Protect Our Chief

"Damn it, damn it ~ phew!"

Prince Dexin finally couldn’t hold back, and spat out a mouthful of blood, nearly fainting.

From beginning to end, not only was he thoroughly calculated against by Wang Shouzhe, but even his trusted subordinates had secretly defected to Wang Shouzhe.

How can one possibly not lose in such a situation? Not losing would be truly miraculous.

"Alas~~" Xiao Limo sighed deeply, "Patriarch Shouzhe’s strategies are profound and complemented by versatility. He understands human nature well, thus Dexin’s defeat is not undeserved."

"Shouzhe has studied the Grand Marshal’s military tactics, which inspired admiration in him. It’s just a pity..." Wang Shouzhe said regretfully, "One wrong step leads to another, and the entire game is lost. It’s truly heartbreaking."

"It’s not heartbreaking; reaching this point is all due to my shortcomings, so I can’t blame anyone else." Xiao Limo shook his head and said, "It’s my lack of courage to face reality and my narrow-minded selfishness, unwilling to let the military Xiao Family be shamed because of me. That’s why I willingly fell under Dexin’s coercion."

"I can’t manage Grand Marshal Xiao’s affairs; let Your Majesty worry about it." Wang Shouzhe shook his head.

"Hmph!" Emperor Longchang glared at Wang Shouzhe, "You’re good at scheming, but might not be cautious enough? Aren’t you afraid the Personal Guard Camp will rebel along with Xiao Limo? Why didn’t you tell me the reason earlier? Thankfully, I followed along and turned the situation around at a critical moment."

"Your Majesty, you should have confidence in yourself. During your reign, the military families you built have high honor and loyalty." Wang Shouzhe calmly said, "These hundreds of Grand Marshal’s guards have ties to dozens, even hundreds of military families. Once they understand the reasons thoroughly, how many would give up their family’s honor and loyalty to follow a traitor?"

"We are loyal to the Great Emperor and have no intentions against Daqian. Please believe us, Your Majesty." The soldiers of the Grand Marshal’s Guard Camp urgently stated in unison, "We were just misled by Xiao Limo."

Seeing this, Emperor Longchang’s mood finally improved slightly. At least the army’s loyalty remained, not wasted after his management for thousands of years.

He waved his hand: "Although you were misled by Xiao Limo, you hesitated when Emperor’s Son An gave the order. You can be spared from death but not from punishment. After this, you’ll serve in the Cannon Fodder Camp for three years to atone!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your graciousness."

The soldiers of the Personal Guard Camp replied in unison.

This punishment isn’t severe, but the Cannon Fodder Camp is extremely dangerous, and there’s a risk of dying regardless of the short duration.

"Your Majesty." Wang Shouzhe, seeing this, felt a slight movement in his heart and advised from the side, "The Dara Canal development plan is entering the final breakthrough stage, with many mountain paths and rocky terrains that are difficult to open. Why not send them to toil and dig the canal... It would expedite the connection of the Grand Canal and generate economic effects."

Having Celestial Human Realm cultivators as laborers is already a luxury, akin to human excavators. Moreover, there are three Purple Mansion Realm Personal Guard Commanders here, whose efficiency in opening mountains and digging earth would be comparable to human Godzillas.

However, upon Wang Shouzhe’s suggestion, the soldiers of the Personal Guard Camp glared at him angrily.

They are top-level personal guards, with future career paths aiming at middle and upper management in the military. Fighting demons in the Outer Domain is their duty, and sacrificing for it is an honor. But to toil in digging mountains and earth... This is an insult!

"These are the elite troops painstakingly cultivated by me." Emperor Longchang was also annoyed, "And you want them to do manual labor."

"Since it’s a punishment anyway, speeding up the connection of the Grand Canal can make Daqian’s economy more prosperous." Wang Shouzhe argued rationally, "With more money, we can train more powerful armies. We’ve been poor in Daqian for too long; we need to seize the time to develop."

Always talking about the economy, Wang Shouzhe, aren’t you implying that I, Longchang, only know how to spend money but not how to make it? Truly infuriating!

However, Wang Shouzhe’s words hold some truth.

Longchang impatiently frowned: "Fine, we’ll do as you say. The Personal Guard Camp will be dispatched to dig the canal under Wang Zong’an’s command and work for ten years to atone for their sins."

"Yes, Your Majesty." The soldiers of the Personal Guard Camp, despite being full of resentment toward Wang Shouzhe, did not dare to disobey the emperor’s orders.

"Are you satisfied now? If there’s anything else, quickly speak." Emperor Longchang was extremely displeased today, nearly angered to death, and yet Wang Shouzhe was still controlling the situation.

This time, he shouldn’t have come to the Southern Border for some fun! The most important thing is that in Wang Shouzhe’s plan, there wasn’t a place for this ’king bomb.’

"With Your Majesty at the Southern Border for the joint development plan, we might as well hold a ceremony to sign the contract between the old and new generations for more solemnity." Wang Shouzhe said, calling out, "Luojing, please invite Saintess Dai to join us."

"Yes, fourth brother." Wang Luojing responded and swiftly left.

Shortly after.

Saintess Dai and Wang Luojing gathered at the scene.

Upon seeing the Great Emperor, Saintess Dai respectfully saluted and stood by formally.

"Thanks to Your Highness Saintess for supporting Shouzhe’s plan this time." Wang Shouzhe said with a bow, "The previous agreement you and Emperor’s Son An drafted for allegiance to Daqian, if there are no objections, we can sign it now, since Your Majesty is here..."

Emperor Longchang once again internally rolled his eyes.

What does ’since you’re already here’ mean? You’re just making the most of this opportunity, aren’t you?