"No need to raise them." I happily ate a piece of melon, "They have been watching us like hawks for a long time. In my opinion, you should just become a female prince."

Lujiao gave me a glare.

The melon was at my lips, but she pushed it back into her own mouth, "You have a cruel heart, wanting me to be a target."

"I can't bear to." I smiled and hugged her shoulder, "If you become the prince, I will clear the way for you."

"I don't want to, being an emperor is exhausting." Lujiao sighed, revealing a bit of a girlish charm on her usually dignified face, "You are the one who can bear the weight of the world."

I played with her long hair, "Let's spread the word that I will host a banquet in ten days, inviting young talents to compete for a husband."

"Will the thousand-year-old iron tree bloom?" Lujiao became interested.

I rolled my eyes at her, "They all think that by marrying me, they can gain military power, so I'll give them a chance to compete."

"Oh, when my stupid brothers fight to a draw, we can take advantage and seize power?"

"Yes." I replied softly, lost in thought.

Ten years ago, my father and brothers died in battle, and my mother passed away from illness, leaving only me in the family.

But the courtiers not only did not take extra care of me as an orphan, but also obstructed the emperor from rewarding the Song family, citing that I was a woman and could not inherit the title.

I was not convinced. Just because I am a woman, why should I be treated differently?

Moreover, the honors and titles were earned by my family with their lives, how could they be easily erased!

So I knelt before the emperor, begging him to reward the Song family in consideration of the sacrifices of the ten or so souls from the family, and to give me a chance to prove myself on the battlefield like my father and brothers.

The emperor could not refuse and had to agree.

He thought I would not be able to endure hardships and would resign voluntarily, but I climbed up with all my might.

To gain the respect of the soldiers, for every ten enemies a male soldier killed to earn military merit, I killed twenty.

Stepping on a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, I gradually obtained supreme military power.

But looking back, I realized that the era of peace and prosperity that we generals and soldiers fought so hard to protect had long been destroyed by a group of arrogant and decadent foolish men.

They stirred up chaos in the court, treated human lives as worthless, making the people's lives unbearable.

So how could they deserve my loyalty, deserve my sacrifice?

I had long wanted to turn the tables, but I had been waiting for an opportunity.

Now, the opportunity has come.