Chapter 291: The Emperor's Marriage Document (33)

Half a month later, the envoy from the Natural Empire, Te Wu De Ai De Li An, arrived at Mei Da Xilin.

The Radiant Holy Hall of Bu Ye Gong.

He, in front of a large group of Dukes, Marquises, Counts, nobles, and imperial senior officials, formally had an audience with Empress Zhuo Ya of the Empire.

The grand Radiant Holy Hall, after a round of formal greetings, Te Wu De first presented a document.

"Your Majesty, nine months ago, you issued three math problems to test the wisdom of future husbands."

"And this document records the answer given by our Majesty."

As soon as this was said, the officials and nobles listening in the Holy Hall immediately began to discuss heatedly.

The attending officials and nobles were all very sharp; they vaguely guessed Te Wu De's purpose, and each showed a look of confusion and surprise.

Empress Zhuo Ya understood perfectly; she immediately said, "Bring it up, let me see the answer."

The maids immediately took the document up and handed it to the Empress.

Zhuo Ya also had some accomplishment in mathematics; after looking it over carefully, she knew it was probably correct.

To convince everyone, she said, "Duke Xisi Ting, I can't be sure on my own; please take a look as well."

Duke Xisi Ting has now been promoted to 9th-ring mana; he is a die‑hard follower of the Empress.

Upon hearing that, he took the document, examined it carefully, and immediately said, "In my view, this answer is completely correct."

The murmurs in the Grand Hall suddenly rose by eight degrees.

Then the Imperial Arcane Minister, who was also one of the empire's Three Dukes, Magician Nadake, stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I would also like to take a look."

"Approved."

Nadake took the document and began to examine it carefully.

He did not expect to find an error, for the Emperor of the Natural Empire could produce this; surely it must be correct.

He just wanted to see if he could find any logical loophole.

If there were any loophole, he could raise an objection.

Why?

Because his son also wanted to become the Empress's husband.

But he was clearly disappointed; after a close look he found that the solution process was extremely rigorous, the logic so tight that not even water could seep through.

Empress Zhuo Ya asked, "Any problems, Magician Nadake?"

"No, no problem."

Empress Zhuo Ya nodded and said loudly, "Duke Xisi Ting and Duke Nadake are the empire's foremost mathematicians. Since both say there is no problem, then this answer must be correct."

She then turned to Te Wu De: "Mr. Te Wu De, please explain your purpose."

Te Wu De then produced another document, its cover a luxurious tri‑color of gold, jade, and red.

He held it up with both hands and said, "Empress Zhuo Ya, this is our Majesty's marriage document; our Majesty wishes to take you as wife."

Te Wu De's voice was loud, with a slight tremor.

He was filled with apprehension, not knowing what consequences would follow.

He thought this matter was extremely absurd, and Luosen's actions were extremely arrogant—utterly a blasphemy against the deities.

Because Luosen is already the husband of Mother Nature, while Empress Zhuo Ya is the mortal incarnation of the Lord of Radiance.

Now, Luosen having taken Mother Nature as wife is not enough; he even wants to take the Lord of Radiance, which completely overturns Te Wu De's imagination.

Even when he once commanded the fleet at White Sturgeon Island and came under artillery fire, nothing had shocked him as much as this.

Whoosh~~~

The Radiant Holy Hall was also in an uproar.

The nobles and officials wore looks of surprise, anger, or helplessness.

The Duke Nadake who had just spoken stepped forward and loudly questioned Te Wu De.

"Emperor Luosen already has a wife; how can he still take our Majesty? This is an insult to our Radiant Empire!"

Te Wu De thought it unreliable, but he was already a qualified diplomat.

Before this mission, he had also made ample preparations.

He immediately rebutted.

"Monogamy is a divine covenant binding mortals, but both Mother Nature and Empress Zhuo Ya are incarnations of the true god in the mortal realm and are not bound by these mortal doctrines."

Duke Nadake did not expect the other side to bring up such twisted reasoning; he instinctively wanted to refute it, but upon reflection found he could not.

Thus he could only say indirectly, "Emperor Luosen is merely a mortal; how can a mortal possibly marry two true gods?"

"This is blasphemy against the gods!"

Te Wu De immediately corrected, "No, Your Grace, you are mistaken."

"Our Majesty takes only a shadow of the true god projected into the mortal realm—not the true god himself, but merely a tiny fragment of the true god's will."

"As a mortal, our Majesty would certainly not dare to blaspheme the deities."

"Not to mention marrying two true gods; even a single true god would be beyond match."

"But if it is a projection of the true god, then that is another matter."

Having said that, Te Wu De cleared his throat, straightened his posture, and displayed a hint of arrogant composure on his face.

"As everyone knows, our Empire's Emperor Luosen is a mortal who holds the greatest power in the world."

"He governs nearly six hundred million diligent, loyal, and wise citizens, controls the mortal realm's largest wealth, and commands the strongest mortal army."

"I agree with the first two points, but as for the army, our Radiant Empire's forces are certainly not inferior to yours."

Te Wu De smiled faintly and countered, "Then may I ask, how long would your nation need to build a hundred large warships?"

"Um, three months. No, four months."

Te Wude smiled, "But our nation only needs less than two months."

"Not only that, the production of our country's tanks, aircraft, and artillery shells far exceeds yours. And everyone knows that when war breaks out, these new weapons are the decisive factor in victory."

"No, the outcome of war is decided by people! By wise mages and brave warriors!" someone shouted in rebuttal.

Te Wude immediately said: "Our nation currently has 1,500 mages of eighth‑ring rank or higher, while your country probably has no more than 600."

This figure hasn't been widely publicized, but everyone knows it, so there is no room for rebuttal.

