Liuying Zishan’s beautiful eyes stared straight at Lu Yin. This was the first time she had ever stood face to face with him, as all of their previous communication had been done through video calls. Right now, she finally understood what this person from the Zishan family was like. He was extremely tyrannical, ruthless, and very different from what she had imagined. He was also unreasonably powerful to the point where even Explorers were no match for him.
“Since the Yushan family is in trouble, and Princess Wendy is nowhere in sight though probably alive, I, King Zishan Lu Yin, shall become the interim emperor. Do any of you object?” Lu Yin matter-of-factly declared. He disliked beating around the bush and so spoke very directly.
The result was obvious. The fact that Huo Qingshan and the other two had appeared was an answer in and of itself.
“The Fifth Imperial Squadron fully supports King Zishan,” Huo Qingshan answered.
“The Ninth Imperial Squadron fully supports King Zishan,” Rocky Auna answered.
“The Thirteenth Imperial Squadron fully supports King Zishan,” Liuying Zishan answered.
“The Twelfth Imperial Squadron fully supports King Zishan.” Ban Jiu, who had arrived at some point, also added in his support.
Lu Yin looked up, with a tired face. “Henceforth, I am both King Zishan as well as… the Royal Regent.”
For a long time now, it was impossible to rule as emperor just by simply ascending to the throne. Lu Yin could hold a certain amount of power since he had the ring of authority and the position of King Zishan. However, it was impossible for him to actually become the emperor. He did not have the right to inherit the throne; only Wendy Yushan currently had that right.
Hence, he could not touch the throne at this moment. Instead, he would manage the Great Yu Empire as the Royal Regent.
“Your Highness, the empire is currently embroiled with both internal and external problems. Please make some decisions about this as soon as possible.” The very next day, a minister mentioned this matter during a morning meeting. It was a fact that Lu Yin had become the Royal Regent since he had obtained the support of the Thirteen Imperial Squadrons, the ring of authority, and the support of the Zishan’s clan’s former subordinates. Thus, he had naturally taken over these meetings.
Lu Yin sat below the emperor’s throne and was the only one who was seated in the main hall. After hearing what the ministers had to say, Lu Yin took a look at his gadget. “I have my plans.”
The ministers exchanged looks, but remained silent.
The extended family members’ fight for the throne was the main reason why Zenyu Star was in its current state of chaos. Now that the relatives have all been wiped out, the empire had the bandwidth to focus on reclaiming its lost territory and repulsing the Ross Empire. As the Royal Regent, Lu Yin should have been making arrangements to handle these matters, but he had done nothing so far. It was very confusing.
Rocky Auna glanced at Lu Yin, and when he saw that Lu Yin was continuously checking his gadget, Rocky Auna frowned; Lu Yin really was too young. These meetings were very solemn occasions, and this was not the time for the Royal Regent to be checking his gadget. Even Dorren Yushan and Undying Yushan had never done anything like this in the past.
The ministers also felt rather uncomfortable. If this wasn’t Lu Yin’s first time attending a meeting as Royal Regent, then their tongues would have immediately started wagging.
The hall lapsed into a momentary silence.
The monkey finally could not hold it in any longer. “The ministers keep looking at you like you’re stupid, Seventh Bro! Aren’t you afraid that they’ll scold you?”
Lu Yin’s gaze swept downwards. There were only a third of the original ministers remaining. Bailey was present, but only four of the thirteen captains were present.
“Don’t pay them any mind. They don’t think much of me right now, and anything I do will be considered pointless to them. Just wait—the outcome will become clear quite soon,” Lu Yin replied, seemingly talking to himself.
The secretary of the Empire, Garope, could no longer restrain himself. He stood up and exclaimed, “My lord, this meeting is not a time for you to be on your gadget! Please focus on the matters of the empire.”
Lu Yin glanced at Garope. “Tell me this, Lord Garope. What is the most important problem the empire should be focusing on right now?”
“That would be the Ross Empire’s war against us. I’m sure that you aren’t treating this as a mere joke. Right, my lord?” Garope briskly responded, obviously enraged.
