The Peerless Emperor-Chapter 372 - 373 I am your Emperor

Chapter 372: Chapter 373 I am your Emperor

Onlookers from Yushui City, witnessing the group of fierce soldiers bowing before the young man, all felt it somewhat surreal.

Could this youth in the white robe truly be the master of these powerful soldiers? Wasn’t he too young for that?

Among the crowd, Qi Yan, seeing Lin Qian walking along the main avenue towards the City Lord Mansion at the city’s center, pulled at Old Man Qi beside him and cried, “Grandpa, big brother…”

Before Qi Yan could finish speaking, Old Man Qi covered his mouth and seriously told his grandson, “In front of others, never casually call out to him as if you don’t recognize him. After you’ve cultivated and achieved something significant, then you can go and repay his kindness, understand?”

After hearing his grandfather’s words, Qi Yan nodded somehow blankly, not understanding why his grandfather wanted him to do this.

However, living only with his grandfather, he knew that his grandfather would never harm him, so he obediently nodded in agreement, “I understand grandpa, I’ll be obedient.”

Hearing Qi Yan’s response, Old Man Qi nodded in satisfaction, looking at Lin Qian walking on the great avenue with a sense of astonishment in his eyes.

Lin Qian had once told him that it wouldn’t be long before the citizens of the Huaxia Dynasty could enjoy better lives. He had initially thought it would take at least several decades.

Unexpectedly, what the other party had said was true, and the days had indeed arrived swiftly.

However, Old Man Qi vaguely worried whether the army under the command of this young emperor was really different from the past city guards.

What if these domineering soldiers turned out to be the same as the former city guards?

After all, these heavily armored soldiers were stronger and more brutally efficient at killing. If they behaved the same as the old city guards, wouldn’t that mean they would never see a day to rise up?

“It can’t be, it shouldn’t be,” thinking of Lin Qian’s kind smile, Old Man Qi shook his head repeatedly, driving that thought from his mind.

In fact, among the citizens who had come to the sidelines of the great avenue to watch, there were quite a few who shared Old Man Qi’s thoughts, their gazes towards the Imperial Army tinged with implicit concern.

Lin Qian stepped inside the City Lord Mansion and disappeared from the view of the city’s residents. As for the soldiers who had come to welcome him, they too rose into the air, rushing to guard atop the high walls of Yushui City.

Just after Lin Qian entered the City Lord Mansion, suddenly, figures began appearing out of thin air, clearly, a number of scholars.

The hub space of the city’s Array lay within the City Lord Mansion, and Lin Qian needed the scholars of the Heavenly Art Department to completely transform the Array to belong to the Huaxia Empire and to ensure it connected with Yunshui City and Bishui City.

Originally, when the armies were bestowed upon Lei Qian and Gao Benli, included among them were Array Masters.

Moreover, after seizing Yushui City, there was more than just the Array that needed to be dealt with. Taking over the city naturally meant taking over everything, including its citizens.

As he inspected all the treasures within the City Lord Mansion, particularly while reviewing the account books, Lin Qian’s brows furrowed.

Yushui City’s taxation was terrifying; it was no longer a mere eighty percent but had become a fixed amount.

Each household had to pay fifty Low-Grade Soul Crystals monthly, and any amount over fifty would be taxed at a staggering eighty percent.

The reason was merely that the current Emperor Qin needed a large number of Soul Crystals for his campaigns against neighboring powers, thus the ruthless plundering of the citizens of the Qin Dynasty, without any regard for their well-being.

Thinking of Old Man Qi’s son and daughter-in-law, hadn’t they been driven to death by this very reason?

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“This is truly a sin.” After reviewing the records of the City Lord Mansion, Lin Qian’s eyes revealed a trace of sorrow; he could hardly believe what kind of lives the citizens had to endure.

The authority of the City Lord Mansion and the city guards was unfathomably immense; they could kill without consequence, take anything they fancied at will.

Even if someone were to get married, the city guards could simply take the bride away to spend the night with her first!

“This world places excessive adoration on martial strength; power overwhelms heaven itself. People only think about elevating their cultivation realm, spending their spare time indulging in pleasure, but they never consider doing something for their clan, for the ordinary members of the Human Clan,” Lin Qian thought to himself as he left the former City Lord’s study and walked into the courtyard.

Once their cultivation realm became powerful, they never thought of the villages among the mountains and forests, where the people of the Human Clan lived in constant fear of Soul Beast attacks, not bothering to clear the surrounding area of these beasts.

With great power should come the responsibility to protect those who are weaker within the Human Clan from the invasion of other clans, to provide a better life for them instead of turning a blind eye, consuming their food, and drinking their blood.

As Lin Qian stood at the highest position of the great hall in the City Lord Mansion with such thoughts, gazing at the people of Yushui City, he promised solemnly,

“As citizens of the Huaxia Empire, you shall have the best life.”

“Because the Huaxia Empire must be the strongest and the best, boasting the finest martial power and the finest life, making it an empire that others envy and aspire to.”

“I…” Lin Qian began to say, then suddenly paused, as if he had realized something.

The Huaxia Empire was no longer the empire from a game in his previous life; now the people living within the territory he had fought for in this world were not data speaking according to set scripts, but real flesh-and-blood people.

In front of those close to him, he could casually refer to himself as “I,” without so many strictures.

Yet, in public, when discussing serious matters, certain formalities must be upheld.

He needed to let those who followed him, those soon to submit to him, know that he was not someone to be taken lightly.

Lin Qian opened his eyes and spoke again, his tone commanding,

“I, shall be your Emperor!”

The people of Yushui City looked up at the young figure, and the image of his powerful soldier-like demeanor when he entered the city sprang to their minds.

The aura that emanated from him made them involuntarily kneel, voices rising in succession.

“We greet Your Majesty.”

“I will send people to audit the City Lord’s Mansion’s accounts, comparing the ratio of taxes collected in past years, and redistribute it to you. Starting from tomorrow, come to the City Lord’s Mansion with your proof to collect it.”

After Lin Qian finished speaking, he descended from the highest place and returned to the interior of the City Lord’s Mansion.

However, the people of Yushui City were left stunned, all of them turning to ask those nearby,

“I didn’t hear that wrong, did I, or am I just dreaming?”

“Was what was said for real, or could I have misheard because I wasn’t fully awake?”

It wasn’t until the next day, when the citizens of Yushui City went with trepidation to the City Lord’s Mansion and received their own Soul Crystals, that they were moved to tears.

Some elderly people, overwhelmed by emotion, knelt down before the scholars distributing the treasury’s wealth, and soldiers from the Imperial Army had to come to help them up.

Old Man Qi, who was quietly waiting in line as well, saw this and his face beamed with a smile: “That’s right, truly it is.”

Shortly afterwards, in the airspace before the City Lord Mansion, suddenly the power of an Array coalesced, forming a Soul Power light screen.

The amber light screen displayed a line of text, and as soon as the people in front of the City Lord’s Mansion clearly saw the content, the crowd immediately erupted into an uproar.