Douluo Dalu II: The Peerless Tang Sect

Chapter 410 With the Empress in my arms, I have the world at my fingertips!

Sun and Moon Empire, Ming Capital.

Although it is currently in a state of war, it has not affected the prosperity of Mingdu in the slightest. In fact, it is even more prosperous than it was during the Soul Master Competition four years ago.

This was largely due to Zhang Lexuan's efforts. Since Zhang Lexuan ascended the throne, in addition to suppressing rebellions abroad, he also carried out a series of reforms domestically. The most important thing was naturally the development of Mingdu. The first thing Zhang Lexuan did was to eliminate the underground forces in Mingdu.

Of the three major underground forces in Mingdu—the Xishui Alliance, the Pingfan Alliance, and the Aodu Chamber of Commerce—only the Xishui Alliance was directly wiped out. The other two were absorbed and scattered, and distributed to different regions, thus failing to gain any real influence.

Why this differential treatment? The reason is simple: the Holy Spirit Cult is behind the Xi Shui Alliance. Xu Tianran needs the power of the Holy Spirit Cult, but Zhang Lexuan does not.

In fact, when Zhang Lexuan had initially pacified the Sun Moon Empire, Ye Xishui had approached her, wanting to cooperate, but was flatly rejected. Enraged by the rejection, Ye Xishui wanted to attack Zhang Lexuan, but was frightened away by the Demon Emperor Quan'er and never appeared again.

Because of Ye Xishui, Zhang Lexuan immediately launched a purge, determined to eliminate all the evil soul masters who had infiltrated the Sun Moon Empire's army and other institutions. It was under this background that the Xishui Alliance was wiped out, and all the wealth they had accumulated in Mingdu over the decades was put into Zhang Lexuan's private coffers.

At the same time, most of the evil spirit masters in the Sun Moon Empire's army were wiped out. Only a few powerful ones managed to escape, but they dared not openly show themselves in the Sun Moon Empire anymore, because the Sun Moon Empire of today was no longer the one of Xu Tianran's era; it belonged to Zhang Lexuan.

As for the other two underground forces, the Ordinary Alliance and the Aodu Chamber of Commerce, they are mainly backed by the powerful nobles of Mingdu. When these nobles learned that Zhang Lexuan intended to eliminate the underground forces of Mingdu, they very sensibly handed over the two forces to Zhang Lexuan in exchange for their own safety. It must be said that they had great foresight.

Zhu Ziyang flew over Mingdu. Mingdu's air defense system was completely useless in front of the gods. He swaggered into the palace and found his target with a sweep of his divine sense.

At that moment, Zhang Lexuan, who was reviewing memorials in her study, felt something and looked up towards the door. She met Zhu Ziyang's gaze as he walked in. There was silence, then a gust of wind blew a few pages of paper away, followed by the sound of bodies colliding. Zhang Lexuan and Zhu Ziyang were embracing each other.

"Congratulations, Ziyang!" After embracing for a long time, Zhang Lexuan slowly spoke, her pretty face showing longing and joy, completely lacking the reserve and elegance of an empress.

"Why are you still working so late?" Zhu Ziyang asked, touching Zhang Lexuan's face with some concern.

"The empire has gained such a large territory, and there are many things to deal with. Fortunately, I am now a Limit Douluo, full of energy. Even if I don't rest for a month, it won't be a problem at all," Zhang Lexuan said with a smile. She didn't explain too much to Zhu Ziyang because she knew that since Zhu Ziyang was here, he must have done his research before coming.

"How can this be!" Zhu Ziyang's face immediately darkened upon hearing this. He said, "Even a Limit Douluo is still human. As long as you're human, you need a regular schedule! Listen to me, let's not work overtime today, let's rest first!"

"Mmm!" Zhang Lexuan felt Zhu Ziyang's concern and felt very warm inside. Similarly, it had been another year since they last met, and she had a lot to say to Zhu Ziyang. She had no mood to work overtime at all, so she went with the flow, took Zhu Ziyang's arm, and walked towards her palace.

Inside the Empress's palace, after a passionate lovemaking session, Zhu Ziyang held Zhang Lexuan close, leaning against the embroidered bed, and spoke softly to her.

Zhang Lexuan's pretty face was still flushed, her beautiful eyes still brimming with desire. She rested her head on Zhu Ziyang's shoulder, her delicate fingers gently tracing his chest. Her breath was sweet as orchids as she spoke, "This time, you're not in seclusion, are you?"

"Hmm." Zhu Ziyang nodded, playing with the precious jade in one hand, and said, "In the days to come, I plan to travel back and forth between Mingdu and Shrek City. We'll have plenty of time, hehe."

