The First Emperor Ming!

Chapter 28: First Emperor Ming!

Three days later, the declaration of war from the Star Luo Empire was delivered into the hands of Xu Nian'an.

The envoys from both the Star Luo Empire and the Heaven Dou Empire had arrived together.

"Emperor Ming, we meet again."

Seeing Xu Nian'an, the envoy from the Heaven Dou Empire couldn't help but curl his lips into a smirk.

"Didn't expect this, did you?"

"Did you think that my Heaven Dou Empire would set aside our grievances with the Star Luo Empire just to deal with you first?"

"Aren't you strong? Aren't you impressive?"

"Aren't you arrogant?"

As he said this, the Heaven Dou envoy suddenly looked up.

"I, this envoy, would like to see if you can still be... so... arrogant... when the eight hundred thousand troops of the Star Luo Empire arrive at your gates, when their blades are pressed against your throat, and when the entire Great Ming is broken!!!"

"Surrender the Heaven Dou army. When the Great Ming falls and you become a prisoner, perhaps we might even leave your corpse intact."

The Heaven Dou Empire still assumed that Xu Nian'an had merely hidden the news of the Heaven Dou army.

In reality, the Heaven Dou army had simply been captured.

Thinking about it, that wasn't wrong; these were five hundred thousand people, a massive labor force. If one captured so many, they would certainly be excellent candidates for mining and manual labor.

Who could have imagined there would be a madman like Xu Nian'an?

Step!

Xu Nian'an took a step forward.

The crisp sound of his footsteps echoed throughout the great hall.

Step, step, step!

Two steps, three steps, four steps... In an instant, Xu Nian'an appeared before the Heaven Dou envoy.

"Are you... ordering This Lonely One?"

The five calm words rang out, and the Heaven Dou envoy's body stiffened.

Before he could react, Xu Nian'an's right hand flashed, and a long sword appeared in his grip.

"What are you doing? What are you trying to do!!!"

"Don't you know that when two nations are at war, one does not execute the envoy!"

Hearing this, a smile curled at the corner of Xu Nian'an's mouth.

"It is true that one does not execute an envoy during wartime, but it never said one couldn't injure them..."

Clang!

As a cold glint flashed by, the Heaven Dou envoy only felt his ear go numb.

The next instant, blood began to pour out.

"Pick up your ear; don't dirty This Lonely One's hall."

Having said that, Xu Nian'an looked toward the envoy from the Star Luo Empire.

"I have no desire to hear this declaration of war, but you must read it. I will give you a chance: read it to those who wish to hear it."

Great Ming Square.

Following the previous congestion incident, the square had been expanded countless times, stretching endlessly for over ten kilometers.

At this moment, it was already packed with Great Ming soldiers.

Even in the surrounding areas ten kilometers away, countless Great Ming citizens had gathered to watch.

On the high platform, there were microphones and loudspeakers.

When Xu Nian'an arrived, Xu Yi and a general clad in white dragon armor slowly stepped forward.

"Fifteen thousand Dragon Guards, ten thousand elite troops."

"Thirty thousand Great Snow Dragon Cavalry, in position!"

Following the great battle, the ranks of the Dragon Guards and the Great Snow Dragon Cavalry had been the first to be replenished.

Standing before the two great empires were over five hundred thousand troops.

The pupils of the Star Luo Empire's envoy constricted violently.

"Fi... five hundred thousand!!"

"How is this possible!"

According to the intelligence they had gathered in secret, the Great Ming forces stationed within the Galloping Wolf Kingdom numbered only twenty-five thousand.

The forces they had on display now totaled nearly eight hundred thousand.

This... is this still just a kingdom!!!

"You may begin."

Xu Nian'an remained expressionless.

"Emperor Ming... Emperor Ming is cruel and bloodthirsty...

These are the acts of a tyrant. Today, the Star Luo Empire acts under Heaven's mandate to eliminate the tyrannical Ming!..."

