With Qian Feng's shout, those soldiers all seemed to become hesitant.
He was someone with a great background, so was it really good to seize him? If they seized him now, wouldn't he just be released later?
Qian Wu Yong, His Majesty's old friend and the empire's outstanding minister, could his brother[1.ED/N: On a side note, it may not necessarily be direct blood brother… could also be a cousin. The author used a term that doesn't make much sense in English.] be touched?
"To hell with Qian Wu Yong!" Zhu Long Xin was even more arrogant. "My sister is Zhu Xuan Er, the future queen of Great Ling Empire. Seize this guy for this young master and lock him in the imperial prison for a few months!"
Hu Niu was instantly infuriated—she was Ling Han's queen!
Ling Han didn't bat an eyelid. He quite wanted to see how these soldiers would handle it—a microcosm of Great Ling Empire.
"Two Young Masters, don't cause a disturbance here, it's bad influence. Follow us to the imperial guard headquarters. We still need to go through the motions, after all," an officer said, sounding very courteous.
Although the two people's identities weren't verified, it was the imperial capital, and how many people dared to cause a disturbance and recklessly give themselves an identity—especially an honorable identity? Their identities would definitely be checked and verified, and things obviously wouldn't end well for impersonators.
Thus, the officer was very careful.
Zhu Long Xin and Qian Feng, however, weren't willing to let the matter drop, and wanted the military official to seize the other person.
Spoiled young men fighting over a woman's favor also had to abide by the rules. It would be the end whenever one had the upper hand, and they normally wouldn't put the other party to death. After all, if all the spoiled young men were dead, who would see their show of authority?
Ling Han shook his head. The territory was expanding rapidly, but the entire country's caliber couldn't keep up. It was no wonder, as he only spoke of two articles, one of which was expansion, and the second was appease the citizen's hearts. He didn't say to rule the country by high standards.
He stood up, and said, "Seize them both, escort them to the east gate, and flog them a hundred times!"
"Pah, who the hell are you to talk of beating us? Do you know who my brother is?" Qian Feng shouted harshly. He was truly furious; even these soldiers treated him with respect, so who did he think he was?
"Brother, Brother-in-law!" Zhu Long Xin shouted in a pleasant surprise.
"Your Majesty!" The soldiers all knelt down one after another.
Y-Your Majesty?
Qiang Feng was struck dumb. This was Great Ling Empire's sovereign and the mightiest figure of north region nowadays, and he actually dared to snap at the other party? Beyond everything, Rain Country's families were nothing after coming out of the Fallen Moon Gorge, and their glory now was all thanks to Ling Han—he sure plucked up some courage.
Ling Han waved his hand, and said, "Drag them away for a flogging!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Those soldiers instantly became as fierce as tigers and wolves, for it was the reigning emperor's decree.
"Brother-in-law, Brother-in-law, why beat me too… Sister, Sister!" Zhu Long Xin saw Zhu Xuan Er and shouted in a hurry, obviously hoping his sister could appeal for mercy in his stead.
However, Zhu Xuan Er only shook her head at him and didn't speak at all.
Well, the two spoiled young men were both dragged away—how unfortunate for them to have bumped into the muzzle?
However, if it weren't for the chance encounter here, he really wouldn't have known that Zhu Long Xin already came here. It was quite funny thinking about it; Zhu Long Xin really had foresight when he called him brother-in-law.
Returning to the imperial palace, Ling Han immediately set about the problem of strengthening the law and jurisdiction.
In reality, authority inevitably came with privileges, or why else would people revere authority? Ling Han didn't think to make every family clear like water; instead, there had to be a bottom line that mustn't be broken.
Fighting and quarreling over a woman were small things, which he didn't need to be so strict about, but coercing women into prostitution, dominating someone's wife, and seizing property… such dirty dealings definitely needed to be eradicated.
