Chapter 553: Gu Lei Expansion

"My Lord, the hearts of the people have exploded with righteous indignation; this is a once-in-a-millennium opportunity." Xun Yu came before Nan Feihuang and spoke. Naturally, he would not let this excellent opportunity slip by; the Gu Lei Kingdom must immediately intervene in the succession of the Hagen Dazs Kingdom and the Tianshuang Principality.

They had the standing to do so, after all, Nan Feilian and Nan Feiyan were Nan Feihuang's own elder sisters.

"Heh, a good opportunity? Wenruo, so this is what you have been keeping from me all this time!" Nan Feihuang said calmly. "You and Father have been hiding this from me because you were afraid I would be soft-hearted and interfere with the implementation of the plan, right?"

With the news of the kingdom and principality spreading, Nan Feihuang had already seen through Xun Yu's plan.

He was using the opponent's own strategy against them, utilizing the opponent's framing to carry out a counter-frame. However, in this plan, one person had to die: his second sister's husband, the Tianshuang ruler.

"My Lord, please forgive me. Your humble servant simply did not wish for you to bear the burden of harming your own family. I designed this plan, so even if there is retribution in the future, it should fall upon me." Xun Yu bowed deeply; he had already steeled himself when he designed this plan.

Feihuang sighed, stepped forward, and helped him up. "Wenruo, you need not be like this. I am indeed a bit angry, but I do not think you did anything wrong. You were right not to tell me, because of my second sister, I might truly have been unable to strike. Now that the plan has succeeded, we can take both countries into our pockets without much cost. With such a great achievement, how could I blame you? As for the blame, you are my strategist; there is no reason for you to take the fall for me. I have wronged my second sister, and I will find a way to compensate her; you need not blame yourself for this."

"Many thanks, My Lord!" Xun Yu said gratefully.

Although Nan Feihuang and Cao Mengde had very different personalities, they were very similar in one point: they were clear about right and wrong.

The difference was that Cao Mengde knew his mistakes, corrected them, but would not admit them, while Feihuang knew his mistakes, admitted them, and then decided whether to correct them based on the situation. If he could not correct them, he would take responsibility for his own mistakes. He had already thought about how to compensate his second sister in the future; death was by no means the end of life. She and her husband would surely have a chance to meet again in the future. At worst, once he became a god, he would use the Dunjia Heavenly Book to find his brother-in-law's true spirit, just as Tang San resurrected Huo Yun'er, reshape his life, and return him to his second sister, letting their family reunite.

In any case, this brother-in-law would think until his death that the one who killed him was Tang San of the Tang Sect. If Feihuang saved him and gave him a new life, he would only be grateful. As for the Tianshuang Principality, since the successor was his own son, he would just have to accept it.

It was better to let him, like his second sister, never understand the truth for the rest of his life.

"My Lord, there is actually one more point in the follow-up plan that must be paid attention to: the Heaven Dou Empire. The Hagen Dazs Kingdom and the Tianshuang Principality were both originally vassals of the Empire. They cannot possibly watch us take them over. Ge Long will definitely find a way to stop us. That side will have to rely on you!" Xun Yu reminded him.

Feihuang smiled slightly. "Heh, rest assured, Wenruo. Ge Long cannot move. Back then, he and I made a pact in front of Ke'er."

At this moment, inside the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace, Ge Long knelt before Xue Ke, pleading with tears streaming down his face.

"Your Majesty, we must quickly send troops to help the Hagen Dazs Kingdom and the Tianshuang Principality stabilize the situation. Please, Your Majesty, grant the Imperial Edict and the Military Talisman."

He had been begging Xue Ke for several days, but Xue Ke remained unmoved.

Xue Ke frowned and said, "Uncle Ge Long, I have already told you, my father-in-law has sent word to me saying that he will resolve the matters of these two countries, and we should just guard our own territory. Besides, Brother Feihuang, as the Heaven Dou Regent, will naturally share my worries."

"Your Majesty, if they, father and son, go to resolve it, will the Tianshuang Principality and the Hagen Dazs Kingdom still be vassal kingdoms of our Heaven Dou Empire?" Ge Long asked. "Your humble servant does not doubt His Highness the Regent, but as the suzerain state of these two countries, when such a major event occurs, it should naturally be resolved by us. Your humble servant once again requests Your Majesty to grant me the Military Talisman and permit me to send troops."

"Uncle Ge Long, do not forget, you made a pact with Brother Feihuang in front of me. As for the Military Talisman, if he does not move, you are not allowed to move either. Unless the Spirit Empire attacks, the main army is to be stationed at Jialing Pass, and no one is allowed to move lightly. Brother Feihuang has not broken his promise, so why are you so anxious? Could it be that you have other ideas?" Xue Ke looked at Ge Long suspiciously.

