Fortunately, Zhaoyang was gratifying. She finally had the demeanor of a Great Empress.

Not everyone dared to covet his sister!

“The Empress has done well. The Yufu Kingdom has gone too far. Those who humiliate the Empress are insulting our Northern Kingdom. The citizens of the Northern Kingdom are all talking about it. If there’s really a war, we’re all willing to go to the battlefield. The Northern Kingdom hasn’t fought a war for thirty years…”

Wang Shun was filled with righteous indignation when he spoke about this. To them, no one liked to fight. Because fighting meant that people would die. However, living would be worse than death if they did not retaliate. Furthermore, their dignity was given to them by themselves. They would rather die standing than kneel!

Moreover, in this situation, the Northern Kingdom might not necessarily die. Their chances of winning were very high.

Li Yuanqing was a little surprised that ordinary people would have such thoughts. The Northern Kingdom was finally trying its best to stand up.

“Yes, I understand. Zhaoyang has finally grown up…” Li Yuanqing smiled. Although Zhaoyang was already the Empress, in Li Yuanqing’s eyes, she was still the girl who was holding his sleeve. She had such pride after so many years. He was proud of his sister and finally sighed. She had become independent.

Wang Shun looked at His Highness and could not help but relax. He even smiled and refilled Li Yuanqing’s cup of tea.

Since His Highness was not worried, he was relieved!

The Emperor of the Yufu Kingdom, Li Zhengye, was in a bad mood. The senior brothers of the Yufu Mountain who were resisting the catacombs in the country had suffered heavy losses and were complaining.

Many martial artists of the Yufu Mountain were refusing to guard the catacombs. Not only were there heavy casualties, but it was also very difficult to defend. They were often scolded and rarely praised. No one was willing to defend the catacombs to the death. Therefore, demons would break through the catacombs’ exit from time to time.

Any demon that came out was a Grotto-Heaven Realm expert. They could do whatever they wanted in the Yufu Kingdom, causing the entire country to feel uneasy.

Although Yufu Mountain would also send experts to hunt them down, as more and more demons appeared, Yufu Mountain suffered heavy casualties. In the end, as long as it was not a heinous demon, Yufu Mountain was unwilling to send their disciples to kill it.

Even though Li Zhengye had brought countless treasures and gifts to the Yufu Mountain, the Sect Master of the Yufu Mountain had tactfully told him that everyone on the Yufu Mountain focused on cultivation. The Yufu Kingdom should have come up with some rules for such a small matter. They were just short of letting them handle it themselves.

This gave Li Zhengye a headache. He could only get his generals to lead martial artists to surround and attack them. However, the generals and martial artists of the Yufu Kingdom would only die when facing those demons.

No one was willing to throw their lives away. The people below began to pay lip service. As the commoners often suffered from demons and were constantly worried about their lives, many people began to move their families away from the Yufu Kingdom to the Northern Kingdom.

Speaking of which, the Northern Kingdom was lucky. This country has always been inconspicuous. In the past, it was like a lackey in front of the Yufu Kingdom.

They did not expect this to be a good place. It was not invaded by the demons of the catacombs. This made the Yufu Kingdom, which originally looked down on the Northern Kingdom, start to size up the territory of the Northern Kingdom.

The more he looked, the more he felt that the territory of the Northern Kingdom was not bad. The south was bordered by the Wilderness and the Yufu Kingdom. It was said that there had been very few beast tides in the Wilderness in recent years, and the population there had also slowly increased.

The east was next to the Endless Sea. Although it was far away, it could not withstand the vastness of the territory. Most importantly, there were no demons from the catacombs to harass them. The taxes paid by the commoners were also high. No matter how one looked at it, it was a good place.

Especially the imperial city of the Northern Kingdom. It was an excellent place with good feng shui. It was said that there was a huge array protecting the outside of the imperial city. Back then, when the Ba-Serpent disaster happened, the Ba-Serpent could not enter the imperial city of the Northern Kingdom.

Li Zhengye was tempted by such a good place.

Therefore, he thought of the marriage alliance. No matter how powerful Great Empress Zhaoyang was, she was still a woman. She wanted to marry someone and only he was worthy of Zhaoyang in this world. It would be enough to confer her a title of a concubine.

After all, the Northern Kingdom’s foundation was insufficient. It was Zhaoyang’s fortune that he was willing to marry her!

However, Li Zhengye’s impression of the Northern Kingdom was still from twenty years ago. He felt that he had already given Great Empress Zhaoyang a lot of face. They had always wanted to find a backer. It was a great fortune for them to rely on the Yufu Kingdom.

If it weren’t for the matter with the catacombs, Li Zhengye wouldn’t even consider marrying Zhaoyang. He didn’t like such a tough woman. He liked gentle and fawning women like his junior sister. As long as he liked a woman, his junior sister would try her best to get her. She would even settle that woman down and take care of her so that he could enjoy the happiness of having that woman.

“The Northern Kingdom is so impudent. It’s time to teach them a lesson. Junior Sister, prepare a heavy gift and bring a mid-grade Wallbreaker Pill that we obtained ten years ago to beg the Sect Master…”

Since the Northern Kingdom did not know how to appreciate favors, he would make them kneel. The most effective way was not to raise the army and go to war, but to ask the Yufu Mountain to send a Grotto-Heaven Realm expert to directly suppress the Imperial City of the Northern Kingdom. This would let Zhaoyang realize the difference between the Northern Kingdom and the Yufu Kingdom.

He wanted her to lower her head in the end and kneel down to beg him to be his concubine. Otherwise, the entire Imperial City and the entire Northern Kingdom would pay the price for Zhaoyang’s mistake!

It did not take much effort to deal with the Northern Kingdom. A Wallbreaker Pill and some gifts were enough.

Li Zhengye’s guess was right. When he presented the gift and the mid-grade Wallbreaker Pill, the Sect Master of the Yufu Mountain smiled. His words were even better.

“Martial Nephew, the Old Ancestor is in seclusion. Although you are an Emperor in the mortal world, you don’t have to spend so much money. It’s just the Northern Kingdom. They only have a few first-stage Grotto-Heaven Realm experts. I can just send one of your martial uncles. His third-stage Grotto-Heaven Realm strength is enough to make the entire Northern Kingdom submit…”

Although the Northern Kingdom also had Martial Saints, all of them, including Great Empress Zhaoyang, were first-stage Grotto-Heaven Realm experts.

It was not as easy to advance in the Grotto-Heaven Realm as compared to a martial artist. Some people were stuck at the first-grade Grotto-Heaven Realm and might not be able to advance to the second-grade Grotto-Heaven Realm for ten to a hundred years.

Third-grade Grotto-Heaven Realm? Li Zhengye was overjoyed and kept thanking him. This mid-grade Wallbreaker Pill was indeed a good treasure. Even the Sect Master was tempted!

Does the Northern Kingdom think that their country was strong because they have more commoners and soldiers? How dare they reject his marriage contract? The strongest part of a country was still the number of experts and the strongest person was the one who could determine the foundation of a country.

Even if there was a mysterious guardian in the Northern Kingdom, he would at most be at the second or third stage of the Grotto-Heaven Realm.

He would invite a second-grade Grotto-Heaven realm martial uncle to oversee the operation when he sent out his martial uncle. He would also send out two first-grade Grotto-Heaven realm experts from the royal family!

With this lineup, the Northern Kingdom had no choice but to kneel!