Chapter 402 Imperial Edict
The next day, thunderous news have resounded throughout the continent, even?reaching the influential people on the other two.
The Throne of the Azure Eagle Empire issued an Imperial Edict, a first one in the span of the last 400 years. It asserted the interests of the Empire in the stability of the region and proclaimed three demands to the four Kingdoms closest to their borders.
The first one was of the immediate ceasefire of the Tuamei-Gutian borders and a subsequent withdrawal of the Tuamei Kingdom troops from the conflict zone.
The second one was the release of the former King of the Fantian Kingdom to the care of the Feng House, citing suspicions of foul play in the Royal House of Fantian and brewing unrest. It was also stated that the Empire will be closely monitoring the proceedings after the change of custody, recognizing the former King's legacy-authority as legitimate claim over the country's rule.
The third and final one was to the Tingren Kingdom, recognizing Princess Cai Yin as the official opposition to the ruling Royal Faction, and prohibiting the suppression of her political authority by military force.
The sudden and seemingly unprovoked statement caused an uproar among those who knew the history of the three empires, who rarely cared for the small squabbles of the Kingdoms around them with the exception of the Cloud Piercing Empire which started to lose its dominance.
But what surprised people the most, was that the demands to the Fantian and Tingren Kingdoms were over their internal affairs that were quite specific and invasive.
The reason the news also produced a big reaction was that the Azure Eagle Empire has mobilized their Imperial Army's 2nd and 3rd legions near its borders in a clear display of its intentions to exert pressure. And the ambassadors of the Empire in each country were appointed as official Imperial inspectors in regard to the demands, with power of oversight and even right of intervention using local embassy guards, effective immediately.
The attention of the political elites immediately turned to the four Kingdoms which were given the ultimatum as all intelligence networks beginning to flood the world with more detailed information while the common masses were buzzing all over the continent with stories and wild theories with "shocking revelations" appearing every five minutes from various dubious sources.
It was quite clear from the strong language of the statement from the Empire, as well as its posture that failure to meet its demands would result in direct military intervention, and speculations began circulating the high societies of the three continents about the possible actions of the countries and consequences of this entire situation.
It was both an unprecedented act and at the same time a risky move on the part of the Empire. Since failure to intimidate the Kingdoms here would signal the decline of the Imperial Authority which would result in loss of face and potential unrest.
It would also mark the potential downfall of the second of the tree Empires from the position of former glory, leaving only the Wood Spirit Empire standing the test of time.
The Thousand Eye Information Bureau soon sold information that revealed that Crown Prince Song Minfu who was recently absent from the political stage of the Empire has petitioned the Emperor with a detailed report about the situation in the four Kingdoms, underlining the dangers of such political turmoil on the continent along with the moral and ethical degradation of the two Southern Kingdoms of Jurong and Liugwei, in time the power in the Empire was not far from the process of succession.
His opposition was surprisingly of the faction that did not usually weigh in on the foreign policy of the Empire, the pure bloodline faction of the Song House.
But their arguments with no basis on the effect of the policy and purely from the standpoint of the 'dignity of the dynasty' and 'superiority over mundane affairs' failed to sway the Emperor after the urgency of the Crown Princes demands.
In a small town of Tingren Kingdom that was located not far from the Royal Winter Villa, some distance from the capital, a local warehouse of Golden Ox Trading Company that was established not long ago was full of people who assembled in the country over the past weeks.
They all wore plain gray robes under loose travel coats with no identifications, hiding their faces under bamboo hats, and their cultivation bases were quite high for people stationed in such a seemingly insignificant place.
There were three Foundation Building Realm experts among them who sat in the center while the several dozen of Revolving Qi Realm and nearly 300 Qi Manifestation Realm practitioners were in positions around them, with new ones arriving each hour or two.
These people were on standby for quite some time already, and the tension naturally had to loosened up, but they were instead assembling in the warehouse from various nearby locations, visibly agitated and on guard.
"What's the word?"
One of the men in the Foundation Building Realm asked in a displeased tone from another one of the three, who seemingly just arrived not long ago.
"The Royal Family is in disarray, and there are yet any orders from higher ups except to stand by, they have also been blindsided"
"In disarray? What the fuck that does even mean?! Are they going to move or not? It's them being wishy-washy in the first place that dragged this shit out for this long. If I was in charge here, I woulda cut that bitches head off a year ago already!"
"Which is why you're never in charge"
"Huh?!?! Did ya fart something?"
The third mercenary mumbled as the first one who was constantly moving his jaws in a chewing motion that put his chin out stopped and looked at him with menacing eyes.
