Chapter 417: Need to take a balanced approach in diplomacy? (Please subscribe

Just as Xu Zifeng and his mother were talking, a shrill voice suddenly rang out: "The imperial decree has arrived!"

Xu Zifeng trembled all over upon hearing the sound, hurriedly kneeling on the ground, clenching his fists in excitement and trepidation, waiting quietly for the eunuch to read.

At this moment, having been slandered by so many people earlier, would His Majesty not be punishing him? His Majesty must send me as the vanguard!

Compared to Xu Zifeng, Ji Lianyu, who was also kneeling on the ground, was full of calm.

"Appoint Xu Zifeng as Vanguard General, lead 300,000 iron cavalry to set out for the south in three days, advance 1,000 meters daily with the border as the boundary, and do not make any mistakes!"

Xu Zifeng was stunned after hearing the decree. After respectfully receiving the decree, he took out some silver notes and secretly stuffed them into Eunuch Cui's hand, then smiled obsequiously: "Eunuch, did His Majesty say why we are only advancing 1,000 meters?"

Since the decree said 1,000 meters, Xu Zifeng naturally had to ask clearly; otherwise, advancing a meter more or less would be disrespectful to Li Chen.

Eunuch Cui pushed the silver notes back into Xu Zifeng's hand without changing his expression, hanging a smile on his face as he said to Xu Zifeng: "Captain Xu, this is not something this old servant can know."

Xu Zifeng was shut out and couldn't ask again. After exchanging pleasantries, he let Eunuch Cui leave, then turned his pleading gaze toward Ji Lianyu.

In the Prince of Zhennan's mansion, only she understood His Majesty's thoughts best!

Ji Lianyu sighed, feeling very gratified by Xu Zifeng's questioning gaze; her son had finally grown up, his actions were no longer as reckless as before, and he knew to think thrice before acting.

"His Majesty is putting pressure on the small southern nations; otherwise, these 300,000 iron cavalry would already be enough to wipe out most of the small nations."

At the same time.

In Li Chen's mind, the strange yet familiar system prompt sounded again.

【Congratulations to the host for completing the mission "Orphan of the Luo River," rewarding 10 Heavenly-Grade Thunder Marrow Pills and 1 Thunder-Sound Bracelet.】

【Limited-time mission: Capture the Yin-Yang Gu.】

【Mission requirements: Please raise your cultivation to the late stage of the Piercing Void Realm, go to the southern nations to investigate clues, defeat the tomb-guarding demon beast, and obtain the Yin-Yang Gu. Mission time limit: 200 days.】

These system rewards were still useless to Li Chen, and unsurprisingly, Li Chen stuffed them all to Li Sining in one go.

Li Sining had already reached the bottleneck period for a breakthrough recently, and seeing Li Chen casually toss her the Thunder Marrow Pills, she almost jumped up in excitement.

Eager to break through, Li Sining simply asked Li Chen a few things about the west, then hurriedly went into seclusion to break through.

After saying goodbye to Li Sining, Li Chen asked Eunuch Cui if he knew about the Gu insects in the southern border.

Eunuch Cui stated that he didn't know, but there was a general in the court named Ma Hei who came from the sacred land of Witchcraft and Gu, and he could be called over.

Eunuch Cui was in charge of intelligence, so he certainly understood the identities of these people.

As a subordinate, knowing a little more about one's duties would also make the master appreciate you.

Li Chen nodded and let Eunuch Cui summon Ma Hei.

Ma Hei hunched his body and followed Eunuch Cui into the Imperial Palace with a trembling heart; his timid appearance was just like a mouse seeing a cat.

Li Chen, who was reviewing memorials, felt Ma Hei's arrival and opened his mouth without raising his head: "Have you ever heard of the Yin-Yang Gu?"

"Yin-Yang Gu?" Ma Hei searched his mind rapidly for the term while bowing.

As someone from the sacred land of Witchcraft and Gu, if he didn't know about a Gu that His Majesty asked about casually, wouldn't that be a disgrace to the sacred land?

Li Chen waved his hand to indicate that there was no need for formalities, while also waiting quietly for Ma Hei's answer.

After about ten breaths, Ma Hei finally remembered the records in a secret scroll from the sacred land of Witchcraft and Gu and said: "Your Majesty, it is rumored that this Gu was created by a brilliant Gu cultivator three thousand years ago. Later, as this Gu cultivator passed away, the Yin-Yang Gu was buried underground; it should be near the sacred land of Witchcraft and Gu."

