of The Divine Empress

Wuhan was empty. He glared around at the ruined city. The rebels had not held back in the slightest. A force was making its way North from New Beijing and would reclaim the city.

“Emergency message!” a soldier ran up to me and saluted. The Envoy turned towards them. For something to reach him here the communication rods had to have been used. That was not cheap or something to be done on a whim.

“The Divine Empress has returned to the Forbidden City!” His eyes went wide. The doubt that had taken root in his heart was banished. The Divine Empress had the Mandate of Heaven, there was nothing that could stand in her way.

“Secure the city!” The Envoy didn’t hesitate and started running to get back to the Forbidden City as quickly as possible. If he pushed the body of the Envoy, he would get there tomorrow morning. No delay or hesitation would be tolerated to get to her side.

The road quickly transitioned under the Envoy’s boots as he kicked off the ground over and over. The Divine Empress, had returned and all would be made right with the world.

Cheng Long

I looked up as the Master Fleshcrafter ran off to the palace. I glanced at the soldier next to me at the same time he looked at me. We both kowtowed to the Divine Empress. I had seen her before, and that did not look like her in the slightest.

Once she went by along with the two people that were with her. I got up and Gou Sheng looked right at me. We both knew what we wanted to say but didn’t dare say it.

The risk that it really was the Divine Empress was too great and the Master Fleshcrafter had gone up to the group and confirmed things. But the face looked off even the injury.

“You thinking what I am thinking?” Gou Sheng asked me.

“Probably,” I whispered back. “You can go say something.” He shook his head. That was what I had thought. There was sticking your head up to get a promotion and asking for it to be lopped off for being stupid.

“Me?!” Gou Sheng whispered back at me. “I am not frog in the well to be tossed in the cooking pot.”

“Well, I am not going to stick my neck out like a chicken for its head to be lopped off,” I whispered back. We looked at the group approached the pillars. “It might really be her?”

“Might? That is a pig dressed up as the Divine Empress, but I am a frog,” Gou Sheng said. I could agree with that. Even if we saw the truth, there was no way we were going to be the ones to speak up. We were going to stay out of the way and keep on living and die horribly like all those other idiots who thought speaking up about things was a good idea.

The first unofficial rule of the Dragon Empire, never question anything, that goes double for anything related to the Divine Empress. You breathed out of turn, your skin would be peeled off. You sneezed without permission, finger smashing.

The only reason I had a whispered conversation with Gou Sheng is that we knew each other for a long time. Reporting on a person would make other soldiers report on you. So everyone kept their heads down and didn’t get worked up by little conversations. Also guard duty was incredibly boring. If we couldn’t talk a bit, we would probably go brain dead and pass out.

The second unofficial rule of the Dragon Empire was don’t do anything when your superior is messing up. That is how you get a promotion. Already two commander positions had been opened up. With the Lord General position open as well, there were going to be several promotions, which meant us lower ranks had a chance at rising up.

“Well I am a frog as well. Just have to be sure we get a transfer out of this city or rotate to get a skill,” I whispered back and Gou Sheng nodded at that. When the Divine Empress returned her rage would be legendary. Better not to say anything and let more people get killed off so we could get some more promotions.

Who knows, in a year both Gou Sheng and I could be commanders if we played our cards right. The winds of promotion were in the air. We just had to survive the fallout which was going to be legendary. That meant getting out of the city and being stationed at dungeon outpost was key. While it might be a demotion in a sense, being in the Forbidden City when the real Divine Empress returned was going to be a death sentence.

I just knew whoever that was impersonating the Divine Empress, they were dead. Super dead, with a main course of torture first. My eyes went wide. They were going to take the Divine Treasury! I looked at Gou Sheng who had the same realization.

Inclining my head slightly I shook it a bit, indicating he should do something. He rolled his eyes at me and gestured with his chin. Hell no, I was not getting in the middle of this nightmare. I liked living. But getting out of the city became even more urgent. The fallout from this was going to be cataclysmic.