Twists and Turns at the Imperial Court

Jun Tianxiao watched Mo Yunxuan's nonchalant demeanor. Although he wished he could kill this scoundrel with a single sword strike, he had to grit his teeth and say, "It's fine!" considering his main objective for the day.

Mo Yunxuan lowered his arm and glanced at Jun Tianxiao, whose eyes were bloodshot and body trembling. He chuckled softly, "Today, I must thank Marquis Anle. You've made me understand what it means to be the Duke of Wei, and what are the rules."

Jun Tianxiao didn't understand Mo Yunxuan's meaning and had no idea what he was up to. He simply thought Mo Yunxuan was feigning and let out a cold snort, turning his head away.

However, the expressions of the surrounding officials and ministers suddenly turned serious. The Empress, who had been lazily leaning on the Dragon Throne, lost her composure and sat up straight. She didn't know if Mo Yunxuan's words were intentional or accidental. If they were accidental, it would be fine, but if they were intentional, it would be terrible.

Although the Wei State Duke Mansion only served the Great Gan and didn't fully obey her orders, they were still the most loyal nobles of Great Gan. Coupled with the Two Hundred Thousand elite Imperial City Imperial Guard, which was the best in the world, they could be considered the last line of defense for the imperial dynasty and clan, besides the royal family itself.

It wasn't an exaggeration to say that with the current strength of the Imperial City Imperial Guard, even if Mo Yunxuan, the new Duke of Wei, hadn't grown yet, he could easily defeat or even annihilate three to five legions of the same level. Now, because of a few words from Jun Tianxiao, this line of defense had become fragile.

Ji Ruxue glared at Jun Tianxiao, who was still somewhat bewildered, and thought to herself, Truly incompetent, always causing more trouble than success!

Jun Tianxiao, below, noticed Ji Ruxue's glare and mistook it for her urging him to act quickly. He subtly nodded, tidied his court robes, stepped out of the formation, and said righteously, "Your Majesty, setting aside the fact that the Duke of Wei killed Fang Liang, the Commander of Left Wei Guard, for now."

"As the saying goes, a country cannot be without a ruler for a day. Currently, the position of Commander of Left Wei Guard is vacant, which may lead to problems."

"I have recently discovered a good general, surnamed Zhao, named Yun, courtesy name Zilong. He is only 20 years old. Although his cultivation is only Peak Nascent Soul, he can fight against a Spirit Transmutation Peak Stage expert without defeat."

"Since the Duke of Wei has no candidate to succeed the Commander of Left Wei Guard, why not let this person try?"

After speaking, he confidently raised his eyebrows at Ji Ruxue, as if saying, Your Majesty, haven't I done a good job!

Ji Ruxue had a headache at this moment. She really didn't understand why Jun Tianxiao was so troublesome. Did he not understand the situation at all? He had just offended someone terribly, and now he was recommending a general to their stronghold. Was he afraid that his Zhao Yun wouldn't die fast enough? Or did he think that being able to match a Spirit Transmutation Peak Stage expert made him invincible?

However, since Jun Tianxiao had already stepped forward, she couldn't pretend not to see it. What a headache!

"What does the Duke of Wei think of this matter?" Ji Ruxue asked in a low voice, her eyes filled with helplessness.

Mo Yunxuan saw that they had finally brought up the matter and was not surprised. After all, if they missed today, the next imperial court session would be half a month later. By then, even without a system, he would have found a suitable candidate to take over as the Commander of Left Wei Guard. Their plan would have completely failed, so they would definitely not let go of this opportunity today. Mo Yunxuan was confident about this. However, to truly secure this gain, it wouldn't come without a price!

What Mo Yunxuan didn't expect was that Ji Ruxue had already prepared to give up on strategizing for the position of Commander of Left Wei Guard. Everything that was happening now was solely Jun Tianxiao's own initiative.

Unaware of the inside story, he wore a smile like an old farmer and cupped his hands, saying, "Your Majesty, the Left Wei Guard has always been controlled by my Wei State Duke Mansion since the Great Gan's revival."

"If Marquis Anle's people interfere, wouldn't that be against the rules?"

