Chapter 15

Although the Eagle Auspicious Kingdom had fled in disgrace, its king was not willing to accept defeat. He invested a large amount of money to support the opposition in the Eastern Wasteland, fanning the flames of discord and creating divisions and rifts. He aimed to incite unrest and then take advantage of the chaos to profit.

In fact, the prosperity of the Eastern Wasteland was entirely based on profiting from war. However, many ignorant civilians in the Eastern Wasteland failed to see this. They believed that the success of the Eastern Wasteland was due to their own efforts. Therefore, they considered themselves superior and looked down on the Central Realm, which was impoverished due to war.

Wishful thinking cannot change reality. After the establishment of the Great Hao Dynasty, the world was at peace, and there were no more wars to fight. The foundation of the Eastern Wasteland's畸形 prosperity thus disappeared. Its status and wealth gradually declined. Many social contradictions that had been carefully concealed during the rule of the Eagle Auspicious Kingdom gradually came to light.

There were many shortsighted and simple-minded fools among the people who could not accept the reality. With the incitement of the Eagle Auspicious Kingdom, they blamed all their problems on the Great Hao Dynasty. They naively believed that if they could return to the rule of the Eagle Auspicious Kingdom, they could once again be superior and enjoy their privileges.

This ridiculous thinking led many people in the Eastern Wasteland to blindly oppose everything related to the Great Hao Dynasty, even denying that their ancestors were from the Central Realm. They traveled overseas to request the Eagle Auspicious Kingdom to send troops and re-colonize the Eastern Wasteland.

The Eagle Auspicious Kingdom's instigation of trouble in the Eastern Wasteland was merely to use the people of the Eastern Wasteland as cannon fodder while hiding behind them to reap the benefits. They were not willing to risk their own interests to fight for the Eastern Wasteland.

As expected, the king of the Eagle Auspicious Kingdom only said a few flattering words to the petitioners who came running. He offered nothing substantial.

Those fools from the Eastern Wasteland, even in this situation, remained deluded. After returning to the Eastern Wasteland, they raised a banner and declared the establishment of the Eastern Wasteland Kingdom, breaking away from the Great Hao Dynasty.

Undoubtedly, this was an open act of rebellion. According to common sense, the rebellion should have been suppressed immediately.

However, at that time, Empress Consort Mu had just passed away. Emperor Xuan was said to be seriously ill from excessive grief and was recuperating in the inner palace, seeing no one except the imperial physicians. He entrusted all state affairs to the Empress.

The Empress, in power, firmly opposed military suppression and believed in a policy of leniency. Therefore, she specially issued an imperial edict, conferring the title of marquis on the five most powerful families in the Eastern Wasteland. She also entrusted all matters, big and small, in the Eastern Wasteland to them, under the slogan "Wasteland people governing the Wasteland, unchanged for a hundred years."

The alliance of the five powerful families quickly suppressed the rebels. However, the internal unity of the five families was not solid. With the help of certain individuals, the rebels were not completely eradicated. Instead, they frequently emerged from various corners to cause trouble.

With the Eagle Auspicious Kingdom fanning the flames from the outside and the rebels stirring up trouble from within, the social environment of the Eastern Wasteland deteriorated over the years. The people's lives became increasingly difficult, and their resentment grew. The rift between the Central Realm and the Eastern Wasteland deepened, to the point where they could be described as "irreconcilable."

On the surface, the Eastern Wasteland still maintained its allegiance to the Great Hao Dynasty. However, in the civilian sphere, there were constant verbal conflicts and clashes.

The people of the Eastern Wasteland were full of anger, cursing the people of the Central Realm as locusts, fraudsters, bandits, and uncivilized barbarians, calling them "strong people" (with the word "strong" carrying a heavy sarcastic meaning).

The people of the Central Realm, not willing to be outdone, retaliated by calling the people of the Eastern Wasteland colonial dogs, traitors who forgot their roots, and "wasteland bumpkins" (meaning ignorant country bumpkins, or fools).

The more intense the verbal conflicts, the worse the relationship became; the worse the relationship, the more conflicts arose. It was a vicious cycle. Any person of insight knew that continuing like this was unsustainable. A major transformation of the Eastern Wasteland was necessary.

However, the Empress, who held the reins of power, stubbornly insisted that the current "Wasteland people governing the Wasteland" policy was the best way to ensure stability in the Eastern Wasteland and did not need to be changed.

Since the Empress was determined, no one in the court could persuade her to change her mind. Thus, the situation remained at an impasse.

Xiao Sheng, being a prince of the Great Hao Dynasty and a native of the Central Realm, had no good feelings toward the ignorant people of the Eastern Wasteland who refused to accept the rule of the dynasty, denied their ancestry, and lived in a delusion, causing trouble every few days.

