Rose Duchess
"Zhang Luo Shen... is she going to march straight into Barak City?!"
Upon hearing Yu Tianmeng's words, Xue Ke opened her small, red lips in surprise and questioned, "Isn't this plan a bit too risky?"
After a pause, Xue Ke pulled Yu Tianmeng into the Imperial Study, analyzing as they walked. "You must understand, the Silves Kingdom only has 300,000 troops at most, while Kundera commands a formidable army of 500,000! Fighting against such a numerically superior force, being able to hold them back is already a stroke of luck. To launch a preemptive attack on the capital of the Barak Kingdom is simply overestimating our own capabilities!"
"My lord, you don't understand."
Holding Xue Ke's little hand, Yu Tianmeng said with a smile, "Barak City happens to be located at the border between the Barak Kingdom and the Silves Kingdom. In other words, as long as the two countries are at war, even if Zhang Luo Shen doesn't want to attack Barak City, he can't avoid it!"
"Yeah?"
Xue Ke frowned slightly, then looked at the court ladies standing quietly in the Imperial Study and said, "Bring me the map of the Barak Kingdom!"
At a command, a beautiful lady in an exquisite gold openwork armor stepped forward, knelt on one knee, and respectfully said, "Yes, Your Majesty."
"Oh dear, we're sisters in the harem, no need for such formalities."
Xue Ke quickly stepped forward to help the lady up, and said affectionately.
This lady was Soul Saint than Zhi Xin, the former Tian Xuan Guard, one of the Big Dipper Seven Guards in the Purple Micro Palace.
A year ago, on the day of the palace coup, Zhi Xin led the female Soul Master of Tian Xuan and Yao Guang Guard to protect Xue Ke with their lives, making great contributions.
When it came time to reward those who had contributed to the victory, Xue Ke bestowed upon all of these hundreds of female Soul Master the title of court knights, with ranks ranging from baron to Earl. They also each had their own fiefdoms and enjoyed the dual support of their territories and the Heaven Dou Imperial Family.
Such a reward naturally made these female Soul Master extremely happy. Most of them stayed in the palace, contentedly serving as Empress Xue Ke's bodyguards, enjoying their esteemed status and high salaries.
Bi Ji and Zi JI, as the commanders of the Tian Xuan and Yao Guang Guard, were quite indignant about this blatant attempt to undermine the Purple Micro Palace, but they were powerless against Xue Ke and could only grit their teeth and recruit female Soul Master from all over the empire.
Furthermore, because female Soul Master are so rare, Bi Ji Zi JI had to use God Crystal to transform some ordinary, innocent women without Soul Power into Soul Master, thus supplementing the two guards.
If it weren't for the fact that they were all sisters in the harem, the two of them would have beaten Xue Ke to a pulp long ago.
Zhou Chen pretended not to see it. Although Xue Ke's behavior of poaching his girlfriend was indeed excessive, he didn't care because she was willing to give birth to three sons for him.
After all, the Heaven Dou Imperial Family had been weak for a long time and suffered heavy losses on the day of the palace coup, so it was indeed necessary to replenish some powerful Soul Master combat forces.
Anyway, no matter how you turn it over and over, the meat is still in the pot.
Whether it's Xue Ke, who has become Empress, or Bi Ji, Zi JI, or even Zhi Xin, they are all his wings.
Yes, Zhi Xin has also become Zhou Chen's woman.
This wasn't because he was lustful; it was purely out of the empire's need for balance.
It's important to know that Zhixin is not only a Soul Saint of Tianxuan Guard and the Empress's bodyguard, but also the granddaughter of Zhilin, one of the original three major teaching committee members and the current Azure Douluo.
The Three Great Education Committee Members were once Qian Renxue's people. Although they have now switched their Xue Ke, the memories of the past cannot be erased.
In particular, Xue Ke, who had only been on the throne for a year, killed more than 10,000 nobles and Soul Master who had been associated with Qian Renxue, and was known as the Scarlet Empress.
Such an iron-fisted emperor made the Three Great Education Committee Members quite uneasy, and even though they were already titled Douluo, they dared not act rashly.
Therefore, the Three Great Education Committee Members have a great need for security.
For top figures like them, the only way to gain a sense of security is through marriage.
Generally speaking, in such cases, it would be sufficient to simply assign the emperor a few female members of his own clan as concubines.
Although the families of the Three Great Education Committee Members were not large, each family had quite a few women of marriageable age.
However, Xue Ke became emperor as a woman.
This wouldn't have been a problem for the Three Great Education Committee Members, since they had quite a few male members in their families.
However, Xue Ke has a husband, who is a super strong person who is famous throughout the world, Zhou Chen, the Palace Master of Purple Micro Palace.
Even if the Three Great Education Committee Members had a hundred times the courage, they wouldn't dare to let their own children marry Xue Ke.
Therefore, after much deliberation, the Three Great Education Committee Members finally had a flash of inspiration:
Since a marriage alliance with Empress Xue Ke is not appropriate, why not just arrange a marriage with her husband, Prince Zhou Chen, the Nation Protecting Prince?
Therefore, to put the three education committee members at ease, Zhou Chen tearfully married Zhixin, the granddaughter of Tianqing Douluo Zhilin.
Zhi Xin, relying on her status as a fellow harem sister with Xue Ke and her unwavering loyalty, passed the tests and received a great reward!
She was granted the title of duke and received three large cities, more than a dozen small cities, hundreds of villages and towns, and a fiefdom spanning tens of thousands of square kilometers!
Moreover, the Zhi Xin family crest is a golden rose hand-drawn by Xue Ke, an honor that few have received in the thousand-year history of the Heaven Dou Empire.
However, although the current Rose Duke, Zhi Xin, is now a top noble in the empire with immense power, she still spends all her time by Xue Ke's side as a female knight guard, just like before.
This kind of woman, who never forgot her original aspiration and was extremely loyal, was praised throughout the empire.
At this moment, Zhi Xin was helped up by Xue Ke, but she still said with a serious expression, "Your Majesty is the Empress of the Empire, and etiquette cannot be disregarded."
"You..."
Yu Tianmeng, standing to the side, looked at Zhi Xin with amusement. She also had a good impression of this rigid and simple duchess.
If every woman in the harem were as simple-minded as Zhi Xin, without jealousy or scheming, she wouldn't have to be so mentally exhausted.
Although Zhi Xin was simple-minded, she had a good memory. She decisively took a golden scroll from a bookcase in the Imperial Study and slowly opened it. It was a complete topographical map of the Barak Kingdom.
"Let me see..."
Xue Ke picked up the map and looked at it from left to right, but she couldn't understand it no matter how she looked at it.
"Your Majesty, you've got the map upside down..."
Zhi Xin, being straightforward, couldn't help but remind him.
"Oh, really? Hahaha, maybe I was just too sleepy tonight..."
Xue Ke blushed, laughed awkwardly twice, then flipped the map over and placed it on the table to study it carefully before she could understand it.
The court ladies present all lowered their heads, suppressing their laughter, and even Yu Tianmeng's lips curled into a slight smile.
"This Barak City is indeed very close to the border of the Silves Kingdom! Less than a hundred miles away!"
Xue Ke nodded, drew a circle on the map with a quill pen, encircling Barak City, and then threw the pen heavily onto it!
"Zhi Xin, issue an edict to Marshal Ge Long, initiating Thunderclap Plan. The attack will commence in seven days!"