"..."
"...I thought so"
He then nodded with a satisfied 'heh' when the latter didn't respond, continuing to stare at him with a sharp gaze.
"Easy there bud, don't make a scene. As for you, I know you've never gotten along but snarky comments is not the way.
Anyway they can't move carelessly either. If before it was a complex political problem, now it is a cluster-fuck with the Imperial pressure added on.
So I wouldn't expect anything from the Royals of this country. Not unless the Empire rescinds their decree anyway. And, haha, good luck waiting for that"
The second mercenary who just arrived with the news made a pacifying gesture as the first one folded his hands with a light "hmph" and resumed chewing something as he stopped staring down the silent man and looked back at the one with the news. The third mercenary simply turned his head to look in the other direction without responding.
"What about those Thousand Eyes bastards?"
"Hmm, not much info from them except for the source of that decision, which is that Crown Prince, but that's information they sold everyone and their mothers. Not an exclusive.
They have been behaving strangely as well, as their hidden headquarters, the brothel in Jurong, has closed down just days ago and a bunch of their shops all over the continent closed down since"
"Huh? That's suspicious as hell! Why aren't we over there cutting off their heads already then?"
"It's always so simple with you. Where would you look for them? Did you think they just sit over there and wait for us? Or did you think they don't have any brains to cover their tracks?
Besides their Bureau Head is someone we can't touch apparently, not yet anyway. And even if we could, it would be the Big Guys from the very very top"
"Okay then. What about the Princess? Or are we supposed to just sit our asses down and wait while our target becomes untouchable? Aren't we supposed to strike now before it's too late?"
"That's something Senior Gwi is figuring out. He's the executive in charge of the Tingren Branch and therefore this operation"
The third one raised his voice again this time in a noticeably neutral tone.
"And who did he came from, Genius?"
The first one pointed at the mercenary with the news about the situation.
"Knock it off, both of you. Besides he's partially right. Senior Gwi was the one who contacted them, not me.
And if you ask what they are thinking? Beats me, I'm not the higher-ups. Who knows what they're worried about? They only said they are going to dispatch someone to oversee and make decisions, so we have to wait"
"Wait, wait, wait... That's all we've been doing for 2 months already! I'm tired of waiting. Can't they simply tell us what to do? It would be better if we just do the deed and fuck off back to the camp"
"There are still Song Dynasty Secret Imperial Guards all over this place, so we would clash with them if we move, which we have been avoiding all this time, remember? We would have done as you say long ago if it wasn't for that. Or did you think we were hesitating because it's morally wrong?
And the situation is even more complex now, so they need someone with authority to come and see, and make a decision"
"Who are we waiting for then? Another executive? What's the point of adding another one?"
"I doubt it, they already have Senior Gwi on the ground. So they are probably sending someone even higher. Besides, despite how it looks this position seems quite important, so we might even have a Big Guy from beyond management come over"
"..."
The rowdy one only grunted, but didn't say anything back this time, only aggressively repeating the chewing motion.
"Do you think one of the Big Guys will really come? They have the mess in the Imperial Capital to deal with. Do you think they care that much about this place when the Song Dynasty suddenly became active? They're probably busy figuring out what dogs bit the Crown Prince and the Emperor"
The third one expressed his doubt.
"As I said, the rumors say this Princess is on a high priority, so when the situation is this complex it would make sense to send someone important even if they have other stuff to worry about. Senior Gwi also hinted at the possibility so I am only mentioning it because he did.
Perhaps now even more than before we need someone who can take responsibility for the situation and make a tough call. So we should be ready for action at any moment.
Anyway, all of that's way above our pay-grade so let's just wait for our orders and move when we get them. Let the bigwigs deal with what's happening in the Imperial Capital"
"Damn, what's the use of that bitch who became the new executive in charge of the capital? After Senior Bei had a mental breakdown and disappeared the Empire Branch's management is a fucking mess! Ptfu!"
The first man who asked all the questions spat out chewing tobacco on the floor to the side in frustration after finishing his speech as he found a new target to be irritated at.
The second mercenary narrowed his eyes at the messy and murky green goo on the floor, his expression becoming a little dissatisfied.
"Well, it's not strange his nerves gave in, given that he met that notorious Troublemaker.
He had us running around like headless chicken last year when he went on a rampage in almost all of the Six Kingdoms and the Empire, killing a bunch of our higher-level mercenaries and a shit-ton of low-level ones."
The most passive of the three high-ranking mercenaries raised his voice again, this time with a tinge of fear creeping into his tone.
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