#2015 - This is my territory
In the imperial capital of the Lanling Dynasty, within the Lanling Prince's mansion.
The men sent to assassinate the Emperor had been gone for many days.
Judging by the time, shouldn't they have made their move by now?
The Lanling Prince sat upright in his study, eyes closed in contemplation, quietly awaiting good news.
At that moment, he heard hurried footsteps, very rapid, even sounding somewhat panicked.
He couldn't help but furrow his brow slightly.
What was wrong with the people of the clan?
How many times had he told them that as members of the Xiao clan, they should be calm in the face of adversity and possess the most basic psychological fortitude.
“Patriarch!”
The footsteps stopped at the study door, the voice panting, as if exhausted.
“Enter.”
The Lanling Prince remained in his meditative posture, speaking calmly.
Within the family, clan members addressed him as Patriarch, while outside they called him Prince.
“Patriarch, a great calamity has occurred!”
The one who entered was a middle-aged man, with a considerable status within the Xiao clan; though not at the Elder level, he was a Guardian, possessing the cultivation of a True God Peak Realm.
“What has caused such alarm?”
The Lanling Prince said indifferently, “To remain calm in the face of adversity is the most basic psychological fortitude. As a Guardian, can you not even achieve this?
Could it be that the sky is about to fall?”
“The Patriarch's teachings are correct…”
The middle-aged Guardian hastily lowered his head.
“Well then, you have come in such haste, what is the matter? Speak and let me hear.”
The Lanling Prince was unhurried, very composed and calm.
“Reporting to the Patriarch, the soul tablets of all the experts we sent to assassinate the Emperor have shattered!”
“What?”
The Lanling Prince, who had been so composed and unperturbed, even lecturing the family Guardian on remaining calm in the face of adversity.
The moment he heard these words, his eyes snapped open, and he abruptly stood up.
“You… you say that again?”
The Lanling Prince pointed at the Guardian, his lips trembling, his beard shaking, the muscles in his face twitching uncontrollably.
“Patriarch, all the people we sent have perished!”
The Guardian looked grief-stricken, with a wave of his sleeve, dozens of shattered soul tablets clattered to the ground.
Each soul tablet was engraved with a name, covered in cracks, and broken into several pieces.
Clearly, this degree of breakage meant that the owner of the soul tablet had completely died, their soul scattered.
The Lanling Prince widened his eyes, looking at the shattered soul tablets all over the ground, his body swaying a few times, and for a moment, as if losing strength, he collapsed back into his chair.
“How could this be… how could it be!”
He gnashed his teeth, making a near-growling sound, his eyes flashing with cold light, his fingers on the armrest of the chair slowly tightening, crushing the armrest.
“Patriarch, it seems we have been tricked, schemed against by the Emperor and that Yue fellow.
The information provided to you by Prince Qi was mostly false; he was setting a trap for us, causing us to misjudge and sending two Elders and dozens of Elder-level experts to their deaths in vain!
This time, our Xiao family has suffered too great a loss!”
The Guardian's eyes were bloodshot.
“Now, you immediately send people to the Yushan City frontier to gather information, and report any situation to me at any time!”
“Yes!”
The middle-aged Guardian retreated, closing the door behind him.
The Lanling Prince leaned back in his chair, his chest heaving violently.
It took him a long time to recover.
But his body was still trembling somewhat.
All from anger.
Two Half-step Heavenly Gods, forty Absolute Heaven Realm experts.
The family had twenty Half-step Heavenly Gods and a total of more than one hundred Absolute Heaven Realm experts.
Such a huge loss at once was almost equivalent to losing one-third of the Elder-level figures!
Such a huge investment yielded zero returns!
“What good methods you have!
It must have been that Yue fellow's idea again; Nalan Jingyi simply doesn't have the courage!
Yue, this Prince will surely flay you alive, extract your tendons, and grind your bones to dust!”
Over the years, the Emperor had never dared to confront him directly.
Ever since that Yue fellow appeared by the Emperor's side, everything had changed.
“It seems that this Prince underestimated you!
What means did you use to kill so many experts from my Prince's mansion?
Could it be that there are still experts hidden behind Yue, whom this Prince has not noticed, overlooking this point?”
He didn't think Prince Qi had deceived him.
Prince Qi had long since fallen out of favor and had withdrawn from the court, holding only the title of Prince.
Within the Nalan Imperial family, Prince Qi was not valued, his own situation was very delicate, how would he dare to offend him, the Lanling Prince, who held power over the court, especially since the Xiao family was the number one family in Lanling Prefecture!
Even if Prince Qi had ten times the guts, he wouldn't dare to do such a thing, unless he didn't want to live, abandoning his own life and that of his family.
