Chapter 141: Finally, someone who can understand human speech

"Huyan Lan? Let him come to the Imperial Study."

Li Chen had been so busy lately that he had almost forgotten about such a person.

Huyan Lan was a powerhouse of the Ice Bear Tribe, with one hundred thousand troops under his command.

He had always harbored resentment over his position as tribal leader being snatched away, and he was also a man of ambition.

Li Chen remembered Huyan Lan saying he wanted to be his vanguard pawn; this fellow had already steeled himself to be a dog, and Li Chen was curious to see what he was capable of.

Not just anyone was qualified to be Li Chen's dog.

Arriving at the Imperial Study, Li Chen saw a few memorials on the table.

These must have been the battle reports sent from the north while he was away.

Li Chen sat on the Dragon Throne and casually opened a few memorials to examine them.

After a while, a few people walked in through the door.

Besides Huyan Lan, there were several palace maids, led by the Head Palace Maid.

She had the other maids place the two "gifts" in the Imperial Study before waiting to the side for orders.

"Your humble servant Huyan Lan pays respects to Your Majesty. Long live Your Majesty, long live, long live!"

As soon as Huyan Lan entered, he kowtowed directly; he knelt with such crisp, clean efficiency.

At over forty years old, his aura was extremely steady, and his physique was tall and sturdy; kneeling on the ground, he looked like a giant bear crouching.

Li Chen put down the memorials and looked forward, discovering two unconscious women lying in the Imperial Study.

The things the palace maids had just carried in were likely these two.

These two women looked to be in their early thirties, dressed in the attire of the Northern Wang Ting; the fabric and craftsmanship were top-tier, so their status should not be low.

The key point was that even while lying down, they were full and firm, their chests rising and falling continuously with their breathing.

To have such scale even while lying down was enough to show how large they were; they were indeed very alluring.

Because the gifts were living people and were presented by a foreign envoy, they could not just be brought into the Imperial Palace; the Head Palace Maid needed to conduct a comprehensive inspection, which was why it took some time.

These were the rules of the palace.

Generally speaking, it might not be so strict, but now that their Emperor was Li Chen, they did not want anything to happen to him.

As long as Li Chen was outstanding enough, everyone around him would treat him well.

"What is this?" Li Chen asked with confusion.

"Replying to Your Majesty, these are the gifts your humble servant has prepared for you."

According to Huyan Lan's introduction, these two women were the wife of the current Ice Bear Tribe leader, Huyan Yu, and the mother of the Snow Eagle Wang Ting's Khan, respectively.

He had captured these two people and presented them to Li Chen to show his determination to defect, leaving himself no way back.

After listening to Huyan Lan's explanation for a while, Li Chen finally understood.

The Ice Bear Tribe leader Huyan Yu had only one beloved wife, and this woman was even Huyan Lan's former sweetheart; this act of his was to show that he was willing to offer everything to Li Chen.

The Khan of the Snow Eagle Wang Ting was a lecherous ghost, and his harem was large; capturing one of his harem members would not have much impact on him, but he only had one mother.

Therefore, to show his loyalty, Huyan Lan had even captured the Khan's mother.

This way, the Khan of the Snow Eagle Wang Ting would certainly not let him off, so he hoped to use this opportunity to join Li Chen's command and be Li Chen's dog.

If it were normal times, it would be hard to capture them, because these people lived in the city, and even if captured, there would be no way to bring them out, let alone to the Tian Ce Dynasty.

But war had long since broken out in the north, and the Wang Ting had a tradition: once war started, if the enemy was strong, they would send women and children to safer places far from the battlefield.

This would allow the warriors to have no worries, and even if they failed, they would still have a spark left.

The so-called safer places were the cities in the Great Snowy Mountains.

Huyan Lan was originally from the north and knew this well; he and his men could withstand the northern cold, so he had been planting people and waiting for an opportunity.

Finally waiting for the time when these people migrated, Huyan Lan took the opportunity to intercept and kill.

This was only after he had set a trap in advance and paid the price of losing ten thousand cavalrymen that he successfully captured the two key figures.

Now he was wanted by the entire Snow Eagle Wang Ting, and his remaining troops were waiting for orders at the border cities of the Tian Ce Dynasty, while he brought these two gifts to present to Li Chen.

In any case, he could not go back now, so he placed all his bets on Li Chen.

If Li Chen won, he would be the new Khan of the north; if Li Chen lost, he would have nothing, and would not even have a good death.

Because if Li Chen lost, the Northern Khan would certainly make demands for Li Chen to send him back.

This was a high-stakes gamble; at his age, he was powerless to turn the tide on his own, so he could only gamble this once.

