Douluo Continent II: The Peerless Tang Sect: I, Huo Yuhao, join the Sun Moon Sect.

Chapter 717 You wouldn't want people to know that the Duke of Tianhe is your illegitimate son, would you?

"That is not true! If the Empire's air force were to launch a heavy attack on the opponents and cause a tragic incident, I'm afraid all of you here would be condemned by those with ulterior motives and branded as treacherous officials."

"At that time, there might be rebels who, under the pretext of 'purging the court of corrupt officials,' directly launch an attack on Lingdou City, and then disaster will befall us!" the Finance Minister said in a deep voice, clearly disagreeing with the Prime Minister's opinion.

"Hmph!" The Minister of the Interior glanced at the Minister of Finance and said coldly, "Since our Emperor Shizu established the Douling Empire, he has vigorously weakened local forces, and local forces are not as powerful as before."

The most elite troops are the army directly under the royal family. Even if the locals want to rebel in the name of "purging the emperor's inner circle", with their strength, how could they possibly sweep all the way to Lingdou City?
These opponents actually attempted to sever the cooperation between the Empire and Shrek Academy; they are traitors and deserve to be beheaded as a warning to others!

The so-called Emperor Shizu refers to Ling Shizu, the first emperor of the Douling Empire.

Many years ago, he was the ninth prince of Tiandou. Because he was still young, he lived in Tiandou City and was originally unable to inherit the throne.

However, rebellions broke out in various places, and the rebel army attacked Tiandou City, killing a large number of Tiandou royal family members, including Ling Shizu's father, mother, brothers and sisters, ultimately leaving only the Ninth Prince as the direct descendant of the royal family.

The Ninth Prince was led away in a hasty retreat by powerful figures loyal to the royal family. They traveled north and eventually arrived at Lingdou City, where, with the support of the loyalist army and a host of powerful figures, he ascended the throne as emperor.

His posthumous temple name was Ling Shizu. During his lifetime, Ling Shizu claimed to be the legitimate successor of Tiandou and devoted his life to recovering lost territory and restoring Tiandou.

Therefore, after his death, he would naturally not be given the temple name Taizu, but rather Shizu.

Unfortunately, the Heavenly Soul Thief was too powerful, and he was unable to return to Heavenly Dou City until his death.

Of course, in the process of governing the Douling Empire, Ling Shizu deeply felt that the chaos in Tiandou was mainly due to the weakness of the royal family and the growing power of local forces. Therefore, he adopted a series of measures to strengthen the royal family's control over the local areas.

During his reign, he also granted fiefdoms to some members of the royal family to protect the royal household.

Of course, nowadays, there are very few members of the royal family who possess real power, and their strength is not great enough. They are more than capable of suppressing local rebellions, but if they choose to rebel, it is almost impossible for them to succeed.

"As the war situation deteriorates further, the empire will have to divert more elite troops to the front lines to resist the Sun and Moon Army, which will leave the empire vulnerable. In this situation, what if the Sun and Moon Empire supports some disloyal local forces? The royal family will be in grave danger!" The finance minister's gaze swept over the cabinet members.

Upon hearing this, everyone's expression changed drastically.

The Sun and Moon Empire is indeed a formidable enemy, so powerful that it requires the combined efforts of multiple forces to deal with it.

Even so, the allied forces suffered repeated defeats and were unable to stop the advance of the Sun and Moon Army.

If such a terrible situation were to occur, it would undoubtedly put the Douling royal family in danger of collapse.

So the group continued their heated discussion, and finally, Emperor Douling, after considering the suggestions of his ministers, came up with a plan to suppress the wave of opposition.

The plan is simple: still send out the Douling Air Force to deal a heavy blow to those who oppose it. After all, the cooperation between Shrek Academy and the Douling Empire must continue, otherwise the Douling Empire will have no way to resist the Sun and Moon Army. Of course, this cannot be done openly; it must be done secretly, and the blame must be shifted to the Sun and Moon Empire and the Holy Spirit Cult.