Te Wude shouted: "I have one more thing to add."

"Our nation also possesses the world's largest magical power. His Majesty the Emperor is the principal creator of this power and its supreme commander."

"Therefore, a mortal cannot marry two true‑god wives, but he absolutely qualifies to marry two true‑god avatars on earth."

Those words made people very angry, yet they left no confidence to argue.

There's nothing to do; our national strength is weaker than theirs, so we cannot speak forcefully.

Meanwhile, after the initial unease, Te Wude suddenly realized that the Radiant Empire seemed far less terrifying than he had imagined.

The nobles before him, even the Empress on the throne, did not seem enough to inspire fear.

"Right, what am I even afraid of?"

"In the battles on the Dragon Archipelago, at least forty percent of the weapons were supplied by our nation."

"The Black Stone power plant in the Radiant Empire has only just begun, while our nation has already started phasing out those outdated facilities."

"Our Nature Empire is clearly stronger than the Radiant Empire. Mother Nature's divine power is also clearly greater than the Lord of Radiance's."

"Thus, the Emperor marrying the Empress seems no problem at all."

At this moment, the ministers and nobles in the sanctuary continued to debate, but their voices grew quieter until they all turned to the Empress on the throne, awaiting her final statement.

Empress Zhuo Ya felt a surge of emotion; although she had long anticipated that the Nature Empire's strength would surpass the Radiant Empire, the reality left her somewhat disappointed.

She had done nothing wrong; she enjoyed great prestige among both nobles and the populace, yet step by step she was overtaken, even crushed, by the Nature Empire.

It wasn't that she hadn't advanced—indeed the Radiant Empire's development was not slow at all—but the neighboring Nature Empire moved faster, making her appear slower and even retreating by comparison.

What should she do?

Apart from accepting the fact, there is no better solution.

Many things in this world do not change because of personal will, even if she is the empire's Empress.

Yet she still harbored a small sense of unwillingness.

So she asked, "Since His Majesty Luosen has proposed marriage to me, what about the wedding gift? Or did he come empty‑handed?"

Te Wude replied immediately: "Of course not empty‑handed."

As he spoke, he produced a list: "His Majesty's proposal is a state matter."

"Therefore, our nation brings a contract."

"The contract stipulates that if His Majesty accepts the proposal, our nation will provide the Radiant Empire's people with daily Lightning Power at a price of 0.1 Klei per forest, and also supply electricity to the empire's lightning factories at no more than 0.2 Klei per forest."

"In other words, we supply exactly what the Radiant Empire uses; as long as the marriage endures, the contract remains in force, the Lightning price stays constant, and our Emperor will never be the first to dissolve the marriage."

Honestly, the gift was so generous that even Te Wude thought it absurd—more outrageous than the proposal itself.

Yet somehow the empire's top tier of mages raised no objections, each seeming to think it very profitable.

When asked why, they answered that with the massive deployment of the Heart of the Ocean, Lightning Power will become extremely cheap in the future.

He wanted to ask what the Heart of the Ocean actually was, but no one gave him an answer.

He thought that even if the Heart of the Ocean were immensely powerful, the Radiant Empire still has over 600 million people; providing daily electricity to six hundred million residents at 0.1 Klei is truly generous.

Not only he thought so, but the Radiant ministers and nobles in the great hall felt the same, and many even thought His Majesty Luosen was insane.

"Such cheap Lightning Power—how is it different from giving it away?" Duke Xi Si Ting couldn't help but say, "Mr. Te Wude, you'd better examine the contract carefully, lest you spread the wrong news."

Te Wude shrugged, holding the contract with both hands: "May Mother Nature and the Lord of Radiance jointly witness this contract."

The contract was handed to Zhuo Ya.

Zhuo Ya examined it carefully, nodded, and confirmed: "The contract's contents are genuine; it bears His Majesty Luosen's unique magical seal."

After speaking, she looked at the ministers and nobles present: "Clearly, this is an exceptionally generous gift. What do you say about it?"

Everyone glanced at each other and whispered for a while; then the three dukes, led by Duke Xi Si Ting, stepped forward.

These three were also the highest‑ranking ministers of the Radiant Empire.

Apart from Duke Xi Si Ting, the other two were somewhat reluctant, but faced with huge profit they had nothing to object to.

Indeed, the Empress may take a domestic noble as husband, but aside from children she gains nothing.

Yet if the Empress marries the Nature Emperor, her reputation might suffer, though she would receive massive benefits each year.

According to the current Lightning price in the Radiant Empire, this contract translates to about fifty million Tira gold coins per year from the Nature Empire.

That's fifty million Tira, and it still has great upside potential.

Under the contract, the more electricity the empire uses, the greater the benefit from the Nature Empire.

In short, the profit is so enormous that it is essentially impossible to refuse.

At the same time, an important reason is that Emperor Luosen of the Nature Empire's ancestors were actually from the Radiant Empire and bore ancient noble blood.

So from the standpoint of pure lineage, there is no issue.

After weighing everything, the three dukes unanimously said, "All rests on Your Majesty's holy decree."

Which was already tacitly accepted.

With that, Zhuo Ya said to Te Wude, "Very well, I accept your nation's marriage document. Have Your Majesty prepare the wedding."

On the other side, Te Wude truly didn't know how to describe his current feeling; it seemed the world had shattered his cognitive limits, almost unreal.

Twenty years ago, who could have imagined that the lofty Empress of the Radiant Empire would become the wife of a minor Baron of the Nature Alliance, and not even the only wife?

Who could have imagined a mortal marrying two true gods as wives?

Lost in myriad thoughts, he let his body act on instinct, followed diplomatic protocol, and deeply bowed to the Empress.

"As you wish, Your Majesty."

(End of chapter)