The World Online

Chapter 1351 – Ten Year Agreement

In the blink of an eye, the 5th month arrived.

A month remained till the squadron arrived at the resource planet.

5th month, 4th day, Imperial Capital, emperor palace.

Summer had arrived, and it was all green within the Imperial Garden. Pleasant scents wafted everywhere. Occasionally, birds would chirp, deer would jump around, and carps would leap from the pond, creating a prosperous image.

Such an immersive atmosphere.

In the pavilion at a corner of the lake, the surrounding surveillance was heavy. The Great Xia imperial dynasty’s most respectable emperor, Ouyang Shuo, was currently laughing with a few officials, engaging in merry conversation.

Such a scene was rare.

On the outside, these officials were all pillars of the dynasty.

They were Nanjiang Governor-General Bai Hua, South Asia Governor-General Feng Qiuhuang, West Asia Governor-General Gong Chengshi, Africa Governor-General Mulan Yue, and America Governor-General Wufu.

These five people were the five Governor-Generals of the Empire’s border land. Their fame had spread far and wide. Moreover, they were once members of Shanhai Alliance and were close friends of the emperor.

The friendship between them had lasted for ten years already.

A week ago, the Imperial Court’s primary Grade 3 rank members, the six Governor-Generals, the Jiedushi, and the 22 Provincial Governors in China had received the decree to enter the imperial capital for a court assembly.

On the military’s side, the eight warzone commanders and three Fleet Admirals were all summoned.

At this juncture, everyone knew what was going to happen when his majesty summoned them all to the capital. Hence, everyone arranged their work and hurried back.

The civil servants and generals of the Empire gathered together.

Before the court assembly, Ouyang Shuo met some of officials alone, setting the foundations for the biggest revolution that was about to hit Great Xia.

The conversation with these five was the final and most crucial one.

During these few years, Ouyang Shuo was not the only one of them who had started a family. Wufu had married and had a son, and it was the same for Gong Chengshi. Along with their families, a powerful unit slowly formed around them.

They were new members to the noble circle of the Empire and could not be underestimated.

Once Ouyang Shuo left, the attitude of these five toward the Empire was really important. It would relate to the Empire’s ability to maintain its huge scale and even grow bigger.

If they did not cooperate, this matter would be hard to achieve.

Within the pavilion, Ouyang Shuo who was sitting at the lead position placed down his wine glass. Looking at his five friends, he said emotionally, "Time has passed so quickly. In the blink of an eye, ten years have passed."

Ten years had flashed by. All of them had lost their youths and grown old due to worldly matters.

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So many changes!

Bai Hua and the others nodded their heads emotionally, their faces showing signs of drunkenness. It seems like they were reminiscing the past 10 years and the many stories within.

Sour, sweet, bitter, and spicy; none of these flavors were lacking.

Apart from during special occasions or feasts, Ouyang Shuo rarely drank wine and basically only drank tea for the past few years. Today, he made an exception; he was planning to open up with the few of them.

Otherwise, he would not be at ease.

"Seeing the children grow up, I’ve also grown old." Ouyang Shuo smiled widely.

His words were not totally pretentious or probing. After all, in his eyes, Bing’er was a child he had raised. Seeing that he was about to help her to the throne, he felt incredibly emotional.

As for Yu’er and Luo’er, they were still five-years-old and were far from growing up.

When Wufu heard that, he smiled and said, "Your majesty is at your liveliest and strongest time." They were used to such words.

Even Bai Hua and the others did not think anything of that.

Time had still drawn an invisible line between them, defining their relationship.

Ouyang Shuo waved his hand and asked seemingly casually, "In the 6th month, I’ll lead a team to explore Planet Hope. What plans do you all have?"

Quiet.

Total silence.

At that moment, it was like the air had frozen, making it difficult for one to breathe.

Beneath the emperor’s calm voice was an irresistible strength. Even the five of them who possessed such high positions could not help but shiver as they tried to understand the deep meaning within those words.

This was a choice but more so a life or death question.

Many historical examples appeared like lightning in their brains.

Their suspicions were not surprising. Before the court assembly, there were rumors that the emperor was going to clean things to send the Chu Queen up to the throne.

Weren’t the five of them the biggest obstacles?

Some of them were unafraid like Bai Hua, who directly replied, "I also want to go." Her expression was confident, and her attitude was sincere. Obviously, these words came from her heart.

"Yes, we will follow your majesty."

Gong Chengshi and the other expressed. They were afraid that Ouyang Shuo would misunderstand.

Ouyang Shuo smiled but his face revealed nothing as he said, "Forget it, all of you just stay in the game world and help me defend Great Xia. Planet Hope matters temporarily do not need you."

