Having children earns benefit, start competing for dominance in the world by marrying a wife-Chapter 654 Sum Emperor It seems that I need to hurry up_1

Murong Xue'er's mind had been entirely relaxed, so when someone suddenly appeared beside her and quickly wrapped their arms around her slim waist, running behind her and then covering her mouth, it was no wonder that Murong Xue'er felt panic.

For a moment, she even thought an assassin or an enemy was there to kill her.

However, she quickly sensed something off. As she struggled, she realized that her martial skills had been sealed, preventing her from accessing them.

The next moment, a familiar sensation surged through her body; Murong Xue'er then realized that it was that bastard who had come.

They had done so many bad things together that she was very familiar with him, and she believed that he was the only one capable of driving her crazy.

But then again, she wasn't wrong in her guess—he indeed was an assassin, there to 'murder' her.

Murong Xue'er simply stopped struggling, letting the water splash around. After an unknown amount of time, the assassin spoke in her ear, "My dear wife, how can you have no defenses at all? That won't do. Moreover, you aren't even struggling; what if you encountered a real villain?"

Murong Xue'er hummed with laughter, "Aside from you, that bastard, who else in the Prince's Mansion has the ability to seal my skills?"

"Even if there were villains in the Prince's Mansion, it would only be you, the bad egg."

Holding Murong Xue'er's slender waist, Lu Chen slowly sat down by the bath, allowing her to sit in his embrace, and then said, "I'm here to help you bathe, how can you call me a bad person."

Murong Xue'er did not pay attention to Lu Chen's words but asked directly, "Your Highness is visiting me so late, it must be because of Princess Junwan's issue, right?" Your journey continues on empire

Lu Chen replied with a smile, "My wise Xue'er."

"You've talked with her for so long; it seems you two really do have quite a lot to discuss. Tell me, what did you talk about earlier?"

Murong Xue'er answered directly, "She was inquiring about the women in the inner court of the Prince's Mansion."

At this point, Murong Xue'er turned her head slightly and glanced at Lu Chen behind her with the corner of her eye before saying softly, "His Highness is indeed capable.

A Princess from Great Wu has only been in the North Prince Mansion for a few days and you've already tamed her completely, to the point where she even harbors thoughts of becoming the mistress of the Prince's Mansion and monopolizing you."

Lu Chen responded with a laugh, "Aspiring to be the mistress of the Prince's Mansion?"

"Such a thought is not to be entertained in the North Prince Mansion."

Murong Xue'er inquired, "Then what does Your Highness plan to do with her?"

Lu Chen answered, "She wants to monopolize me, doesn't she? Simple, I will spend the next half-month continuously accompanying her."

Upon hearing this, Murong Xue'er's heart skipped a beat, and she couldn't help feeling a tinge of schadenfreude as she knew Wu Junwan was in for trouble over the next half-month.

After half a month, Wu Junwan would probably be thinking about how to escape the North Prince Mansion.

At that time, Lu Chen extended his hand, lifted Murong Xue'er's chin, and gazed at her profile, "Alright, let's stop talking about this. We ended rather abruptly this afternoon, and I am not yet satisfied."

Just as Murong Xue'er was about to say something, Lu Chen embraced her and placed her hands on the edge of the bath.

Murong Xue'er felt somewhat resigned inside; at that moment, she couldn't understand how Wu Junwan could ever entertain the idea of having Lu Chen all to herself.

...

In the Great Xia Dynasty, at the Capital city.

East Palace.

After returning to the capital city, Qin Feng promptly conveyed the New that Lu Chen had agreed to their terms to Crown Prince Lu Yi, who immediately called together his faction to discuss important matters in the East Palace.

Zhao Wenhan glanced at Qin Feng and asked, "Assistant Minister Qin, did the North Prince personally agree?"

Qin Feng replied, "He did, personally."

Zhao Wenhan, with a smile on his face, told Crown Prince, "Congratulations, Your Highness. With the support of the North Prince, the position is within your reach."

