Chapter 1708

Yuan Shu's eyes became burning and eager. He grabbed Fa Zheng's sleeve, his voice trembling slightly as he asked: "Fa Xiaozhi, this Imperial Seal... is it truly for me?"

Fa Zheng pretended to be surprised, quickly steadied himself, and said sternly: "General Gonglu, these words are wrong. This Imperial Seal is destined by heaven and should belong to a person of virtue. My lord knows that the General is a direct descendant of the Yuan clan, a descendant of four generations of three excellencies, and a person of high virtue and prestige, so he specifically ordered me to send the Imperial Seal to help the General achieve a great cause."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Shu was overjoyed, but he still pretended to decline: "This... how can this be? Although Dong Zhongying has a grudge against me, he is also a warlord after all. How can I easily accept such a heavy object?"

Fa Zheng secretly laughed; this Yuan Shu was really good at acting, so he went with the flow: "General Gonglu, do not worry. My lord has already said that this Imperial Seal is just a stone to him; only in the hands of the General can it exert its due value. Furthermore, my lord also hopes to take this opportunity to form an alliance with the General and jointly plot for the world."

A glimmer of light flashed in Yuan Shu's eyes. After pondering for a moment, he nodded slowly: "Since Fa Xiaozhi is so sincere, if I decline again, it will appear pretentious. Good, I, Yuan Shu, will accept this Imperial Seal, but please tell Dong Zhongying that I, Yuan Shu, will definitely not forget his help today."

Fa Zheng smiled slightly, secretly rejoicing that the plan was proceeding smoothly, so he cupped his hands: "General Gonglu, rest assured, I will definitely convey the General's intentions. However, there is one more matter that needs to be discussed with the General."

Yuan Shu raised his eyebrows: "What matter?"

"My lord hopes to make an agreement with the General that when the General clears the East of the Pass and unifies the Central Plains, you can give my lord a certain amount of territory and troops as a foundation for jointly resisting the enemy," Fa Zheng said slowly, his gaze fixed on Yuan Shu's reaction.

After hearing this, Yuan Shu laughed heartily: "This is natural. If Dong Zhongying can help me achieve a great cause, how could I, Yuan Shu, treat him poorly? You go back and tell him that as long as he can help me pacify the world, let alone territory and troops, what would it matter if we shared the empire?"

Upon hearing this, Fa Zheng was overjoyed, but on the surface, he remained calm, bowing and saluting: "In that case, this subordinate will thank General Gonglu on behalf of my lord. May the General ascend the throne soon and unify the world."

After sending Fa Zheng away, Yuan Shu sat alone in the study, playing with the Imperial Seal in his hand, his eyes shining with unprecedented light. He seemed to have already seen the scene of himself ascending the throne and being worshipped by all the people, and his heart was extremely happy.

However, just then, hurried footsteps came from outside the door. Yuan Shu's trusted general, Ji Ling, rushed in with a solemn expression: "My lord, there is urgent military intelligence."

Yuan Shu frowned unhappily, placed the Imperial Seal on the table, and asked: "What matter is so urgent?"