Chapter 448 - Interaction

Chapter 448: Chapter 202: InteractionIn the Imperial City of Jinrui, within the Divine Grace Realm, Konstantin enjoyed a few days of peace for a rare change. Absence of Sea Clan harassment gave the Sacred Empire a brief respite, and with continuous good news from Xie’an’s forces in the distance, the spirits of the people in Jinrui City were lifted. Although the strength of other realm’s powerhouses was suppressed upon their arrival at the Divine Grace, their sheer numbers provided an advantage, akin to ants consuming an elephant.

"Your Majesty, Questasa seeks an audience!" the guard approached Konstantin and whispered.

"Oh?" Konstantin smiled slightly, "I guess it’s more good news from Xie’an. Quickly, let him in."

The guard complied and left, but when he entered, he saw Questasa with a worried expression. He wanted to warn Konstantin but found himself at a loss for words, deciding it was best left to Lord Questasa.

Soon after, Questasa hurried into the sleeping chamber, "Your Majesty!"

"What good news have you brought this time?" Konstantin motioned for a maid to bring a bowl of honey tea, which he used to rinse his mouth.

Konstantin waited a while but received no reply from Questasa and sensed something was amiss. He set down his tea bowl and furrowed his brows slightly, "What happened?!"

"The legend of the Dragon Pool is true; the Kairo family, along with the top hundred surrounding forces, has left the Star Sea with a True Dragon, their whereabouts unknown."

Questasa held up Xie’an’s report, and the maid quickly took it and handed it to Konstantin.

Konstantin did not speak but opened the report and carefully read through it.

Xie’an’s report detailed the events extensively, sprawling over ten thousand words.

Having read through it, Konstantin felt fury surge within him. Positioned as he was, Konstantin viewed the revival of the True Dragon differently from Xie’an and Lu Hong. His thoughts were on control, taking over the True Dragon from the Kairo family.

"Military Department!" Konstantin clenched his teeth in anger. Due to the West fulfilling their promises without damaging the Star Sea, Xie’an and Lu Hong were merely dissatisfied with the Military Department’s secretive interference, but Konstantin felt a maddening itch.

Had the Military Department not sealed the news about the True Dragon, he would have done everything in his power to intercept the Kairo family. Knowing that a Heavenly God Realm True Dragon could level any Sea Clan or Naga in minutes! Once he gained control of the True Dragon, what threat could the Sea Clan pose? The Sacred Empire could again dominate the Star Sea for a thousand, ten thousand, even eternal years!

"Have you investigated this?" Konstantin’s expression was dark as he questioned Questasa.

Questasa glanced around at the guards and maid but did not speak.

"Everyone out."

Once they were alone, Questasa spoke, "Your Majesty, the Military Department currently has four senior officials. I haven’t had time to investigate, but I assure you that none of these officials are behind this."

"On what grounds?" Konstantin was slightly dissatisfied, "Are you guaranteeing for them?"

"I’m not intentionally protecting them, but these officials, despite their slight political disagreements with Your Majesty, wouldn’t mess around with such a significant matter. I suspect it’s Duke Sotu manipulating and deceiving from behind the scenes, harboring deep schemes."

"Sotu..." Konstantin’s eyes narrowed slightly; he had almost forgotten about him. Seventy years ago, Duke Sotu was a prominent figure in the Empire, his glory and honor not much less than Lu Hong’s today.

However, his ambitions were great, and he had nearly succeeded in staging a coup in Jinrui City. Being a branch of the Pulo family, after his failure, Konstantin’s father stripped him of his Divine Grace citizenship in the name of the Imperial Sword, banning him forever from re-entering Divine Grace.

Exiled, Duke Sotu settled in the realm of Zhongxiao Qing, and due to his high military capabilities, forty-eight leaders from the Military Department vouched for him, and Emperor Minghui reluctantly agreed to let him participate in the Military’s decisions. From there, Duke Sotu covertly nurtured his faction within the Military, attempting to control the Empire’s forces.

Once Konstantin ascended to the throne, the Military became uncontrollable, not restrained by the Great Emperor, and it was during that time that Konstantin’s sister, Funie, organized and led the Black Guard to secretly eliminate Sotu’s influence on the Military, reclaiming military governance.

