Chapter 1541: 申侯

At this moment, perhaps only Prince Qi felt an even deeper chill in his heart. For years, he had painstakingly cultivated the reputation of a wise prince in his struggle against the emperor, treading cautiously at every step. Coupled with the support of the late emperor's trusted retainers, he had barely managed to contend with the emperor in both power and prestige.

However, the last two years had been rather unlucky. Key officials on his side had successively run into trouble, and seeing his influence gradually diminish, he grew anxious and launched a fierce counter-offensive. He had originally believed he could turn the tide, but now this happens?

The Demon Emperor referring to himself as a nephew and offering annual tribute — what an incredible achievement! Countless brilliant human emperors before him had failed to accomplish this, yet Zhao Hao actually succeeded? If he successfully performs the Fengshan ceremony and announces this to the world, his prestige will become unmatched. All of Prince Qi's lifelong efforts to contend with him would, in the end, be nothing but a joke.

And all of this was caused by Zu An! Thinking of this, he was livid. Did he owe Zu An something from a past life? His faction's decline from prosperity had begun after Zu An arrived in the capital. Had he known this, he would have eliminated that insignificant worm from the start!

At this point, he could no longer hold back. Disregarding the need to signal his subordinates, he spoke directly, "Such an important matter—why didn't the demon race send a delegation, instead entrusting it to a human like you?"

The clamorous court instantly fell silent. Not just Prince Qi's faction, but even those aligned with the Crown Prince and the Emperor were somewhat perplexed; this indeed defied common sense.

Zu An slowly replied, "It was all a matter of coincidence. I witnessed the old Demon Emperor's death in the secret realm and was entrusted by him to deliver messages to various factions within the royal court. As soon as I exited the secret realm, I discovered the Golden Crow Crown Prince had begun using the army to brutally purge and massacre his other brothers. Unexpectedly, the Second Prince, who had been meticulously planning for a long time, managed to kill him instead... Then I did some minor things to help the young prince ascend to the throne. Coupled with my need to return to the human race, they entrusted me with delivering this national letter. As long as His Majesty agrees, a formal delegation will soon be dispatched to finalize the specific details."

Although he spoke lightly, everyone in the hall felt a tempest in their hearts. They could imagine the bloodiness and cruelty of a royal succession, but it was unfathomable that Zu An could participate in it and even help the young prince ascend to power. Many secretly scrutinized Zu An. He currently showed no vital energy fluctuations whatsoever. Could he truly have accomplished such a feat? Or had he suffered severe injuries during that coup, leading to the loss of his cultivation? The key fact, however, was undeniable: the new Demon Emperor's national letter had been delivered, leaving them no choice but to believe.

Even Prince Qi was now speechless, his face as dark as water, lost in thought.

At this moment, Pei Lian, the Imperial Secretariat Director, spoke up, "Minister Zu, as a human, to help a demon emperor—surely this is inappropriate." He was the son of Palace Attendant Pei Zheng and part of Prince Qi's faction, known for his quick wit, and he had sharply identified an angle of attack. With him leading the charge, other officials from Prince Qi's faction quickly chimed in, linking this to the previous accusation of colluding with the demon race.

Zu An calmly looked at the crowd. "Had I not intervened, the new Demon Emperor would either be the Golden Crow Crown Prince, a prodigy and the foremost of the Five Prodigies among the young generation of demons, or the Second Prince, a profoundly shrewd and formidable general of unparalleled renown. I ask you all, which would be more beneficial for our human race: for them to be the Demon Emperor, or for a young child to hold that position?"

The crowd was left speechless. Everyone naturally understood which outcome was more beneficial. Any other candidate would never have humbled themselves to call the human emperor "nephew." The young prince doing all of this, in contrast, seemed so natural that even the demon elders would not oppose it.

At this point, Zhao Hao declared, "The Demon Emperor referring to himself as our nephew and offering tribute is a joyous occasion for all under heaven! Issue an edict for a three-day general amnesty across the entire nation!"

After the ministers offered their congratulations and flattery, officials from the East Palace faction seized the opportunity to say, "Minister Zu has achieved such a great merit; he ought to be rewarded. Only then can we inspire people across the land to serve the court..."

Zhao Hao nodded. In his good mood, even Zu An seemed a bit more agreeable. "My beloved ministers, what kind of reward do you deem suitable?"

The ministers exchanged glances. This was indeed a difficult question to answer. If the human army had entered the demon territory and forced them to submit, it would merely be the merit of an ordinary diplomatic envoy, and internal commendation within the Court of Diplomatic Relations would suffice. But now, the demon race still possessed considerable strength, and their armies were fighting to a standstill. The entire human race had never even conceived of the demon race surrendering, yet Zu An, through his own efforts, brought about such a result. It was no exaggeration to call it an achievement of unprecedented magnitude.