On hearing Zhao Wenhan's words, Crown Prince Lu Yi did not show any particular happiness; instead, his expression became more solemn.

He sat facing the door on the main seat in the hall, staring at the night sky outside, seemingly deep in thought.

Seeing that Crown Prince Lu Yi had not responded, Zhao Wenhan did not continue and, after a moment, Crown Prince Lu Yi finally spoke, "It seems my father, the Emperor, is gravely ill, but the State Preceptor is by his side, so he may well live for another decade or more."

"The very thought of my father suffering from his illness for so many years without me being able to help brings me immense sorrow," he added.

At this, Crown Prince Lu Yi looked genuinely pained, as if he were truly upset by the Emperor's sickness.

Hearing Crown Prince Lu Yi's words, the officials in the hall immediately understood why he had been looking so troubled.

Although the North Prince had already agreed to openly declare his support for Crown Prince Lu Yi to become Emperor, as long as the Sum Emperor was still alive, it wouldn't be so easy for Crown Prince Lu Yi to ascend to the throne.

If Crown Prince Lu Yi wanted to become Emperor, he would at least have to wait for the Sum Emperor to pass away. The idea of the Emperor abdicating and passing on the throne was not something they would dare to entertain.

Leaving aside the fact that the Grandmasters of the imperial family would never agree to it, nor would the State Preceptor, with Crown Prince Lu Yi's power, he had no way of forcing the Emperor to abdicate.

If the Emperor's illness dragged on for years, perhaps more than a decade, Crown Prince Lu Yi might not even ascend the throne before the North Prince would march his troops south.

Crown Prince Lu Yi was well aware that their efforts to win over the North Prince and the concessions made to him were merely to temporarily stabilize him. If the North Prince truly harbored ambitions to unify the entire realm, he would eventually launch an assault on Great Xia.

The sooner Crown Prince Lu Yi could ascend the throne, the better it would be for his group, giving them time to enact reforms and to strengthen the military and martial forces. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com

After Crown Prince Lu Yi's words, the hall fell into silence, with the officials unsure how to respond to him.

After all, the Sum Emperor is still the Emperor; openly, they couldn't possibly incite Lu Yi to seize power and usurp the throne, much less encourage Lu Yi to murder the Sum Emperor.

If they were to incite Lu Yi to kill the Sum Emperor now, one day they might incite Lu Yi's children to kill Lu Yi. Anyone who dares to make that suggestion will certainly be guarded against by Lu Yi, and that person is very likely not to be trusted or reused in the future.

Of course, in politics, what can be said isn't necessarily done, and what is done shouldn't be spoken.

Even though they can't openly speak of murdering the Sum Emperor or seizing power, since Lu Yi has brought it up at this time, he naturally expects them to resolve the issue.

Being seasoned players, they could also interpret what Lu Yi meant; as subordinates, it's imperative to guess the boss's intentions.

At this point, Lu Yi changed the subject and said, "Now that the North Prince has agreed to stand with me, I should also prepare to fulfill my promise. It's just that assigning the land north of Qi Country to the North Prince is probably not going to be easy."

Firstly, Lu Yi is not the Emperor and does not have the right to arbitrarily grant land to a Seignior; secondly, Qi Country has its own sovereign. If Qi Prince hears that the court is giving his domain to the North Country, he might just get angry enough to lead troops south in search of an explanation from Lu Yi.

So, in essence, they must wait until Lu Yi becomes Emperor; only then will these moves be viable.

Zhao Wenhan once again sensed the implication in Lu Yi's words – Lu Yi was hinting that it was time for them to help him ascend to the throne. Only when he rose to power could their coalition of ministers reap the rewards.

So what they needed to do next was quite simple: devise a way for the Sum Emperor to pass away and then propel Lu Yi to the throne.