Moreover, these troublemakers from the Eastern Wasteland had come to the Guose Tower to cause trouble and specifically requested that Yu Xuanji come out to accompany them, while also uttering insults, clearly showing their ill intentions. Given this, Xiao Sheng had no reason to show them any courtesy. He straightforwardly called them colonial dogs.

Xiao Sheng's personality was like the sun. He could be warm and nurturing, promoting the growth of all things; but he could also be cruel and harsh, causing all things to wither and die. He treated others as they treated him: an inch of respect for an inch of respect, and a foot of disrespect for ten feet of disrespect!

Amidst the shouting, Xiao Sheng strode across the threshold and entered the main hall of the Guose Tower.

In the hall, there were dozens of tables, most of which had been overturned or kicked over. The cups, plates, and utensils on the tables were scattered on the ground, shattered into pieces. The floor was covered in spilled wine and food, staining the originally red carpet with a mess of colors.

Most of the guests had fled. The only ones left were the troublemakers from the Eastern Wasteland. The leader was a man with dark skin and a medium build. His features were barely passable, but his face was pockmarked. He had a particularly large nose with a shiny gold ring through it. He wore a high-quality outfit, but he deliberately left his shirt open, revealing a cluster of black chest hair, looking ridiculous and meaningless.

Behind the pockmarked man were two others. The one on the left was almost two meters tall, silent and taciturn. However, when he occasionally looked up, a hint of cunning could be seen in his eyes.

The one on the right wore a scholar's robe and held a folding fan, appearing refined and cultured. However, the subtle, mysterious smile at the corner of his mouth made people suspect that he was full of malice.

In addition to these, there were only the people of the Guose Tower left in the hall. About eighteen strongmen, dressed in black jackets and wearing blue caps, were all bruised and swollen, groaning in pain, looking very dejected. They were the enforcers of the tower.

A middle-aged man, about forty years old, stood among the strongmen, his face full of anger. He was the manager of the Guose Tower, Wang Qian.

In the hall, there was also a beautiful woman in her thirties with a plump figure. Her hair was disheveled, and her clothes were torn in several places, making her look very disheveled. She was the madam of the tower, Hu Meiniang. Seven courtesans were huddled behind Hu Meiniang, their eyes red from crying.

When they suddenly saw Xiao Sheng and Yu Xuanji enter the hall together, both the enforcers and the courtesans lit up with joy.

Wang Qian and Hu Meiniang, like drowning people seeing a lifeline, let out a long sigh of relief. They quickly approached and paid their respects to the Fourteenth Prince and the flower queen of Luoyang.

Yu Xuanji held her ancient zither and said nothing. Xiao Sheng waved his hand, indicating that they did not need to be so formal. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly heard the pockmarked man with dark skin laugh lewdly and shout loudly.

"Are you the flower queen of Luoyang, Yu Xuanji? Not bad, not bad. Indeed, you have smooth skin and a well-endowed figure. Hehe, I wonder if you are as juicy and tight down there. Come, come, let me inspect you. I am the leader of the Eastern Wasteland Righteousness Sect. Being lucky enough to share my bed is a blessing you have earned in your past three lives, hahaha~"

The pockmarked man, the leader of the Eastern Wasteland Righteousness Sect, was captivated by Yu Xuanji's beauty. He had forgotten the anger he felt when he was called a colonial dog. Without any hesitation, he walked over and extended his arm, covered in black hair, to grab Yu Xuanji.

The pockmarked man's voice was a mix of a bull's bellow and a horse's neigh, making it strangely unpleasant to hear. He also had some unknown ailment. Every time he moved, a foul smell, like that of burnt cow hair, wafted through the air. His crude and vulgar speech was even more repulsive.

Yu Xuanji was naturally clean and refined. She had no good feelings toward such a lewd and boring man. She raised her left arm and covered her nose and mouth with her sleeve, showing a look of disgust. However, she did not take a single step back. She knew it was unnecessary.

With Xiao Sheng here, how could the leader of the Righteousness Sect actually touch a single thread of the flower queen of Luoyang's clothing? He casually took two steps, blocking Yu Xuanji, and lightly rebuked, "Ridiculous. You deserve a beating!"

As he spoke, his palm struck with a fierce wind, roaring and howling. The air in the main hall of the Guose Tower was violently stirred by this palm. Not only did cups, plates, and utensils fly around, but even the many onlookers were blown about, almost unable to stand.

Xiao Sheng's palm strike seemed simple, but it was actually powered by the "Armed Color—Ripple Walk" technique.

The Armed Color Ripple is a ripple that comprehensively enhances the practitioner's abilities, giving them immense destructive power. If Xiao Sheng's slap landed, it would not only crush a person but even turn a piece of iron into mud!