Li Chen heard this and roughly understood the specifics. After waving his hand to signal Ma Hei to withdraw, he began reviewing the memorials again.

Seeing this, Ma Hei bowed and left as if relieved of a heavy burden. Looking closely, Ma Hei was shaken by the dragon's might, and his forehead was already covered in cold sweat. After Ma Hei left, Li Chen thought, the system should be asking me to go to the south, so I might as well go to the southern nations to see the situation.

After reviewing a few memorials, Li Chen raised his head and said to Eunuch Cui on the side: "Go and call Imperial Consort Zhu to see me."

Zhu Zhuying was someone who grew up in the southern nations and must be very familiar with that place. She had also invited Li Chen to the Star Fall Kingdom many times; this would be a perfect trip.

Star Fall Kingdom.

"Your Majesty the King, Zhu Zhuying of the Zhu family has sent a letter from the Tian Ce Empire."

The Prime Minister of the Star Fall Empire presented a letter to the King with full respect.

The King glanced at the letter and snorted: "I vaguely remember that Zhu Zhuying entered the Imperial Palace of the Tian Ce Empire, right?"

The King's name was Dai Wuchang. His life had been smooth sailing, his luck extraordinary; he could turn bad luck into good no matter what happened, and he had married the number one beauty in the country as his Empress—Zhu Zhuying's sister.

The only regret was that at the time, his younger brother Dai Xiaoyao was pursuing Zhu Zhuying, and he felt embarrassed to take it all.

As a result, his brother didn't catch her and sent her to the Emperor of the Tian Ce Dynasty.

Dai Wuchang thought secretly of Zhu Zhuying's beautiful figure and said to the Prime Minister on the side: "Read it."

"Zhu family, Zhu Zhuying, sends greetings to the King of the Star Fall Empire."

"The Tian Ce Empire and the Star Fall Empire have been neighbors since ancient times, as close as the Qin and Jin dynasties. The Lin family and the Star Fall royal family have intermarried for generations. Now that I am an Imperial Consort of the Tian Ce Empire, we are allies."

"Hope the King..."

"Hmph, does the Tian Ce Empire think it can make me form an alliance with it just by relying on this letter?"

Dai Wuchang snorted coldly.

The Eternal Day Empire at least promised to lower tariffs and sell some high-grade armor to us at a low price. This Tian Ce Empire is good—not only is there no indication, but it also claims that not wiping out other countries is the greatest grace.

Now, in Dai Wuchang's view, this letter from Zhu Zhuying was undoubtedly the date given after the stick.

If it were in the past, Dai Wuchang would definitely be uneasy, but just a few days ago, the envoy of the Eternal Day Empire promised that as long as he was willing, the Eternal Day Empire would send troops to station in the Star Fall Kingdom to jointly resist the Tian Ce Empire!

Thinking of the might of those elite soldiers of the Eternal Day Empire, Dai Wuchang felt a wave of excitement.

This wasn't resisting the Tian Ce Empire; this was clearly stationing a strong army in the Star Fall Kingdom to protect his safety!

"Your Majesty the King, the old King left a legacy: one cannot completely rely on one country; one must take a balanced approach in diplomacy."

The Prime Minister, who saw that Dai Wuchang wanted to completely rely on the Eternal Day Empire, raised his eyebrows slightly.

The survival strategy of a small nation is to play both sides. No matter which country you rely on, you will face the end of being retaliated against or swallowed by the master country.

For example, the Eternal Day Empire's promise to send elites to station in the Star Fall Kingdom—once their elites enter the Imperial City, who will be in charge then? Isn't it all up to the Eternal Day Empire?

Even if the Eternal Day Empire has no such intention, in the eyes of the Eternal Day Empire's citizens, the people of the Star Fall Kingdom will also end up as "three types of people."

This kind of ending is completely unacceptable to any nation with even a little bit of spirit.

"Alright, no need to say more; that's because my father had no ambition! Once the Eternal Day Empire stations troops in my Star Fall Kingdom, we can guarantee our rear is worry-free. At that time, we will use the power of the whole country to attack the other small nations that haven't relied on the Eternal Day Empire; wouldn't that be invincible?"

Dai Wuchang waved his hand impatiently, then continued with a smile: "Since when did people from the Zhu family have the qualifications to talk to me like this?"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 418 =====