At this moment, Zhao Wenhan said to Lu Yi, "Your Highness, please rest assured; I believe the North Prince is sensible and will not be in a hurry to demand the land north of Qi Country from you."

Lu Yi replied, "Sigh, that's what you say, but I still feel somewhat worried."

Zhao Wenhan smiled and said, "Your Highness needn't worry too much. Let nature take its course, for some obstacles may no longer be troubles after a while."

Hearing Zhao Wenhan's words, a trace of a smile finally appeared on Lu Yi's face, "Mr. Zhao is right. It's just that I have been too anxious."

Lu Yi believed that Zhao Wenhan had understood his intention. Now it all depended on Zhao Wenhan's actions. If everything went smoothly, he could ascend to the throne within a month.

Of course, this was but a wishful thought in Lu Yi's mind; they didn't know that the actual chess player was the Sum Emperor himself.

An hour later.

In the Great Sum, within the Imperial Palace.

The Sum Emperor sat cross-legged on the dragon bed, his face dark as he listened to the Shadow Guard reporting in front of him.

Had Lu Yi been there, he would have recognized that the Shadow Guard was reporting the very conversation they had previously held in the East Palace.

After the Shadow Guard finished reporting, the Sum Emperor let out a cold laugh and said, "I didn't expect him to grow so impatient."

Then, addressing the Shadow Guard, the Sum Emperor commanded, "Continue monitoring them, but for now, don't make any moves. And do not touch anyone from their side within the palace."

While the Sum Emperor might not be entirely aware of matters outside, he was very clear about everything happening within the Capital city, especially within the Imperial Palace.

He knew exactly which ones were from the Imperial Prince Faction and who had their people within the palace.

Those traitors still dream of taking his life; they are utterly delusional and oblivious to their certain demise.

Now, what the Sum Emperor was most worried about wasn't these traitors in the Capital but rather that one up north.

Though there was no explicit evidence, he remained firmly convinced that the Eternally Mysterious Taoist and the Master of Divine Communication's assassination attempt failed because the Celestial from Mysterious Moon Palace had gone to Yan County, and that Celestial might even now be protecting Lu Chen.

With that Celestial present, the prospect of eliminating that traitor was impossible.

This left the Sum Emperor feeling rather vexed.

What concerned him the most had always been Mysterious Moon Palace; now it seemed that a Celestial from Mysterious Moon Palace had descended. This kept him living in constant fear and apprehension. The scenes of Mysterious Moon Palace's Celestials hunting the royal Grandmasters were still etched in his mind; he frequently dreamt about them even now when he slept at night.

Each time he awoke, he was drenched in cold sweat.

However, the Sum Emperor still had a lingering question: if the Celestial from Mysterious Moon Palace really had come down from the mountain, why hadn't she come directly to the Capital to retrieve the Sacred Artifact of Mysterious Moon Palace?

Could it be that Mysterious Moon Palace was unaware that the artifact was with him?

That shouldn't be the case. Mysterious Moon Palace had once sent people to search the Imperial Palace, and though they found nothing, they must have suspected that the artifact was there.

Without that artifact, it would have been impossible for the royal family to cultivate several Grandmasters in such a short period. Even the Palace Master of Mysterious Moon Palace couldn't be so foolish as to not guess it.

The Sum Emperor's gaze slowly drifted toward the window, then toward the endless night outside, and he muttered to himself, "It seems I need to act quickly. If I can activate the weapon on Fengyin Island, perhaps even the Celestial might not be unbeatable."

…

In the North Country.

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, another half month has passed.

In the early morning, a ray of sunlight flipped over the windowsill, shining into the room, its warm glow spreading over people, providing an overwhelming sense of comfort. The sleeping ones were also gently awoken by it.

Wu Junwan lay sprawled across the bed, with Lu Chen lying on top of her, embracing her slender waist, head resting upon her fragrant shoulder.

At this moment, Wu Junwan, weak and without strength, asked, "Murong Xue'er has told you something, right?"