Chapter 335: Chapter 234: The Storm that Swept Over Great Xia Arrives_4

Seeing that Lu Shuyun remained silent for a long time without speaking, Wang Yong said at his side, “Crown Prince, His Majesty is forcing you to rebel. We have no way out. If the Aristocratic Families of the South are gone, your position as Crown Prince will also be abolished.”

The Sum Emperor did not directly send troops south, but continuously applied pressure. His aim was to force Lu Shuyun to go south. Anyone with clear eyes could see that the Sum Emperor wanted to find a justified reason to eradicate the Aristocratic Families of the South.

Now the conflict between the Sum Emperor and the Aristocratic Families of the South had been laid bare. War was bound to break out. Even if the Aristocratic Families didn’t rebel, what awaited them was only the slaughter.

The plague in Great Qian was the perfect excuse. The Sum Emperor could use the plague of Great Qian as a reason to send troops south and also use the infection to eradicate the Aristocratic Families of the South. By then, the Sum Emperor could simply claim that those Aristocratic Families had been wiped out by the plague.

Even if people knew that the plague was just an excuse, it wouldn’t have any effect, since the Aristocratic Families would already be gone. It would serve as a stark warning to any others, making it uncertain whether any Aristocratic Families would dare oppose the Sum Emperor in the future.

If any Aristocratic Families did come forward, the Sum Emperor could just as easily wield the sharp blade he had prepared. Now that the several empires each had their own issues to resolve, with Great Sum free of external strife, the Sum Emperor could do whatever he wished.

After hearing what Wang Yong said, Lu Shuyun stood up from his seat and said, “Tomorrow morning at the imperial court, I will ask Father Emperor to allow me to lead troops south to control the plague.”

Upon hearing Lu Shuyun’s words, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief. The Crown Prince had finally made up his mind. Their biggest worry was that Lu Shuyun would back down at this time.

Lu Shuyun was the Sum Emperor’s son. He naturally still had a way out. If he did not rebel, at most he would lose his position as Crown Prince and then be put under house arrest.

But it was different for the Aristocratic Families of the South. Without the backbone of the Crown Prince, they wouldn’t be able to rally support even if they wanted to rebel.

With the Crown Prince, they could march north under the banner of “rid the emperor of ‘evil’ ministers,” pull the Sum Emperor from his throne, and then install Lu Shuyun to the position.

The next morning at the imperial court, Lu Shuyun took the initiative to propose to the Sum Emperor that he wanted to lead troops south to help the people of the South resist the plague.

The Sum Emperor agreed without even thinking about it.

Most officials already knew what was going to happen next. Many officials connected to the Aristocratic Families of the South handed in their resignations and left their posts for various reasons.

These officials were merely the spokespersons for the Aristocratic Families. The Sum Emperor did not deal with them directly. They were minor characters. What the Sum Emperor was waiting for was Lu Shuyun to start a rebellion.

Once Lu Shuyun started a rebellion, there would be plenty of justification. As for how much suffering the war would bring to people and how many homes it would destroy, these were not considerations for the Sum Emperor.

At this time, the Sum Emperor could not wait for Lu Shuyun to drag a few more Aristocratic Families down with him, so he could then deal with them all at once.

The situation now was that Lu Shuyun knew that his father emperor sending troops south was pressuring them to rebel, and the Sum Emperor also knew that Lu Shuyun and the Aristocratic Families of the South had guessed that him sending troops south was to force them into rebellion. But still, Lu Shuyun and the Aristocratic Families of the South had no choice but to rebel.

If they did not rebel, the Sum Emperor’s blade would fall directly on them.

As officials from the Aristocratic Families of the South one by one left the imperial court, the storm that had been sweeping across Great Sum finally arrived.

The Sum Emperor had no way out; neither did Lu Shuyun nor the Aristocratic Families of the South.

Most officials remaining in the imperial court did not rush to take sides. For them, it did not matter whether it was Lu Shuyun or Lu Xingqiu who was the Sum Emperor.