As the Star Luo envoy finished reading the declaration of war, the envoy in the Heaven Dou Empire delegation whose ear had been severed by Xu Nian'an curled his lips into a smile.

He cast a meaningful glance toward the crowd of Great Ming citizens.

"Tyrant!!!"

"Have you ever thought about how many families you have destroyed?!"

A furious young man suddenly leaped out from among the Great Ming crowd.

"In the three hundred years of the Warring States period, the number of people who died from war was less than what you have caused in your three months on the throne. Do you not feel any guilt at all!!!"

Xu Nian'an's brows furrowed instantly, his fists clenching tightly.

To be honest, if he were accused by an empire or called a tyrant by anyone else on the continent, Xu Nian'an wouldn't care; he might be annoyed at most.

But... to be pointed at and cursed by the very people he protected, by his own subjects, he could not hold it together.

He... was somewhat broken.

The commander of the Brocade Guard saw Xu Nian'an's clenched fists and the twitching of his baby fat.

"Where did this unruly commoner come from? Seize him!"

In an instant, the man who had been furiously berating Xu Nian'an was pinned to the ground.

"What, are you feeling guilty?"

"Do we not even have the right to freedom of speech?"

As he spoke, the young man scanned the crowd, who were staring at him with angry eyes.

A superior smile curled at the corners of his mouth.

"It is truly pathetic. Living in the empire he rules, I don't feel a shred of happiness; I only feel deep shame!"

"Invading other kingdoms is one thing, but massacring their citizens? He is the most damnable person in the history of the Warring States!"

The Brocade Guard commander frowned.

"Take him away."

Upon hearing the commander's words, the young man smiled.

"What, are you afraid? Afraid that I'll keep talking? You are just—"

Before he could continue, Xu Nian'an's voice, slightly breathless with anger, rang out.

"Wait."

"The term 'tyrant' is a name deliberately given to me by the defeated nations."

"The whole world, everyone on this continent can call me that, but... you cannot!"

"Because you are the subjects of my Great Ming, and it was I... who pulled you from the brink of disaster with my own hands."

As he spoke, Xu Nian'an grew more and more incensed!

"Now that the Great Ming is powerful, you have started to show concern for the weak, but do not forget where this strength—the capital you use to show your concern for the weak—came from."

"It was me, it was this Lonely One, it was this Emperor, who fought for it step by step."

"Without me, this kingdom would have been destroyed months ago!"

"And you, you would all be slaves of a fallen nation. Your parents would suffer under forced labor, you would have endless work to do, your wives would be toyed with by others, and your children would be forced into servitude!"

The scene fell into a deathly silence.

Xu Nian'an looked coldly at the young man.

"Do you think you've awakened? That you've seen through the world?"

"In my eyes, you are simply delusional."

"You don't like the Great Ming?"

"Fine, the freedom you want, I will give it to you!"

"I hereby declare that this person is stripped of his nationality, expelled from the territory of the Great Ming, and shall never be employed again!"

With a single look from Xu Nian'an, the man was swiftly dragged away by the Brocade Guard.

"As for the 'tyrannical Ming'..."

Xu Nian'an turned to look at the delegations of the two great empires.

"Which of your countries' emperors dares to claim that he is a truly upright and virtuous monarch!"

"If This Lonely One were to die."

"People like you would tear the Great Ming apart like wolves and tigers, dragging it into endless strife!"

"But what This Lonely One intends to bring to the Great Ming is a vast, sprawling empire where every horizon the eye can see belongs to the Ming, and eternal peace for generations to come!!!"

At this, Xu Nian'an swept his hand through the air.

"It is I, the Emperor, who commanded the four corners of the world to submit and expanded the Great Ming!"

"It is I, the Emperor, who ensured the people of the Great Ming have food in the morning and shelter by night!"

"It is I, the Emperor, who forged the true Great Ming!"

Xu Nian'an took a deep breath.

"Those people have never stood at the heights I occupy; how could they ever understand the scenery I behold, or dare to judge my achievements!"