Punishing Zhu Long Xin and Qian Feng in public today, he made them an example to others. Just as he had conceived the thought, these two guys bumped right into him.
Although the two of them were each whipped one hundred times, Qian Family's head entered the imperial palace and requested to meet at night, kneeling in penitence before Ling Han and pleading in a tearful voice as if a enormous sin had been committed.
Ling Han's tone was slightly stern, and he warned him to properly control the people of his family, drawing a bottom line for him. If this bottom line was crossed, he wouldn't care about friendship, and whoever needed to be killed would be killed.
The head of the Qian Family obeyed in fear. He was only in the Spiritual Pedestal Tier, terrified just standing in front of Ling Han, so why would he dare to infuriate Ling Han? Besides, Qian Family was currently a hundred times more imposing than back in the Rain Country, so why would he wish to be struck back into the original condition?
The second day, Zhu Long Xin covered his butt and also went to see Ling Han.
Earlier, since Zhu Xuan Er left the imperial city with Ling Han, not many people believed him although he kept saying he was Zhu Xuan Er's younger brother. Of course, not many people did anything to him, for what if it were true?
Thus, his days passed by neither good nor bad. Now that his brother-in-law finally returned, he was obviously going to be pettishly charming, and at best the title of some sort of king would be conferred to him. Then, he'd be awe-inspiring and beat anyone who was an eyesore.
"Brother-in-law, I missed you so much!" he shouted right when they met and dove in front of Ling Han, tightly hugging his legs.
"Hm, Ling Han, Uncle Rabbit didn't know you had such a grown son!" Uncle Rabbit teased.
"B-Brother-in-law, are my eyes blurred, or is a rabbit talking?" Zhu Long Xin instantly forgot to fawn over Ling Han and stared blankly at the rabbit with surprise all over his face.
"What's so amazing about Uncle Rabbit talking? Back in the day, Uncle Rabbit was unmatched in the world with unparalleled divine might, and who wasn't convinced?" the rabbit boasted.
Zhu Long Xin didn't know better, still shocked by a rabbit that could talk, and he instantly held the rabbit in extreme reverence and began to lick its boots.
Why, the rabbit really liked it and was very pleased, feeling that Zhu Long Xin looked more and more pleasing to the eye.
In a mere two month's time, the north region was completely unified, and came under the jurisdiction of the Great Ling Empire.
It was obviously because north region's martial arts level was too low; the strength of Deity Transformation Tier could make a clean sweep, and with Ling Han's identity as a Heaven Grade alchemist, the resistance disintegrated after the Half Moon Sect and the other five great forces surrendered.
In the following three regions, the west region's martial arts level was the lowest, but there were also Deity Transformation Tier elites keeping watch. East region and north region both had Heaven Tier elites, and wouldn't be easy to seize.
After north region was unified, Ling Han wasn't in a rush to march westward, and instead began to manage the army, picking out martial artists above the Spiritual Ocean Tier to develop a high-end battle power with the methods of the Purple Moon Empire.
After all, the other three regions' martial arts level was high. Relying on normal soldiers would simply be a joke, for elites could kill a whole field of them just by waving a hand, and all of Great Ling Empire's property would have to be spent on paying compensation.
Ling Han didn't lack high-level mystic arts—he obviously could imitate the Purple Moon Empire—which were also the most enticing for martial artists.
In the north region, Spiritual Ocean Tier warriors could surely be called experts, and, originally, these people disdained to join the army. But now, each one of them strived to enlist as if in fear that the mystic arts would seized by others if they fell behind.
Moreover, Ling Han also had the Black Tower to provide medicinal ingredients, and was even a Heaven Grade alchemist. The Alchemist Society also served him, and adding medicinal pills as part of the rewards also had a positive effect—the circumstances were gratifying.
On this day, Ling Han was in the royal court, discussing with all the ministers about the expedition to the west region, when an elite barged into the palace with a disdainful look.
"Who's the one that can make decisions here?" the person said loftily.