In the Morang Palace’s reception room, silver snakes and yellow foxes faced off with immense force.
Empress Dowager Natalie and Duchess Caroline of Le Sang.
Though internally growling to tear each other apart, they outwardly presented the perfect mother-daughter image. Even though they shared not a drop of blood and were only four years apart in age.
Duchess Caroline, visiting with produce from her eastern farmlands, and the Empress Dowager, serving rare tea from her homeland, were both busy gauging each other.
Especially after yesterday’s message from the Emperor. The Emperor was returning to the capital with the last Empress candidate, turning the competition from ten to eleven contestants. A strong competitor had entered the race, turning it into a three-way battle.
The rumor of the Emperor personally escorting an Empress candidate spread rapidly, causing a stir not only in the capital’s aristocracy but also in foreign countries. The Emperor was known for his lack of interest in women.
So much so that a king from a vassal state, suspecting the Emperor’s preference for men, once sent a handsome man to his bedroom during a visit, a mistake that cost the king his throne.
“Empress Dowager, were you also unaware? Don’t you know everything that happens within the Palace?” Duchess Caroline inquired.
“How could an old woman confined to her quarters know everything the Emperor does? I thought you, being the only bloodline of the Emperor, would know,” the Empress Dowager retorted.
Silence fell between the two women, their tea and snacks untouched.
“How exceptional must this lady be for the Emperor to personally choose and bring her?” Duchess Caroline mused.
“All that’s known is that she’s a direct descendant of the Delsancre Ducal family, which had the trust of Emperors from the 19th to the 23rd generations.”
“It seems that the Delsancre family has moved out of the empire and settled in another country,” one of the women noted.
“How he encountered a daughter from such an obscure family is beyond me…”
Both women sipped their tea, famous for its sweet taste, but it still left a bitter taste in their mouths. The daughter of a once-noble house, known for its healing abilities and usefulness to the royal family, had become a forgotten existence.
Although she was from a lesser-known family, this also meant there was little known about the family, making it harder to find any weaknesses.
Most of the high nobility in the capital weren’t even aware of the Delsancre family’s existence, and its members had scattered across different countries.
If only they could connect with her family, they might find a way to exploit or sway her to their side. But even traces of their whereabouts were hard to find.
“Still, for a woman who hasn’t participated in even two rounds of the competition to enter the finals… It’s incredibly unfair,” one woman remarked.
“There’s nothing we can do. The competition rules allow the Emperor to select one candidate,” the other replied.
“The Emperor, who has shown no interest in any candidate so far, suddenly bringing this lady… The atmosphere suggests that the Delsancre lady might as well be the Empress already.”
It was a valid point.
Some nimble nobles were already trying to curry favor with the Delsancre lady, even offering gifts to the palace’s chief steward and butler.
“Even if the Emperor favors her, she must win the competition to become the Empress. That’s an unbreakable rule of the Imperial Palace. Many Emperors have put forward their favorite ladies, but less than half became Empresses.”
The Empress Dowager spoke with a forced smile, while the Duchess of Le Sang also tried to hide her inner turmoil with a grin.
But a dreadful premonition arose. This time could be different because it was Maxwell, the Emperor. His choice of companion was not out of love; gods gave him everything but the ability to love.
That was the greatest gift to a ruler, ensuring his judgment wasn’t clouded by emotion. He had begun to conquer not just the empire but the entire continent.
Everyone believed the candidate he brought would be a formidable competitor. Not driven by personal affection but by calculated political reasons, she was undoubtedly…
“Grace, you must be fully alert. This isn’t the frivolous Lilibet, relying on beauty alone. The lady accompanying the Emperor must be a master strategist. We could be easily outplayed.”
“Lilibet, there’s no time to idle in picnics with the ladies. The Delsancre daughter entering as a candidate is probably as brilliant as the Emperor. She’s likely a master liar and inscrutable. To not be outdone, we must prepare thoroughly.”
After the tea time, the Empress Dowager and the Duchess of Le Sang each went to their respective candidates, Grace and Lilibet, urging them not to rest as the new contender was likely as cold-blooded and ambitious as the Emperor himself.
The lady they discussed as a cold-blooded and ambitious person was now beside the Emperor, filling her mouth with chocolate-covered marshmallows for the first time, smiling blissfully.
My Ex-Girlfriend Is The Regent In The Female-dominant World (Male lead transmigrates to the matriarchal world)
Two years ago, Gu Sui picked up a homeless woman in ancient costume from the street.
Apart from occasionally claiming to be a princess from a female-dominant country due to illness, her figure, appearance, intelligence, and martial arts skills were impeccable.
Naturally evolving from roommates to girlfriends, as time went on, Gu Sui found it increasingly difficult to tolerate her queen syndrome.
“Mu Jiulu, can you stop controlling me inside and out? Let’s break up.”
Gu Sui made a breakup call, and since then, he couldn’t find any trace of her.
A year later, Gu Sui, who was planning to move, woke up the next day and found himself in a different place.
“Young Master, today is the day you choose your Wife-master through martial arts competition at Jade Dew Pavilion. Please get up quickly.”
Gu Sui: Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?
As the only son of a general’s mansion in a female-dominant dynasty, the young empress personally issued a decree allowing Gu Sui to select his Wife-master through martial arts competition. Whoever could defeat him could marry him.
Gu Sui: “……”
He didn’t inherit the original owner’s martial prowess, so anyone could defeat him! And what the hell is a Wife-master?
Forced to come to Jade Dew Pavilion, the densely packed women below made Gu Sui’s agoraphobia act up, and his face was full of resistance.
Until he saw the Regent sitting on the second floor, with a smile on the corner of her lips, her eyes wicked and nonchalant.
Hmm… she looked a little familiar.
It turned out that the Regent also found him a little familiar.
Mu Jiulu fiddled with her bone clasp, her deep gaze locked on the man who was out of place in this world.
“Finally, I found you.”
Male transmigrates into female-dominant world
One-sentence summary: What goes around comes around, taking turns in the crematorium
