Chapter 2228: Giving Away Your Wife
Everyone else in the mourning hall became noisy as well. Of course, it wasn’t because they were all protesting out of righteous anger like Elder Zhang, but rather because they were worried that the regent would just silence all of them once things were settled.
Just then, Zu An turned toward the Dragon King’s memorial tablet. He pointed to the sky and vowed, “I can make a vow to the will of the heaven and earth in front of the Dragon King’s memorial tablet. If what I said was wrong, then let the will of this world punish me immediately!”
Firstly, what he'd just said was indeed true. The Dragon King really had been about to give Shang Hongyu to him while pleading for his life. Secondly, he was now the incarnation of the world’s will, so he was just vowing to himself. Even if there were any slip-ups, it wouldn’t be that much of a big deal.
When they heard that he'd made a vow to the will of the world, the others' expressions changed. Vows couldn't be recklessly made by cultivators, because they would be held accountable. It seemed that the Dragon King really had given him the queen. But how was that possible?!
Of course, people's imagination was limitless. Since they had confirmed that it was real, the most likely scenario appeared in their heads.
It was probably because the Dragon King and the regent had fought together and formed a brotherly bond. Then, when he knew that he was going to die, he had beem worried about his wife’s safety and the invasion of the alien monsters, so he entrusted Zu An to help take care of both. But Zu An had a lot of titles and wouldn't necessarily have the time to take care of the Ocean races, so he’d need another reason to help. That made entrusting the queen to him the best choice.
They had also planned to use the queen to ‘rope in’ the regent. They hadn’t expected the Dragon King to have already thought of all of that ahead of time.
As expected of the Dragon King!
The way they looked at Zu An now carried a bit less hostility. Since the Dragon King had made such a decision, that meant he really had trusted Zu An. This was a relationship in which he had offered up his own wife!
Shang Hongyu bit her lip. She felt as if she was in a bit of a daze. She had previously thought that they could only be together in secret, and was worried that they would be exposed. She had never expected that they could be together in public like this!
But the Dragon King actually did something like that? He really is…
She knew the truth of what happened in the underworld, and thus knew that the Dragon King definitely hadn't treated Zu An as his friend. However, since Ah Zu had made a vow, that meant his claim was most likely true.
There was only one possibility left, which was that the Dragon King had offered her to Zu An in order to beg for mercy. When she realized that, she didn’t know whether what she was feeling was anger. In the end, she released a long sigh.
Elder Zhang bowed toward Zu An and said, “I hope that the regent doesn’t mind the many times I’ve offended you.”
Zu An supported him up and said, “Elder, you speak too severely. You were doing this out of consideration for the Ocean races and not out of selfish intent.”
Someone who was this upstanding would be respected anywhere. Previously, when Zu An had released his pressure, even though the more ambitious individuals were dissatisfied, they hadn’t dared to say a thing. Only this Elder Zhang had argued strongly for what was right. Furthermore, Shang Hongyu told him that Elder Zhang wasn’t part of any prince’s faction and was only doing this out of a sense for the public good, so there was no reason to trouble him further.
After some hesitation, Elder Zhang said, “Even though the Dragon King entrusted… the queen’s care to you, making her the ruler of the sea is still…”
Zu An interrupted him and took out the Crown of the Ocean Deity. “Who said that he only entrusted me with taking care of Hongyu? He also passed on the throne to her. This Crown of the Ocean Deity is proof of that.”
When they saw the Crown of the Ocean Deity in his hands, the Ocean race officials immediately kneeled down. Among them, the Crown of the Ocean Deity was a divine object. It could even be considered a symbol of the Ocean races’ faith.
When Zu An took out the crown, the princes who had previously felt a bit unwilling knew that there was no chance left for them.
Even though everyone present guessed that the Dragon King had most likely only wanted Zu An to take care of the queen and hadn’t really passed on the position, who would dare to try and make Zu An take another vow?
Zu An walked toward the stunned Shang Hongyu with a smile and gently placed the crown on her head. Then, he bowed toward her. “I greet the empress!”
With him taking the lead, Shang Hongyu’s subordinates took the lead and kneeled in greeting. “We greet the empress!”
With that, after some hesitation, the neutral faction also kneeled down respectfully.
Among the princes, Chi Wen was the first to kneel. The voice he greeted the new empress with was especially loud and full of excitement. At first, he'd thought that he would be without a backer, and that he couldn't live as carefreely as he had in the past anymore. He hadn’t expected that his second aunt really would become the empress! Then he could just continue traveling freely!
The princes who hadn’t had any hope of succeeding the throne also greeted her with respect.
In the end, only the princes who'd had some chance of becoming the Dragon King were left standing in the mourning hall. They looked at each other in dismay and could see the reluctance in each other's eyes. But with how the current situation was, there was no way to reverse the situation anymore.
