Making you a son-in-law is not about making you conquer the world.

Chapter 493 The Ambition of the Lotus Palace

The chattering and arguing sounded more like village women throwing a tantrum or the hawking of vendors in a market, completely unlike anything of a courtly affair.

Whoohoo!

The two were so angry that their faces turned red, and they were almost about to come to blows.

"Your Majesty, I agree to this marriage." Lin Ping spoke slowly as the two argued fiercely.

The languid tone contained an element of reluctance, as if the princess was desperately insisting on marrying him.

Even so, the king jumped around happily, just like a child who had won an argument.

"Did you hear that? Minister Lin has chosen the princess, who is my daughter," the king said smugly.

“My dear son-in-law, I was wrong before, but Yunying is devoted to you, and you must not let her down,” Jiang Xiuwu said earnestly.

"If I were to betray my wife, would I still be doing all this?" Lin Ping thought to himself, but did not directly answer Jiang Xiuwu's question.

"Although I have agreed to the marriage, I will marry the princess only after we have conquered the Lotus Palace," Lin Ping added.

To be honest, he could see Xia Linglong's feelings for him and didn't want to let her down, but his heart was completely filled with Jiang Yunying.

All decisions will have to wait until we see Jiang Yunying again.

This is a temporary measure. If they do not agree to the marriage, it is equivalent to offending the king. Although they will not be punished, their voice in the court will be reduced, which will not be conducive to him implementing his next series of measures.

To breach the Lotus Palace, we cannot rely on these ordinary soldiers; we need at least a powerful crossbowmen force of tens of thousands.

Lin Ping intends to use the convenience of his position as Grand General to build a truly elite force.

"Lotus Palace? Why attack Lotus Palace?" the king asked curiously.

"Because my wife Yunying is trapped in the Lotus Palace, my son-in-law is here to find his wife." Jiang Xiuwu was overjoyed.

Lin Ping outwardly agreed to the marriage with the princess, but inwardly he still longed for Jiang Yunying.

"Is that really so?" The king's expression was rather unpleasant, clearly displeased with Lin Ping's perfunctory response.

"That's only one reason; there are more important reasons as well." Lin Ping's tone became serious.

"Does Your Majesty know the reason why the Lord of Shancheng attacked Jiangcheng before?" Lin Ping asked in return.

The king shook his head; he didn't want to delve into this matter of sitting back and watching the tigers fight.

"Because the Lotus Palace wants to use the power of the Mountain City Lord to threaten the River City Lord in order to gain more power."

Lin Ping explained in an orderly manner:

"Not only that, but Wu Xin, He Wei, Xiang Lian and others are also working for Lotus Palace. I dare to guess that Lotus Palace is uniting the power of the other four city lords."

Lin Ping's words revealed the secret: the king had also recently guessed that the four city lords were in close contact.

I was initially curious, but after hearing Lin Ping's explanation, I thought of a possibility.

"Does Your Majesty still consider Lotus Palace to be the sect that protects your empire?" Lin Ping said sarcastically.

When they were conquering the world, Lotus Palace did indeed make many great contributions. It was precisely because of the protection of the royal family that it was able to develop into the largest sect in the Martial Kingdom.

But human nature is greedy; the greater the power, the greater the ambition.

Just like Lu Zhan, who was just defeated, wasn't he trying to use the emperor to command the feudal lords?

The king had every reason to believe that the Lotus Palace harbored rebellious intentions.

"Outrageous! My Xia family has treated the Lotus Palace well, yet they dare to covet my kingdom! Their hearts deserve to be punished, and their bodies deserve to be destroyed!" the king said angrily.

As the ruler of a country, he must have the ability to see in all directions and hear from all sides. He had heard some news about the Lotus Palace's disloyalty before, and now it has been confirmed by Lin Ping.

In fact, even if the Lotus Palace remained law-abiding, the king would not tolerate the existence of such a terrifying force.

Previously, the political situation was turbulent, leaving no time to deal with them.

Now that He Wei, Lu Zhan, and others have been killed, Wu Guo's military power is firmly in his hands. Even if Lin Ping didn't say anything, he would still take action against Lotus Palace.

He grew to like Lin Ping more and more, as he always managed to solve his problems.

With evidence of the Lotus Palace's alliance with the feudal lords, there was a legitimate reason to send troops.

"Minister Lin, you truly care for the world and put the country before your family. You are a model for all officials. I hereby order you to lead an army of ten thousand and set off immediately to annihilate the Lotus Palace!" the king commanded solemnly.

The first few sentences are perfectly fine, but is the last sentence serious?

Leading an army of 10,000 to wipe out Lotus Palace? Do you really think Lotus Palace is an easy target?

Let alone 10,000 people, even 50,000 people wouldn't be guaranteed to win.

The ruler clearly wanted to squeeze every last drop of intelligence out of Lin Ping. He gave him 10,000 men, and whether he could win was up to him.

No matter how angry Lin Ping was, he couldn't openly argue with the king.

“My dear son-in-law, don’t be some lousy prince consort anymore. I can provide you with ten thousand troops, and they will all be elite soldiers,” Jiang Xiuwu said, seizing the opportunity.

Lin Ping really didn't expect the king to be so stingy. If there were really only 10,000 men, why go to the trouble of going to such lengths? Wouldn't it be better to just lead the private army of Jiangcheng?

He also understood that there were some things that the city lord of Jiangcheng could not give him, such as the position of Grand General, and the resources of the entire Wu Kingdom.

To build the most elite team, we really need to take advantage of the General's status.

"I've accepted the 10,000 men, but we can't set off immediately," Lin Ping said arrogantly.

He seemed to have realized a truth: the more weak he appeared in front of the ruler, the easier it was for him to be bullied; it was better to show his original arrogant and spoiled nature.

Lin Ping had secretly calculated that attacking Lotus Palace was not simply a matter of having a large number of people. If he could train these 10,000 men into an elite force, it would not be insufficient.

Moreover, he understood the king's predicament. Lu Zhan had just died, and the court situation was not yet fully stable. In addition, the Lu family army had suffered a large number of casualties and indeed needed to rest and recuperate.

Ten thousand people is indeed the limit that a ruler can give.

Therefore, he did not blame the king for being stingy; he simply needed some time to prepare.

"Why can't we set off immediately?" the king asked sternly, displeased with Lin Ping's attitude.

"No means no, why so many whys? If I really have to give a reason, it's because I don't want to!" Lin Ping put his hands on his hips, his nostrils almost pointing to the sky, looking every bit the spoiled brat.

There are many纨绔 (playboys) in the Wu Kingdom, but Lin Ping is probably the only one who dares to act like a纨绔 in front of the king.

He will surely become a role model among playboys, and be worshipped by everyone.

Lin Ping desperately wanted to rescue Jiang Yunying as soon as possible, but his strength wouldn't allow it. Besides, he hadn't yet obtained the exact location of the Lotus Palace, so he had to wait for news from Jiang Mo.

The king was so angry he was fuming, but there was nothing he could do about it.

"You! You! You... get this done right." The king suppressed his anger, giving both sides a way out; he couldn't afford to argue with a young man over such a trivial matter.

"Dismiss the court! Dismiss the court! Dismiss the court!" the king shouted three times. He really didn't want to look at Lin Ping any longer, lest he be tempted to kill him.

The king was immediately troubled by the thought that this fellow would become his son-in-law.

He feared that from now on, there would be no more peace in this hall or even the entire palace.