The Female Psychology PhD Who Time Traveled to the Royal Harem

Helian Chi and Su Yanran were awakened by the earth-shaking explosion.

Hastily throwing on their clothes, they saw a soldier stumbling toward them from a distance, only to be intercepted by a eunuch: "The Empress is inside. What's happening?"

The soldier knelt on the ground: "The armory... the armory caught fire for no reason and exploded... everything is destroyed. Your Majesty and Her Majesty must evacuate the tent immediately, or else..."

"Or else what?"

Helian Chi pulled back the tent flap, surveying the chaotic Royal Army, his anger boiling as he grabbed the messenger soldier: "How is this possible? How could the armory have caught fire without reason? You... ugh..."

A dagger plunged deeply into the center of Helian Chi's chest.

Shi Ruojun looked up, revealing a brilliant smile before stepping back and viciously kicking the hilt of the dagger, driving it even deeper until the blade was completely hidden.

Not a single unnecessary word was spoken the entire time.

Because she knew clearly that she had to seize this opportunity to strike with certainty. The Emperor of the Jin Kingdom must die!

Villains die because they talk too much, and heroes let villains escape because they talk too much—she understood all of it.

"Ahhh..."

Su Yanran emerged shortly afterward, just as Helian Chi collapsed straight down, pinning her beneath him.

"Chi! Chi!"

The surrounding eunuchs were paralyzed with fear, completely at a loss for what to do. It was Su Yanran who sternly shouted: "Arrest the assassin! Somebody, arrest the assassin!"

But her cries were drowned out by the sounds of the explosions.

Shi Ruojun, amidst the fleeing warhorses, swiftly grabbed one, mounted it, and rode off into the distance.

The royal guards protecting the emperor arrived quickly, but Shi Ruojun fled even faster, disappearing in an instant.

The scattered forces of the Great Yan, who had been keeping an eye on their general, saw her successfully escape and quickly leapt onto their horses, galloping away.

Many Jin Kingdom soldiers fleeing for their lives followed suit, mistakenly thinking those soldiers were their own comrades fleeing from the explosion.

They too grabbed the reins, hoping to escape this hell on earth.

Many were already too late, blown far away by the shockwaves of the explosion, or consumed by the flames.

"The Emperor of the Jin Kingdom is dead! Surrender and you will not be killed!"

Shi Ruojun's voice echoed across the entire riverside of the Black River. At the signal from Deputy General Hao, hundreds of Great Yan soldiers responsible for the rendezvous swiftly emerged from beneath the riverbank.

The group of Jin Kingdom soldiers who had followed Shi Ruojun out were immediately surrounded.

Behind them, more and more people continued to flee.

Shi Ruojun went straight for the kill, dispatching Deputy General Hao to meet up with Third Yan's forces.

Third Yan, seeing the sky ablaze on the opposite shore, already knew Shi Ruojun had succeeded and led his massive army across the Black River.

Normally, the Jin Kingdom guarded the Black River, preventing the Great Yan forces from crossing, even when the lake was frozen, the iron cavalry of the Great Yan couldn't break through.

The Jin Kingdom would intentionally throw flaming oil onto the ice, melting the surface, making it even harder for the Great Yan to cross.

If they dared to cross, the Jin Kingdom's arrows would turn them into pincushions.

But now, with the Jin Kingdom's camp in flames and everyone busy extinguishing fires and fleeing for their lives, who was left to defend against the Great Yan?

"The Emperor of the Jin Kingdom is dead! Surrender and you will not be killed!"

She raised her longsword high, her voice reverberating everywhere: "The Emperor of the Jin Kingdom is dead! Surrender... and you will not be killed!"

Those who resisted were slain by the Great Yan soldiers.

Already terrified by the explosions, ordinary soldiers were further panicked by the sight of weapons drawn against them.

Any soldier of even minor rank or with a bit of intelligence sought to gain merit in times of crisis, rushing towards the royal tent.

Helian Chi coughed up a large amount of blood, and Su Yanran, cradling him, was only now beginning to feel the panic, collapse, and despair of loss.

"Helian Chi, don't die! You promised to help me avenge my family! Get up! I don't want revenge anymore, I don't want it anymore, okay? Get up... let's go home, let's go to our home in the Jin Kingdom, okay?"

She wailed desperately, her hatred for the Great Yan reaching its zenith, frantically trying to staunch the blood flowing from Helian Chi's chest, but to no avail.

Helian Chi had thought that the person he would least be able to bear to leave would be Su Yanran, the one he would be most worried about, also Su Yanran.

But in his mind, images of another girl kept appearing.

She was dirty and holding her younger brother's hand, asking if he could buy her and her brother, saying that she would do anything.

"Master, this face-changing technique is too cruel. I... I'm scared."

"As long as it's what Master wants, Jianli will learn it. Don't be sad, Master."

"Master, look, the flame flowers of the Jin Kingdom are blooming again. When the whole valley is filled with flame flowers, I'll pick them for Master to make wine."

"Master, what is love?"

"Wanting to always be with that person, is that love?"

"Master... I... I love you. I want to always be with you."

When the girl learned she was to be sent to the Great Yan as a concubine to the Emperor of the Great Yan, the hurt in her eyes was something he had clearly seen.

But for Su Yanran's sake, he had turned a blind eye to her pain.

So, the little girl who had always followed him around would never appear again.

It was he who had sent her to her death.

Helian Chi suddenly laughed: "Yanran, it's too late... too late... loving you is... so tiring... so tiring..."

But only until his death did he realize that the one he truly loved had always been by his side.

And that girl had deeply loved him too.

Unfortunately, he had lost her.

Helian Chi gazed at the pitch-black night sky, his pupils slowly dilating, as if he saw his girl coming to take him away.

With a smile, he stretched out his hand toward the sky, accepting his death calmly.

"No! No! No no no..."

Su Yanran cried until she nearly fainted. A general stepped forward: "Empress, Your Majesty has... Your Majesty has passed away. We beseech you, Empress, for the Jin Kingdom, for Your Majesty, you must steel yourself. Empress, we must avenge our emperor!"

"Please, Your Majesty, take care of yourself. As long as we live, there's hope. After retreating to the Jin Kingdom, we can regroup and devise new strategies."

Earlier, had Helian Chi been trying to say, "Stop loving me"?

Su Yanran's eyes glinted evilly: "How dare you... not love me? You loved me first, you... can only ever love me."

She wiped the blood from her face, vindictively declared: "No, I will not go back. Going back now would play into Great Yan's hands."

"Inform the troops, prepare to march immediately. We will attack thecliffside. I, the Empress, will carry out my late husband's legacy and destroy the Great Yan, unifying the world."

She had no time to grieve. There was still much she had to do.

And ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌‍she was well aware of the dire situation that awaited her back in the Jin Kingdom after Helian Chi's death.