"Your Majesty the Great Ming Emperor, you... what do you mean?"
"As an ambitious young man of the twenty-sixth century, you wouldn't be thinking of resorting to an unjustified invasion and seizing things by force, would you?"
"How are you going to make the people of the entire continent view Great Ming? How will the tens of millions of citizens of the Heaven Dou Empire view the Great Ming suzerain state?"
Pay attention: the Heaven Dou envoy had used the words "suzerain state." Their meaning was already plain as day.
The Heaven Dou Empire was willing to submit and acknowledge defeat, but it didn't want to show it openly. They could say whatever they liked behind the scenes.
But would Xu Nian'an do him this favor?
The answer was, of course... no.
"You're trying to use morality to hold me hostage?"
"Ha ha ha ha~!!!!!"
Hearing the other man's words, Xu Nian'an couldn't hold back.
Even at this point, the man opposite him was still trying to use morality to hold him hostage.
Xu Nian'an laughed.
He laughed wildly.
"You're trying to use morality to hold hostage a tyrant who razes cities and destroys kingdoms at the drop of a hat, and does whatever he pleases?"
"Do you think I care?"
"What status do you have, and what status do I have? What standing do the citizens of Heaven Dou have, and what standing do I have?"
"Would I care what they think?"
"They're no more than ants!"
Xu Nian'an's icy words came one after another, each like a sharp dagger plunging into the envoy's heart.
That was right.
Who was the man before him?
This was the man who had slaughtered two hundred thousand enemy troops on the day of his accession, destroyed Star Shine Duchy, backed by the Star Luo Empire, reclaimed lost territory, and completely overrun the Galloping Wolf Kingdom in just one month—then slaughtered a million members of the Galloping Wolf tribes simply because he felt like it.
Even when the two great empires joined forces, they hadn't made this man bow his head. Instead, they had lost millions of troops.
How could a man like that be brought to heel by a few rumors, or by the accusations of some commoners?
Morality?
It was merely a restriction imposed on ordinary people by the hands of kingship.
"Go back and tell your masters."
On the enormous Dragon Horse Carriage, the mighty Sun and Moon Flag snapped in the howling wind.
Xu Nian'an sat quietly in the Dragon Pattern Chair.
Lazily propping his head up with his right hand, he glanced coldly at the Heaven Dou envoy.
"I'll give you only one day—twelve hours. If you can't satisfy me within that time..."
"Then there'll be no need for your Heaven Dou City to exist!"
Rumble~!!!
The Heaven Dou envoy's head rang like thunder. His legs gave way, and he collapsed to the ground.
Four words flashed through his mind.
"R-Raze the city and destroy the kingdom!!!"
Would Xu Nian'an really dare to do it?
No... that wasn't even the question. They didn't dare gamble on it. After all, Xu Nian'an had done this before.
That man didn't just dare—he had experience.
"Understand?"
Xu Nian'an's cold voice rang out again. The Heaven Dou envoy shuddered when he heard it.
"I-I understand."
"I-I'll go back and report this at once."
Watching the Heaven Dou envoy leave, Xu Nian'an lifted his head and looked down over the entire city.
Heaven Dou City truly lived up to its name as the capital of the Heaven Dou Empire, the wealthiest empire on the continent.
It was far more splendid than Star Luo. What's more, it was a supercity.
Countless people lived within its walls.
If Xu Nian'an hadn't brought so many men this time, he might not have been able to surround the city at all.
The imperial palace of the Heaven Dou Empire.
"Y-Your Majesty, that's exactly what they said."
"Moreover, they've given us only one day. Once the time is up, they'll attack without hesitation."
After hearing the envoy's report, all the civil and military officials at the Heaven Dou court fell silent, as if chilled to the bone.
"How can Great Ming act like this? We were practically their big brother. Have they forgotten all the help we gave them?"
"Exactly! If we hadn't agreed to cede the Galloping Wolf Kingdom to them, could Great Ming have risen to become an empire so quickly?"