"Why did you choose these two as gifts?" Li Chen said thoughtfully.

"Your Majesty, when you first ascended the throne, you told the envoys of the Snow Eagle Wang Ting that the harem was vacant and that the northern tribes needed to provide about 500 beauties, preferably royal blood relatives. Your humble servant has limited ability now and could only collect these two. When your humble servant rules the Wang Ting for you in the future, I will certainly make up for what is owed." Huyan Lan replied respectfully.

There was a hidden meaning in his words, and Li Chen could hear it.

Huyan Lan mentioned "when your humble servant rules the Wang Ting for you in the future," which showed that the purpose of his loyalty this time was to become the new King of the Wang Ting.

This was not a big problem; as long as he really sold out the Wang Ting and helped the Tian Ce Dynasty quickly resolve the north.

What did it matter if Li Chen rewarded him with a Khan position? In any case, they were all Li Chen's dogs.

Huyan Lan's previous words made Li Chen very satisfied; finally, there was someone who could understand human speech.

This fellow was very sensible!

Those military generals in the court, one by one, said they would capture the Northern Wang Ting Khan and present him to Li Chen; Li Chen was speechless to death.

I stated the conditions clearly; do you really think I'm joking?

Is what I want excessive? The Northern Wang Ting has always demanded things over the years; I am at most taking it back with interest.

Other emperors dared not, but that does not mean I dare not.

Li Chen had also checked the history of the last few hundred years; there was an emperor who, when receiving envoys from various countries, gave them some treasures to take back, with the idea of showing the wealth and generosity of the Tian Ce Dynasty.

When they went back, they would also speak well and be grateful.

This way, the emperor had face, and the reputation of the Tian Ce Dynasty would spread.

After envoys from other countries receive their rewards and return home, they bring tribute as a return gift the next time they come.

But the Northern Wang Ting's tribute has decreased rather than increased; they bring whatever random items they have as tribute and just wait for the rewards.

That emperor was also concerned with saving face, so he would prepare a little something for them regardless.

At first, it was just gifts of gold, silver, and jewelry, which was harmless.

Later, the envoys from the Northern Wang Ting naturally became emboldened; sometimes, feeling it was too little, they would actually open their mouths to ask for more.

The reason was simple: they claimed that the more His Majesty gave, the more it showcased the prosperity of the May Tian Ce Dynasty.

That face-conscious emperor naturally gave it to them as well.

Li Chen doesn't even want to name who that was.

It later developed to the point where the Wang Ting envoys simply came empty-handed and returned fully loaded.

If one day at court, Altai and Atade had actually brought a massive amount of tribute to pay respects to Li Chen, Li Chen wouldn't have spoken so harshly.

These two fellows actually came empty-handed and demanded things; you've been given too much face, haven't you?

Li Chen does not indulge them.

It was only later that the Khan of the Northern Wang Ting hadn't even felt angry about Li Chen refusing the marriage alliance before the declaration of war was already delivered to his face.

Only then did he realize that he had awakened a sleeping dragon.

"I am curious about one thing: how old is the Khan of the Snow Eagle Wang Ting?" Li Chen only considered this question after seeing one of those two gifts.

"Answering Your Majesty, the Khan is in his early twenties and only recently took office. He is blessed by the Snow Leopard God and possesses extraordinary power. He is hailed as the 'Undying Heaven.' However, Your Majesty is divinely martial and peerless; he is still far behind," Huyan Lan replied immediately, learning to flatter him in the process.

Heaven means 'Messenger of the Gods' in the North, and the Snow Leopard God is the holy beast that guards the Great Snow Mountain.

If one can obtain the favor of the Snow Leopard God, then one can naturally become the Khan.

No one knows how strong this young Khan's power is, but being able to obtain the blessing of the Snow Leopard God means he can use divine power, so his cultivation base certainly won't be low.

Not only the Khan, but many warriors of the Snow Eagle Wang Ting also possess divine power; this is the main reason for their rise.

It seems the Khan is still very young; Li Chen can now understand why his mother also looks so charming and alluring.

If the young Khan were to curse at Li Chen and Li Chen said that dirty remark, it would truly be a jab.

"Very well, I accept your sincerity. Go to the vicinity of the border and await my orders." Li Chen has essentially recruited him into his ranks.

"Your subject obeys the decree." Huyan Lan finally succeeded in choosing his side, feeling that all this effort was worth it.

After he left, Li Chen glanced at these two tempting gifts and had the head palace maid take them away and hand them over to the Empress Dowager; the Empress Dowager should know how to handle them. That is to say, place them under house arrest; the imperial palace has a specialized set of procedures for this.

