Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Tyrant Empress? But I’m Only Three

The Great Ning Imperial Palace.

In a forgotten corner of a side hall no one ever bothered to visit—

“Nanny, please! Save Mother! If Mother doesn’t take her medicine, she’ll really die!”

Chu Tian Tian knelt on the cold stone floor, face streaked with tears, and knocked her forehead down again and again.

Nanny Wu lounged on a low stool like a queen of filth, cracking sunflower seeds and spitting the shells toward Chu Tian Tian as if she were practicing her aim.

“What are you bawling for? You’re noisy as hell.” She clicked her tongue. “Fine. She can take medicine. Got any silver?”

Chu Tian Tian’s lips trembled. She shook her head hard. “Sweetie doesn’t have silver. Sweetie really doesn’t.”

“No silver and you still want a doctor?” Nanny Wu’s eyes rolled so hard they almost disappeared into her skull. “And you dare come bother me? Scram, scram, scram! I swear you’re itching for a beating!”

She flicked her hand as if shooing a fly.

“Nanny…” Chu Tian Tian crawled forward on her knees, hands trembling. “Nanny, go find an imperial physician…”

“Find an imperial physician?” Nanny Wu snorted. “You stupid little thing—do you still think you’re a princess? That you can snap your fingers and an imperial physician comes running?”

“Sweetie is a princess…” Chu Tian Tian whispered, trying to believe it hard enough to make it true. “Imperial Father likes Sweetie…”

“Your mother’s already been thrown into the Cold Palace, and you’re still daydreaming in broad daylight!” Nanny Wu sneered. “Let me tell you—your mother was never meant to live long. Early death, late death, either way she’s dead. Now get out and stop annoying me! When you two are finally gone, I can go serve Jiao Jiao instead.”

Chu Tian Tian crawled to her feet and clutched Nanny Wu’s leg with both tiny arms. “Please, Nanny… Sweetie doesn’t want Mother to die. Please!”

Nanny Wu stood and kicked her over without even looking.

“Move, you little brat!”

The toddler toppled backward and cracked her head on the stone.

“Still pretending to faint?” Nanny Wu snapped. “You think I’ll summon an imperial physician because of this? Dream on!”

She nudged Chu Tian Tian with her foot. When the child didn’t move, she clicked her tongue, bored again, and turned toward the kitchen.

“Pretty convincing. I’ll count to three. If you don’t get up, I’ll beat you to death.”

The world tilted. The pain in Chu Tian Tian’s head roared, then dulled into a strange, watery distance.

And then—

[Ding. Hello, Host. Detected: life value about to hit zero. Villain Redemption System auto-activated!]

A clear voice rang inside Chu Tian Tian’s mind.

Life value… about to hit zero?

Was that… her life?

No. No, no, no!

She still hadn’t found an imperial physician for Mother. If she died, no one would take care of Mother. Then Mother would die too.

Chu Tian Tian forced her eyes open, lashes sticking together with tears.

The voice continued, brisk and cheerful in a way that felt deeply inappropriate.

[Chu Tian Tian, Ninth Princess of the Great Ning Empire. Your birth mother was framed and sent to the Cold Palace, where she later died of illness. As a discarded royal daughter, you endured hardship and hid for years, until you ascended the throne at twenty-three.]

[You murdered your father and brothers, bathed the court in blood, and conquered in every direction. You became a once-in-a-millennium mad empress, leaving ruin everywhere. The commoners wailed with resentment, and the heavenly servants all wished to kill you.]

[You have already survived ninety-nine assassination attempts. The next one will be your death.]

[Friendly reminder: complete the redemption mission as soon as possible to defy fate and rewrite your destiny!]

Chu Tian Tian’s mind went as blank as a steamed bun.

Twenty-three?

That was wrong. Very wrong.

She was three.

Inside her head, she squeaked, “Tong Tong… Tong Tong… did you mess up?”

[Reconfirming Host identity. Host: Chu Tian Tian. You were swapped with the Crown Prince at birth and became a princess lost among commoners. After you were found and brought back, your birth mother Consort Li made a mistake and was sent to the Cold Palace one month later.]

Chu Tian Tian nodded even though no one could see her.

That was her.

As far back as she could remember, she’d lived with her foster mother, Nanny Wu. Only last month had she been brought into the palace, and Consort Li had held her and cried for a whole day and night.

Consort Mother had told her that someone brought Chu Jiao Jiao into the palace and swapped them.

[Confirmed: Host identity matched. Issuing system missions now.]

[First redemption mission: After you become the Tyrant Empress, in front of all civil and military officials, you will humiliate the Deposed Crown Prince, sever his tendons, gouge out his eyes, and grind him beneath your foot.]

