Chapter 250
Xiao Yu was relieved when he saw that the man who had appeared in the room was Ao Du, Touba Hongâs master.
âMaster.â Touba Hong knelt down as he burst into tears.
Normally, men such as Touba Hong wouldnât cry so easily but the moment he saw his only relative Ao Do he couldnât help but release all the emotions that he had kept inside himself.
Ao Du came forward and touched Touba Hongâs head: âYou have grown up. You are not a child anymore but the emperor of the Western Cloud Empire. You must be strong, donât show this side of yours to outsiders.â There was affection reflected in the eyes of Ao Du but at the moment he was reminding Touba Hong about his duties. Touba Hong wiped away the tears and stood up.
âItâs good that you havenât gone blindly back to the Imperial Capital. Iâm afraid you wouldnât be able to survive if you had done so.â Ao Du added. He believed that these qualities shown by Touba Hong made him qualified for the throne.
The emperor couldnât be an emotional person. He had to take out the personal feelings and consider the most important issues of the situation. Touba Hong didnât go back to save Touba Ye but went away to gather an army and establish a base when he heard the news of rebellion. This illustrated that Touba Hong was a calm person.
Touba Hongâs face flushed when he heard Ao Duâs words: âThe reason why acted so was because of Xiao Yuâs support. Otherwise, I would have failed.â
Ao Duâs eyebrows wrinkled up when he heard Touba Hongâs words: âAre you the lord of the Lion territory? The Xiao Yu?â
Xiao Yu was a bit surprised when he heard Ao Du say out his name. He laughed: âMaster is aware of my name?â
Ao Du seized Xiao Yu up and down for a moment: âYou have gathered orcs, elves and other races around yourself in such a short time and have settled the chaos that ruled the region⊠I wouldnât be me if I wasnât aware of your existence.â
Xiao Yu slightly bowed: âMaster is overpraising my accomplishments.â
Ao Duâs eyes lit upt: âI assume you havenât come to Western Cloud Empire to help out Touba Hong.â
Xiao Yu laughed: âOf course not⊠After unification of the territory I came over to Western Cloud Empire to get information⊠I didnât expect to face such a situation over here.. I have become friends with Touba Hong and I saw that he was facing hard time.. As a man of honor I couldnât help but act.â
Ao Du continued: âYou arenât helping Hongâer but yourself⊠You must know that Lion territory was the next after the throne. You are helping Touba Hong as you donât want to face the entire Western Cloud Empire on your own.â
âYou never get tired when you chat with wise men⊠Master Ao Du is a real master. I fact, I think like you too.. Anyway, we are allies now so I assume Master Ao Du wouldnât refuse my assistance.â Xiao Yu smiled.
Xiao Yu was clear that both Touba Hong and Ao Du would need his support. Otherwise, they wouldnât be able to suppress Touba Guiâs attacks. Touba Gui have planned the rebellion for years and most probably have focused on controlling army. The vast majority of Western Cloud Empireâs army was already under Touba Guiâs hands. Now, Touba Hong needed strong army to stabilize the situation and establish troops that could compete with Touba Gui.
Ao Du smiled as he looked at Xiao Yu: âOf course, we wonât refuse⊠Why would we refuse the help of such a powerful ally? But what are the conditions for that help?â
Xiao Yu clapped his hands the moment he heard Ao Duâs words: âFor the last few days I have been discussing with Touba Hong about the situation but we didnât have a chance to talk about the conditions.. Since the topic has come up then letâs talk about it.â
Touba Hong was shaken up a bit when he heard Xiao Yuâs words. He carefully listened to both of them as he knew that the interests of the Western Cloud Empire were on table.
