The Demon Emperor was Saint Emperor-Chapter 41: Leveraging Power

"No way..."

"Absolutely!"

Vivian looked at her father with surprise. She knew her father pampered her, always treating her as his little treasure, but to delay her relationship with Lynn by abandoning a noble title that could be passed down for generations was truly surprising.

After all, the person she was being matched with was Lynn, not someone she couldn’t accept. Although speeding things up so quickly was quite sudden, upon further thought, it was infinitely better than a purely political marriage.

At least she really liked Lynn... Well, not exactly like, just found him pleasing to the eye and was willing to get closer to him. The possibility of them ending up together in the future was quite high, probably over 90%...

This was the first time she’d felt affection for a man, and Vivian considered herself a committed person. Unless there was major turbulence in her relationship with Lynn, she could easily imagine them going down the path of a traveling marriage after dating for half a year or a year or two longer.

"You just need to do what you want to do, if you want to date Lynn, go ahead, if you want to test him, set the conditions and time limits. Don’t feel aggrieved by anyone’s orders. I’m not really interested in being a Marquis. At worst, in a couple of years, I’ll rely on my son-in-law. With his skills, he could thrive in any country besides the Celestial Destiny Empire."

Marquis Jones placed his hands on Vivian’s shoulders, glanced at his wife who had come over unnoticed, and spoke sincerely to his beloved daughter.

His words weren’t entirely to comfort his daughter. In fact, he felt quite bored with being a Marquis. The noble aristocrats around him were of questionable character, and being with them made him feel ashamed. If the foundation of his family weren’t passed down through generations and wasn’t so hard to come by, he would’ve thrown in the towel long ago.

"Giving up the Marquis title—sounds easy. But can you still support so many women?"

The Duchess glared at her husband from the side. It’s not that she’s greedy for vanity or doesn’t want to give up her luxurious life, she’s just more greedy for her daughter’s happiness and their current life!

"You’re such a wooden head. Since you dare to defy orders and even abandon your title and leave for another country, why not be more bold, and use Lynn’s influence to pressurize the Emperor?"

As the Duchess said this, Marquis Jones immediately understood what she meant, though he had never thought in this direction after being a subject for so many years.

"Are you suggesting... using Vivian’s close relationship with Lynn, relying on strength, and directly disrespecting His Majesty the Emperor, letting our daughter date Lynn however she wants, daring the Emperor to send people to attack us?"

Marquis Jones frowned as he spoke these words, feeling a bit rebellious, but he had to admit that this path was feasible.

Given His Majesty’s cowardly nature, as long as Lynn remained in the Celestial Destiny Empire, and as long as Lynn stayed close with Vivian, he would absolutely not dare to touch their family. Even with borrowed courage, he wouldn’t dare, for besides being timid, he was also very suspicious...

"Right, if Lynn and Vivian really leave, he’ll relax. At most, he would maintain superficial respect for us. But if Lynn doesn’t leave and Vivian truly becomes his partner, he wouldn’t just respect us threefold, he’d probably be busy rewarding you with a higher title!"

At this point, the Duchess could already envision the day she’d be called the Duchess. If they operated like she imagined, that day was sure to come.

"But relying on Lynn’s influence like this is completely using him. Isn’t that bad..."

Marquis Jones, being an educated noble, felt that although his wife’s words sounded promising, using the future son-in-law like this seemed a bit inappropriate.

"If we used his influence for wrongdoing, that would be bad. But if Lynn and Vivian truly become a couple, even if we don’t want to, we’ll inevitably bear the title of his in-laws. We just rely on this to maintain our lifestyle, not abusing his power to seek personal gains or oppress the innocent, what’s wrong with that?"

The Duchess was just more daring in her thoughts; she wasn’t an unscrupulous noble. She only wanted to use Lynn’s influence to intimidate the Emperor of the Celestial Destiny Empire, not intending to do anything extra. As long as their life wasn’t disturbed by the Emperor, what’s wrong with relying on their son-in-law?

It couldn’t be that after giving our precious daughter, our family can’t even maintain ordinary life, right? Given the Emperor’s suspicious nature, as long as Lynn is alive, even if he settles in another country, would he not suspect the Jones Clan? Wouldn’t he worry they might conspire against him with Lynn’s backing?

It’s laughable—who in the Celestial Destiny Empire doesn’t know what kind of person the Emperor is? Even the most trusted National Guardian War Saint of the Late Emperor was suspicious to him. He sent him to the anti-demon front lines, fearing his military power might defy royal authority. Even after the War Saint left, the Emperor kept a close watch on his family, a family of Dukes, supported by the 725-level War Saint, yet living a life on edge.

Currently, Lynn doesn’t seem any weaker than the War Saint. The Emperor says that if Vivian lures him to settle in another country, there’ll be great rewards. But in reality, it’s extremely likely—no, it’s definitely a case of rewarding openly while guarding secretly.

On the surface, they might get a title elevation, becoming Dukes wouldn’t be a problem. But secretly, they’d be heavily guarded against, closely monitored, forcing the Jones Clan to live like the War Saint Leonard’s Clan.

Rather than being treated like rebels, living an anxious life, might as well just literally rebel... not that, but scare the Emperor instead, letting him live a life on edge!

This approach, although risky, young Lynn would surely live longer than the current Emperor. As long as he’s reliable, the Jones Clan wouldn’t face any issues.

As for whether he’s trustworthy... well, even their limited contact with Lynn leaves an impression that he’s a hundred times more reliable than the Celestial Mandate Emperor.

It’s not that Lynn’s performance was exceptionally good or worthy of trust, it’s just that the comparison with the Celestial Mandate Emperor is too atrocious. No matter who you compare him with, the starting point is inherently much stronger, dozens and hundred times more...

There is no worse Monarch than the Celestial Mandate Emperor, at least for the past five hundred years or predicting the next five hundred, it’s impossible to find.