The Marshal No Longer Remained Silent, the Emperor Regretted, Lin Junyu Was Cold-Hearted!

Watching the emperor rejoice so much that he had forgotten the foolish things he had done before, Imperial Marshal Qin Zhuo rose to his feet.

Seeing his beloved general stand, the emperor composed himself slightly and asked, "Marshal, how do you think I should reward my third son?"

He did intend to name his third son as his heir, but his ministers and generals needed to be the ones to propose it.

"Your Majesty, have you forgotten something?"

Looking at the emperor, Qin Zhuo still forced himself to remind him.

He and the emperor had spent every day together since before the emperor had become crown prince. Naturally, he knew exactly what kind of person the emperor was.

Unless necessary, he truly did not want to directly tell the emperor that he had issued an order to have the Third Prince put to death.

Wouldn't that be a slap in the emperor's face? The emperor cared deeply about appearances, so Qin Zhuo would inevitably be cursed out.

When the emperor had issued that order, Qin Zhuo had considered stopping him. He felt the matter had not been confirmed to that extent, and there was no need to execute a prince.

However, under the guidance of numerous ministers attending the council and the two princes, the emperor had become utterly determined to execute the Third Prince.

Besides, the Third Prince had been known as a useless good-for-nothing. He had no value to the empire, and Qin Zhuo saw no need to risk himself for him.

So, he had remained silent.

But events had developed beyond his expectations. From the moment the first military report arrived, he had realized something was wrong.

Through that report, he seemed to see that brutal battlefield and the youth who bravely slaughtered enemies.

A cavalry force of eight hundred charged forward without hesitation, pierced through the entire enemy formation, and turned the tide of the battle.

As the empire's marshal, he knew perfectly well that military reports could not possibly be falsified.

Moreover, it bore Zichuan Shengxing's personal seal. Yet the emperor's thoughts were impossible to predict.

So he remained silent once more.

Now that the second military report had arrived, he finally realized that he had been wrong. His shock surpassed everyone else's.

As a marshal commander who had fought for many years and controlled all the empire's military forces, his judgment of military strength and the state of war surpassed anyone present, including the emperor.

He saw a different Third Prince—one who planned from afar, acted boldly and decisively, commanded an army of five hundred thousand, and arranged troops into formations.

At the smallest possible cost to his own army, he had annihilated an enemy force of a million.

Even in defeat, he could withdraw steadily into the city and stabilize the battlefield.

When the first military report arrived, Qin Zhuo had recognized him as a powerful fierce general, capable of slaying enemies and commanders and charging in and out of battle seven times!

When the second military report arrived, Qin Zhuo had recognized him as a marshal capable of commanding an army of a million, clearly assessing and analyzing the battlefield, planning from afar, and using the terrain to his advantage!

Fierce generals who could slaughter enemies were formidable, but there were many of them. Marshals capable of planning from afar were rare; they required talent.

The Third Prince was still so young. If Qin Zhuo could guide him, then once he became the empire's next emperor, there would be hope of completely ending the war between the demon race and the empire and unifying the West River Continent.

Driven by conscience and self-interest alike, he rose to his feet.

"Oh? What have I forgotten?"

Seeing the emperor sink into thought, Qin Zhuo let out a sigh of relief. It seemed the emperor was still aware of his mistake.

"Oh, right, the marshal's reminder is timely. If you hadn't mentioned it, I would have forgotten!"

"Since I have ordered the entire empire to celebrate, we must naturally take the lead and announce to the empire's people that this honor belongs to everyone in the empire."

"Hold a grand banquet tonight! Lift the city's curfew for three days! Everyone may cheer and celebrate for three days and three nights!"

"Hahaha!"

Watching the emperor, who still had not realized his mistake, the Imperial Marshal—whose emotions rarely showed on his face—had his face darken.

"Your Majesty, did you give the First Prince and Second Prince any instructions?"

Qin Zhuo steeled himself and asked the emperor in a tactful yet direct manner.

"My two sons? Didn't they just—Oh no!"

The emperor had been about to say that he had ordered his two sons to follow the army to the front lines for experience, but then he remembered something. His expression changed drastically.

"Quick! Immediately send men on the fastest horses to notify the two princes at the front lines! All edicts are canceled! Return to the capital at once!"

Lin Huang recalled how, not long ago, he had ordered his two sons to take the edict commanding the execution to the front lines.

But at the time, hadn't he believed that his third son had rebelled?