Lu Yin chuckled. “Exactly. I’m taking care of it right now.”
Everyone was shocked by his response.
Huo Qingshan’s eyes lit up. “Could you please clarify what you mean by this, Your Highness? The Ross Empire is not a joke. You do hold a special position, so the Ross Empire cannot do much to you yourself, but you holding such a high position doesn’t necessarily mean you have corresponding influence.”
At that moment, Lu Yin’s gadget beeped, and his face lit up. With a loud chuckle, he said, “Just in time.” As he spoke, he tapped on his gadget’s display. “Please read this out, Lord Garope.”
Garope examined the screen that was shown on Lu Yin’s gadget, and his eyes widened as he read out, “‘The Spirit Seal Flowzone’s Watermoon Villa has officially denounced the Ross Empire’s campaign against the Outerverse’s Great Yu Empire. Furthermore, they have stated that the Innerverse should not meddle in the matters of the Outerverse. The Ross Empire has used military force to suppress the Great Yu Empire, resulting in the loss of countless lives. The Watermoon Villa hereby officially warns the Ross Empire and asks it to halt its campaign and allow the universe to return to peace.’”
With a beep, another notification popped up. “The Ascension Flowzone’s Xun Family has officially denounced the Ross Empire’s campaign against the Outerverse’s Great Yu Empire. Furthermore, they have stated that the Innerverse should not meddle in the matters of the Outerverse. The Ross Empire has used military force to suppress the Great Yu Empire, resulting in the loss of countless lives. The Xun Family hereby officially warns the Ross Empire and asks it to halt its campaign and allow the universe to return to peace.’”
These two notifications were rather stern warnings that completely shocked Garope speechless. He stared at Lu Yin in disbelief, and everyone else was just as astonished as they all looked at the Royal Regent. “Your Highness, this…”
Lu Yin chuckled. “It’s just that others are also annoyed about this situation. The universe should be at peace and the Innerverse shouldn’t be bullying the Outerverse, right?”
Of course not, but many of the ministers were confused. It was very normal for organisations from the Innerverse to bully or even destroy organisations from the Outerverse. Peace in the universe? When had that ever existed? That claim was utter crap. Also, these two notices were worded exactly the same, and the only difference between them were the names. Was it possible that Lu Yin had written this himself? Many were suspicious that this was actually what had happened.
Lu Yin grinned. He had obviously written it himself and then collected on two oaths to get these notices published. It was impossible to use the oaths to force the Watermoon Villa or the Xun Family to wage war against the Ross Empire, but sending a warning wasn’t a problem. When a couple more notices also popped up, the Ross Empire would become terrified. While they were confident that these organizations wouldn’t actually intervene, they would still nonetheless have to stop the war after taking everything into consideration. This was because these two identical notices from powerful organizations were a clear indication that someone was trying to make their stance known, and it also meant that this person was more than what they seemed. The Ross Empire would surely be afraid of the possible consequences, because the universe was truly mysterious.
Lu Yin’s gadget beeped again, indicating that another notice had been published. “The Outerverse’s Bard Weave’s Saiki Palace has officially denounced the Ross Empire’s campaign against the Outerverse’s Great Yu Empire. Furthermore, they have stated that the Innerverse should not meddle in the matters of the Outerverse. The Ross Empire has used military force to suppress the Great Yu Empire, resulting in the revolting loss of countless lives. The Saiki Palace hereby officially warns the Ross Empire and asks it to halt its campaign and allow the universe to return to peace.’”
This notice was worded slightly differently since the Saiki Palace was an organization from the Outerverse. However, its contents were very surprising since it included the phrase “revolting.” With this, the Ross Empire would have no choice but to consider the possibility of several different Outerverse organizations banding together against them.
After that, even more notices appeared, some from Innerverse organizations and others from Outerverse organizations.
An hour later, all of the ministers in the hall were thoroughly stunned. A total of thirteen warning letters from thirteen different organizations had been posted, with each one addressed to the Ross Empire. The organizations came from both parts of the Human Domain, and some of them were no weaker than the Ross Empire. With so many of these notices being published, the Ross Empire would definitely need to consider withdrawing its troops if its leaders weren’t stupid.
