Emulating the Star Luo Empire!

Chapter 40: Emulating the Star Luo Empire!

"Your Majesty, Emperor of Great Ming, what... what do you mean by this?"

"As a promising youth of the 26th century, you wouldn't be thinking of choosing the unreasonable path of forceful seizure, would you?"

"How would you have the people of the entire continent view Great Ming? How would you have the tens of millions of citizens of the Heaven Dou Empire view the Great Ming suzerain state!"

Please note, the Heaven Dou envoy used the term "suzerain state" here; the implication was self-evident.

The Heaven Dou Empire was willing to submit and admit defeat, but they did not want it to be displayed openly; they were fine with whatever was said behind closed doors.

But would Xu Nian'an give him that face?

The answer was, of course... no.

"Are you trying to use moral blackmail against This Lonely One?"

"Hehehehahaha~!!!!!"

Upon hearing the other party's words, Xu Nian'an truly could not hold back.

Even now, the person opposite him was still trying to use moral blackmail.

Xu Nian'an laughed.

He laughed with extreme arrogance.

"Are you trying to use moral blackmail against a tyrant who slaughters cities and destroys kingdoms at the slightest disagreement, and acts entirely according to his own whims?"

"Do you think This Lonely One would care?"

"What is your status, and what is the status of This Lonely One? What is the status of the Heaven Dou citizens, and what is the status of This Lonely One?"

"Would This Lonely One care about their thoughts?"

"They are merely ants!"

Xu Nian'an's cold words rang out one after another, like sharp daggers piercing straight into the other man's heart.

Indeed.

Who was the person standing before him?

This was a man who had slaughtered two hundred thousand enemy troops on the day of his coronation, destroyed the Star Shine Duchy supported by the Star Luo Empire, recovered lost territories, completely conquered the Galloping Wolf Kingdom in just one month, and slaughtered a million members of the Galloping Wolf tribes based solely on his own preferences.

Even with the two great empires united, they had failed to make this man bow his head, suffering millions of casualties instead.

How could a man like this ever be made to bow his head by a mere few rumors or the accusations of some commoners?

Morality?

It was nothing more than a shackle in the hands of royal power to restrain ordinary people.

"Go back and tell your master."

On the massive Dragon Horse Carriage, the mighty Sun and Moon Flag was flapping loudly in the gale.

Xu Nian'an sat quietly on the Dragon Pattern Chair.

He lazily propped his head up with his right hand, casting a cold, indifferent glance at the Heaven Dou envoy.

"This Lonely One will give you only one day, twelve hours. If you cannot satisfy This Lonely One within these twelve hours..."

"There will be no need for your Tiandou City to exist any longer!"

BOOM~!!!

The Heaven Dou envoy's head roared, his body instantly went limp, and he collapsed to the ground.

Four words flashed through his mind instantly.

"Slaughter... slaughter the city and destroy the kingdom!!!"

If one were to ask if Xu Nian'an would really dare to do such a thing?

No... one could not ask that; they did not dare to gamble, for after all, this was not the first time Xu Nian'an had done so.

This man not only dared to do it, but he also had experience.

"Understood?"

Xu Nian'an's cold voice rang out once more, and the Heaven Dou envoy shuddered upon hearing it.

"I... I understand."

"I, I, I will return to report this immediately."

Watching the Heaven Dou envoy depart, Xu Nian'an looked up, gazing down at the entirety of Tiandou City.

Tiandou City was truly worthy of being the capital of the Heaven Dou Empire, the wealthiest empire on the continent.

Its level of magnificence far exceeded that of Star Luo; furthermore, it was a super-sized city.

There were many, many people living within it.

If it weren't for the fact that Xu Nian'an had brought quite a large force this time, he might not have been able to surround this city at all.

The Imperial Palace of the Heaven Dou Empire.

"Yo... Your Majesty, it is true. That is exactly what they said."

"Furthermore, they have only given us one day. Once the time limit passes, they will not hesitate to draw their blades."

Upon hearing the messenger's words, the civil and military officials gathered in the Heaven Dou Empire's court fell into a deathly silence.

"How could the Great Ming do this? We are their elder brothers, after all. Have they forgotten all the help we provided in the past?"

"Exactly! If we hadn't agreed to cede the Galloping Wolf Kingdom to them, could the Great Ming have developed into an empire so quickly?"

