Chapter 0682: Upheaval

As Li Luo had that ridiculous thought in mind, similar sounds of shock and surprise arose throughout the entire white jade square.

The transformation was a little too obvious.

His hair cascaded down his back like a waterfall after it broke free of the shackles of the crown put upon his head, sable and lustrous. His originally pale skin seemed to have taken on a crystal-like sheen, then his frail body suddenly became taller. The well-fitting dragon robe that he was garbed in tightened in an instant, highlighting the fullness of his chest. His elegant features had taken on feminine characteristics and seemed to possess a large degree of similarity to the First Princess. The only difference was that he seemed more gentle and charming compared to the graceful older sibling.

Previously, he was around ten years old and had the appearance of a little boy. In a blink, he seemed to have instantly matured into a young lady.

The changes to his body caused the Little Emperor to momentarily feel taken aback. He trembled a little at this moment, unsure of why such a disastrous change had occurred. And fear surged from the depths of his heart.

He knew very clearly that this transformation occurring at this very moment was fatal.

He had suddenly and miraculously transformed from a boy into a young lady during the esteemed coronation ceremony for his ascension onto the throne.

This was both mind-boggling and disturbing.

It would destroy all of his credibility to ascend as the Emperor!

Boom!

As the Little Emperor remained rooted in abject fear, the first one to react was not the audience, but the Kingdom Protecting Formation in the sky! Terrifying fluctuations of energy roiled like thunder as the entire sky was distorted by its fury.

It almost seemed as though the Kingdom Protecting Formation was aggravated by this scene.

The Little Emperor could feel the change within the Kingdom Protecting Formation, and his heart turned cold. He suddenly remembered a secret that was passed through word of mouth within the royal family. The Xia Kingdom's Kingdom Protecting Formation could only be controlled by the males of the royal family.

And now that he had transformed into a female, did this not mean that he had lost the right to control the Kingdom Protecting Formation?

Without this in his hand, he simply could not secure his position on the throne.

"How?! How could this happen?!" The Little Emperor's voice quivered. The sudden transformation had turned his mind into a blurry mess as it was completely unimaginable.

He had been a boy for many years, but he had transformed into a girl on the day of the throne ascension? This was just absurd!

He then glanced at his now slim palm, and the runes for controlling the Kingdom Protecting Formation were gradually dissipating.

The Little Emperor was completely alarmed as his other hand hurriedly grasped desperately at the ancient runes, leaving behind bloody furrows as he screamed in terror.

"DON'T DISAPPEAR. YOU CAN'T DISAPPEAR! I AM THE XIA KINGDOM'S EMPEROR. IT IS MY RIGHT TO CONTROL YOU! DON'T! NO! YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO DISAPPEAR!" He understood the importance of this ceremony, and his elder sister had spent untold amounts of effort to ensure that he would reach this point today. If he failed, his uncle would use this opportunity to firmly entrench his own control and power. Eventually, he, the Emperor, would become a puppet!

The officials who previously supported him would also gradually draw a line between him and them after this transformation.

Without the deterring might of the formation, he simply had no way to hold on to power.

Alas, his pitiful attempts did nothing to change the result. All of the ancient runes gradually disappeared. The massive Kingdom Protecting Formation similarly roared in anger before dissipating before countless horrified eyes.

This was a result no one had expected, and the ceremony had failed!

Swish!

The First Princess finally snapped out of her shock and violently stood up, her charming face a steely green, a gaze full of panic and incredulity.

The change that occurred before her very eyes had surpassed the limits of her imagination.

Her precious brother whom she had depended upon had changed into a sister!

How?!

She felt sick and dizzy to the core.

A fierce gaze was shot towards the Regent as fury and resentment surged within her. "Gong Yuan! Just what have you done!?" Although he had been sitting there seemingly doing nothing the whole time, the First Princess had a feeling that this entire chain of events could not possibly be unrelated to him. He had the most to gain if the Little Emperor failed to take control of the Kingdom Protecting Formation.

Faced with the rarely furious First Princess, the Regent sighed and regretfully glanced at the Little Emperor atop the sacrificial platform. "Luanyu, this sudden change in the situation has indeed been very heartbreaking. It's understandable that you suspect me, but do you really think I have the ability to transform a boy into a young lady? Perhaps you have not considered the other possibility, which is that he, Jingyao, no... she was actually a female at birth, but this news was concealed?"

The First Princess frowned as she coldly retorted, "Nonsense!"

This news was something she had never heard of. Even her father had not said anything of the sort on his deathbed, so it was naturally impossible for it to be true!

"My brother, the late Emperor, has only ever had you two as his offspring. He had always wanted a male to continue the line as he understood that only a male could continue to wield the Kingdom Protecting Formation. Perhaps it was because you were significantly more outstanding than Jingyao that he had never planned to let you become the Empress. Jingyao's birth had ruined his hopes as she was not a male either. Perhaps in his despair, he opted to use some special means to obscure Jingyao's true gender and thus trick the Kingdom Protecting Formation's senses?" The Regent disregarded the First Princess' cold gaze, only continuing to sound out his thoughts.

"Why don't you explain it to me, then? Jingyao's back has a Yin Yang Green Lotus engraved upon it. Could it be that that was the thing hiding her true self? The black lotus' poison may have brought her suffering, but it covered up her gender. I would presume that my brother had made ample preparations and that his methods would have a high probability of fooling the Kingdom Protecting Formation. However, who would have expected that you would actually find someone to purify the black lotus? As I understand, that person was Li Luo! After he cleansed more than half of the black lotus' poison, it ruined the balance of the Yin Yang Green Lotus, causing its perfect obscuring power to lose its potency. In addition to the Kingdom Protecting Formation completely purifying the remaining black lotus poison, it caused Jingyao's true gender to be revealed!" The Regent crossed his fingers as he turned to face the pale First Princess, a deep smile forming on his face.

"Thus... Luanyu, oh, Luanyu... it looks like you were the one who ruined your father's grand plan!"