Shang Hongyu felt as if she was dreaming. She just watched the events happen with a blank expression. Only when Zu An secretly reminded her through a voice transmission did she snap out of her daze and quickly tell the officials to rise.
When Elder Zhang got up, he couldn't help but look at Zu An. “Did the regent make a mistake? Shouldn’t we be calling her queen?”
Zu An said with a smile, “There's no mistake. The Ocean race territory is its own place just like the human and fiend sides; it's just that the Ocean races never sought to put on airs. Since I'm here, then I’ll return the Ocean races’ original glory back to you. From today forth, the Ocean races’ ruler will be on equal footing with the human emperor and fiend emperor, and will also have a similar title. We will work together as one to fend off the attacks of the alien monsters.”
The previous Dragon King, the Human Emperor Zhao Han, and the late Fiend Emperor had all been on equal footing. The Ocean races had only served the Fiend races in name, and the Fiend races understood that from the very start. Their government, private property, and military were all independent. The Ocean races had always only listened to orders, but not decrees.
Furthermore, the Fiend King Court had always given the Ocean races a lot of money to win them over, which was an arrangement that had been extremely painful to continue. The Fiend races' higher officials had frequently discussed whether or not spending so much just to obtain the Ocean races’ nominal allegiance was worth it.
In that case, Zu An decided to use this chance to directly eliminate the problem, which had been present for so long throughout history. Even though he was 'just' a regent, no one here questioned his ability to make it happen. Whether due to his noble status in the human and fiend sides, or his current astonishing cultivation, he could make this decision a reality.
All of the Ocean race officials in the mourning hall were overjoyed. “Thank you, regent!”
Perhaps they had only been forced to pay their respects to Shang Hongyu as their new ruler because of the situation, but they were now truly happy. After all, only if she sat on the throne would the Ocean races regain the imperial title. In all of these years, who knew how many ocean kings had wished for that?
Shang Hongyu looked toward Zu An with an extremely gentle expression. “Since everyone else calls you regent, from today on, you are the Ocean races’ regent as well. This will forever be your home, and you are always welcome here.”
When they heard what she said, everyone else had knowing smiles. They all thought that making him the regent was inevitable and right. After all, he was already the regent of the humans and fiends. In fact, they all thought that the rewards were a bit too stingy. This regent title wasn’t something the Ocean races had bestowed upon him. Rather, if he was willing to accept, that would be the Ocean races’ glory.
And yet, they all felt at ease when they heard what Shang Hongyu said after. What reward could possibly be as secure as an emotional bond?
It seems she did process the advice we shared with her in private.
Thank goodness we have such a beautiful and moving queen. No, we ought to call her empress now.
In the Dragon King’s mourning hall, with Elder Zhang in the lead, all of the officials began to discuss the ascension ceremony and other details.
Zu An didn’t participate in those arrangements, but he didn’t leave. Just standing there served as a kind of support for Shang Hongyu.
By the time morning came, Zu An saw that Shang Hongyu already had complete control of the situation and finally felt at ease. He thus said goodbye and left.
Shang Hongyu was still really reluctant when she saw him out. She tugged on his hand and asked, “Can you stay?”
“I still have some things to take care of on the human side. Once I finish dealing with them, I’ll come back to see you,” Zu An said to comfort her while gently stroking her cheek.
Shang Hongyu bit her lip. She knew that he had more important things to handle and couldn't stay, so she didn’t try to make him remain and handed him the Crown of the Ocean Deity. “You might encounter some formidable alien monsters. This Crown of the Ocean Deity is more useful at your side than mine.” frёewebηovel.cѳm
Zu An put the crown back on her head with a smile, saying, “Don’t worry, I don’t need this anymore. On the other hand, you are about to become the new Sea Empress. How can this crown be missing during the ceremony?”
His Blue Mallard ability already gave him intimacy with water. After using the Crown of the Ocean Deity, his understanding of these things had already reached a new level. He had also just activated the new Skill System. Touching the Crown of the Ocean Deity thus allowed him to learn its abilities.
The amount of Rage points needed to learn the abilities of the crown would normally be extremely high, but because the Blue Mallard’s ability and the crown shared similarities, and because he had joined up with the will of the world to gain a new understanding of power, he only needed to spend ten thousand Rage points to learn all of the crown’s skills. There was naturally no need for him to have it with him anymore.
Shang Hongyu was really moved when she heard that. She hugged him tightly. “Ah Zu…”
A light cough came from off to the side. They turned around and saw that it was actually Shang Liuyu, who had rushed over when she received the news.
Shang Liuyu didn’t know what to do either and said awkwardly, “It seems that I came at a bad time.”