Zhu Cilang, New Ming Emperor, Was Made Marquis of Great Ming

After using the chicken to frighten the monkeys, Gu Hongchen's cool voice rang out in the hall.

"Esteemed envoys, since you have come here, you should understand that the Yanhuang Empire has no need for these peace talks. But the Emperor is merciful and cannot bear to bring about more endless bloodshed, so he agreed to these talks..."

Hearing Gu Hongchen's words, everyone inwardly scoffed. She actually called Ye Chen merciful? All they could do was laugh.

After all, everyone knew that Ye Chen had started this war.

Though they were deeply disdainful, they didn't dare show it in the slightest. Instead, they had to express their gratitude and agreement.

They had no choice. The countries whose envoys had just been driven out were the perfect example.

They had merely shown the slightest displeasure at the Yanhuang Empire sending a woman, and Gu Hongchen, that demon, had remembered them. Without hesitation, she had issued a notice that their countries would be destroyed.

Seeing everyone below wearing expressions that said, "You're right, the Emperor is a wonderful man," Gu Hongchen's face didn't change in the slightest. She was as cold as ice.

When Gu Hongchen finished speaking, she gestured for those below to voice their thoughts.

After all, these were "peace talks." They had to talk, or she would have come all this way for nothing.

Whether Gu Hongchen agreed with the ideas and opinions they voiced was another matter.

And just as Gu Hongchen had said, the Yanhuang Empire had no real need for these "peace talks." Ye Chen simply didn't want to bring about more endless bloodshed. If he could expand the empire peacefully, he didn't mind doing so.

So the Yanhuang Empire didn't care which of the two choices they made: peacefully submitting and joining Yanhuang, or having their cities massacred and their countries destroyed before their territories were absorbed into Yanhuang.

After an hour, the meeting adjourned for the time being. The envoys needed to report the results of these "discussions" to their respective rulers.

Three days later.

The Russian Dynasty, Mughal Empire, Safavid Dynasty, Zunghar Khanate, and other countries submitted documents of allegiance to the rule of the Yanhuang Empire.

At the same time, Zhu Cilang, son of Chongzhen and founder of the New Ming Empire with the remnants of Great Ming, abdicated his throne and demoted himself to a commoner. As the representative of Huaxia's legitimate line, he welcomed the Yanhuang Emperor into the ancestral homeland.

Yanhuang Empire, Xuanhuang City.

Reading the document Zhu Cilang had submitted, Ye Chen shook his head and laughed. "Zhu Cilang is probably only around ten years old now, just a little kid. He probably couldn't have come up with this idea.

"Dukao and the others must have had a hand in this. I just don't know who came up with the idea—Dukao or Lian Feng.

"It probably wasn't that clueless old fool Dukao. It seems quite likely that this was Lian Feng's idea.

"But this is for the best. It saves me a considerable amount of trouble. Otherwise, I would have had to go to some effort."

The people of Huaxia thought differently from those of other countries. Without the claim of legitimate succession, all that talk of submission was useless; the people of Huaxia simply wouldn't accept it.

Now, with Great Ming's collapse, Huaxia was in a state of chaos and disorder, with no one in charge.

Only the Qing Empire had attended these peace talks, but the Qing Empire wasn't Huaxia's legitimate ruler and couldn't represent it.

Ye Chen had originally planned to find himself an ancestor from Huaxia, then use that ancestor's name to quell the internal conflict and take over Huaxia.

As it turned out, Zhu Cilang, the legitimate ruler of Huaxia—more legitimate than anyone—had given him a hand. Now he could take over Huaxia without a hitch.

One day later.

New Ming Empire, Jinling City.

When New Ming Emperor Zhu Cilang received Ye Chen's reply, the pressure in his heart immediately eased.

After Great Ming collapsed, his father, Emperor Chongzhen, had sent him and his two brothers out of the palace. As the eldest prince and rightful heir to Great Ming, he had attracted more attention than anyone.

He had originally been captured by Li Zicheng, but in the end, several mysterious people rescued him and took him to live in a mountain valley. He had spent several years there, constantly on edge.

Only recently had he learned that the people who had saved him were former Great Ming officials, led by Dukao. Dukao had also gathered a group of ministers loyal to Great Ming, enthroned him, and established the New Ming Empire.

Yet he had only been enthroned and proclaimed emperor for less than two days when that bastard Dukao told him to publicly abdicate and demote himself to a commoner.

At the same time, in the name of Huaxia's legitimate line, he was to submit a document to some Yanhuang Empire, inviting the Yanhuang Emperor to enter the ancestral homeland.

The whole operation had left him completely baffled. He couldn't understand what on earth Dukao was trying to do.

Dukao, for his part, could only say that he was innocent too. He hadn't come up with the idea; he was just a tool.

Half a month later.

Several planes landed outside Jinling City, and Ye Chen stepped out.

A large group followed behind him.

At the city gate, New Ming Emperor Zhu Cilang and a crowd of people waited to welcome Ye Chen.

Countless townspeople had lined the streets in neat rows, whispering among themselves.

Dukao, Lian Feng, and the others were among the crowd.

Seeing Ye Chen and his group in the distance, Zhu Cilang hurried forward and bowed. "Zhu Cilang pays his respects to the Emperor. Long live the Emperor!"

Behind him, the former officials, civil and military alike, and the countless townspeople bowed in unison. "We pay our respects to the Emperor. Long live the Emperor!"

Their voices shook the sky and echoed into the distance.

"Rise!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

"So you're Zhu Cilang. Very good—young, talented, and clever. You've lived up to Great Ming's..."

Looking at Zhu Cilang, Ye Chen knew that he hadn't come up with the idea himself. But none of that mattered. What mattered was that Zhu Cilang was, in name, the legitimate ruler of Huaxia.

Hearing Ye Chen's praise, Zhu Cilang felt deeply awkward. He had been confused from beginning to end. How was he clever? He wasn't even remotely a young talent.

Besides, if the emperors of Great Ming knew what he was doing now, they would probably climb out of their graves and slap him across the face.

But there was nothing he could do. Chongzhen had killed himself for his country when Zhu Cilang was ten, and the little kid had been captured by rebel forces. If Dukao hadn't rescued him, he would probably have been doomed.

Now he had handed the land of Huaxia over to someone else, but he hadn't handed it to an outsider. In the end, the meat was still in the same pot.

Looking at Zhu Cilang before him, Ye Chen had no idea what he was thinking, but that didn't matter.

Then Ye Chen continued, "Yuan Lan."

At that, Yuan Lan stepped forward at once, opened the imperial edict she had prepared, and read aloud, "I hereby confer upon Zhu Cilang the title of Marquis of Great Ming, and bestow upon him one bottle of Longevity Liquid, ten million Yanhuang Coins, and a residence in the Tianchen Domain..."