"Now can we talk?" With long, forceful strides, Ye Liang closed the distance and slapped the Tennō across the face.
The latter staggered, his vision spinning.
"What is there to talk about?! The monarch of my glorious homeland never surrenders to enemies!"
"Smack!" Another slap rang out.
"My homeland... the glorious one..."
"A usurper king dares call himself a monarch?" Ye Liang cut in. In this island nation, daimyos held legitimacy in high regard—even if you were strong, without noble blood, you'd still be looked down upon.
The Tennō was momentarily speechless.
Seeing that he had quieted, Ye Liang turned his gaze toward Shizhi Xiao. The latter also dared not utter a word.
As silence fell over the room, Ye Liang strode forward, kicked the Tennō from the daimyo's throne, patted the seat, and sat down himself.
Here's the thing—I originally just wanted to live quietly under a false identity. But you disrupted my peace. Tell me, don't you think you should compensate me?"
"I should! I should! Of course I should compensate!" The Tennō nodded nervously.
Shizhi Xiao beside him wiped cold sweat from his brow.
"This young devil's clearly furious. This can't end well."
"All right then! Since you agree to pay compensation, let's discuss properly.
The Matsushita family is under my protection. A few days ago, you secretly sent men to attack their mansion, killing several servant girls and startling Ichiro Matsushita's elderly mother, which caused Ichiro to suffer a stroke. How do you explain that?"
Did that really happen?
The Tennō hesitated—hadn't he indeed dispatched people to arrest the Matsushita household? But later reports said they had been driven away!
"Yes! Yes! I'll give you an entire mansion along with several attendants as compensation!" Seeing Ye Liang's dark expression, the Tennō didn't dare dwell too long.
"Today, while I was resting peacefully at home, you suddenly sent women to assassinate me, leaving me gravely weakened and dooming millions of my future generations to destruction!
What do you have to say for yourself?!"
Gravely weakened? Millions doomed?
Being an ancient man, the Tennō naturally couldn't understand Ye Liang's words.
"When did I kill your descendants? Millions dead? Get real!
He wiped sweat again, "Then how about I give you more farmland along with some farmers?"
Ye Liang gave a slight nod, feigning satisfaction.
"These are all reasonable, but I haven't even brought up the biggest thing you owe me yet."
"The biggest compensation?!" The Tennō blinked, sensing something was off.
"You're so hideous by nature that just looking at you scorched my eyes and burned my soul. What compensation will you offer for that?!"
"I..." The Tennō was temporarily at a loss for words. He could possibly accept other excuses, but how could he respond to this one?! There were countless ministers watching below!
If he agreed, wouldn't that mean admitting he was ugly in front of everyone?!
And how could he preserve the dignity of a monarch then?!
Beside him, Shizhi Xiao subtly gestured toward the Tennō, being the old fox that he was. As a half-century-old veteran, he already saw clearly that Ye Liang was intentionally provoking conflict—but at this moment, the Tennō must comply!
Any resistance might invite total ruin!
The Tennō, however, lacked such foresight.
He snapped!
"That's enough! Don't you know I'm the renowned daimyo of the Ancestral Nation! How dare you speak to me like this?! Come forth!"
"Come here! Kill him for me!"
He didn't even realize his guards were being slaughtered.
The ministers downstairs exchanged helpless glances, none daring to intervene in the struggle unfolding on stage. One reason was their lack of power, but an even bigger factor was the Tennō's loss of authority!
"Slap!"
Ye Liang landed a thunderous slap across his face.
"No more nonsense—I just want to tell you, I need a quiet place. I've taken a liking to your mansion. From now on, I'll be the Daimyo of the Ancestral Nation.
Got a problem with that?"
Struck like lightning!
The stunned Tennō stared blankly at Ye Liang, unable to believe this was actually his demand.
"My Tennō household may lack capable people, but we still have vast territories and thousands of soldiers. Do you really think you can handle that?"
"That's not your concern."
Ye Liang smiled slightly.
He hadn't planned this before arriving; however, seeing how the Daimyo's household indulged in songs and dances, living in luxury, made him suddenly decide. Now he was certain—wanting peace while relying only on Matsushita household's boastful praise was impossible!
Being the ruler should buy some stability.
This was just a capricious thought.
The next day,
News about the weak Ancestral Nation Tennō being exiled spread far and wide.
At the city gate,
Ye Liang was saying goodbye to Xiao Qiao Shizhi.
He glanced at Xiao Qiao Shizhi and Nao Uzumaki standing beside him.
"You two watch out—don't get yourselves killed by someone unknown."
He truly meant what he said.
Xiao Qiao Shizhi felt uneasy.
Nao Uzumaki was reminiscing about her shyness from last night.
Each lost in their own thoughts, yet all sharing a heavy heart, Ye Liang bade them farewell.
Watching their receding backs,
he noticed something—Nao Uzumaki in Yomi looked exactly as she had before her death. Back then, she appeared slightly more mature than her current self, which suggested she might survive for several more years.
But Xiao Qiao Shizhi wasn't in good shape—his appearance in Yomi was almost identical to his current one, which meant his time was nearly up...
Knowing very well that disaster would soon strike both of them, Ye Liang offered such careful reminders.
Turning around,
amid trembling ministers, Ye Liang returned to his villa.
Cross-legged and seated,
his situation now was extremely calm. Without disturbances from ordinary people, he could peacefully enjoy worship.
His injuries healed quickly.
One night,
as Ye Liang was sound asleep by his bed, he was suddenly awakened by a loud noise. Opening his eyes, he saw thick flames rising from nearby forests.
"What's going on? A forest fire?"
During summer, wildfires were common, especially after lightning storms. The sudden explosion earlier had simply been mistaken by him as thunder.
After ordering some soldiers to go put it out, Ye Liang drifted back into a deep sleep.
Not long after,
the firefighting soldiers returned, panicking as they crawled through the side courtyard's entrance.
"Terrible news! Divine Lord! There's a massive sacred stone that has appeared in the woods!"
"Sacred Stone?" Rubbing his eyes, Ye Liang fully woke up.
What kind of ghostly "sacred stone"?
Irritated by the soldier's phrasing, he dressed himself properly and walked outside.
The soldier was still kneeling in the courtyard.
He trembled slightly, as if he had witnessed something incredible.
"What kind of Sacred Stone was it? Describe it."
"Big! Huge! Extremely big!"
That tells me absolutely jack…
Ye Liang couldn't help but let out a grumble. He scratched his head in frustration. At that moment, his Bloodline Eye suddenly flickered with light.
His Bloodline Eye ability has been activated!
"What's going on? Have I been too tired lately?" He felt extremely puzzled.
Once he got the whole picture, he told the soldiers not to cause a commotion.
Then he returned to his room.
As for the Sacred Stone?
"It must be some kind of celestial rock.
The loud roar earlier must have been a meteor plummeting from the heavens. The uninformed people don't get the truth and mistake it for a Sacred Stone. That's perfectly normal."
He speculated.
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