Hearing Mo Yunxuan's words, Ji Ruxue nodded and was about to follow his lead to end the topic. But before she could speak, Jun Tianxiao's voice rang out.

"Although the Left Wei Guard has always belonged to the Imperial City Imperial Guard, it is, in the end, Your Majesty's army."

"Your Majesty wants to send someone to take over the Left Wei Guard, and the Duke of Wei actually objects."

"What? Does the Duke of Wei intend to treat them as his private soldiers?"

Ji Ruxue tightly clenched her hand hidden in her sleeve, her desire to kill someone even stronger. However, her gaze turned to Mo Yunxuan. She and the ministers present all knew that with the resources provided by the imperial court, the army could at most maintain the standard of Great Gan's third-tier army.

If a general wants to make soldiers stronger, they need to invest more resources.

Some generals choose to reduce the number of troops, concentrating resources to train a select few.

Unless there's absolutely no other way, no one would choose this method. After all, one more soldier means one more source of confidence, and even more power.

Others use resources from their families to train their troops. In this way, only a small portion of the soldiers' pay comes from the Imperial Court.

The majority still comes from their direct commanding generals. Coupled with the military tradition of soldiers recognizing their general rather than the emperor, over time, these soldiers, nominally belonging to Great Gan, have actually become the generals' private armies.

Of course, the commanding generals are not united. Although the Great Gan Imperial Family's foundation is strong enough not to care about this loss of power, they also use it to restrain the various commanding generals.

Furthermore, the Great Gan Imperial Family also has its own commanding figures, so there's no need to fear the existence of private armies.

On the contrary, the existence of private armies allows many families to invest resources into military construction.

Great Gan gains a strong army, and the noble family generals gain the power they desire. Both sides are satisfied with this exchange of interests.

Therefore, this has become a peculiar unwritten rule. Many others practice the same method as the Wei State Duke Mansion, but this practice ultimately cannot be brought into the open.

How will he solve this difficult problem? Ji Ruxue wondered curiously.

Mo Yunxuan glanced disdainfully at Jun Tianxiao, his gaze fixed on Ji Ruxue as he calmly stated:

"That's not true. The Left Wei Guard belongs to the Imperial City Imperial Guard, and the Imperial City Imperial Guard's loyalty to His Majesty is beyond doubt."

Upon hearing this, both Ji Ruxue and the various courtiers nodded in unison.

Regardless of whether Mo Yunxuan's current actions represented a change in his stance, at least since the establishment of the Imperial City Imperial Guard, the Wei State Duke Mansion had been loyal to Great Gan. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been entrusted with guarding the Imperial City.

Mo Yunxuan ignored their reactions, his voice gradually becoming more emotional:

"It's just that under the leadership of my Wei State Duke Mansion, the Left Wei Guard soldiers have experienced many hardships."

"They have long become my dearest loved ones, my brothers!"

As he spoke, Mo Yunxuan turned his head, closing his eyes as if in pain.

In reality, he was calculating whether to say "You'll have to pay extra" to see the Empress's reaction.

Jun Tianxiao frowned, looking at Mo Yunxuan's seemingly genuine expression, and coldly interrupted:

"In the end, aren't you still going to disobey His Majesty's orders?"

Ji Ruxue saw Jun Tianxiao always using her name to flex his muscles, and her delicate eyebrows furrowed.

She had originally planned to use this opportunity to relinquish her position as Commander of Left Wei Guard.

And allow the Wei State Duke to return to a state of loyalty to the Imperial Court.

Before she could speak, Jun Tianxiao interrupted her, and she immediately wanted him to shut up.

At the same time, Mo Yunxuan's carefully cultivated emotions were instantly ruined by Jun Tianxiao's interruption, and he lost all interest in playing along.

He suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze fixed on Ji Ruxue, and said with a serious expression:

"Although I consider them my dearest loved ones and brothers, if His Majesty gives an order, I naturally wouldn't dare to keep them by force."

"It's just that the Wei State Duke Mansion has invested a large amount of resources into the Left Wei Guard. If His Majesty were to forcibly take them back like this..."

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