At this point, an official, currying favor with the East Palace, directly suggested, "Such an extraordinary achievement, unprecedented in history, considering Minister Zu is already an Earl, combined with this merit, is enough to directly ennoble him as a Prince of a different surname!"

"Prince?" Hearing this suggestion, the Emperor's eyelids involuntarily twitched. Prince Qi's face was also ashen. "How can this commoner be ranked alongside me?"

Many shrewd individuals in the court immediately reacted, refuting in unison, "Although Minister Zu's achievements are significant, ennobling him as a Prince is far too exaggerated. Ultimately, the demon race's willingness to call themselves nephews and offer tribute is due to His Majesty's renowned prestige, which they fear greatly. In the end, the greater part of this merit belongs to His Majesty." With that opening, others immediately began to praise Zhao Hao's brilliance and martial prowess in various extravagant ways, even forcing Prince Qi to insincerely join in the flattery.

Seeing this, Zhao Hao was greatly pleased. "You flatter me, esteemed ministers. Zu An's role in this cannot be ignored either." Everyone in the court, being shrewd, immediately detected from his tone that the path to ennoblement as a Prince had been rejected. They then began to deliberate on what suitable reward to bestow upon him.

Observing the myriad expressions of those in the court, Zu An remained unfazed, thinking, "If these people knew I had been appointed Regent Prince in the demon race, I wonder how they would react?"

At this moment, another official proposed, "How about bestowing him with the title of Duke?"

Initially, everyone found the idea somewhat outlandish. But upon closer thought, Zu An had accumulated many merits and was already an Earl. A mere one-rank promotion would be too meager and would diminish the imperial family's prestige. However, Zu An was truly too young. In just two or three years, he had rocketed from a commoner directly to an Earl, and now he might even be ennobled as a Duke. Among the many high-ranking officials in the court, only a handful held the title of Duke, each occupying a position of utmost power. For a young man to join their ranks now felt rather peculiar. Even Bi Zi'ang was filled with jealousy. He considered himself exceptionally talented, one of the top young individuals among the prominent families in the capital, and had always viewed Zu An as his sister's dog, effectively a servant of the Bi family. Yet, this person was now directly becoming a Duke, holding a title equivalent to his father's, while he, the master, was far inferior. How could the ever-arrogant Bi Zi'ang possibly endure this? Bi Linglong, on the other hand, had sparkling eyes. Unlike her brother, she hoped Zu An's status would be as high as possible.

The various factions in the court deliberated back and forth, eventually reaching a consensus: to grant Zu An the lowest rank of Duke. Dukes were divided into three grades: from highest to lowest, they were Grand Duke, Commandery Duke, and County Duke. Previously, Jian Taiding was the Duke of Yunzhong Commandery, with a commandery as his fief. A County Duke, however, had a single city as a fief, like Chu Zhongtian's Duke of Bright Moon.

Zu An, with no deep roots, clearly couldn't be granted a major city like Bright Moon City as a fief. Both Prince Qi's faction and the Emperor's faction reached a consensus: Zu An's promotion had been too rapid and needed to be appropriately curbed. Thus, they began discussing which remote, impoverished small city to bestow upon him.

Just then, Yi Chun suddenly stepped forward, looking heartbroken and indignant. "This man harmed my son and brutally murdered government constables. Are we simply going to let that go?"

The court immediately fell silent, everyone looking embarrassed, as if they had indeed almost forgotten about the matter. Discussions then resumed on how to handle this issue. Prince Qi's side seized the opportunity, intending to use this incident to convict Zu An. Many within the Emperor's own faction were also jealous of Zu An's rapid ascent, so fewer people spoke up in his defense. The East Palace faction, though instructed by the Crown Princess, was somewhat outnumbered and outmaneuvered, steadily losing ground to Prince Qi's party.

The Emperor, however, frowned. He naturally understood Prince Qi's intentions and did not want this world-shaking achievement to be disrupted. If it were, what prestige would he have left for his Fengshan ceremony? So he spoke directly, settling the matter decisively: "The incident involving the Sang family, We will dispatch embroidered-uniform envoys to thoroughly investigate its origins. However, regardless of the circumstances, Zu An was indeed wrong to kill. Considering his great service to the human race... hmm, given this, his deserved Duke title shall be reduced to Marquis. A vacancy recently appeared in the Shen region; let that be Zu An's fief. He shall be ennobled as the Marquis of Shen."

Zu An was instantly dumbfounded. Marquis of Shen? What terrible karma had he accrued that his titles were never normal?