Chapter 37: Winds Rises in Tianwu City

The Great Qing Imperial Palace – Hall of Mental Cultivation.

Heavy rain continued to fall, forming a curtain of water cascading down in front of the hall.

Inside, Shen Yian stood before the dragon couch, maintaining a respectful bow.

After a long while, Emperor Wu finished his meditation and opened his ice-cold eyes that seemed to look down upon the world.

“As a father, he should return.”

“As a general, he cannot return.”

After a pause, Emperor Wu continued: “Recently, barbarian raids have been frequent. Without a great general to oversee the army, how can the soldiers’ morale be maintained?”

Shen Yian hesitated for a moment before carefully asking: “Does Father Emperor mean that if there’s a great general to oversee the army, General Ye could return?”

Zhao Hai, who was listening on the side, almost coughed out loud.

Goodness, was His Highness doing this on purpose?

Emperor Wu frowned slightly and nodded: “Yes.”

The military most fears changing commanders on the battlefield, let alone for a general like Ye Feng who has deeply rooted himself in the hearts of the soldiers.

A sudden change of command would likely cause an extreme reaction among the troops.

Sebei City has always been a strategic location fought over by military strategists. Whichever side controls it, the Great Qing or the barbarian nation, gains the initiative.

If Sebei City were to fall due to Ye Feng’s departure, even nine heads wouldn’t be enough for Ye Feng to lose, and it might even implicate the entire Ye family.

Shen Yian furrowed his brows. The old man seemed to have relented, but in reality, he had dug a big pit for him to fall into.

At this point, he had no choice but to initiate his backup plan.

“Father Emperor, in my opinion, if the barbarians are unable to raid the border for a long period of time, could General Ye return?”

“He could.”

Emperor Wu’s eyes flashed with a cold light. He seemed to have guessed what his Sixth Son was planning to do.

“Do you have a way?”

“Your son has one!” Shen Yian took a deep breath and replied.

“No jesting?”

“No jesting!”

Shen Yian stepped forward half a step, cupped his hands in salute, his eyes resolute.

“Good! Good, ‘no jesting’ indeed!” Emperor Wu suddenly stood up.

“Zhao Hai! Draft an imperial edict!”

Zhao Hai, somewhat dazed, came to his senses: “Yes! Your Majesty!”

About ten minutes later, Zhao Hai slowly approached and handed the edict to Shen Yian.

“You want to deliver the edict yourself?” Emperor Wu asked in a solemn voice.

“Your son will go personally.”

Shen Yian affirmed decisively.

“I know what you want to do. How confident are you?” Emperor Wu’s expression darkened slightly, his tone even more serious than before.

According to spy reports, the recent frequent barbarian raids were due to the barbarian leader’s old age and his sons’ restlessness. Internal conflicts had also led to growing resentment among the people, with a trend towards civil unrest.

Now, to divert internal conflicts and public resentment, the best method would be to instigate a war against an external enemy, uniting everyone against a common foe.

What Shen Yian wanted to do was nothing more than to make that old barbarian leader die a few days earlier than expected.

Currently, the barbarians weren’t yet prepared for a large-scale attack. Once the barbarian leader dies, the pressure holding everything in check would be gone, and his sons would inevitably fight for the throne, leading to internal strife.

Here’s the translation of the provided Chinese text:

He hadn’t overlooked this possibility.

His Great Qing had many talented individuals, but weren’t there also numerous experts among the barbarians?

Otherwise, how could both sides have been at a stalemate, harboring grudges for a hundred years?

Trying to kill the barbarian leader would be no different from attempting to assassinate him in the imperial palace!

“Your son is completely confident!” Shen Yian stepped forward again, his gaze intense.

“Boom!”

“Do you know the punishment for deceiving the emperor?!”

Emperor Wu’s terrifying pressure spread throughout the vast imperial palace, even tearing a frightening rift in the dense clouds above.

Everyone in the palace was shocked.

Who?! Who had angered His Majesty?!

Lu Wenxuan stood on the highest stage of the Heavenly Gate Pavilion, looking down at the rain-soaked palace with a puzzled expression: “What has that brat done now?”

After quickly calculating with his fingers, Lu Wenxuan’s expression changed slightly: “That brat is truly daring!”

In the hall, Shen Yian faced this pressure without changing his expression: “Your son wouldn’t dare!”

