Star Luo Empire Imperial Palace
Xu Jiawei, the emperor of the Star Luo Empire, hailed as an enlightened ruler of his generation, did not return to his bedchamber after finishing the memorials. Instead, as though moved by some inexplicable impulse, he dragged his exhausted body toward the Golden Hall.
After a day of toil, he suddenly wanted to sit on the dragon throne for a while and soothe his weary soul.
The empire's endless troubles, both within and without, had left him utterly drained.
As for external threats, the Sun Moon Empire harbored a wolf's ambition and watched the Douluo Continent like a tiger eyeing its prey. That was unavoidable; he could only do all that lay within human power and leave the rest to fate.
What gave him an even greater headache, however, was the trouble within.
The Xu Family had snatched the throne from the tiger's jaws and ruled the Star Luo Empire for over a thousand years. Yet their foundations were still too shallow. Though they held firm control over the empire, their reputation and prestige could not compare with those of the White Tiger Duke's Mansion, the seat of the empire's former rulers.
The White Tiger lineage had, after all, built up its influence in the Star Luo Empire over tens of thousands of years. How could the Xu Family possibly compare?
He felt both admiration and envy toward the White Tiger Duke, Dai Hao, but more than anything, he felt unease.
In the Star Luo Empire, that duke seemed more like an emperor than he, the actual emperor, did.
Dai Hao had enlisted as a young man and started from nothing, climbing step by step to the position of Western Suppression Marshal in just over a decade.
It was because of him that reports of