And none of the empire's ministers had objected. They had all unanimously agreed!

If even one person had tried to dissuade him then, he would not have ruthlessly ordered the death of his third son, of whom he had been so proud.

"You ministers, generals, and marshals—are you all good for nothing? Why didn't you remonstrate with me then?"

"Where was the spirit you showed when you risked your lives trying to persuade me to establish the Imperial Inspectorate?"

The emperor could not be wrong. The ones at fault were the ministers. If they discovered the emperor was wrong and did not remonstrate with him, then the fault was theirs.

All the ministers and generals present looked bitter.

What was bound to come had come.

The emperor's joy vanished, and he began furiously berating them.

At the time, they had genuinely wanted to use the opportunity to eliminate a useless prince and clear another obstacle for the prince they supported.

But who could have imagined that a prince who had been useless for more than a decade would cause such a huge stir on the front lines?

If you'd told us earlier that you were this capable, we wouldn't have opposed you.

We might even have placed our bets on you.

They could only hope that the First Prince and Second Prince had enough sense of the bigger picture. If they truly drove the Third Prince to death under the current circumstances—

One could imagine the emperor's fury when they faced it.

Especially those ministers who had been the most vocal before, eager to perform in front of the two princes—they now looked as though their parents had died.

If the Third Prince died, they would certainly be executed as well, buried alongside him.

The emperor no longer had any desire to celebrate. His heart was filled with panic and helplessness.

At that moment, he finally began to worry about his child's life and death like a father.

If his third son died, he did not dare imagine what kind of figure the empire's history books would portray him as.

A ruler who rashly killed meritorious officials? A tiger devouring its own cub?

He only hoped that his two sons would remember their brotherly bond, refrain from acting, and wait for his decree to arrive.

For the first time in his life, the proud and self-confident emperor deeply realized just how wrong and hasty his order had been.

Meanwhile, Lin Junyu, at the center of the storm, was holding a warm, lovely woman in his arms and enjoying himself immensely.

"How was that? I told you it was real!"

"It really is real. I feel like I've become much younger, and my whole body feels so relaxed. I can't sense anything about my lifespan, but I can tell that my body is more vibrant than before!"

Having just tested a new use for the Immortality Gene, Lin Junyu held Zichuan Mingyue in his arms.

"Was that medicine the doctor gave me real or not? It's been several days, and there's still no movement!"

Zichuan Mingyue stroked her smooth belly, her face full of dissatisfaction. Lin Junyu smiled.

"My genes are very powerful. Unless your body has been modified to a certain extent by me, it won't be able to withstand my life energy and nurture life!"

This was also what Lin Junyu had learned from the system: the stronger a person's genes were, the harder it was for them to have offspring.

Especially for Lin Junyu, who possessed the Immortality Gene. Once he had a child, that child would inherit part of his genetic energy and become a long-lived being!

"You really can live for a very long time? And you can let me live for a very long time with you too?"

"Of course. Our world is far from simple. The reason I was able to activate the genes within my body was because I found an ancient civilization ruin on this continent."

Lin Junyu had confessed many things to Zichuan Mingyue, but he had replaced the system's reward of the Immortality Gene with something obtained from an ancient civilization ruin.

"No wonder you care so much about exploring ancient civilization ruins. You were even willing to abandon your identity as the Third Prince of the empire. If there's something in those ruins that can keep people forever young and immortal, then of course countless people would flock to it!"

"I found a map to an ancient civilization ruin. I need to take a look, but before that, there's one matter I need to settle."

Lin Junyu narrowed his eyes, a dangerous glint flashing within them.

Naturally, Zichuan Mingyue knew he meant the First Prince proposing marriage to her father.

"What, are you angry?"

"Obviously. Someone's setting his sights on my woman—how could I put up with that? Do you take me for a cuckold?"

"In the open, I still have to keep up appearances, so I can't deal with you. But in the dark, hehehe, it's time to show you just how ruthless I can be!"

"How about you come explore the ruins with me? Otherwise, I won't be at ease!"

Lin Junyu looked at the beauty in his arms and asked.

"Wait three years for me. Once I've guided my younger brother into maturity and handed the Southeast Legion over to him, I'll go with you!"

"That works. These three years will be just enough for me to lay out a few plans."

"Alright, stop thinking about it. I've rested enough. Let's continue—I want my body to be modified sooner!"

Zichuan Mingyue flipped over and pressed Lin Junyu beneath her.

The pleasures of this moment could not be shared with outsiders.