However, there are too many opponents to kill them all, otherwise chaos would surely ensue. The only option is to kill some of the more vocal opponents and redirect the resentment of the remaining opponents toward the Sun Moon Empire and the Holy Spirit Cult. In this way, the conflict can be shifted.

During this period, in order to prevent the Sun Moon Empire from inciting local forces in Douling to rebel and thus causing internal strife.

The empire would also send spies to various parts of the empire to secretly gather intelligence and keep an eye on important personnel, and report any suspicious activity immediately.

a few days later.

The Douling Empire. Northern region.

Luoan Province.

The study of the Marquis of Luo'an's mansion.

A pale gold soundproof soul-guiding shield covers this area, isolating it from internal and external sounds.

A middle-aged man who looked to be around forty years old sat in a chair, looking at his confidants standing across the table, and said in a deep voice, "I received news that our Emperor does not trust me, so he has specially arranged a group of spies to enter Luo'an Province to keep an eye on me and prevent me from rebelling."

Upon hearing this, the confidants' expressions changed drastically, and they began to discuss among themselves.

"The Marquis has always been loyal to the emperor and loved his country. His Majesty's suspicion of him is truly disheartening!"

"Your Majesty and the Marquis are both of royal blood, how could they do such a thing?"

"These damned spies, they never come to Luo'an Province without something good!"

The middle-aged man looked at everyone and said, "Alright, His Majesty is doing this for the peace of the empire. As a member of the Xue family, I should understand His Majesty. After all, no emperor can trust a powerful marquis in the current dire situation."

“I, Xue Kui, have always been loyal to the emperor and loved the country. It is only right that I support His Majesty unconditionally at this time. We don’t need to worry about those spies. Anyway, I have no intention of rebelling.”

Upon hearing these grand and righteous words, the confidants began to praise Marquis Xue Kui.

Marquis Xuekui's face gradually broke into a smile, after all, everyone likes to be praised.

Suddenly, a discordant voice rang out: "Xue Kui, is it that you don't want to rebel, or that you're incapable of rebelling? You should know the answer in your heart."

"Who!" Xue Kui's pupils contracted slightly.

"Protect the Marquis!" The confidants immediately surrounded Xue Kui, their spirit rings swirling around him.

The next moment, a figure in black robes appeared by the door. This person wore a mask and had eyes as sharp as lightning.

"Who are you?" Xue Kui asked coldly, a hint of panic in his voice.

"Me? I'm here to help you realize your rebellious ideas, Xue Kui. Since you've long harbored rebellious intentions, why not cooperate with our Sun Moon Empire?" Huo Yuhao said.

In the original novel, Xue Kui chose to rebel and, with Ju Zi's support, stormed into Lingdou City. Since this person had rebellious intentions, Huo Yuhao naturally had to come and help him in advance. Well, it would be best to let this person rebel in advance.

By controlling Xue Kui, he could secretly control the Dou Ling Empire. No matter how strong a fortress is, it is always easier to break through from the inside than from the outside.

"The Sun and Moon Empire?" Xue Kui's face darkened. "Hmph, how could I possibly cooperate with the Sun and Moon Empire? My lineage of Marquis Luo An has always been loyal to His Majesty and would never rebel! Kill me or torture me as you please, even if I die, I will tear a piece of flesh from your body!"

Marquis Xue Kui of Luo'an is still worried that this person is a powerful figure sent by the Douling Emperor to test him. Although he has internal information channels in the court, he cannot obtain all of the Douling Emperor's actions.

"If I remember correctly, you and the former Duchess of Tianhe had a child back then, and that child has now grown up and is the current Duke of Tianhe, Xue Leng. You don't want people to know that the Duke of Tianhe is your illegitimate child, do you?" Huo Yuhao said with a faint smile.

(End of this chapter)