Losing control over military politics, Sotu chose to lie low again. The Orc War had erupted at that time, and Konstantin was preoccupied and didn’t deal with him immediately. Seeing that Sotu was behaving, and considering he was somewhat a family to him, Konstantin was unwilling to bear the stigma of killing a relative and thus let him be.

Konstantin refocused his attention back on Xie’an’s report, "Are you sure?"

"I’m fairly certain." The Black Guard had spread across the world, and Questasa was the backbone of the Empire’s intelligence system - his ’fairly certain’ was as good as ninety-nine percent certain.

"I see in the report from Xie’an that the person in charge of the Dragon Pool Black Guard, Bai Se, has defected. Do you know about this?" Konstantin suddenly changed the subject, directing his question at Questasa below.

"My lord," Questasa started sweating, "I am aware of my crime."

"With a rebellion occurring within your managed Black Guard, as the head of the Black Guard, you cannot escape responsibility. If one unit can betray the Empire, then a second could as well. Now that the Sea Clan has ceased fighting, you should personally take a trip and regulate all the Black Guard units across the realms. I do not wish for this to happen a second time."

"I accept the decree!" Questasa knelt to receive the order.

Konstantin nodded in satisfaction, "Good, after you leave Divine Grace, do you have any talented recommendations?"

Obviously, Konstantin was asking Questasa to delegate authority.

Questasa knew this well and immediately responded, "My deputy in the Black Guard, Zhe Ke, is very capable. He can fully take over my responsibilities after my departure, serving Your Majesty."

"Very well, I remember him as well. He’s talented. Make sure you hand over your duties to him promptly. You know that the Black Guard is my foundation, and I do not wish for any issues to arise." Konstantin gestured for Questasa to leave.

After Questasa left, Konstantin fell into deep thought.

Pressuring Questasa wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision by Konstantin but something he had been preparing to do for a long time. Given the Bai Se revolt, as the head of the Black Guard, Questasa couldn’t avoid blame, and such punishment was considered reasonable.

As for Sotu, Konstantin needed to ponder further, considering the Duke had established his power in the largest and most turbulent civilian area of the Empire.

Questasa swiftly returned to the Black Guard headquarters and met with Lu Hong’s stepmother—Princess Funie.

"How is it?"

"Everything is exactly as Her Highness the Eldest Princess described, not a single detail amiss."

Funie smiled slightly; her brother still hadn’t changed at all.

The reason Konstantin was wary of Questasa and seized power was entirely orchestrated by Funie herself.

Over the years, Funie had continuously arranged for people to spread the news of Questasa’s disloyalty through various channels. Initially, when Konstantin heard of it, he didn’t care, but as such incidents accumulated, they inevitably bonded, forming a truism that where there’s smoke, there’s fire. If Questasa had been truly loyal to him, why would rumors abound?

This disloyalty of Questasa referred to their old master—Funie. In fact, the rumor was correct: Questasa’s first loyalty was indeed always to Lu Hong’s mother, unchanged from the beginning.

Funie looked at the kneeling old minister before her, walked forward to help him up, "The matters to follow will require your diligent effort."

"Rest assured, Your Highness, this old servant will definitely forge a formidable army for the young master, fulfilling the trust placed by the Eldest Princess!"

"Go now, leave Divine Grace, the farther the better; the Star Sea is about to descend into chaos." As she spoke, Funie raised her head, looking towards the Imperial City, her gaze seeming to penetrate the layers of palace walls, landing on Konstantin.

And Konstantin, as if sensing something, suddenly looked up, murmuring, "Is it you?"

At that moment, a guard’s voice came from outside the hall, "Your Majesty! Summons for Ming Zhe, Ben Jie, and Fan Hong to come to an audience!"

His information is indeed accurate, Konstantin snorted coldly: "Let them in."

Besides Xie’an’s father Marshall Xie, the other three actual controllers of the Military Department entered the bedroom, kneeling to Konstantin: "Your subjects greet Your Majesty!"

"Oh, with the Military Department handling countless affairs daily, how do you three find time to visit me?" Konstantin sneered, allowing them to remain kneeling.

"Your Majesty, the sins of your subjects, please decree punishment," Ming Zhe spoke first.