Ge Long was startled; Xue Ke was actually questioning his loyalty.

He knew he was asking for military power a bit too urgently, but that was because the situation was critical. If they did not take action now...

The raw rice would be cooked into porridge by Nan Feihuang.

However, his pact with Nan Feihuang seemed to be a fact indeed. Recalling that pact, he finally realized he seemed to have fallen into a trap.

He and the late Emperor Xue Ye had thought only about how to keep Nan Feihuang from touching the Heaven Dou Empire's military power.

Nan Feihuang simply did the opposite: he would not touch the military power, but he would not let anyone else touch it either.

When he used the name of the Regent to order himself to guard Jialing Pass, he had even felt a bit happy. Who would have thought that such a big thing would happen now? This was digging a hole to bury himself.

From now on, no matter what actions the Gu Lei Kingdom took against surrounding countries, he could not move troops and could only watch. Because of that court pact, unless the Spirit Empire or the Star Luo Empire attacked, the army could not move.

Anything over a thousand cavalry, without the Military Talisman, shall not leave.

On this point, even Ge Long could not change it.

Moreover, he did not have the capital to flip the table, because the Empress was Xue Ke, Nan Feihuang's wife.

Xue Ke was indeed ignorant of politics, so she listened very much to her father, Xue Ye. She firmly remembered the dying words Xue Ye left her.

But she did not just listen to Xue Ye alone; Feihuang was her husband, so she naturally listened to his words as well.

What Xue Ye instilled in Xue Ke was the idea that one must guard against others; even a husband could not touch the Heaven Dou Empire's military power.

Feihuang instilled the same idea in her, telling her that no matter how much the outside world said Ge Long was a loyal subject and how loyal he was to the Heaven Dou Empire, he was ultimately an outside official. If he held heavy military power and stood alone, it was inevitable that he might develop ulterior motives.

Although Feihuang knew Ge Long would not do that—he was indeed as blindly loyal to the Heaven Dou Empire as Titan was to Tang Hao—it did not stop him from poisoning Xue Ke's mind against him.

Moreover, whatever Feihuang said sounded reasonable to anyone. If Xue Ye taught Xue Ke to guard against even her own husband, what was wrong with him teaching Xue Ke to guard against an outside official? Clearly, Xue Ke had taken Nan Feihuang's words completely to heart.

No matter what Ge Long said, she would not give him the Military Talisman. She firmly insisted on the national policy established at the beginning: the Heaven Dou Empire would rest and recuperate, not interfere in this matter, and the army would be stationed at Jialing Pass and must not move lightly.

Regarding this, Ge Long could only sigh and eventually returned to Jialing Pass in disappointment.

He understood that he could no longer stop the expansion of the Gu Lei Kingdom.

The situation was just as he had expected. Within the following three months, Feihuang ordered Jia Kui and Pan Feng to lead troops to the Tianshuang Principality to support the ascension of Nan Feilian's son, preventing the petty people within the country from playing tricks.

That side was relatively simple; after all, Nan Feilian's son was already the Crown Prince of the Tianshuang Principality, and his succession to the throne was justified. However, he was still young, so Nan Feilian had to rule from behind the curtain. Since Nan Feilian did not understand state affairs, she could only have Jia Kui and the others assist her in handling them.

The Tianshuang Principality could be said to have already fallen into Nan Feihuang's hands.

Next, he sent Yang Wudi and Dugu Bo to lead an army to the Hagen Dazs Kingdom. That was a real seizure of power. The royal family of the Hagen Dazs Kingdom was dead, and the country was in chaos with smoke and fire rising everywhere.

The throne of the king was for those capable of holding it. With the help of two Soul Emperor-level powerhouses, Dugu Bo and Yang Wudi, and without the interference of the Heaven Dou Empire, Nan Feiyan and Beilixi sat high on the throne very smoothly.

The Spirit Empire and the Star Luo Empire watched the rapid expansion of the Gu Lei Kingdom and were naturally unwilling, but the problem was that even if they were unwilling, there was nothing they could do, because their hands could not reach that far.

Due to geographical reasons, if they wanted to send troops to the Hagen Dazs Kingdom, they would inevitably have to enter Heaven Dou territory first, and then they would be blocked outside the territory by Ge Long's army. In the end, they could only watch as Nan Feihuang's power grew stronger and stronger.

Ge Long was so angry he wanted to vomit blood. He had not expected that even without touching the Heaven Dou military power, Nan Feihuang could still play his army in the palm of his hand.

He also had to swallow this bitter fruit willingly; after all, he had volunteered to accept the Regent's decree back then.

If he left Jialing Pass with troops without an order from the Empress Xue Ke, that would be dereliction of duty, and in serious cases, he could be labeled with the crime of treason.

He could only grit his teeth and accept it now.

(End of chapter)