Imperial God Emperor

"Lord Zhang Longcheng, please wait," Nie Tiankong spoke with some urgency and his voice rumbled across the night sky. He moved like a ray of flowing light and instantly appeared by Ye Qingyu's side.

There were several men behind him and Linghu Buxiu was amongst them.

"Greetings, Lord Nie Tiankong," Ye Qingyu immediately wiped the smile off his face, turned around and bowed to Nie Tiankong.

Nie Tiankong heaved a sigh of relief and said, "Lord Zhang Longcheng, please rise...'

His expression seemed a little complicated.

He realized that Zhang Longcheng had a knack for stirring up trouble. It had only been a few days since he arrived at the Royal City, but he had already attracted so much attention to himself and now, even the King of Zhenyuan's residence had been dragged into this. This was a rather curious ability he had, attracting trouble wherever he went. He recalled the battle at the Demon Stone Forest, looked back at the scene in front of him and didn't know whether to laugh or to cry.

"Help, Commander Nie Tiankong. Help me... boohoohoo!"

She sobbed loudly.

Princess Poison Flower finally let out a sigh of relief at the sight of Nie Tiankong and immediately burst into tears like a bullied child who had finally caught sight of her parents. She inched closer toward Nie Tiankong and treated him like her savior.

Was this really the princess who was usually known for being ruthless?

Nie Tiankong couldn't help but gasp.

He then turned and looked at Ye Qingyu in confusion, but there was also subtle teasing glint in his eyes, as though he was asking if Ye Qingyu had made advances on the Princess.

Ye Qingyu understood the question in his eyes and was speechless.

"Lord Nie Tiankong, this woman brought her men here and tried to kill me," Ye Qingyu said, full of righteous indignation as he reported what had happened earlier. "She's only the daughter of a King and doesn't hold any official appointment. Yet, she broke the curfew and mobilized the soldiers stationed at her residence to attack the inn in the middle of the night. She even killed the ten soldiers that you had assigned to guard me and behaved as though she was completely above the law. My Lord, this woman should be sentenced to death without further investigation according to the law of Royal City," he said, deliberately putting on an indignant act.

"No no no, this is a misunderstanding..." Princess Poison Flower said. She was in a terribly miserable state and looked a little disheveled.

She didn't even dare to look at Ye Qingyu. It was as though she could still feel the iciness and impending doom from the handprint that was left clearly on her neck and she was utterly terrified of Ye Qingyu after witnessing his coldness and killing intent, so she did her best to inch closer toward Nie Tiankong.

"Commander Nie Tiankong, I admit to my mistakes, please save me..."

The lofty princess was on the verge of a breakdown.

She had gotten used to everyone submitting to her and obeying her orders, and basked in her own sense of superiority. No one had ever dared to go against her wishes, but today, someone was bold enough to kill her and had actually almost killed her. This level of terror was something that she had never experienced and this had completely changed her outlook on life. Her tough and merciless appearance had shattered and she had fallen from her lofty ivory tower.

"Lord Nie Tiankong, this woman is terribly evil, so we mustn't let her off the hook easily," Ye Qingyu insisted.

Nie Tiankong had an idea when he saw the expression on Ye Qingyu's face.

He waved his hand, then turned to the Princess and said, "Your Highness, you have behaved far too recklessly tonight. It might be Lord Zhang Longcheng's first time at Royal City, but he is still a titled nobleman, so how could you have led your men to launch an attack against him? You were at fault for doing so, so even though you're a high-born, you'll still have to pay the price... According to the Guardian's law at Royal City, there's only one way to resolve this issue and that is to challenge him to a duel."

This was indeed one way of settling disputes amongst titled noblemen.

Obviously, this wasn't the only way.

He had his own reasons for making this proposal.

Recently, the King of Zhenyuan was away leading an expedition against the Fire Province, and during his absence, Princess Poison Flower had behaved very arrogantly and was constantly going against Nie Tiankong. She had hurled insults at him on many occasions and treated him with contempt. Take this incident for example and this had initially been a tiny matter about his men beating up her servant. Nie Tiankong had already personally stepped in to soothe her ruffled feathers and although Princess Poison Flower had accepted his explanation, she had secretly tried to kill Ye Qingyu. If her plan had succeeded, this would have been a slap on Nie Tiankong's face and the authority that he had worked so hard to earn would be damaged.

