286 – Turmoil III
With wind intensifying the fire, the flames surged and instantly swallowed the houses with the assassins, burning fiercely.
Numerous assassins howled in pain amid the flames and jumped down.
His eyes bloodshot, Garça roared somewhat frenziedly: “Kill them! Kill them all!”
If the Sacred Swordsman Garça recruited hadn’t saved him at the most critical moment, he would be dead by now.
At the thought of the danger just now, Garça felt cold all over, his back drenched in cold sweat and his eyes flashing with killing intent.
Yang Feng looked at the hysterical Garça and frowned slightly: “Your Highness, our priority now is not to kill them but the imperial palace!! The imperial palace is the key. After you take the throne, you can kill these termites at will!!”
Garça’s eyes flashed with madness. Devoid of his usual elegant demeanor, he shouted at Yang Feng: “They wanted to kill me! Just a bit and they would have succeeded!! I want them to die without burial site! I want these scumbags killed!! Ian, kill them for me! Spare no one!”
Yang Feng frowned slightly and hesitated for a moment. Thinking that Garça was about to become the emperor, he sighed secretly. Then, with a wave of his hand, his 300 subordinates instantly took out military crossbows and shot at the assassins.
The rain of bolts shot at the assassins on the ground. Then, amid horrible screams, they were engulfed by flames.
Eddie roared, channeled his frightening Star Knight rank qi, and lunged at the assassins along with the 500 guards.
The fierce fighting lasted for 10 minutes. The hundreds of assassins lying in ambush on both sides of the street were killed by Eddie and them to a man.
Yang Feng and his party continued to march towards the imperial palace. The fierce flames ignited in their wake spread in different directions.
“Stop. At the orders of Her Highness the Empress, this block is sealed off. No one is allowed to pass! Offenders shall be charged with treason and have their families slaughtered!” On a street leading to the imperial palace, a group of 500 imperial guards stood in front of Yang Feng’s party. A burly commander, who headed the group, barked.
The 500 imperial guards pointed their weapons at Yang Feng’s party, their eyes full of killing intent. Of the 500 imperial guards, 200 archers took out their bows and arrows, ready to shoot.
Garça hesitated for a moment, then extended his hand and the entire procession stopped.
Garça stepped out of the crowd and shouted valiantly: “I am the 6th Prince Garça. His Majesty is dead, and I suspect that someone in the palace is involved in the assassination of His Majesty. Commander Dell, now that His Majesty is dead, I am the sole heir of the Morrince Empire. If you side with me, you will surely enjoy great glory, splendor, wealth, and status when I take the throne!”
“So it’s you, Your Highness Garça.” Shock flashed past Dells eyes, and he hesitated. After a long time, his eyes flashed with greed, and he said solemnly: “Your Highness, if you ascend the throne, I hope to become a hereditary peer duke of the empire and get a dukedom as my fief!”
Garça frowned slightly and fell into hesitation.
In the Morrince Empire, hereditary peer duke was a greater aristocratic title second only to grand prince. Every hereditary duke had enormous power as well as great influence in the court. The Morrince Empire was very cautious about enfeoffing hereditary peer aristocrats. Otherwise, all the territory of the empire would have been conferred to others by now.
As time passed by, Yang Feng frowned slightly. He knew very well that they could not waste time here. Every minute that passed, their chances of success would drop by a bit.
Yang Feng hesitated for a moment, then took a step forward and whispered to Garça: “Your Highness, we don’t have much time.”
Garça glanced at Yang Feng with displeasure and said faintly: “I know what to do!”
Garça said in a clear voice: “Dell, I cannot enfeoff you as a hereditary peer duke. However, as long as you take all of your men to side with me, then after I ascend the throne, I can enfeoff you as a hereditary peer earl. You’ll get to enjoy a very high status and great wealth.”
Dell’s 500 imperial guards were a considerable force. If Garça could recruit them, he could enhance his strength and at the same time weaken Yang Feng’s weight in the coup d’état.
Garça grew up in the Morrince Family, and as such, was no less scheming than his siblings.
With a look of struggle on his face, Dell hesitated some more, then said slowly: “Hereditary peer earl? Your Highness, if I side with you, I will be betting the lives of our families on you. A hereditary peer earl is not enough. I want you to promise me the title of a hereditary peer marquis, and I will take my 500 men to side with you. I still have many friends in the imperial palace. After I side with you, I will go and recruit them for you!!”
Garça’s heart was slightly stirred when he heard that. If Dell could recruit the imperial guards in the palace, he would have greater hopes of capturing the Victory Palace.
