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“Hmm, indeed, punishment is necessary!”

At this point, Sum Emperor’s gaze fell on Lin Gaoyuan.

Sum Emperor asked, “Lin, what do you think should be the punishment for the North Prince? Should his title be stripped, or what should be done?”

Lin Gaoyuan was stunned for a moment.

This was a scorching hot question—if his answer was not well considered, it would not only offend the Sum Emperor but also the entire court of civil and military officials.

After thinking for a while, Lin Gaoyuan finally said, “The North Prince has tyrannized the common people, indifferent to their lives and deaths; naturally, he should be punished. However…”

“The war between Great Sum and Great Wu is not over yet. If a Seignior’s title is stripped at this time, it is very likely to drive the North Prince into rebellion.”

“Although I have heard that the Heavy Cavalry of North City has been annihilated, we must not forget that the North Prince has led the soldiers of North City to exterminate the Sky Wolf King’s tribes, which suffices to show the abundant martial virtue of North City.”

“Even without the Heavy Cavalry, the North Prince could still quickly recruit a group of soldiers with formidable combat ability. If the North Prince were to rebel, Great Sum would fall into a pincer attack situation.”

Lin Gaoyuan had not yet finished speaking when he was about to continue, but the Sum Emperor interrupted him.

“Lin’s words make a lot of sense; it is indeed unwise to depose a Seignior’s title while the battle at the front has not yet ended.”

“However, we cannot leave the offense unpunished. I should give the people of Great Sum an explanation. Therefore, let us recall all the soldiers sent by the court to aid North City, no longer helping to defend Tianguang City.”

“From today, the court will not provide any support to North City, even if the Barbarian Tribes move southward, North City must fend off their attacks alone.”

Upon hearing the words of the Sum Emperor, Zhao Wenhan furrowed his brows.

What sort of punishment was this?

This punishment was likely to be inconsequential to the North Prince.

But then again, the North Prince chose his timing perfectly by making reforms during wartime. Given the overall situation, the court indeed cannot just depose a Seignior on a whim.

If the North Prince were driven into rebellion, whoever had first proposed deposing the North Prince would have to take the blame.

At this time, the Sum Emperor said, “All right, my dear courtiers, please stand up; I understand what you are worried about.”

“However, you can rest assured. Everything that happened in North City was just Chen causing trouble without any link to me, and there is no way I would legislate to reclaim the land from all over the world.”

“Although the reign of the Great Xia Dynasty was founded by the Ancestor, and all the land nominally belongs to the royal family, belongs to me, now that I have already granted these lands out, how could I possibly take them back?”

Hearing the Sum Emperor’s words, the ministers in the court felt something was off, like the Sum Emperor was reminding them that Great Sum belongs to him and advising them to be cautious.

Zhao Wenhan felt that continued kneeling was useless, so he stood up, and after Zhao Wenhan stood, the other officials in the court followed suit.

At this time, Zhao Wenhan said, “What Prime Minister Lin and Your Majesty said is rational. It was my recklessness for not considering the potential harm that deposing a Seignior at this time might bring to Great Sum.”

Seeing Zhao Wenhan didn’t continue to insist, most of the officials in the court were uncomfortable, not because they were dissatisfied with Zhao Wenhan, but because they thought it was a pity to let the North Prince get away with it like this.

If it were not for the ongoing war between the two great dynasties, the actions of the North Prince would definitely be met with severe punishment, as his ideas are too dangerous for the court ministers to allow.

Even if the North Prince’s actions might have been instigated by the Sum Emperor, it would still not be acceptable.

Just at that moment, the voice of the Red Ribbon Messenger came from outside the main hall.

“Urgent news from Xiwu County! Great Wu has amassed an army of a million soldiers and launched a full-scale attack!”

After hearing what the Red Ribbon Messenger said, the ministers had to shift their discussion back to the war at the front, and they began to discuss how to deal with Great Wu’s full-scale offensive.

At this time, the Minister of War, Chu Qinwu, stepped forward and said, “Your Majesty, we have already sent envoys to Great Wu to express our desire for peace talks, but Great Wu continues to amass a large army to attack Xiwu County. This proves that in the eyes of Great Wu, the strength of Great Xia has significantly weakened, which is why they are entertaining the idea of peace talks.”