When they heard that, some of them sighed in relief but others were unhappy.

"I insist on going." said Bai Hua with a stubborn expression.

Warmth appeared in Ouyang Shuo’s eyes as he said patiently, "For this trip to Planet Hope, I cannot bring too many people. Compared to Planet Hope, the game world needs you all more."

They could not make too much noise when they built the frontline base.

Unbeknownst to outsiders, the satellites in space had tracked the fire dragon and the titan after Hope City’s destruction.

Their conclusion was that these top beasts would not easily attack. If it were not Hope City developing to a scale that threatened their survival, it would not face such a catastrophe.

Developing quietly was the basic strategy that Ouyang Shuo had decided upon.

Of course, the threat would always be there. No matter how low-profile they were, they could not hide from this danger.

What they had to face would come eventually.

"I can only be at ease with all of you here. You all can be considered Bing’er’s brothers and sisters. Assist her, for only then can she gain a stable footing."

"Thank you, your majesty, for your trust!" Wufu and the others expressed.

Only Bai Hua’s expression remained stubborn.

When Ouyang Shuo saw that, he sighed and said, "How about this? Let’s decide on a deadline."

"Ten years."

"We used ten years to build a super empire. I hope that all of you can help support her for 10 years, running the five Governor-General regions well to merge perfectly with the core region as one."

"When we do not need to have Governor-General regions, it will be the day that all of you come to Planet Hope to help me on it."

"How about that?"

Bai Hua and the others exchanged glances before solemnly nodding their heads.

Ten years.

A whole new beginning.

Unbeknownst to them, this ten year promise would become the cornerstone for Great Xia’s prosperity and would help them to fight against storm after storm.

A historian called Tang Pei wrote in the records of Xia, "The ten year promise from the emperor was even more powerful than using wine to remove military generals from power, founding a whole new merit execution model."

A whole new chapter in the Empire’s history began at this point.

...

Next day, emperor palace, main hall.

Just as the sky turned bright, all the officials invited woke up early, changing before solemnly attending the heaven worshipping ceremony.

On the square, the officials were standing in groups of twos and threes and talking to one another, waiting for the palace doors to open.

"Tingyu, over here."

Cabinet Grand Secretary Jiang Shang called over Administration deputy minister and Official Ruling Department director Zhang Tingyu to his side to talk.

Such a scene was really eye-catching.

The Imperial Court official field paid a lot of attention to rank. Officials that were different in rank rarely hung out in the same circle. For example, although the officials seemed to be standing in unorderly positions, there were actually orders.

Apart from the separation between the civil servants and the generals, on the civil servant side, the six elders were together, and the others officials also had their own groups. The six Governor-Generals were together, and the Provincial Governors were together.

There were also Imperial Court officials standing with their familiar Provincial Governors as their ranks were similar.

Basically, no one would jump out of this structure.

Zhang Tingyu was a secondary Grade 2 official. Hence, Jiang Shang calling him over had much meaning. All of a sudden, many eyes turned toward their direction.

They looked like they were casually talking, but the corner of their eyes were focusing on the pair.

After all, at such a special place, any unusual thing could hold a deep message.

As important officials of the Empire, they obviously would not do nothing.

A flash of worry even appeared in the eyes of some of the officials; they had a few guesses.

They also thought back to his other position apart from being the deputy minister of administration. He was also the Chu Queen’s imperial tutor. Since her taking over was confirmed, his status would naturally rise given his identity as her tutor.

Being promoted was natural.

Thinking about this, some of the officials were envious and regretted being unable to obtain such a position. Speaking of which, who would have expected the young princess to jump up to become the successor of the Empire?

Although they became the focus, Zhang Tingyu was really calm and did not show any unusual points. He respectfully walked over to greet the various elders.

In history, Zhang Tingyu was also a part of the Cabinet. Naturally, he would not be afraid of the occasion.

Just as things were heating up, the palace gates opened.

The officials stopped chatting. Following the order of civil servants on the left and generals on the right, they orderly entered the main hall for the court assembly.

"His majesty arrives!"

Another half an hour had passed. Only then did Ouyang Shuo slowly walk in. His head was adorned with his crown, and he wore dragon robes. He stood in front of the throne.

Chu Queen Bing’er’s followed behind him, expressionless. Only the fists hidden in her long sleeves revealed her nervousness.

Ouyang Bing was clear what this court assembly meant to her.

After entering the main hall, Ouyang Bing stood at the side of the civil servants. Her position was even in front of Jiang Shang.

This was not going against the system.

Although Jiang Shang was a primary Grade 1 Grand Secretary, Ouyang Bing was the Chu Queen and also primary Grade 1. Furthermore, she was the princess of the royal family, so her status was naturally higher than Jiang Shang’s.