"Now they actually dare to turn their blades against us. They are nothing but a pack of ungrateful wolves. We even tried to share methods for economic development to save them centuries of trial and error—truly, these ingrates are not worth conspiring with!"

Within the court, the civil officials jumped up one after another, hurling insults.

They made no mention of how, had it not been for their own consent, the Gulei Kingdom would never have seen two hundred thousand troops at their gates on the very day Xu Nian'an ascended the throne.

They made no mention of how, when the Great Ming sought independence and the establishment of an empire, they had obstructed them at every turn, even going so far as to mobilize five hundred thousand troops and unite with the Star Luo Empire to propose the partition of the Great Ming.

On the main throne, Emperor Xue Ye wore a look of profound distress.

Damn it, damn it all. How did things develop into such a state?

Didn't Xu Nian'an just want an explanation back then?

Why did it spiral into this?

Emperor Xue Ye clutched his head in agony; at this point, he was utterly out of options.

They had waited until the Great Ming army was surrounding Tiandou City, with blades pressed against their throats, before they finally began to feel regret.

Above the officials and below the throne sat one other person, occupying a rare, designated seat.

At this moment, the First Prince, Xue Qinghe, had his brows tightly knitted together.

Qian Renxue had originally intended to use the case of the Third Prince's assassination to conveniently dispose of Xu Nian'an, who had previously had intimate contact with Xue Qinghe.

After all, she didn't know the true nature of their relationship... and to avoid exposing herself, she had acted. But Qian Renxue had never expected this.

Not only had her plan failed, but it had also caused Xu Nian'an to completely cast off his restraints and grow rapidly.

He had withstood the pressure from the Heaven Dou Empire, crushed them, survived the siege of two great empires, and now, he had fought his way to the gates of Tiandou City.

Seeing that the Heaven Dou Empire was on the verge of collapse, Xue Qinghe could no longer sit still.

Is the plan I prepared for so long going to fail just like this?

No.

I have worked so hard to eliminate the other princes; now that the Fourth Prince is still young, I am the only candidate left to be the heir to Heaven Dou.

If I fail at this moment, all my previous efforts will have been in vain.

This was something Qian Renxue could not tolerate.

If they had to be a defeated nation, so be it.

Anything was better than seeing all her efforts turn to nothing.

"Father, this son has a strategy!"

While everyone else was at their wits' end, the First Prince, Xue Qinghe, stepped forward.

Because the Second Prince had died of illness, the Third Prince had been assassinated, and the Fourth Prince was too young and incapable, the First Prince, Xue Qinghe, was highly valued by Emperor Xue Ye, who had indirectly groomed him as the future heir.

This was the reason he was permitted to attend court and sit above the officials, yet below the Emperor.

Swish.

Emperor Xue Ye, on the main throne, looked up abruptly.

"Qinghe, speak quickly."

Xue Qinghe wore a sorrowful expression.

"At this juncture, the preservation of our Heaven Dou realm must be the priority. If we wish to satisfy the Great Ming, we should emulate the Star Luo Empire."

The moment the words "Star Luo Empire" were uttered, the pupils of everyone present contracted sharply.

The Star Luo Empire—the ceding of territory, the payment of indemnities, the defeat treaties, the military restriction treaties... a stack of hundreds of pages of documents that might not even be enough to list them all.

"Nonsense! Xue Qinghe, what is your intention in wanting the Heaven Dou Empire to sign a defeat treaty just like the Star Luo Empire!"

"Do you not know that this defeat treaty requires the ceding of land, the payment of indemnities, and a compensation of one billion Gold Soul Coins?"

"This is a disgrace! My Heaven Dou Empire will never sign such a trea—"

The person who stood out from the crowd was Prince Xue Xing, who was also the person in court who despised Xue Qinghe the most.

However, before he could finish, Xue Qinghe turned his head and said coldly.

"Uncle, are you suggesting that you want the Heaven Dou Empire and the Heaven Dou royal family to be exterminated?"

"I believe you all know the Great Ming Empire's style of conduct better than I do!"

Having said this, Xue Qinghe turned his gaze sharply toward Emperor Xue Ye.

"Father, please think twice before you act!!!"

"Everything must be for the sake of the Heaven Dou realm, and everything must be for the sake of the Heaven Dou royal family!"