Li Chen's Scheme, a True Puppet Emperor! (Please Subscribe and Vote with Monthly Tickets)

Lately, Sergei had been so busy his feet barely touched the ground.

On one hand, he mobilized every resource and mouthpiece at his disposal.

Throughout his father Grand Duke Andrei's fief, he lavishly promoted his image as someone who "pitied the suffering," "abhorred war," and "yearned for peace," striving to portray himself as an exceptional noble heir who cared for his people.

On the other hand, he personally traveled about, holding repeated negotiations with representatives sent by Han Wu, commander of the Heavenly Strategy Dynasty's Northern Army.

In the end, by paying an enormous ransom several times higher than the usual price, he successfully bought back the nearly twenty thousand soldiers previously taken captive.

Han Wu naturally reaped a windfall from this transaction, but Sergei's gains were just as substantial.

These ransomed soldiers had already witnessed what a true army of tigers and wolves looked like in Heavenly Strategy. The Heavenly Strategy Army's terrifying fighting spirit and efficiency at harvesting heads had left deep psychological scars, and they had no desire to return to the battlefield to die.

Now that Sergei had paid an astronomical price to ransom them, he was practically the parent who had given them a second life. Naturally, they were profoundly grateful and swore their loyalty to him.

Sergei seized the opportunity to settle these battle-hardened veterans, loyal to him alone, in various places throughout the fief to recuperate. Meanwhile, he secretly organized and trained them into a hidden force that answered only to him.

Though they had yet to form proper military units, their potential was not to be underestimated.

Everything seemed to be moving in the direction Sergei had hoped.

Even more delightfully, for reasons he could not fathom, his master, Master Urge, had recently taken a particular interest in him. Not only did