747: Establishing a nation

Immediately following that, unrest broke out in North Prefecture. Suspecting that Su Chen had appeared, Ye Tianran immediately and recklessly sent men to suppress and kill him.

Unfortunately, everything was within Su Chen's calculations.

Now, one was in the light while the other was in the dark.

Coupled with the fact that Su Chen could afford to wait while Ye Tianran could not, the latter was extremely anxious. The slightest rustle of leaves was enough to pull at Ye Tianran's nerves, yet Su Chen's figure remained within Green Wolf Mountain the entire time.

Su Chen now had an army of about one hundred thousand in his hands.

He had nearly ten fierce generals and three strategists.

Su Chen left most matters to the strategists to decide for themselves, only requiring them to inform him of the outcomes.

Thus, everything was in perfect order.

Of course, Su Chen did not summon everyone. Currently, only forty thousand troops had been summoned by him, while sixty thousand were kept in reserve by Su Chen as a fallback. Should any accidents occur, he was not worried about being unable to resolve them.

However, the four women following Su Chen were somewhat terrified. They could not leave Green Wolf Mountain, and since they stayed with Su Chen, he didn't bother to hide anything from them.

Therefore, all four knew that Su Chen was now colluding with a prince and intended to rebel.

In such matters, one wrong move would lead to execution.

But having already boarded the pirate ship, they had no choice but to follow this path to the end.

After a month had passed, the turmoil within the Great Yu Dynasty grew increasingly severe. Many places were left in misery by mountain bandits, and the local governments were consistently unable to solve the problem; as soon as one group was killed, another would immediately appear to take their place.

Even two Grand Governors had already been killed.

The entire imperial court and the commoners were in a state of unrest.

Su Chen could now obtain at least fifteen hundred troops every ten days or so, sometimes even as many as two or three thousand.

But it was still not enough.

So he was in no hurry, merely creating trouble for the Great Yu Dynasty while quietly waiting for the right opportunity.

He was creating more opportunities for the Seventh Prince to gather forces.

For instance, Xinyang Prefecture had already defected to the Seventh Prince's banner.

Taking advantage of this chaos, Su Chen secretly gained control over many officials, all of whom became subordinates of the Seventh Prince.

The Seventh Prince's power snowballed, becoming increasingly formidable.

Su Chen spread news of himself throughout the Great Yu Dynasty. Although he lost a few Death Warriors each time, it greatly distracted Ye Tianran and bought Su Chen excellent opportunities for development.

In truth, Su Chen knew very well that the Seventh Prince was not a good ally; once he became powerful, he would likely choose to turn against him.

Thus, Su Chen hadn't just contacted him alone, but four princes simultaneously. He simply didn't like playing mind games, but that didn't mean he lacked the wit for them.

It was another year of surging waves. So much had happened this year that Su Chen felt somewhat exhausted; he had to engage in a battle of wits and courage with many people simultaneously, which took a great toll on his mind and spirit.

Because his System provided additive growth, he had accumulated two hundred thousand troops over this year, which, added to the previous one hundred thousand, made three hundred thousand troops.

Among them were many fierce generals and strategists.

"Now, the game must change its format."

With a calm expression, Su Chen sat in the pavilion and asked indifferently, "Has the Seventh Prince arrived?"

A Hidden Guard immediately stepped forward and bowed: "Reporting to Young Lord, he has reached Xinyang and will arrive at Green Wolf Mountain in a matter of days."

Su Chen nodded.

As for why the Seventh Prince would come to Xinyang, the reason was simple. After his initial cooperation with Su Chen, he used the internal unrest to gain the allegiance of many people, which seemed fine on the surface.

But a man like Ye Tianran would definitely sense something was wrong. Consequently, he severely punished the Seventh Prince, even accusing him of colluding with foreign enemies and committing treason, thus stripping him of his princely status.

Ultimately, the Seventh Prince used the trump cards he had hidden in the palace for many years to make a difficult escape. With Su Chen's assistance, he finally arrived in Xinyang.

Why was Su Chen waiting for the Seventh Prince?

Because... he wanted to establish a state.

Declaring himself emperor would be seen as illegitimate, but if the Seventh Prince declared himself emperor, although many would be dissatisfied, it would be legitimate. After all, this world belonged to his imperial clan.

The next morning.

A pale and somewhat weak-looking figure arrived at Green Wolf Mountain, his eyes still filled with monstrous hatred.

Upon seeing Su Chen, he knelt directly:

"Mister, I beg you to help me."

Having escaped from the palace this time, if he were caught, it would truly be a dead end.

Now, he could only trust Su Chen.

Su Chen pulled him up, a smile on his lips: "No need for such formalities. We are simply taking what we each need."

Having said that, he turned and gave orders to the Hidden Guard.

"Send word down: wipe out the armies in Xinyang Prefecture and Mengyang Prefecture. Starting today... we establish a state. The name shall be the Great Qian Empire."

"Also, tell the Great Yu Emperor that I, Su Chen, am right here in the Great Qian Empire."

The Seventh Prince's expression changed drastically, and he spoke with concern: "Mister, is it not a bit unwise to provoke him so directly?"

He knew the strength of the Great Yu Dynasty very well. Rashly making an enemy of the Great Yu Dynasty was simply seeking death.

The corners of Su Chen's mouth curled up slightly. He walked toward the Seventh Prince, helped him up, then turned and laughed: "The Great Yu Emperor wants to kill me so badly precisely because I possess the strength to subvert the entire Dynasty."

"Seventh Prince, you should also be very clear about your own position. I don't like to waste words. Henceforth, you shall be the Puppet Emperor of the Great Qian Empire. Although you are a Puppet, you will still be the Emperor. That should be much better than your situation in the Great Yu Dynasty, wouldn't it?"

The Seventh Prince's face shifted slightly; he hadn't expected Su Chen to be so direct and lay everything out in the open.

However, he showed no anger. Instead, he nodded with a bitter smile: "I will follow your lead in everything, Mister."

Clearly, he had already prepared himself.

If he stayed in the Great Yu Dynasty, his fate would be to spend his entire life in the Cold Palace. Only by taking a gamble with Su Chen would he have a chance, even if that chance seemed slim to him.

But being born into the imperial family, he did not lack resourcefulness or courage.

As long as he was the Emperor, there would eventually be an opportunity to slowly seize power and become a true Emperor.

This was also why the Seventh Prince was willing to cooperate with Su Chen.

That same day.

A piece of news spread throughout the Great Yu Dynasty: the Seventh Prince claimed the imperial family was corrupt, worshipped false gods, and had secretly sent people to slaughter the commoners. The Seventh Prince could not stand by and watch, so he intended to subvert the Great Yu Dynasty.

Clearly, when the Seventh Prince cooperated with Su Chen to disrupt the Great Yu Dynasty, he had already made plans for the aftermath.

If his Imperial Father noticed, he would push everything onto him. This way, his actions would be legitimate. Many who did not know the truth actually believed that the mountain bandits who appeared in the Dynasty were the work of His Majesty.

Many people's families had died at the hands of those bandits. With the Seventh Prince's call to arms, many people actually wanted to join him. Even among the common people of the Great Yu Dynasty, there were surprisingly few voices of condemnation...