"And now they dare turn their weapons against us! They're a bunch of ungrateful, white-eyed wolves. We even wanted to share our methods for developing the economy and help them avoid centuries of detours. They're impossible to reason with!"
Among the officials in court, the civil officials jumped up one after another to curse.
Not one of them mentioned that without their approval, the Gulei Kingdom would never have sent two hundred thousand troops to Xu Nian'an's gates on the very day he ascended the throne.
Not one of them mentioned how they had obstructed Great Ming at every turn when it sought independence and wanted to establish an empire—even deploying five hundred thousand troops and joining forces with the Star Luo Empire to propose dividing up Great Ming.
On the throne, Emperor Xue Ye wore a deeply troubled expression.
Damn it. How had things ended up like this?
Hadn't Xu Nian'an only wanted an explanation back then?
How had it come to this?
Emperor Xue Ye clutched his head in anguish. At this point, he had no way out.
Were they really going to wait until the Great Ming Army surrounded Heaven Dou City and held blades to their throats before they regretted it?
Among the officials, beneath the emperor's throne, sat a man in a rare seat.
At that moment, First Prince Xue Qinghe's brows were also tightly furrowed.
Qian Renxue had originally planned to use the Third Prince's death and assassination case as an excuse to kill Xu Nian'an, who had previously been intimate with Xue Qinghe.
After all, she didn't know what was going on between the two of them... To avoid exposing herself, she'd wanted to get rid of him. But Qian Renxue had never expected that her plan would not only fail but also cause Xu Nian'an to completely unleash himself and grow rapidly.
The Heaven Dou Empire had pressured him, only to be utterly crushed. He had miraculously survived the joint assault of the two empires, and now he had marched right up to Heaven Dou City.
With the Heaven Dou Empire on the verge of destruction, Xue Qinghe could no longer sit still.
Was the plan he'd spent so long preparing really going to fail just like that?
No.
He had worked so hard to eliminate the other princes. The Fourth Prince was still young, leaving him as the only candidate for the Heaven Dou heir.
If he failed now, all his previous efforts would be wasted.
Qian Renxue couldn't accept that.
So what if they were a defeated nation?
That was better than seeing all her efforts vanish into thin air.
"Father, I have a plan!"
Just as everyone else was at a loss, First Prince Xue Qinghe stepped forward.
The Second Prince had died of illness, the Third Prince had been assassinated, and the Fourth Prince was too young to be of use.
As a result, First Prince Xue Qinghe had earned Emperor Xue Ye's deep trust. The emperor had, in effect, begun grooming him as the future heir.
That was why he was allowed to attend court and sit above the officials but below the emperor.
Swish~
Xue Ye abruptly lifted his head from the throne.
"Qinghe, speak quickly."
Xue Qinghe looked troubled.
"At this point, we must prioritize preserving the Heaven Dou Empire. If we want to satisfy Great Ming, we can follow the Star Luo Empire's example."
The instant he heard the words "Star Luo Empire," everyone present shrank their pupils.
The Star Luo Empire had ceded territory, paid reparations, and signed a treaty of defeat and a military restriction treaty... There were so many terms that hundreds of pages might not have been enough to list them all.
"Bullshit! Xue Qinghe, what are you trying to do by making the Heaven Dou Empire sign a treaty of defeat like the Star Luo Empire?"
"Don't you know that the treaty requires us to cede territory, pay reparations, and hand over one billion Gold Soul Coins?"
"This is a disgrace! The Heaven Dou Empire will never sign such a treaty—"
The man who stepped out from the crowd was Prince Xue Xing, the man at court who disliked Xue Qinghe most.
But before he could finish, Xue Qinghe turned around and said coldly,
"Are you suggesting, Uncle, that you'd rather see the Heaven Dou Empire and the Heaven Dou Imperial Family wiped out?"
"I believe you all know the Great Ming Empire's way of doing things better than I do!"
Having said that, Xue Qinghe abruptly turned to Xue Ye.
"Father, please think this through!!!"
"Put the Heaven Dou Empire first. Put the Heaven Dou Imperial Family first!"