Faced with Li Boyang's terms, everyone present imagined themselves in Xue Zhenyue's position. They would all have found it hard to resist agreeing.
But Xue Zhenyue looked at Li Boyang and shook his head. "I very much want to take that step, too, but not by having someone else grant it to me.
"Besides, I am Great Zhou's Great General of Divine Martial. You may think Ji Haodian is in the wrong and unfit to be Great Zhou's emperor, and that is your prerogative. But you have no right to interfere. Great Zhou's affairs are not for outsiders to meddle in!
"Ji Haodian does not represent Great Zhou. Now that you've come here to force him to abdicate, you're slapping Great Zhou in the face—and slapping me, Xue Zhenyue, in the face as well."
Alliances forged through shared interests were always the most reliable. To Xue Zhenyue, Great Zhou was not only Ji Haodian's Great Zhou; it was his, too.
If Ji Haodian started making foolish decisions like the foolish emperor of Great Jin had once done, they would naturally step in to stop him. But that did not mean they would let you force him to abdicate.
In Su Xin's view, these Martial Arts World figures were being far too heavy-handed. If they hadn't chosen to storm the palace directly, but had instead approached Xue Zhenyue and the other military and Imperial Offering Hall experts in secret, there might still have been room to turn things around.
But by openly burning their bridges like this, they were plainly slapping Great Zhou in the face. As long as Xue Zhenyue and the others wanted Great Zhou to survive, they would never back down.
Li Boyang sighed. "I didn't come this time because Ji Haodian's Immortality Society poses a threat to