"Very well. My lord, your humble subordinate is willing to challenge this evil woman to a duel to resolve this matter once and for all," Ye Qingyu said obligingly and balled his hands into fists, a picture of ferocity.

"What?" Princess Poison Flower glanced at Ye Qingyu and started trembling in fear all over again as though she had seen a serpent. "No no no, I don't want to see him. Commander Nie Tiankong, I admit that I was wrong. You must save me..."

She still had a shred of intelligence left and knew that if she wanted to escape with her life tonight, Nie Tiankong was the only person who could save her.

"Uh..." Nie Tiankong acted like he felt very conflicted.

Ye Qingyu laughed coldly and doggedly, "Weren't you behaving extremely arrogantly earlier? You didn't even take Commander Nie Tiankong's words seriously and assumed that you could use your family's powerful influence to crush anything that stands in your way. Yet, you're now behaving like a defeated dog. I'm really embarrassed for the King of Zhenyuan's residence... since you're such an embarrassment to your family, what's the point in living? You should die."

He still bore killing intent toward her.

Princess Poison Flower had been too ruthless earlier and killed so many innocent people at the inn.

Ye Qingyu was also weighing his options.

If Nie Tiankong showed any sign of wavering, he truly meant to kill Princess Poison Flower today. This was as good an opportunity as any and he meant what he said earlier about implementing reform - that was his true intention.

"No no no, Commander Nie Tiankong, save me. I'm willing to agree to anything you ask," Princess Poison Flower begged.

Nie Tiankong contemplated her words and remained silent for a while.

Ye Qingyu continued to draw closer to her.

Princess Poison Flower was absolutely petrified and said, "Commander Nie Tiankong, let's have a civil discussion about this. I'd be able to assist you in many ways..."

Nie Tiankong nodded to himself, but he still pretended to mull over her words for a long moment before he finally sighed and looked at Ye Qingyu as he said, "Lord Zhang Longcheng, this is a serious matter since the King of Zhenyuan is considered to be a major power of the camp. Why don't I arrest Princess Poison Flower first and bring her to trial? I'll definitely give you an explanation thereafter. What do you think of this proposal?"

Ye Qingyu immediately understood that Nie Tiankong wanted to squeeze whatever value he could out of Princess Poison Flower. Now that the King of Zhenyuan himself wasn't at the Royal City, she would indeed make a good pawn.

"Of course, I'll follow your wishes," Ye Qingyu immediately nodded and agreed to the plan.

The King of Zhenyuan was far away at the Fire Province and now that Ye Qingyu knew that [Quasi-emperor Xiaofei] might be holding fort at the Fire Province, he couldn't help but be a little worried. Thus, if he could stir up some form of trouble for the King of Zhenyuan here at Royal City, he would definitely be able to help [Quasi-emperor Xiaofei]. More importantly, he had to respect Nie Tiankong's wishes since he would have to rely on Nie Tiankong if he wanted to deal with the problem at the Fire Province.

"Very well," Nie Tiankong said with a smile.

He was very satisfied with Ye Qingyu's performance since Ye Qingyu had accorded him with the proper deference and respect.

He was so pleased that he almost chuckled to himself gleefully.

This was the best solution to resolve the incident tonight. Now that Princess Poison Flower was in his hands, she was the equivalent of a sharp sword that could tip the scales of the power balance at the Royal City. This also meant that he would no longer face any opposition to the plans he wanted to implement.

Nie Tiankong brought Princess Poison Flower away.

Linghu Buxiu didn't say anything, but he went over to pat Ye Qingyu's shoulder before he left.

Some people were just born to luck, so there was no use envying them.

Ye Qingyu had only been in Royal City for a few days but he had already helped Nie Tiankong's cause significantly by pure luck. Linghu Buxiu knew that Ye Qingyu's value in Nie Tiankong's eyes will only rise after tonight.

...

...

The next day.

