Baimu knew he had to keep a cool head despite wanting to dive down and bag his prizes. The one question that he didn’t even have a wild guess for was, what was the Emperor of the Central Plain doing in Nanjiang?
Unlike Beijiang, who still had their military parked by the border, the Central Plain long got into the heads of Nanjiang’s forces. Technically, the Central Plain didn’t beat fear into Nanjiang in spite of their numerous small skirmishes. The Central Plain “pranked” Nanjiang until the latter feared them.
Xiacang Anxi began to develop a sense of fear toward the Central Plain right after Nieyao City’s annihilation. Their best chance at a successful northern campaign subsequent to that was thirty years ago, when the Central Plain’s imperial family was occupied with fighting each other for the throne, and Xiacang Anxi had a solid force.
Unfortunately, someone sowed discord, resulting in a dog-eat-dog fight between Nanjiang’s states that was still ongoing. The Central Plain then capitalised on the opportunity that Xiacang Anxi failed to, successfully expanding their border southward. Ever since then, Xiacang Anxi’s border was flimsy.
The Central Plain dealt another heavy blow when they claimed the majority of Morcher’s territory for themselves twenty years ago. Just when Xiacang Anxi thought it couldn’t get any worse, Green Prince started lining his pockets with their money when he arrived in Xiuyu.
Only ten-odd years after Green Prince’s advent in Nanjiang, Emperor Yuansheng came down and approached Heisina Tribe, Baimu state’s enemy, as a friend.
The successive victories on all fronts planted fear even in Xiacang Anxi’s proud great guyas. Baimu might be able to decimate mighty opponents, but Hero Li wasn’t just any other opponent. Hero Li could take hundreds of thousands of lives if he just said the word. One blunder could cost more than just Baimu State.
“Hoho, don’t stand on ceremony. Sit.” Emperor Yuansheng found himself a seat. Neither A-Lan nor Beussent took him lightly even though he wasn’t in his golden robe. “Besides seeking to accomplish my own goal, I also came here with the wish to bring peace to the southern border.”
A-Lan bitterly smiled: “Your Majesty, discussing this with us is b-”
Emperor Yuansheng raised his hand: “Princess Ah Lan, you are Morcher’s Princess. Morcher is our neighbour. We can forge a long-standing alliance if you just bob your head. As allies, we are family. We will always be Morcher’s safest ally. I am a man of my word.”
Although A-Lan was a wanderer from childhood, General Chigen did share his knowledge of politics with her while he was alive.
“It is an honour to be held in such esteem. Howbeit, A-Lan’s kingdom is no more. She is without a soldier, a fief or a town. Not even a remnant of her fallen kingdom remains. Reviving her kingdom is but a pipe dream.” A-Lan could already see assassins from the eleven states hunting her again if she so much as uttered her wish to see her home’s restoration.
Emperor Yuansheng tugged up the corners of his lips: “What if I told you that you can?”
If the man with the most wealth and strongest military among all rulers was serious, then the pipe dream was already half achieved.
Baimu: What a man. He has his son supervise Xiuyu to draw attention whilst searching for the Princess of Morcher. If he controls her, then he controls Morcher. If he controls Morcher, he rules Xiacang Anxi.
A-Lan stuttered, “I-If you would allow it, then… b-but why?”
“I am the one who occupied your lands. I said it before, and I will say it again. I am only acting as a trustee. I never intended to invade. It is only right to return it to Morcher now that we have found you.
“We have always served using our approach in the Central Plain. While there have not been any major turbulences in the last twenty years, we did face environmental issues. After all, the people esteem their monarch. In addition, your father was a great ruler whom even I must praise. I cannot bear to see his family end.
“I am not assisting you for free. As I previously mentioned, we must sign a peace treaty to not invade the other. As for the other conditions, we can discuss them once we have restored your home.”
While A-Lan was still spinning her brain cogs, Baimu already finished his analysis.
Bloody guile Emperor! He wove everything to control Morcher! If he tries to forcibly control right off the bat, he’ll be met with backlash. He left Morcher’s throne vacant for two decades to habituate everyone to the Central Plain’s administration approach. Once he instates a Queen the Central Plain is familiar with and Morcher’s denizens don’t hate, then he rules them without any backlash! I would never imagine a man who looks like a dullard could be so conniving. If I don’t kill him now, Xiacang Anxi will be history!
Emperor Yuansheng detected distinct hostility from the roof right before Baimu burst through. Beussent recognised the black energy emanating from Baimu as the Central Plain’s concept of “Enlightenment”, but his reaction time wasn’t fast enough to save Emperor Yuansheng. Once the black energy vanished, Baimu was seen scowling as he closed the final metre between him and Emperor Yuansheng, but his advance was prohibited.
Unlike Baimu’s bulky arms, the man who caught his wrist and denied him another millimetre was practically skin and bones.
Baimu was sure he should’ve crushed Emperor Yuansheng already, yet he couldn’t reach his target for some reason.
“At this moment in the sky, at this moment on Earth, a light is needed to cross the river. His Majesty’s crisis is in the south. Must wake to reach out. Catch the claw and he shall be fine.” Lai Jingzhen yawned as he rubbed his eyes. “Doesn’t that mean ‘right now’?”