“I believe that in order to negotiate peace, we must first repel the advance of Great Wu’s forces and also counterattack to some extent. Only then can we deter Great Wu and let them know that Great Xia is not weak and not to be trifled with.”

“To boost the morale of the soldiers at the front, I suggest allowing Prince Lu Shuyun to take command, leading the three armies to counterattack Great Wu.”

Hearing Chu Qinwu’s words, the Sum Emperor’s eyes narrowed slightly.

He had almost guessed the intentions of the aristocratic families from the South; they wanted Prince Lu Shuyun to establish military merit to pave the way for his position as Crown Prince.

However, since he had already decided to compromise, he might as well fulfill their wishes—as for commanding the three armies, that was certainly impossible.

The Sum Emperor then said, “Although the Qii Prince is both scholarly and militaristic, he lacks the experience of commanding a large army. He may go to the front to inspire the soldiers, but he must not interfere with the decisions of the frontline commanders arbitrarily.”

The one thing the Sum Emperor valued most was military power; how could he easily hand it over to someone else? If he truly allowed Prince Lu Shuyun to command the three armies, it would be easy to give the power away, but reclaiming it would not be nearly so easy.

Hearing the words of the Sum Emperor, Prince Lu Shuyun immediately stood up and said, “Thank you, Father Emperor, for giving your son this opportunity!”

Seeing that the Sum Emperor so readily agreed to Prince Lu Shuyun’s visit to the front, the other princes were immediately discontent.

If Prince Lu Shuyun was allowed to go to the front, they also had the qualifications. Consequently, various princes stood up one after another, requesting the Sum Emperor to allow them to go to the front and fight against Great Wu.

However, the Sum Emperor did not agree. The war was likely to end, and he would not allow the other princes to go to the front and cause trouble.

The Sum Emperor was extending goodwill to the aristocratic families of the South by giving Prince Lu Shuyun an opportunity; there was no way he would let other princes run to the front to meddle as well.

What followed in court was a tug-of-war between different factions. Originally, today’s agenda was meant to cause trouble for the North Prince, but now all the ministers had shifted their focus to the warfront.

This was almost exactly what Lu Chen had anticipated. Even if the court ministers knew of the reforms he was carrying out in North City, because of the war between Great Wu and Great Xia, the court could not afford to spare the energy to trouble him.

Moreover, the court did not dare to cause trouble with a Seignior at this time. With the external enemy not yet repelled, if internal strife were provoked now, Great Xia would become even more dangerous.

Of course, this made the ministers of the court very uncomfortable. Now that they couldn’t move against the North Prince and were unable to stop his reforms in his fiefdom, were they really just supposed to watch him run amok in North City?

This was certainly not acceptable.

Since the reform measures concerning land in North City were openly proposed by the North Prince, the solution was to deal with the North Prince, the proposer. In this way, the reforms in North City would naturally come to a halt as well.

Meanwhile,

In a loft where weapons were traded, Wang Yong was communicating something with a middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man’s body was covered in robust muscles, with each muscle strand very distinct. His face bore a long scar from a knife wound, giving him a fearsome and ferocious appearance; one could tell at a glance that he was a martial artist.

After listening to Wang Yong’s words, the middle-aged man laughed heartily and then said, “Brother Wang, if you had come to us earlier, perhaps that scourge in the north wouldn’t have caused all this trouble!”

“Hmph, Blood Moon Tower really are a bunch of incompetents; they actually failed at the hands of the North Prince!”

Wang Yong said with a smile, “Master Su, what you said is true. We will trouble Spirit Martial Tower with this matter. Upon success, five million taels of silver will be offered.”

Su Teng said confidently, “Brother Wang, rest assured, you will soon hear news of the North Prince meeting an untimely death.”

“Apart from that one in the palace, there is no one whom Spirit Martial Tower wishes to kill that can be protected, not even a Grandmaster.”

Seeing Su Teng’s confidence, Wang Yong felt reassured.

Spirit Martial Tower was not a professional assassin organization, but the dirty work they carried out was not much less than that of professional assassination organizations like Blood Moon Tower.

The most important point was that Spirit Martial Tower, unlike Blood Moon Tower, did not have an infamous reputation. Spirit Martial Tower appeared to be only a shop selling weapons on the surface, but in reality, they had many ways of making money, including taking contracts to kill.