His words shocked everyone present.
They all stared at the old marquis in disbelief.
No one had imagined he would dare interrupt the emperor.
Who gave you such nerve?
The Extraterrestrial Demon Lord?
Or have you lost your mind?
If he holds you accountable, this is a grave crime of insubordination!
Only Xuanming smiled knowingly.
He understood that the Marquis of the North had cast off all restraint.
He and the Former Emperor had met when both were still obscure.
Back then, Lu Gongming was merely a man of the martial world.
The Former Emperor had also roamed that world under an assumed identity.
They had felt like old friends at first sight, adventured together, drawn their blades whenever they saw injustice, and even sworn brotherhood despite their different surnames.
Later, the Lu family's enemies came knocking.
Lu Gongming and the Former Emperor joined forces to slay them.
They had never expected those enemies to have officials of the Imperial Court backing them.
The Lu family had risen only recently and was not a Martial Dao aristocratic clan.
Framed for crimes they had not committed, they were soon thrown into prison in chains.
At the critical moment, the Former Emperor revealed his identity, saved the Lu family from disaster, and brought down the officials who had abused their public offices for private ends.
Lu Gongming was deeply grateful.
Everyone in the Lu family knew to repay that kindness.
From then on, the entire Lu family pledged allegiance to the Former Emperor, always following at his side, bound to him in life and death, never abandoning him.
Lu Gongming saved the Former Emperor from danger many times.
In the worst instance, he suffered eighty-one blade wounds, his life hanging by a thread, yet somehow pulled through.
After the Former Emperor ascended