From his understanding of Prince Qi, such a selfish and refined egoist could not possibly do such a thing.
“That Yue fellow deserves to die; such a person appeared out of nowhere, with no traceable origins, and this Prince knows very little about his various information.
It is precisely because of this that he has used the information gap to repeatedly put this Prince at a disadvantage.
Although the losses this time are huge, the Emperor has, after all, left the imperial capital.
The frontier is this Prince's territory, all the generals and officials are this Prince's people.
Let's see how he can stay in the frontier.
Hmm, return to the imperial capital?
That is impossible.
Since he has left the imperial capital, then don't even think about coming back!”
The Lanling Prince tapped the table rhythmically with his fingers.
Although this gamble suffered a setback in the first battle, the initiative is still in his hands.
Even if that Yue fellow has heaven-defying abilities and unknown trump cards, he cannot change the outcome.
The Emperor is in the frontier, so there are too many methods that he can use.
“Hmph, no one can stop what this Prince wants to do.
All obstacles that dare to stand in front of this Prince will be crushed by this Prince!”
…
Two days later, Jun Wuxie and the others' divine boat arrived at Yushan City.
The Emperor's personal arrival alarmed all the civil and military officials of the frontier, who all gathered at the City Lord's mansion.
“Your subjects were unaware of the Emperor's personal arrival and did not greet you from afar. Please forgive us, Your Majesty!”
In the main hall of the City Lord's mansion, a group of people knelt neatly.
“Rise, all of you. I came to the frontier on a spur-of-the-moment decision, without notifying you in advance. Since you were unaware, what crime is there?”
“Thank you, Your Majesty, for absolving us of our sins!”
They rose together.
“Your Majesty, the situation on the frontier is currently severe and may face war.
You disregarded your own safety and came to Yushan City. What is the reason?”
A civil official asked this question. This person was the Prefect of Yushan City, the number two figure in Yushan City, responsible for various administrative management of Yushan City.
The Prefect was originally the master of a prefecture.
However, Yushan Prefecture is rather special. This is an important border town, with General Huwei Qi Zhenshan here.
Although the military and government are separate, Qi Zhenshan, who commands twenty million border troops, is the true controller of Yushan Prefecture. He also serves as the City Lord of Yushan City, a specially established position, making the Prefect second-in-command.
“His Majesty has come to lead the border soldiers to jointly resist the powerful Langya enemy, a personal expedition.”
Jun Wuxie said.
“The Emperor wants to lead a personal expedition?”
The Prefect of Yushan City was startled when he heard this, but he sneered inwardly.
Who would have thought that the Emperor would not only come to the frontier but also want to lead a personal expedition.
In this way, wouldn't he be helping the Prince a great deal?
It is said that a rising star has appeared by the Emperor's side, initially an Imperial Guard, later concurrently serving as Minister of Revenue and Minister of War.
I wonder if the young man who spoke just now is the Minister Yue who has repeatedly caused the Prince to suffer setbacks.
Thinking of this, the Prefect of Yushan City looked at Jun Wuxie, his eyes very arrogant, and said, “Who are you? How can you interrupt when this old official is speaking to the Emperor!”
He relied on his status as the Prefect, even if the other party was a third-rank Minister, so what?
He pretended not to know and rebuked him a few times, to vent his anger for the Prince.
Speaking of official rank, he, as the Prefect, was also a third-rank official.
The highest-level city under the dynasty, apart from the imperial capital, is the prefecture-level city. The Prefect of a prefecture not only manages the prefecture city but also manages dozens of counties under the prefecture's jurisdiction, almost equivalent to a regional governor.
Listening to the Prefect of Yushan City's words, the anger in Nalan Jingyi's heart surged instantly.
How dare he speak to her husband like this!
Before she could get angry, Jun Wuxie gave her a look, causing her to forcibly suppress her anger.
“This official is the Minister of Revenue and Minister of War.
You clearly know that this official came with the Emperor, yet you dare to speak disrespectfully in front of the Emperor.
It seems that you are very arrogant.”
“So, it is Lord Yue, the Imperial Guard concurrently serving as Minister of the two ministries. I am truly sorry for my lack of recognition.”
The expression on the Prefect of Yushan City's face was contemptuous, and he said, “Lord Yue, this official simply did not know your identity, it was all a misunderstanding.
Lord Yue, you want to pin a label of arrogance on this official as soon as you open your mouth, I'm afraid you lack magnanimity.”
“Prefect of Yushan, how dare you be so arrogant in front of me!”
Nalan Jingyi said coldly, “Have you become accustomed to being a local tyrant in Yushan Prefecture these years, and no longer take me seriously?”
