The Empress actually possessed cultivation, and it felt even stronger than his own. This pressure!
Chu Chen felt that with his Qi Transformation realm cultivation, the Empress was likely at the Unity realm. But if that were the case, how was she killed by Chen Yuanliang's rebellion in the Life Simulator?
And on multiple occasions when the Empress presided over the capital and it was invaded by other nations, how was she killed instead of escaping?
Chu Chen believed that even with his Foundation Establishment realm cultivation, he could move freely in and out of tens of thousands of troops with hundreds of Martial Disciple realm soldiers.
Now, even at the Qi Transformation realm, alone without subordinates, he could face an army of tens of thousands below the Body Tempering realm head-on, even defeating and routing them single-handedly.
Someone like the Empress, suspected to be at the Unity realm, would likely be unstoppable by over a hundred thousand troops.
Unless, the rebellion in Shuangyue City by Chen Yuanliang was not as simple as the Empress claimed. But when he returned to Shuangyue City, there was no sign of widespread battle damage around.
Only the imperial city, the walls of Shuangyue City, and two side halls within the imperial palace were damaged. The area of damage was even less than what a Qi Transformation realm cultivator could cause.
"Could it be that Chen Yuanliang brought in experts from Qin specifically targeting the Empress? Or did the Empress possess some treasure that allowed her to fight in another dimension? But that doesn't seem right either!"
Chen Yuanliang could at least be said to have brought in experts to assassinate the Empress, but the other nations invading in the Life Simulator did not have many high-level experts.
Chu Chen was utterly perplexed, but the Empress did not perceive any of Chu Chen's probing, or perhaps she simply didn't care.
Her spirit was currently concentrated, calmly suppressing the demeanor of the Second Princess Meng Die, rendering her completely unable to resist or move.
"Damn it! Damn it! Mother is always like this, always favoring Fifth Sister so much! Why! Why!!"
Meng Die, struggling to break free, finally couldn't and cried out in her heart with unyielding madness.
After some time, the madness in Second Princess Meng Die's eyes subsided, and the Empress also withdrew her mental pressure.
Freed, Second Princess Meng Die no longer looked at Chu Chen and Princess Xin Yue. She turned slightly away, took out a bottle from her embrace, took something out, and put it into her mouth.
"Illness? Mental illness? Or some other problem?"
A flicker of doubt crossed Chu Chen's eyes.
"This is ridiculous. This family of Xin Yue's, except for this Fourth Princess, seems to be not quite normal. Damn it!"
Chu Chen complained inwardly, looking gently at Princess Xin Yue, and thought with relief: "Fortunately, with the system's help, I survived and managed to change Xin Yue's temperament, making her a normal person."
The First Princess Bai Hua, twenty-five years old, was gentle at all times; the Second Princess Meng Die, twenty-three years old, with madness in her eyes beneath a normal exterior; the Third Princess Yun Ting, twenty-one years old, insidious and cunning; the Fourth Princess Han Xiu, nineteen years old, appearing innocent and naive; the Fifth Princess Xin Yue, seventeen years old, spoiled, willful, and fond of killing.
Summarizing and recalling, Chu Chen was once again astonished by this family. He thought: "My god, they were all born two years apart, and it seems none of them are married? Except for Xin Yue, whom the Empress promised to betroth to me, the others haven't even had a chance to select a consort, let alone get engaged. What's going on?"
"Then, thinking conversely, why did the Empress want Xin Yue to have a consort and marry someone, while she had no such thoughts for the other four princesses?"
The more Chu Chen thought, the more he found this family bizarre and extremely abnormal.
Just then, a middle-aged female official, with a joyful expression, ran over and shouted: "Your Majesty, the convoy has entered the imperial city! It's heading this way!"
"Finally! Let's finish this quickly!"
Fourth Princess Han Xiu, relieved, said softly.
But by this time, no one was paying attention to her anymore. Even Chu Chen looked into the distance.
Soon, the Left Jinwu of the Imperial Guard strode towards the Empress and then knelt on one knee, saying: "Reporting to Your Majesty, grain has been transported from the imperial estates and some has already reached the capital!"
"Rise, and have it all stored!"
The Empress waved her hand with a faint smile.
"Yes!"
Soon, the Left Jinwu returned to the convoy, cooperating with the imperial city's grain officials and leading tens of thousands of Imperial Guards to stop the grain carts outside various granaries and unload the grain.
The imperial city currently had twelve granaries. Originally, there were only six, and the other six were built by the Empress in the past year.
The inner city of Shuangyue City had nine, the outer city had six, and the military camps outside the city had four. The Ministry of Revenue only had nineteen granaries in total, yet the imperial city now had twelve!
Despite so many granaries, a hundred carts were parked outside each one, waiting to be unloaded.
"Mother, why is there so much grain this year? This... it might not fit, right?"
The Fourth Princess looked at the countless carts, donkey carts, mule carts, and ox carts still waiting behind, as well as the thirty thousand Imperial Guards carrying grain on their shoulders.
Even the Empress was shocked by the scale of the unloading.
"It should fit. I specifically expanded the original granaries and built six new ones for today. Each of these can hold five hundred thousand shi of grain."
The Empress said so, but her tone was uncertain. She knew that this was only the first wave of grain being transported, and there were dozens more waves to come.
In order to store the grain produced by the imperial estates, the eunuchs managing them had requisitioned all the draft animals that could be mobilized in Yunyue Prefecture.
This unloading process took a full incense stick's time and was still not finished. At this point, Fourth Princess Han Xiu could no longer stand still.
She said with dissatisfaction: "Mother, it looks like it won't be unloaded even by sunset. Do we have to wait until sunset?"
The Empress intended to scold her, but then she realized it was indeed the case, so she said: "In that case, you all go back first. I will watch for another incense stick's time."
"Hooray! Then I'll take my leave."
Fourth Princess Han Xiu waved her hand and slipped away.
The other four princesses, including Princess Xin Yue, bowed slightly and then also departed.
Chu Chen, naturally, followed Princess Xin Yue, leaving only the Empress with her palace maids and eunuchs behind.
"Chu Chen, Mother is busy overseeing the imperial grain storage and has no time. How about we go out on the streets to play?"
On the way back, Princess Xin Yue suddenly didn't want to return to Qingming Palace and asked with a smile.
"That's a good idea, but with so much grain entering the city, it's likely under strict lockdown. Will there still be merchants?"
Chu Chen rubbed his chin and retorted.
"Uh, then forget it. How annoying."
Princess Xin Yue was quite disappointed and reluctantly returned to Qingming Palace, her eyes lingering with reluctance as she left.
Recently, the Empress had been watching Princess Xin Yue more strictly and had more demands. She had to study and practice various things every day, and also diligently cultivate.
It seemed she had already begun to treat Xin Yue as her successor and was vigorously training her.