He had a sword that could swallow mountains and rivers, challenge the world, pluck stars, and subdue gods and demons!

Even if that old man was an expert in the Divine Wandering realm, he couldn’t withstand it!

This was the source of his confidence!

Suddenly feeling lighter, Emperor Wu withdrew his pressure, his chest heaving as he said in a deep voice: “You must return alive, even if you have to crawl back to me. Otherwise, I will revoke the imperial edict and have the Ye girl marry someone else!”

Damn it!

A stampede of ten thousand divine beasts ran through Shen Yian’s heart.

You old bastard, you can swindle my money, but you can’t touch my wife!

“Father Emperor, rest assured, your son will definitely return alive.” Shen Yian replied through gritted teeth.

“Hmph, I’ll be waiting for you.” Emperor Wu snorted lightly, the corner of his mouth curling up imperceptibly.

Shen Yian left the Hall of Mental Cultivation with the edict, fuming.

This old bastard was even worse than the old codger at the Heavenly Gate Pavilion.

That old barbarian better die quickly when the time comes, or he might not be able to resist desecrating the corpse!

“Your Majesty, I fear the prince’s journey this time will be more dangerous than safe…” Zhao Hai couldn’t help but say.

The barbarian capital was deep in their territory. Even if successful, barbarian experts would surely attack en masse, frantically hunting down Shen Yian. No matter how strong one person is, it’s still difficult to face multiple opponents.

But if Your Majesty knew this, why would you let the prince go to his death?

“He won’t. I believe in him,” Emperor Wu said calmly. He knew the extent of Shen Yian’s strength and was well aware that Shen Yian wouldn’t easily agree to something he wasn’t confident about.

He also knew that besides the Northern Commercial Association, Shen Yian had a group of terrifyingly powerful experts under his command, just hidden very deeply, unknown to others.

Nurturing a tiger to invite calamity?

Heh, they are all sons of my Shen Family, what calamity?!

He wanted to use Shen Yian as a sharp sword to pierce through the barbarians.

Emperor Wu turned and waved his sleeve, unfurling the other half of the hanging map, revealing a complete world map.

Here’s the translation of the provided Chinese text:

He wanted to lead his sons to conquer a vast territory for the Great Qing, accumulating blessings for thousands of generations to come!

Emperor Wu looked towards the Great Qing’s territory: “I heard the Sixth Son say that the land in Liaodong is fertile. If cultivated, it could become the Great Qing’s largest granary.”

“Your Majesty means…” Zhao Hai was startled. Since His Majesty’s ascension to the throne, the Great Qing had been focusing on recovery and development. Apart from defending against barbarian and Japanese invasions, they hadn’t raised arms against others.

“I want to take this place!”

West of Liaodong, tens of thousands of troops were already stationed there, along with the second prince’s ten thousand Golden Iron Cavalry.

He had been waiting, always waiting for that old man to die, waiting for an opportunity!

Now the opportunity had come!

“Your Majesty is wise!” 

Zhao Hai was somewhat excited, never expecting to see in his lifetime the Great Qing’s iron cavalry crushing the barbarians unstoppably.

“Summon the messenger!”

“Greetings to Your Majesty!”

A Martial Guard Division messenger hurriedly entered the hall.

“Order! Xuanwu and Zhuque to immediately head to Sebei City and await orders!”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

The messenger wrote the message, had it stamped by Zhao Hai, and quickly left the hall.

Zhao Hai sighed inwardly, realizing His Majesty was indeed still worried about the prince.

“Come!”

“Summon Prime Minister Wei Ling!”

“Summon Duke of State Ye Tiance!”

“Summon Minister of War Sun Wuzhong!”

…

As orders were issued one after another, the imperial guards were kept busy, disregarding the heavy rain as they rode swiftly out of the palace on horseback.

This caught the attention of Shen Yian, who was sitting in a carriage. He curiously lifted the curtain to look.

What’s going on?

So many imperial guards leaving the palace with orders?

Could it be that the old man is planning to make a big move using this opportunity?

Looking at the situation, it seemed highly likely.

To get his father-in-law to return, he had really exerted himself this time.

Shen Yian smiled and then suddenly sighed.

This trip would take at least four or five days.

No, he had to make that silly girl compensate him properly. That’s decided.

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