“Your Majesty, please calm your anger, this subject has no such intention.
Your Majesty has come to Yushan Prefecture without prior notice, and this subject was unprepared.
Now, I am afraid that I will not be able to arrange a residence for Your Majesty for a while.
Why don't this subject arrange for Your Majesty to stay in the best inn in the city for a few days first, and when the imperial palace is arranged, this subject will pick up Your Majesty, how about that?”
“You confounded thing, you actually want His Majesty to stay in an inn!”
Feng Ling's phoenix eyes flashed coldly.
A mere Prefect actually dared to be so impudent, publicly slighting the Emperor, how could this be allowed.
“Your Majesty, please understand the difficulties of this subject.
At present, it is indeed impossible to arrange an imperial palace in a short time, and His Majesty can only be wronged.”
"You treacherous and insubordinate scoundrel! Who do you think you are, deciding where the Emperor resides?
Do you really think you're some kind of local tyrant?"
The sword in Feng Ling's arms trembled slightly, and she felt the urge to draw it and kill him.
"This must be Commander Feng Ling.
I never said I was a local tyrant; you, Commander Feng Ling, are the one who said that.
What's this? Commander Feng Ling is accusing me of treason? Are you planning to kill me?"
"Do you think I can't kill you?"
Feng Ling stared coldly at the Prefect of Yushan.
"Commander Feng Ling, please calm down. If you want to kill me, Commander Feng Ling, you can try.
Commander Feng Ling, you've just arrived from the capital, and your thinking probably hasn't adjusted yet.
This is Yushan Prefecture, not the capital. It's not a place where you, Commander Feng Ling, can do whatever you want.
If you want to kill me, you'll have to ask the officials and strongmen of Yushan Prefecture for their consent.
General Huwei is here; you'll have to ask the General if he agrees."
The Prefect of Yushan sneered, his face full of smugness.
He was becoming increasingly arrogant, having even discarded the most basic pretense.
This was their territory.
What about the Emperor?
Now that he had come to Yushan Prefecture, even a dragon had to coil!
Did he really think he was a supreme emperor holding imperial power?
He probably wouldn't even be able to return to the capital.
"Qi Zhenshan, do you agree?"
Jun Wuxie looked calmly at General Huwei.
Qi Zhenshan's body trembled, and he suddenly turned around, slapping the Prefect of Yushan hard across the face.
The sound was so loud and the force so great that it sent the Prefect of Yushan flying, half his face a mangled mess, and even his back molars flew out.
"General Huwei, you…"
The Prefect of Yushan was stunned. Why did General Huwei hit him?
Weren't he and himself both on the Prince's side?
They should be standing on the same front.
"General Huwei, have you lost your mind!
You're actually helping this fallen Emperor attack me? Have you forgotten whose side you're on?
The Emperor has left the capital; they can no longer return.
This is our territory; we have the final say. Even the Emperor has to look at our faces here.
Why isn't the General dealing with that Feng Ling and the one surnamed Yue, but instead hitting me?"
He glared at Qi Zhenshan, then looked at Feng Ling and Jun Wuxie, saying, "Who do you think you are, still wanting to be high and mighty?
Remember, once you get here, you all have to lie low, including the Emperor!"
"Your territory?"
Jun Wuxie smiled and said to Qi Zhenshan, "Tell him whose territory this is."
"Yes, Master."
Qi Zhenshan nodded and turned to kick the Prefect of Yushan, who was now looking utterly shocked, causing him to scream in agony.
"You… Qi Zhenshan… What did you call the one surnamed Yue?"
The Prefect of Yushan endured the intense pain, hardly daring to believe his ears.
"We pay respects to our Master!"
In the main hall, all the military generals knelt down in unison, creating a chorus of crisp sounds of armor rubbing against armor.
"No! Impossible! You're all crazy… You've all gone mad!"
The Prefect of Yushan looked at the scene in shock and anger, the officials who followed him also wearing faces of astonishment.
"You ignorant fool! How dare a mere prefect act wildly in front of the Master and the Emperor, a trivial piece of trash!"
Qi Zhenshan lifted the Prefect of Yushan with one hand and threw him heavily at Jun Wuxie's feet.
"Prefect of Yushan, continue to be arrogant and let me see, huh?"
Jun Wuxie raised his foot and stepped on his face, precisely the face that Qi Zhenshan had beaten to a pulp, causing the Prefect of Yushan to let out a miserable scream, begging loudly for mercy, his whole body trembling, crying bitterly.
He was afraid; his whole being was drowned in fear, and he no longer had any of his arrogant manner.