There were 20,000 royal guards, which were firmly controlled by Morrince 2,867th, stationed in the Victory Palace. Anyone who tried to meddle with the 20,000 royal guards would be met with a fierce backlash from Morrince 2,867th.
The Great Prince André once roped in a vice-commander of the royal guards. After it was discovered by Morrince 2,867th, the vice-commander’s entire family was exterminated and André lost a lot of military power and was transferred to the southern corps. Only during holidays was he allowed to return to the St. Tulan City. Empress Susana, who was originally greatly favored by Morrince 2,867th, was slowly shown the cold shoulder.
Garça and the other 3 princes dared not to meddle with the royal guards for fear of offending Morrince 2,867th.
Dell’s willingness to surrender and to persuade others to surrender moved Garça’s heart.
Garça hesitated for a moment, then made a decision and said resolutely: “Alright. As long as you are willing to side with me, persuade others to surrender to me, and help me to open the gate of the Victory Palace, then after I ascend the throne, you will be conferred the title of hereditary peer marquis.”
Dell’s eyes flashed with a peculiar glint, and he said with a beaming smile: “I want my territory to be in the Blessed Plain.”
Garça’s face changed dramatically, and he refused decisively: “Impossible!!”
The Blessed Plain was a plain blessed by the Goddess of life, Goddess of Plant, and Goddess of Agriculture. In the Feisuo Plane’s many fertile lands, 1 acre of wheat could only yield 200 to 250 catties of wheat. In the Blessed Plain, however, 1 acre of wheat could yield 2,000 catties of wheat. The yield was 10 times that of ordinary places.
The Blessed Plain was the territory of the Morrince Family and the various divine descendant families. Apart from the very few heroes who followed Morrince I and rendered great merit during the foundation of the empire more than 100,000 years ago, there was no precedent of non-divine-descendants being granted a fief in the Blessed Plain.
Dell said loudly: “An earldom will also do. With an earldom in the Blessed Plain, I can have high status and great wealth. As long as you agree to grant me an earldom in the Blessed Plain after you ascend the throne, then I will immediately take my 500 subordinates to side with you and serve you wholeheartedly, Your Highness.”
In other places, there was a risk of natural and man-made disasters, which could lead to the reduction or total loss of harvest of wheat. In the Blessed Plane, however, such things would never take place. An earldom in the Blessed Planes was an absolute foundation for generations of high status and great wealth.
A gloomy expression on his face, Garça kept doing calculations in his mind.
The Blessed Plane was such a rich and fertile piece of land that it was naturally carved up until nothing was left. The Morrince Family occupied the largest piece of the Blessed Plane, and it was their foundation. There had never been a precedent of dividing this piece of land and conferring it to others.
The Morrince Family was an extremely huge family with many experts and powerhouses. The people of the Morrince Family didn’t care about the competition over the title of emperor, at all. After all, in the past more than 100,000 years, this was not the first time heirs of the Morrince Family fought one another for the title of emperor. The one to win would be the one supported by the Morrince Family.
But once Garça granted a piece of the Blessed Plain to others, there would be a backlash from the entire Morrince Family, opposing his succession to the throne.
Garça shook his head and suggested: “That won’t do. I can give you, however, a fertile marquisdom. As for territory in the Blessed Plane, even if it is a chevalierdom, it still won’t do. That’s the wealth that the mighty gods bestowed onto the Morrince Family and no one else is permitted to have a piece of it.”
Dell went silent for a moment and then said unhurriedly: “Are there other marquisdoms? Let me think about it for a moment and see which marquisdom is better.”
Just then, the earth shook and horseshoes sounds came from the east.
Goyena’s face changed slightly, and he said to Yang Feng: “Buchak, the corps commander of the east gate’s 1st imperial guard corps, leans towards the faction of the Great Prince André! It’s their cavalry!!”
Yang Feng frowned slightly and looked at Dell, only to see that the latter still looked hesitant.
Yang Feng suddenly pointed at Dell and said coldly: “Barros, cast Fire Dragon. Kill them!”
“Yes!” Barros quickly recited an incantation and cast Spirit Resonance. Next, he uttered a series of magic sentences and pointed at Dell and the 500 imperial guards.
Countless fire elemental particles frantically gathered in a flash and suddenly formed a 30-meter-long fire dragon.
When Dell saw the 30-meter-long flame dragon, his complexion changed dramatically and turned pale, and he screamed: “I surrender! Your Highness, please spare my life!! I surrender! Your Highness!!”