"Ming Zhe, you who have worked hard and contributed significantly, what sin could you possess?" Konstantin was most annoyed with him; he always acted contrary to him.

"Your Majesty, the incident at Dragon Pool was sudden; we too were unaware. Once we received accurate information, we discovered it was Soutu exploiting the Military Department spies previously embedded, concealing the truth, making us miss a crucial opportunity, please lay down Your Majesty’s sentence."

"Heh, you all knew?" Seeing Ming Zhe confess, Konstantin sneered, "Do you know how much assistance a real dragon can provide to the empire? Can you bear that responsibility?!"

"Your Majesty, the event has already occurred; we must properly handle the aftermath now." Fan Hong, aligning with Ming Zhe, shifted the topic.

"The mistakes made by your Military Department, you find a solution yourselves."

"But..." Fan Hong wanted to continue, but Ming Zhe held him back.

The aftermath of Dragon Pool was about guarding the portal that connected the Star Sea and Star Region. This task seemed simple but carried significant risks. Currently, the empire had no means to activate it, but they couldn’t bet on the Star Region not having the methods either. Thus, a substantial military presence had to be maintained there to prevent the Star Region forces from using the portal to attack the Star Sea. But the empire was now fragmented; where could they muster a respectable army to guard the portal?

The bigwigs of the Military Department each had their own cultivated private armies with robust fighting strength; they staunchly refused to deploy them to Divine Grace Battlefield, as the risks at the Star Region portal were unknown. They dared not jeopardize it, after all, each had only so many troops; if they were wiped out, it would indeed be heartbreaking.

What Konstantin wanted was to force these old heads of the Military Department to reveal all their private resources to lessen the consumption the empire needed to fill.

Ming Zhe, seeing the situation clearly, knew the issue had escalated too much this time; making a significant concession was inevitably, so he stopped Fan Hong, "This old servant understands, rest assured, Your Majesty, we will dedicate ourselves to guarding the portal, ensuring no Star Region forces set foot in the Star Sea."

Seeing their compromise, Konstantin’s expression softened a bit, "Well then, rise, all of you are old servants, why do I need to tell you to stand?"

"Thank you, Your Majesty." The three stood up, and then Ben Jie spoke, "Your Majesty, if we are to station troops near the portal, we will need to arrange for supplies and logistics, may Your Majesty grant us the neighboring realms to use for transshipment?"

Heh, Konstantin inwardly smirked, bargaining with him now, exerting effort in exchange for territory?

"Here’s what, based on the information returned by Xie’an, this portal has existed since the Era of the Gods and must not be destroyed, meaning the duration of guard duty could be indefinite. Wouldn’t it be better if you moved your families near Dragon Pool? I’ll grant you the highest administrative authority, allowing your three great families to settle there and develop, collectively undertaking the responsibility of guarding the portal, wouldn’t that be perfect for everyone?"

"This...," Ben Jie gave a wry smile, not daring to respond. Konstantin aimed to strip them down completely! Moving families was a monumental task, and these three bigwigs of the Military Department had established their families’ positions in their own realms over many years. Moving would mean starting over. Moreover, near Dragon Pool, there wasn’t any particularly significant realm. Agreeing to Konstantin equated to voluntarily weakening their familial foundation and exposing themselves to risks. If the Star Region forces invaded, wouldn’t their three families be annihilated?

But could they refuse?

"Hmm?" Konstantin’s gaze was icy as he scanned the three, "Why don’t you speak? Is my proposal unsuitable?"

Ming Zhe took a deep breath, "What Your Majesty says is sound, we are willing to relocate our families, protecting the empire’s foundation for all generations!"

"Very well." Konstantin withdrew his gaze, nodding satisfied, "I remember all your children have come of age, right?"

"My daughter is twenty-two," Ming Zhe stated.

"My son just turned eighteen," followed Ben Jie.

Lastly, Fan Hong, "My son is twenty-nine."

These three bigwigs naturally had more than one offspring; they spoke only of their youngest.

Konstantin said with a smile, "All at the peak of their youthful vigor, indeed uncut gems. How about letting them take positions at the court, as a form of training? What do you think?"

"We thank Your Majesty for your grace!"