Li Chen feels that Huyan Lan's words cannot be fully trusted. What if this guy is imitating 'Yao Li' and playing a ruse of self-inflicted pain, then doing something to these two women? Wouldn't he become a stepping stone for someone else to be remembered for ages?

Li Chen does not want to die as unclearly as the late emperor, with no way to investigate.

These two gifts will be kept for now; we'll talk after the "Imperial Dragon Sacred Scripture" is complete.

As for Huyan Lan, Li Chen believes Guo Guo Po Yun will know how to use him better than he does.

Li Chen has also read the war reports from the North; Guo Guo Po Yun does not like fearless sacrifices.

Therefore, he did not directly launch a fierce attack on the large city where the Ice Bear tribe is located. That large city has gathered the elites of various northern tribes and relies on the weight of the city walls for defense.

After the northern tribes were beaten into fear, they learned their lesson and began building cities and training heavy infantry; their defensive power is extremely strong.

But Guo Guo Po Yun can learn too. While besieging the capital of the Ice Bear tribe, he sent young generals like Xu Zifeng and Liu Hao to lead cavalry around them, using the method of supporting war with war to attack other tribes with weaker defenses.

Isn't this the tactic the Northern Wang Ting used to harass the May Tian Ce Dynasty in the past?

Now that the roles of attacker and defender have swapped, we'll just do the opposite.

!

It is unknown whether it is Guo Guo Po Yun's tactics that are effective, or Xu Zifeng's luck and strength that are against the grain; Xu Zifeng almost fought all the way to Snow Eagle Ridge.

However, his army was very small at the time, and the defenses at Snow Eagle Ridge were strict, so he just passed by without taking action.

As for why Xu Zifeng fought so quickly, it is because the Marquis of Zhaoyuan, Peng Zhao, stayed in the North for a full four years, and the new map he drew marked many terrains very clearly.

This resulted in the northern soldiers not needing to scout the path at all; they just followed the map.

Coupled with Xu Zifeng's extremely high military talent and the help of Ma Hei, it was simply like a fish in water.

The most absurd thing is that while Xu Zifeng was campaigning in the North, he specifically went to 'check in' at the place mentioned by his prison mate Atade.

Anyway, he has already led his army deep into the hinterland and lost contact with the main army camp. Such generals can make their own judgments, and no one knows what he wants to do.

As a young general, Liu Hao has the deputy generals sent by his father to help him, and he is also campaigning steadily.

Here he encountered Altai; the two of them had conflicts and contradictions back in the imperial capital.

The two armies fought very intensely, both threatening to cut off the other's head.

As the emperor, Li Chen naturally has no need to step into such small scenes.

If the Wang Ting Khan takes action, or if the main army arrives at Snow Eagle Ridge, then Li Chen will head to the North.

Under normal circumstances, those in the Sage Realm will not appear on the battlefield, because the army's Harmonic Meridian Array is extremely terrifying.

Human cultivators in this world practice Meridian Arts. As long as they cultivate to a certain level, a Meridian Gate will appear, which is the kind of halo Li Sining is currently cultivating.

Meridian Gates can resonate with other cultivators, giving rise to the Harmonic Meridian Array.

The Harmonic Meridian Array is immensely powerful and can even overturn giant beasts.

If those in the Sage Realm want to take action, they also need to stimulate their own meridians to fight. The more powerful the skills they use, the more terrifying the consumption of their meridians.

Even those in the Sage Realm cannot fight continuously.

After a battle, they also need to rest for a period of time before they can continue fighting.

If they fight by force, not only will there be little effect, but it will also cause damage to their meridians, leading to a significant decline in strength.

This is also why, even if the Supreme Master wants to deal with Li Chen, he can only choose to take action in places far away from cities.

Because there are many strong people in the city, and all kinds of treasures and barriers are everywhere; they could drag him to death just by attrition.

However, these are not problems Li Chen needs to consider for now. Even if he is strong, there is no need for him to do everything himself; otherwise, what is the use of raising so many subordinates?

Leaving the Imperial Study, Li Chen bumped into Xia Qing, who was passing by.

"Why are you back so late today? Are you working overtime?" Li Chen asked.

"Answering Your Majesty, I actually returned a long time ago, but I went to check on how Li Sining's homework was going, and only now am I preparing to go back and rest," Xia Qing replied.

She is quite earnest and responsible in her work, and Li Sining is the first 'disciple' she has brought, so naturally, she has to observe her well.

In her view, Li Sining's talent is not bad, but she is not very diligent.

But cultivation cannot be forced; completing homework appropriately is also a good choice.

What surprised Xia Qing was that there was actually an exotic fire in the Alchemy Building of the Fire-Kindling Combat Academy.

