Having children earns benefit, start competing for dominance in the world by marrying a wife-Chapter 602 - 354 Does the Prince Have a Hostage Candidate in Mind?_2

At this time, the Martial Emperor, his face dark with anger, stared at Chai Jiliang and demanded, "So, Chai, in your opinion, why has North Country not continued its advance southward?"

Chai Jiliang replied indifferently:

"The reason North Country has not continued south is that their strength is not yet sufficient to eliminate a dynasty. If North Country were to continue southward, it would inevitably make other dynasties even more wary of its existence. Eventually, several great dynasties might join forces to deal with North Country.

Therefore, I believe that even if North Prince truly has ambitions to swallow the land, he would not actually attack Great Wu at this time."

"North Prince dispatched troops to occupy Youping County mainly to deter the major dynasties and demonstrate to them that North Country already possesses the power to dominate."

"In my view, if North Prince wishes to seek control over the world, he must first go after the throne of Great Sum."

Having heard this, the Martial Emperor's eyebrows raised slightly, and he fell into deep thought.

At that moment, the sound of a soldier's voice came from outside the grand hall, "Urgent report from Youping County!!!"

The grand hall immediately grew even quieter, and the faces of the ministers showed anxious expressions. They couldn't help but speculate whether the North Country army had already advanced southward.

Soon, a Messenger Soldier entered the grand hall, knelt on the ground, and presented an envelope with both hands raised, "Your Majesty, General Zhan and General Xu are missing, and Great Wu's two hundred thousand soldiers have surrendered to North Country!"

Upon hearing this, the grand hall erupted into chaos.

Missing??? What kind of joke is this? Find your next adventure on novelbuddy

How could Zhan Hong and Xu Xingwen just suddenly disappear?

These two were the pillars of Great Wu—their disappearance would be a crushing blow to the nation.

After snapping back to reality, the eunuch beneath the Dragon Throne quickly took the envelope from the hands of the Messenger Soldier and presented it to the Martial Emperor.

The Martial Emperor snatched the envelope from the eunuch's hands, tore it open, and began reading. After seeing the contents, the Martial Emperor fell silent once more.

At this time, the atmosphere in the grand hall became incredibly oppressive, as if a tremendous pressure made it difficult for people to breathe.

After what seemed like an eternity, the Martial Emperor finally spoke, "After retreating to Youping County, Zhan and Xu intended to assassinate two of North Country's Grandmaster Military Generals, but upon reaching Lingyun City, they simply vanished. Without their leadership, two hundred thousand troops ultimately surrendered to North Country…"

The Martial Emperor said this and slammed his palm down on the Dragon Throne. One side of the throne instantly shattered, and an aura of martial authority released from his body, knocking to the ground those Civil Officials in the court who lacked martial skill.

The ministers bowed their heads, trembling, not even daring to breathe too loudly. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com

After an indeterminate amount of time, the anger in the Martial Emperor's heart subsided somewhat. He then gathered his aura and said, "My ministers, tell me, do you think Zhan Hong and Xu Xingwen have defected to North Country or have they been slain?"

No sooner had the Martial Emperor finished speaking than an official from the Imperial Prince Faction stood up, "Your Majesty, the two venerable generals have shown undying loyalty and love for their country, claiming half the territory for Great Wu, and serving several monarchs. Moreover, their families are all still in Great Wu; they could not have possibly betrayed us!"

Xu Xingwen and Zhan Hong were both patrons of Prince Lu Yi's faction. If they had betrayed Great Wu, countless associates of the Zhan and Xu families would be implicated.

Even if they had indeed betrayed Great Wu, those of Prince Lu Yi's faction could never admit it, so it must be that Zhan Hong and Xu Xingwen died for their country—and indeed, they were already dead.

At this time, the Secretary of the Ministry of War also stood up and said, "The two venerable generals must have fallen into a trap set by North Country and died for their country!"

Then, many other ministers stood up to speak, all refusing to acknowledge that Xu Xingwen and Zhan Hong had betrayed Great Wu.

About half an hour later, the Martial Emperor's gaze once again fell on Chai Jiliang, "Chai, do you also believe that the two generals died for their country?"

Chai Jiliang stepped forward and said, "Yes."

The Martial Emperor queried, "Both were Grandmasters. If they wanted to escape, who could have stopped them?"

Killing a Grandmaster is no easy feat, and if a Grandmaster is determined to flee, another Grandmaster may not necessarily be able to catch up.

However, once Zhan Hong and Xu Xingwen entered Lingyun City, they vanished without a trace, as if they disappeared into thin air. This forced the Martial Emperor to suspect that they may have already defected.

Chai Jiliang then spoke, "Your Majesty, Great Wu has Grandmasters, and so does North Country. Combined with North Country's possession of so many mysterious weapons, and possibly other means we are unaware of, it's very likely the two venerable generals fell into one of North Country's traps and died for their country."

"I believe that these two venerable generals could not possibly betray Great Wu, betray Your Majesty."

With both Xu Xingwen and Zhan Hong having thousands of family members still residing in Great Wu, how could they abandon their relatives and defect directly to North Country? If they did betray us, with the Martial Emperor's temperament, blood would inevitably run rivers in the Xu and Zhan households. Hence, the only possibility is that they are dead.

The Martial Emperor fell silent once again.

As seconds and minutes passed, the Martial Emperor's silence lasted for a full quarter of an hour, during which none of the ministers in the grand hall uttered a single word.

Finally, it was as if the Martial Emperor had come to a realization. He stood up from the Dragon Throne and declared, "Court is adjourned!"

He then flung his sleeves and departed from the grand hall.

In the half month that followed, the Martial Emperor did not hold court, and rumors circulated that he had fallen seriously ill.