The ministers looked up at Lu Yin, who was sitting idly next to the throne. For the first time, they had a feeling that this young Royal Regent should not be underestimated. He had single-handedly resolved this war that had affected the entire Frostwave Weave.
Lu Yin kept looking at his gadget with a smile on his face, not minding the fact that all of the ministers were looking at him strangely. Nobody voiced any objections at this moment.
Garope bowed low. “Please forgive me for my earlier actions, Your Highness.”
Lu Yin looked up. “There’s no need for that. You did well.” After saying that, he finally put his gadget down. He stood up, and his expression turned stern. “The Ross Empire will probably try to end the war. But regardless of what conditions they put forth, reject everything.”
One of the ministers below hastily asked, “What if the Ross Empire demands compensation for the war?”
“Like I said, reject everything.” Lu Yin’s voice was cold.
The minister was startled by the curt response and quickly bowed.
“This war was just a farce. We, the Great Yu Empire, have suffered the worst damage, and I’m already being benevolent by not demanding compensation from them. They are now the ones in the passive position. Besides, with those thirteen warning letters, they won’t want this war to wage on for any longer,” Lu Yin said.
The rest acknowledged his words.
“Spread the news, announcing that the Great Yu Empire thanks everyone for their help. Say that the peace of the universe is what we of the Great Yu Empire value above all and that we hope to create a peaceful relationship with everyone.
“Bring the residents that fled from Zenyu Star back and conduct a census of the population. Console the family of those who died. I will use my status as Royal Regent to compensate the families of any commoners who died.
“Arrange for the funeral of His Majesty, Undying Yushan. You must also construct a cenotaph for the members and descendants of the Yushan family.
“Repair the three rings of Zenyu Star and increase their defenses.
“Remove the traitor status from the second prince, Duke Yushan, and arrange for him to receive a royal funeral. Remove the traitor status from the Captain of the Seventh Squadron, Batson, and bury him as a captain. Remove the traitor status from the Captain of the Tenth Squadron, Felt, and bury him as a captain. Remove the traitor status from the Captain of the Eighth Squadron, Shalosh, and Captain of the Twelfth Squadron, Ban Jiu, as well.”
…
Lu Yin gave at least twenty orders in one go, and the ministers hurriedly noted everything down.
If Lu Yin had not managed to stop the war, then his orders would not have been carried out even if he had held a higher position. However, things were different now. He had managed to avert the empire’s crisis with a wave of his hand, thus gaining the reputation of being mysterious, powerful, and worthy of respect. Nobody dared to go against any of his orders anymore.
The meeting continued for a record-breaking three hours, which rarely happened during meetings between the Great Yu Empire’s upper echelons. While everyone was leaving afterwards, Lu Yin asked Ban Jiu to stay behind.
Huo Qingshan was very confused. Ban Jiu and Lu Yin had virtually never interacted in the past, but this person had been asked to stay behind for some reason.
Ban Jiu also found this request very surprising. He wondered if it had something to do with Sicar, but that didn’t seem very likely to him.
“I hear that you have some understanding of technology, Captain Ban Jiu. I have a question for you.” Lu Yin then walked closer to him and whispered, “If I want to transfer an important document into the Ross Empire, is it possible to do it without letting them discover it?”
Ban Jiu’s eyes lit up, and he looked at Lu Yin in shock. “You mean…”
Lu Yin handed him a document. “Send this over to the Ross Empire and make sure that they don’t find out where it’s from. Can you do that?”
Ban Jiu took a look at it, and his expression immediately changed. “This is information regarding the military matters of the empire?”
Lu Yin merely stared at Ban Jiu.
Ban Jiu’s first instinct was that Lu Yin was betraying the Great Yu Empire, but that didn’t seem quite right. This youth before him stood above tens of thousands of people, and there was no need for him to betray them. Besides, with his position, there was no need to flatter the Ross Empire either. “Why are you sending this to the Ross Empire, Your Highness?”
