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Chapter 417: Chapter 263 He is Already a Grandmaster_1

Although the court officials had been focusing their attention on the military affairs in the South recently, they were still aware of some news about the North Country.

In particular, the news of North Country's troop review alarmed officials, realizing that the North Country had grown beyond control with the appearance of its two hundred thousand-strong army.

However, with the Southern rebels yet to be eliminated, they lacked the energy to pay attention to what was happening in the North Country.

Before the Southern rebels were put down, going after the North Country could very likely lead to being caught between two fronts. Therefore, the court officials had a very clear stance on the North Country: they chose to ignore it, pretending it did not exist.

Furthermore, upon hearing that forty thousand of Tianqi King's troops had marched eastward, they believed that a battle between the North Country and Tianqi King was inevitable and that the Tianqi King's formidable presence would inevitably weaken North Country's strength.

But, on reflection, though they wished Tianqi King to further weaken the North Country, they were not willing to see it collapse completely at the hands of Tianqi King.

Now that their focus was on the South, if the North Country were to fall to Tianqi King, it would become another problem for Great Xia—a formidable enemy, given Tianqi King was a Grandmaster, and his tribe had branched out from a former Barbarian Tribe kingdom, with each of his barbarian soldiers being exceptionally strong.

If the North Country were to be conquered by Tianqi King's army, it would be akin to a sharp sword hanging over Great Xia's head, extremely unfavorable for the empire.

Just when all the court officials were speculating that something had happened to the North Country, the Red Ribbon Messenger loudly announced, "Victory in the North Country!!!

The North Prince led a two hundred thousand-strong army and achieved a great victory in Ningbei City, slaying three hundred twenty thousand barbarians, capturing eighty thousand barbarian soldiers, and even slaying Tianqi King at the hands of one of our Generals!"

Upon hearing these words, the great hall fell even quieter, and some officials couldn't help but gasp in shock.

They had just assumed that it was the North Country that had fallen to Tianqi King, but the outcome turned out to be the North Country defeating Tianqi King's four hundred thousand-strong army and even killing the Grandmaster Tianqi King.

This...

How is this possible...

How did North Country achieve this?

To their knowledge, North Country's Grandmaster Zhuge Zhongguang had always been in Yan County and had not gone to Ningbei City.

To kill a Grandmaster, the North Country would need a Grandmaster of its own. If Zhuge Zhongguang had not gone to the battlefield, did that not hint at another hidden Grandmaster in the North Country?

Two Grandmasters in a mere feudal state?

Can it still be considered just a feudal state?

Even the Great Xia imperial family had only one publicly known Grandmaster—the State Preceptor Situ Ce. Yet North Country had two, which made it hard to believe that North Country had no intention of rebelling, didn't it?

This led those who previously thought the North Prince was but a pawn of the Sum Emperor to doubt: could the North Prince truly be the Sum Emperor's pawn? Did the Emperor need to place two Grandmasters next to a mere pawn?

When a pawn has the power to leap out of the chessboard, is it still a pawn?

At this moment, the court was filled with a grave atmosphere, as if they could already feel the imperial pressure exuding from the Sum Emperor. The officials did not even dare to breathe too heavily.

It took a long while before the eunuch beside the Sum Emperor snapped out of it. He quickly approached the Red Ribbon Messenger, took the battle report from their hands, and then shakily returned to the Sum Emperor, presenting the report with both hands.

The Sum Emperor then took the report, glanced over its content, and remained silent for a long time.

When he first heard about Tianqi King's eastward advance, he too thought that the North Country was inevitably facing a great crisis. Even if the North Country could withstand Tianqi King's onslaught, its might would be significantly weakened.

Yet now, the battle report told him that North Country not only had triumphed over Tianqi King's four hundred thousand troops but had also killed Tianqi King, the Grandmaster.

Had North Country's power grown so strong in such a short period?

The key was, according to intelligence from the Shadow Guard, Zhuge Zhongguang had not gone to the battlefield. This meant that North Country had at least another Grandmaster. Initially, he thought Zhuge Zhongguang was the person backing Lu Chen, but now it seemed Zhuge might truly not be the mastermind behind the changes in North Country.

As he looked at the content of the battle report, the Sum Emperor's face darkened, growing very displeased.

As North Country was a vassal of Great Xia, the Sum Emperor, as the Great Xia Emperor, should be pleased with its victory. However, when a vassal state grows too powerful, it poses a serious threat to the court and even to his position as the Emperor.

It appeared that North Country was verging on being out of control, and evidently, the Great Xia court could no longer rein it in. Measures must be taken to address the situation in North Country.

After an indeterminate period of time, the Sum Emperor finally spoke coldly, "My loyal subjects, the North Prince has shown great bravery in battle and achieved such glory. How do you think I should reward him?"

Hearing the Sum Emperor's icy tone, not a single official in the great hall dared to speak.

Clearly, the Sum Emperor was very displeased with the outcome. A Seignior with such formidable military might was a huge threat to the court.

At that moment, Right Minister Zhao Wenhan stood up and said, "Your Majesty, although the North Prince has earned immense military merits, he has violated the decree limiting military forces, expanding his troops to two hundred thousand without authorization. Such unauthorized expansion is a grave offense.

However, considering that this army marched north and protected Great Xia from the invasion of foreign enemies, I believe his merits offset his offenses, so there is no need to reward the North Prince further."