At the break of dawn.

Everything had reverted back to normal at the inn when Ye Qingyu strode out of his new room.

The parts of the building that were damaged were all repaired before daybreak and those who were not in the know would not be able to tell what had happened last night from the building's exterior.

An even lesser known fact was that all the iron-clad guards that were stationed all around the inn last night had also completely vanished as though they had never appeared.

After Ye Qingyu finished his breakfast, the sound of Linghu Buxiu's laughter preceded him as he arrived at the inn and said, "Ha ha, I really admire how you're still so calm after what happened... Quick, follow me to the military headquarters. Your appointment has been finalized. Ha ha, congratulations, you've really secured yourself a good appointment this time."

Thirty minutes later.

Linghu Buxiu led Ye Qingyu to the military headquarters.

The architectural style of the military headquarters was largely similar to the rest of the buildings in the city, but it was much bigger in scale.

Linghu Buxiu waited outside the main entrance while Ye Qingyu was ushered into the main hall by another military officer.

He calmly emerged from the main hall after fifteen minutes.

Linghu Buxiu found his behavior odd and hurriedly asked, "What happened? Was there a change in your appointment?"

"Huh?" Ye Qingyu asked as he looked at him.

"Brother, your expression seemed a little grim. Was there a change in your appointment? Weren't you supposed to be appointed as the [Military Judge of the Nine Swords]?" Linghu Buxiu asked anxiously.

Ye Qingyu nodded and said, "Yes, Lord Nie Tiankong has appointed me to be the [Military Judge of the Nine Swords] of Royal City and had also given me the token of authority as well as the armor... Brother Linghu Buxiu, so you knew about my appointment before I did."

"Ah? Then, why are you still so calm? Don't... you know how powerful this position is? Wait, Commander Nie Tiankong should have already briefed you about it," Linghu Buxiu was bewildered by Ye Qingyu's calmness. He knew that whenever someone was appointed to a position, that person would have received a full briefing on what his position would entail.

Ye Qingyu had been appointed to be the [Military Judge of the Nine Swords].

This was the most powerful position in the military!

Although the military judge would not have command over troops, he would have the power to enforce law and order within the military and his responsibilities would be comparable to that of a judge. The nine swords represented the authority of the nine ancient Martial Emperors who founded the Guardians' Royal City and this gave him the power to kill noblemen and ordinary officials who broke the law. In fact, he would have the power to decide who ought to be killed and who could be spared, so this was a position that struck fear in everyone.

Linghu Buxiu had been utterly astonished when he heard about Ye Qingyu's appointment that morning and could barely hide his envy, so he couldn't understand how Ye Qingyu was so calm after receiving his appointment.

After all, this City Lord of Luoshen Ridge was also a minor nobleman governing a remote area and no matter how much faith Nie Tiankong had in him, Nie Tiankong could not single-handedly decide on his appointment, so it was almost impossible for him to be appointed to such a high-ranking position.

Later, he found out through the grapevine that this wasn't Nie Tiankong's idea, but a venerable elder who ranked even higher than Nie Tiankong in the military had made this surprising nomination and Nie Tiankong had merely gone along with the flow. This was how Ye Qingyu's appointment came about.

Damn it, Zhang Longcheng must have been blessed by his ancestors...

Linghu Buxiu couldn't figure out how Ye Qingyu had landed this position, but he could only accept it and vowed to be on even better terms with Ye Qingyu from now on. He hoped that he could wrangle a promotion or something through his association with Ye Qingyu.

He gave Ye Qingyu a friendly punch and said with a chuckle, "Ha ha, congratulations on your appointment. I'll treat you to dinner tonight to celebrate. I'll bring you out and also introduce you to my friends within the military. Everyone is dying to get to know you..."

"Thanks for the offer, Brother Linghu Buxiu," Ye Qingyu said.

He knew that Linghu Buxiu meant well and was hoping that he could assimilate well into the military organization as soon as possible.

He also planned to use this opportunity to observe the behavior of the regular troops of the Guardians' camp. He wanted to see if they were as corrupt and rotten to the core as the noblemen.

It would be even better if those men had news about the Fire Province.