Ao Du noddedt: âItâs better to talk about it earlier than laterâŠâ
Xiao Yu nodded and pondered for a moment: âYou may not now it but Iâm a man of love and peace. I just want to be lord of my territory⊠Drink wine, play with my dragon and play around with girls.. However, others attack me even though I donât have such an aim. So Iâm helpless as I have to protect myself too. To tell the truth I donât have any ambitions about Western Cloud Empire.. The Sky Lion Dynasty is already a big empire and I have enough headache.. I donât have spare energy to waste by interfering with Western Cloud Empire. But it seems the Western Cloud Empire still has the idea of invading and conquering Sky Lion Dynasty⊠Lion territory is a buffer zone between both empires and have been land without an owner for long time.. Now, itâs my territory. I wonât attack others but I will hold my own territory.. Otherwise, I wonât be able to face my ancestors in the world to come. My condition is that after Touba Hong becomes the emperor of the Western Cloud Empire then he will announce that he recognizes me as the lord of the Lion territory.. The people of the Western Cloud Empire wouldnât enter freely and after the problem is settled I will establish a city on the border which would officially be the boundary between two empires. Afterwards, I will work on peaceful coexistence.â
Touba Hong and Ao Du looked at each other as Xiao Yu spoke. Actually, they believed that Xiao Yuâs request wasnât too much. Lion territory was given to Xiao Yuâs father by the Sky Lion Dynasty. However, the place was a sovereign land. It meant that Western Cloud Empire had a say in the matter too. Bandit groups and other people had been living in this place for a long time. Both empires had sent troops to exterminate them but no one was successful until now. The place was humongous and it was close to Ankagen Mountains. It was barren land and a suitable place as a buffer zone.
Nevertheless, Western Cloud Empire had to consider pros and cons of giving the jurisdiction of this territory to Xiao Yu. Western Cloud Empire never thought about this buffer zone as part of Sky Lion Dynasty let alone Lion territory. Now, Xiao Yu wanted to get all the buffer zone to himself. Touba Hongâs approval meant that he would be betraying territorial integrity of the Western Cloud Empire. It was a sin to think that he would give up such a big mass of land.
Of course, the ownership of this piece of land was ambiguous. There was nothing wrong with Touba Hong agreeing to Xiao Yuâs proposal.
âYour appetite is quite big.â Ao Du spoke up. It seemed that Ao Du was somewhat angry about Xiao Yuâs request.
Xiao Yu smiled: âItâs not that big of a request. Western Cloud Empire may not recognize the buffer zone as being part of the Lion Territory.. But I will take advantage of the civil strife and take over the land over time⊠There is nothing that you lose at this point except my support.â
Both Touba Hong and Ao Du were aware that Xiao Yu was telling the truth. Xiao Yu could use the strife between Touba Gui and Touba Hong to establish the land. Moreover, Touba Hong couldnât be on bad relationship with a neighbor like Xiao yu.
âWhat will you promise to get the full jurisdiction over the Lion territory?â Ao Du asked after pondering for moment.
Xiao Yu smiled as when he heard Ao Duâs words he knew that the deal was done: âI will help Touba Hong to kill Touba Gui and unify the Western Cloud Empire.â
âUnification of Western Cloud Empire⊠The timing is too vague.. It could be done in 10 years or maybe even in 100 years.. We canât agree to this if you are going to help us to get the Western Cloud Empire in 100 years.â Ao Du was able to grasp the flaw in Xiao Yuâs statement.
Xiao Yu immediately added: â5 years⊠I promise that Touba Hong would be able to unify the empire in 5 years.. Otherwise, this agreement is invalid.â
Touba Hong raised his head to look at Xiao Yu: âI can agree but the agreement must be confidential at this stage. I canât let people know about this or they will think that I have sold Western Cloud Empireâs sovereignty for your support. I can only fulfil my part of the promise after the unification.â
Xiao Yu shook his head: âWho knows what will you think after the unification?â
Touba Hong frowned: âWhat do you want then?â
Xiao Yu faintly said: âI will establish barrier at the border in 3 years.. I will begin to build a city too. You will begin to implement the order that the people wonât enter freely my territory.. The agreement will be public after you unify the empire.â
Touba Hong thought for a moment: âDeal.â
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