Chu Tian Tian pressed her little lips together until they nearly vanished.

Would she really grow up into someone that terrifying?

[Redemption mission: Save the Deposed Crown Prince, who is hanging by a thread, and win his protection.]

[Mission difficulty: Defy-heaven level.]

[Mission reward: Spirit Spring Pocket Space. Effect: cures all poisons and heals all illnesses.]

Chu Tian Tian didn’t understand why Tong Tong kept insisting on twenty-three, but she understood one thing perfectly.

Spirit Spring Pocket Space.

If she had that… Mother could live.

Her eyes snapped fully open.

Nanny Wu jumped like she’d seen a ghost.

“Tch! Damn brat—so you learned to play dead!” Nanny Wu hissed, then kicked Chu Tian Tian into a faceplant. “You scared me!”

She jabbed a finger toward the doorway. “I’m hungry. Go find something to eat, now!”

Nanny Wu was Chu Jiao Jiao’s real mother. Back then, to squeeze into the palace and live the good life at her daughter’s side, she’d claimed she couldn’t bear to part with her adopted child and had to come along as her servant.

Consort Li, grateful for the years she’d spent raising Sweetie, had let her stay as Sweetie’s nanny.

But after Consort Li was sent to the Cold Palace, Nanny Wu’s gratitude curdled into hate. She took it out on Chu Tian Tian every day.

Chu Tian Tian pushed herself up, ignoring the sting in her scraped palms, and bolted out.

She had to complete the mission. Fast.

She squeezed through the dog hole in the Cold Palace wall and hurried along, eyes wide, trying to remember the way.

To reach where Brother Crown Prince lived, she’d have to pass a few rockeries and five palaces…

“Waaahhh—!”

A child’s sobbing drifted through the air.

Chu Tian Tian clenched her tiny fist and marched toward the sound like she’d been called to battle.

By a rockery, a little boy had his face shoved into a hole, wailing as if the sky had fallen.

That build. Those clothes—

Brother Crown Prince!

Chu Tian Tian circled around—and froze.

His head was stuck.

She grabbed the little crown prince by the back of his collar and yanked.

Nothing.

Instead, she smacked her own forehead against the rockery stone.

“Ow…”

It’s fine, it’s fine. She was only three.

She waddled around to face him, stuck her own head into the hole beside his, took a deep breath—

Then she started wailing too.

“Waaah! Waaahhhhhh!”

The sound was so sudden and violent it startled the little crown prince into swallowing his own sob.

He jerked his neck back in panic—

Pop.

He came free.

He blinked, stunned, then immediately burst into tears again out of sheer habit.

“Bro-bro,” Chu Tian Tian said, rubbing her forehead, “don’t rush back to crying. I just saved you and my head is buzzing. Blow on it for me.”

Hearing her baby-soft voice, the fair, delicate Cheng Xuan sniffled, wiped his nose with his sleeve like a seasoned professional, and tottered over.

“Brother, it hurts here. Can you blow on it?”

Chu Tian Tian loved acting spoiled. It worked on adults. Maybe it worked on brothers too.

Cheng Xuan stared at her.

Such a tiny sister—almond eyes dark and bright, with a mischievous spark tucked inside. When she smiled, two sharp little tiger teeth peeked out.

But she was so thin she looked like a malnourished kitten.

With tears still clinging to his lashes, the little crown prince nodded solemnly and leaned in, blowing gently on her forehead.

“Who are you?” he asked. “Why have I never seen you before?”

Chu Tian Tian blinked up at him. “My name is… Little Nine. I live in the Cold Palace with Mother.”

“The Cold Palace…” Cheng Xuan echoed, slow and uncertain.

So Mother was one of Imperial Father’s consorts.

Cheng Xuan counted on his fingers, as if the mathematics of siblings demanded a ritual. “Sister Little Nine, I’m your third brother. You can call me Brother Crown Prince.”

Chu Tian Tian nodded. She’d seen him once before, from far away, on the day she returned to the palace.

“Brother Crown Prince,” she said solemnly, “I’m hungry.”

Her stomach rumbled on cue, like it had been waiting for applause.

It was the first time Cheng Xuan had ever met a child who could cry even louder than him.

If he raised her… Imperial Mother might finally stop calling him a crybaby.

He took out a handkerchief, wiped her tears, then wiped his own, pretending that didn’t count.

“Come with me,” he said, taking her hand. “I’ll take you to eat something tasty.”

[Congratulations, Host. You successfully saved the Deposed Crown Prince and gained his protection. Mission completed.]

[Reward obtained: Spirit Spring Pocket Space.]