Contents
Chapter Nine: Strongest of them All
Overview
Zetian is detained after the battle and interrogated by Chief Strategist Zhuge Liang and Senior Strategist Sima Yi. She admits killing Yang Guang within his mind realm and shows awareness of the illusion, prompting fears she is an “Iron Widow.” After consulting the Sages, command orders her paired with Li Shimin, escalating stakes and spotlighting her unprecedented power.
Summary
Zetian is dragged, injured and half-covered, from the battlefield to the Kaihuang watchtower atop the Great Wall. Xing Tian and other pilots restrain her despite her protests that she unlocked the Nine-Tailed Fox’s Heroic Form and fought beside them. She is delivered to a white operations room for remote questioning.
On screen, Chief Strategist Zhuge Liang and Senior Strategist Sima Yi question Zetian about her suppressed exam result, any elite connections, and her actions in Yang Guang’s mind realm. Seeking clarity, Zetian confesses she strangled Yang Guang’s child-self and stabbed his adult-self repeatedly after seeing memories of his abuse of concubines.
Her explicit awareness of the illusion alarms the strategists. Sima Yi invokes the term “Iron Widow,” implying a deadly precedent of women sacrificing male partners to power Chrysalises. Zhuge Liang halts disclosure and consults the Sages, while Zetian argues the Fox’s new form will provoke larger Hundun assaults and offers to replace Yang Guang in upcoming operations.
The strategists return with the Sages’ decision: despite the danger, Zetian will be reassigned to partner with Li Shimin, pilot of the Vermilion Bird. The ruling acknowledges her capability while tightening control over her, setting up a volatile new pairing with major military implications.
Who Appears
- Wu Zetian (Consort Wu)Detained and interrogated; admits killing Yang Guang in his mind realm; identified as a potential “Iron Widow”; reassigned to Li Shimin.
- Chief Strategist Zhuge LiangLeads questioning, halts discussion of Iron Widows, consults the Sages, and announces Zetian’s reassignment.
- Senior Strategist Sima YiCo-interrogates Zetian; recognizes and names the “Iron Widow” phenomenon, pressing its implications.
- Xing TianHeadless Warrior pilot; restrains Zetian and presents her to command, furious over Yang Guang’s death.
- Yang GuangAce pilot of the Nine-Tailed Fox; confirmed dead after Zetian kills him within the mind realm.
- Li ShiminFeared pilot of the Vermilion Bird; selected by the Sages as Zetian’s new partner.
- The SagesRuling council; consulted by command and decree Zetian’s pairing with Li Shimin.