As long as they wait for the exotic fire to mature and split off a fire seed, fire-attribute cultivators can absorb the exotic fire.

The Dean said she could have priority access, but Xia Qing still feels she should rely on her own efforts to make contributions to exchange for it; otherwise, everyone will think she is the type who relies on connections.

Li Chen supports her approach; anyway, as long as you are happy.

After chatting for a few sentences, the two parted ways.

On the way back to the sleeping quarters, Xia Qing felt that Li Chen was actually quite easy to talk to and not as serious as her father said.

It's just that everyone in the palace thinks she is Li Chen's future consort, which gives her a headache.

When Li Chen returned to his sleeping quarters, he found that Ji Lianyu had been waiting there for a long time.

She has been in the palace for this period of time, which can be considered as being able to help Li Chen vent his fire in time.

However, her main purpose for coming today is not this, but to discuss some matters with Li Chen.

"Your Majesty, this is the list of positions held by our Ji clan in various cities in the South."

As she spoke, she handed a roster to Li Chen.

While Li Chen was looking at the roster, she peeled the fruit Li Chen likes to eat and fed it to his mouth.

It can be said that among so many women, she is indeed the one who knows best how to take care of people; her gentleness and thoughtfulness are fully displayed.

According to Ji Lianyu, the head of the Ji clan seems to have been persuaded by her and has begun to show goodwill toward Li Chen.

And they indicated that they would send representatives to celebrate during the national festival in a few days.

Anyway, regardless of whether Li Chen or the Prince of Zhennan wins, they will have a foothold.

This point actually surprised Li Chen; he didn't expect this woman to want to help him too.

Just like Lady Youlan, she can take the initiative to help him solve many troubles.

When Li Chen met Ji Lianyu's gaze, he noticed that her eyes were very similar to Li Sining's—both were the type that desperately wanted to gain Li Chen's approval.

Perhaps she does these things more to get Li Chen's praise and make Li Chen feel that she is useful.

Li Chen remembers that the emperor of the previous dynasty achieved this through practicing special techniques; can he do it directly?

He actually doesn't feel that the Prince of Zhennan is a threat at all; at least from the perspective of the Sage Realm, he truly cannot detect any danger.

However, he does want to see what Ji Lianyu will do next, so he kept praising her for being capable, praising her until she was somewhat stirred.

As the saying goes, 'water does not lie'; her physical reaction indeed shows that she is very satisfied right now.

The next day, when Li Chen finished the morning court session, the Commander of the Imperial Guards, Li Sixing, came up to report again.

"Your Majesty, someone trespassed into the forbidden area again last night. According to those in my clan who fought with them, the intruder's strength should be a cultivator at the peak of the Heavenly Abyss Realm, and their cultivation path remains unknown."

This made Li Chen somewhat puzzled: what exactly does this person want to do? And a Heavenly Abyss Realm cultivator dares to trespass into the imperial forbidden area?

Of course, this is just what Li Chen thinks; in the eyes of the vast majority of cultivators, the peak of the Heavenly Abyss Realm is already terrifying.

According to Li Sixing, this person seems to be constantly probing in the outer areas without entering places with barriers, and their cultivation technique is uniquely strange, which is why they were able to retreat unscathed.

Since such a thing has happened, under normal circumstances, Li Chen should go there personally.

Li Sixing seems to mean this as well, but he doesn't dare to say it directly.

He only has the right to provide intelligence to Li Chen, but he doesn't dare to let Li Chen guard the forbidden area.

But Li Chen feels it's not that simple. What he is thinking is that someone mixing in the imperial capital, and at the level of a Heavenly Abyss Realm cultivation, cannot possibly not know that the Emperor of the May Tian Ce Dynasty is in the Sage Realm.

He deliberately showed his face in the forbidden area, perhaps just to attract Li Chen to go there and achieve his own goal.

Now that the war in the North has started, the forces hidden in the dark should not be able to sit still.

But coincidentally, Li Chen also knows a thug in the Sage Realm.

While telling Li Sixing not to worry about it for now, he sent someone to call Lady Youlan over, and Lady Yuehua as well.

Perhaps in a few days, he will know who sent this daring fellow.

Li Chen has said: show your head and you'll be killed in seconds; if you can't hold back, just wait for your whole clan to be implicated!

At the same time, while Xiao Ming of the Ministry of Justice was continuing to investigate the Crown Prince's guard, Fan Kuai, he discovered traces of a battle in an area in the west of the city.

Judging by his master's experience, these traces were absolutely caused by a master of blade techniques; without the Heavenly Abyss Realm, one could not produce such power.

(End of chapter)