As he spoke, Zhu Ziyang couldn't help but let out a soft, unsettling laugh, which made Zhang Lexuan's heart skip a beat, and then her eyes became misty.

"Where are Huanghuang and Jingjing?" After their lovemaking, Zhu Ziyang finally remembered that he had a child and asked.

"They're both two years old now, and they haven't slept with me in ages," Zhang Lexuan rolled her eyes at Zhu Ziyang before saying, "They're sleeping in the side hall right now, probably dreaming. They'll be so happy to see you tomorrow."

"I hope so. After all, it's been over a year. Do you think they'll still remember me?" Zhu Ziyang said with a hint of helplessness.

"Don't worry, the babies are very smart," Zhang Lexuan said proudly. "They can all speak fluently with other people now!"

"Really? As expected of my child!" Upon hearing this, Zhu Ziyang did not doubt Zhang Lexuan's words at all. Instead, he had a smug expression and took all the credit for himself.

"Yes, yes, my Ziyang is the best." Zhang Lexuan said with a doting look when she saw her man's childish behavior. Although her words were somewhat teasing, the love in her eyes was almost overflowing.

The two talked about children and then about military matters. Zhang Lexuan told Zhu Ziyang about the Sun Moon Empire's upcoming military operations, which were not much different from the original plan. They planned to launch a decapitation strike against the Douling Empire after initially digesting the Heavenly Soul Empire, which would take place in about six months.

The Douling Empire is the weakest of the four kingdoms in the Douluo Continent, and its establishment was originally a result of compromise.

Back then, the Heavenly Dou Empire split internally, and the current Heavenly Soul Empire's royal family, the Wei family, rebelled. The Heavenly Dou royal family's Xue family used force to suppress the rebellion, but suffered repeated defeats. The Wei family easily reached the gates of Heavenly Dou City, and then, under the protection of several nobles of the royalist faction, they fled the capital and traveled westward. Finally, they fought a final battle with the Wei family in Lingdou City, the current capital of the Douling Empire.

The final battle ended in a complete victory for the Wei family, but the Wei family failed to agree to the Tian Dou Empire's demands because the Xing Luo Empire intervened. Although the Xing Luo Empire could not wipe out the Tian Dou Empire's strength in one fell swoop, it still had the strength of the evil people. With their support, the Xue family, who had suffered a crushing defeat, actually gained a foothold in Ling Dou City, and then joined forces with the Xing Luo Empire to repel the Wei family.

The Wei family missed the best opportunity to unify the Heavenly Dou Empire, while the Xue family, with the support of the Star Luo Empire, possessed the strength to rival the Wei family. The split of the Heavenly Dou Empire became an established fact. So, not long after, the Wei family established the Heavenly Soul Empire, and the Xue family established the Douling Empire.

The Star Luo Empire became the biggest winner of this internal strife in the Heavenly Battle, and began to gradually devour the Dou Ling Empire and the Tian Hun Empire. According to the Star Luo Empire's plan and power at the time, it could destroy Tian Hun and Dou Ling and unify the Douluo Continent in less than a hundred years.

As a result, the Sun and Moon Empire arrived...

Ahem, I digress. Although the royal family of the Douling Empire is still the Xue family, the actual power is held by the five noble families. The emperor and the royal family are mostly just puppets and symbols. Nearly 90% of the Douling Empire's army and soul master forces are controlled by the five noble families.

The decapitation plan designated by the Sun Moon Empire targets the Douling Royal Family and the five noble families. The five noble families are the primary targets; by controlling them, the Douling Empire will be unable to mount an effective resistance in the short term. This will greatly shorten the time it takes for the Sun Moon Empire to annex the Douling Empire and save a lot of military resources. The Douling Royal Family is just a side effect. Although they are puppets, they are still royalty. Mingdu already has an emperor of the Heavenly Soul Empire, so wouldn't it be good to have another emperor of the Douling Empire?

Zhu Ziyang did not interfere too much with the plan designated by the Sun Moon Empire. The plan was good, and the Sun Moon Empire now had the strength to implement it.

"By the way, where's Nannan? Why can't I sense her presence?" Zhu Ziyang asked in confusion.

"Nan Nan went to the Moon South Islands to inherit the divine position," Zhang Lexuan said. "Judging by the time, she's been gone for a month now. She should be in seclusion right now."

"Oh, that's good." Zhu Ziyang said with a surprised smile.

"Yes!" Zhang Lexuan nodded in agreement.

(End of this chapter)