After Swapping Places with the Founding Empress

[Reader comments are now open. Please add my upcoming novel, Could I Become Emperor by Slacking Off Like This?, to your favorites~] On the way back from a sacrifice to the Earth, a bolt of purple lightning struck, and the puppet emperor Xu Jing and the founding empress Xu Huiying switched bodies. They could hear what was happening around each other and communicate. After discussing it, they decided to travel to the sacrificial site during a thunderstorm at the same time to switch back. Until then, Xu Jing had to handle Xu Huiying's affairs of state. But they couldn't stay in contact all the time, and Xu Jing, who had never ruled in her own right, was in a panic. A censor submitted a memorial: "Your Majesty, after years of war, the soldiers long for home and the people are crushed by the burden. We ask Your Majesty to disband the army and let the soldiers return to their farms." Constant warfare really wasn't good. Xu Jing raised a hand. "Approved." The censor, who hadn't expected his suggestion to be accepted: "..." Xu Huiying was so furious she nearly burst a blood vessel. "Fool! The Northern Di threaten us from without, while bandits run rampant within. Without a strong army to defend the realm, the country will fall!" Xu Jing was horrified. She hurriedly issued an edict to recruit women soldiers and tried to make amends. As a result, the women's army that had once followed Xu Huiying through countless campaigns returned to the scene, put down the bandits, drove back the Northern Di, traveled as envoys to the Western Regions, and brought all nations to pay tribute. The Ministry of Works submitted a memorial: "Your Majesty, many of the roads in the capital have deteriorated over the years. They are uneven and full of potholes, causing many pedestrians to trip and injure themselves. We ask Your Majesty to allocate funds for repairs." People were getting hurt, so clearly the problem was serious. Xu Jing thought the repairs couldn't wait. "Approved." The Ministry of Works, which had casually raised the matter in keeping with tradition: "..." This time, Xu Huiying was more cautious with her scolding. "The treasury is strained, yet you're allocating funds for such a useless project. Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Xu Jing panicked, but the money had already been allocated, and it was too late to take it back. So she executed corrupt officials, authorized open-air markets, and replenished the treasury. Not long afterward, Chang'an was hit by the worst torrential rain in a century. Thanks to the rebuilt roads and drainage, the threat of flooding was averted. Meanwhile, the open-air markets flourished, bringing prosperity to commerce and the economy. As time went on, the country prospered and the people lived in peace. After the founding empress, who had once been infamous for her brutality, went to offer sacrifices at the Altar of Earth, she suddenly changed her ways and began practicing benevolence. Everyone was grateful for her kindness. Xu Jing ran through the rain, crying, "Hurry up and let me go back!" When the people heard that the empress had braved the rain to offer sacrifices to the Earth, they were deeply moved and prayed, "Heaven above, please grant our benevolent Majesty a lifespan as long as Heaven's, and let her remain in this world forever." * Xu Jing is in a panic. She opens her eyes to find a palace attendant kneeling before her with a strip of white silk in her hands. "Your Majesty, would you prefer the white silk or poisoned wine?" Xu Jing, who has spent ten years as a puppet emperor, is terrified by the question. Trembling, she asks, "Can I choose neither?" The attendant looks up in surprise. So the deposed crown princess, who was supposed to be executed, waits and waits, but no white silk arrives, and neither does the poisoned wine. A furious voice roars in Xu Jing's mind: "Idiot! The deposed crown princess plotted treason. Do you want to get yourself killed by keeping her alive?" Recognizing the familiar voice, Xu Jing cries out in delight, "Great Ancestor?" The voice on the other end explodes with rage. "You're my great ancestor now!" * Reader's Guide: 1. A timid puppet emperor and a hot-tempered founding empress. The heroine transmigrates into the body of the middle-aged empress. The great ancestor mostly pops in to give bad advice (not really), but the signal is often poor. 2. A fictional setting with lots of original worldbuilding. 3. A quick, light read for fun. The logic goes flying all over the place, so please don't overanalyze it, draw real-world conclusions, or make real-world comparisons. If you feel uncomfortable while reading, please stop. * Blurb for the upcoming novel, Could I Become Emperor by Slacking Off Like This?: When the game Chasing the Deer Under Heaven opened for beta testing, Xu Mao eagerly signed up. She promptly lost ten games in a row, and, thoroughly crushed, decided to quit. But she accidentally clicked the wrong button and started another round. Once the game begins, you can't force your way out. Xu Mao had no choice but to keep playing. Xu Mao firmly believed that with her extensive experience in failure, she would soon find a way to log out of the game world. Natural disasters raged, yet the court continued raising taxes, and starving corpses littered the land. Xu Mao broke into a government granary and opened it to distribute food. She was sentenced to immediate execution. On the day of her execution, with the wind howling and the Yi River cold, the supervising official asked if she had any last words. Xu Mao answered resolutely, "Xu Mao has no regrets!" Then...the people came to storm the execution ground! One plan failed, so Xu Mao came up with another. She gathered the people and publicly declared, "Are lords and generals born to their stations?" Then she waited for the constables to come arrest her. To her surprise, the crowd roared in response. The people of Huai County stormed the government offices and brought the magistrate's head before Xu Mao. Shocked, Xu Mao racked her brains and immediately wrote to the emperor, demanding a noble title, or she would march on the imperial capital. As rebellions across the land spiraled out of control and the army defected, chaos erupted in Chang'an. The emperor, fleeing south in terror, resorted to appeasement and, with a stroke of his imperial brush, made Xu Mao a king. Xu Mao: "..." I was just saying that offhand. As time passed, the more Xu Mao slacked off, the more people came to join her. Some were even distinguished ministers she had once desperately tried to recruit, without success. Xu Mao fought back her heartbreak, turned them all down, and pointed them toward their original factions. Xu Mao: "Go find Sun Bao'an. Your talents will never go to waste there." The adviser who was supposed to serve Sun Bao'an: "Understood!" Before long, infighting broke out in Sun Bao'an's faction, leaving countless dead and wounded. The adviser, having successfully sown discord, returned to Xu Mao with his troops. Xu Mao screamed in despair: "When will this miserable life finally end?!" Those nearby recorded: The deed was done, yet the emperor was displeased, pitying the people and crying out in sorrow. How could the turmoil of this age ever end? Theme: When facing a problem, look at it from multiple perspectives