Emperor Xianglian was busy fixing the problem with new rebels that started popping out in the smaller towns and more impoverished regions. Emperor Xianliang had been under so much stress nowadays because the military had grown displeased. Many generals had been asking for a leave to be stationed outside of the city.

Even those generals whose troops were guarding the forbidden city were asking for leave for no apparent reason in only three days after there was an intruder alert inside the palace. At first, Emperor Xianglian thought it was just one General who suddenly requested to be stationed outside. When Emperor Xianglian asked the reason, he said:

'There has been someone whom I treasured so much, Your Majesty. He is the darling of the military because he knows how to treat and lead us correctly. He might be younger than me, but he teaches me how to be a good commander. Calling him a good commander and ruler is an understatement."

"But he has been in great suffering, and my woe for him makes me unable to lead my army. I have been distraught. Your Majesty, with this, I'm begging you to send me outside of the forbidden city, so I can practice with my army and relive the days where such great man contributed so much for us, the soldiers," General Lu answered after Emperor Xianliang asked him.

Emperor Xianliang hummed for a moment. He never knew there was such immense talent in the military that he never noticed. Thus, the Emperor asked, "Who is this man you're talking about? Is he a young general? Or a youngster from military lineage?"

"… No, Your Majesty. His parents are just a merchant. But his talent is definitely one of a kind…" General Lu answered. "But he has such a slag of a husband, so he suffered a lot."

Emperor Xianliang's eyebrows raised, "This man is a ger?"

"Yes, he is a beautiful ger man who's already married. But I've got the news that his husband is not worth the amount of dedication he put for him," the General said. He wanted to subtly bring the topic of how terrible the Emperor had treated the darling of the military, Empress Xiuying.

The ger man that every man in the military dreamed about when imagining a perfect mother to bear their child and an ideal lover to spend the rest of their life, but he got married to a slag man instead.

It was just… the slag man happened to be their Emperor, so they couldn't do anything other than doing a silent protest by leaving the forbidden city and the capital city. This was all they could do because other than this, Emperor Xianliang was truly a Golden Emperor.

He almost had no flaws in governing, except that he wasn't as well versed in the military.

Emperor Xianliang was a great warrior, but when it came to leading and managing military and war, the generals outperformed him because Emperor Xianliang often misjudged the tide of the war by hesitating or planning with too much aggression.

Meanwhile, the generals respected the Empress, Empress Xiuying. He often accompanied the Emperor to the war since he was also a skilful warrior despite being a ger man.

Empress Xiuying often whispered to Emperor Xianglian about a good strategy for few wars, and Emperor Xianliang would deliver it to the generals. The generals knew that Empress Xiuying was the real strategist but allowed his husband to take the credit since he was the Golden Emperor.

He supported the Golden Emperor wholeheartedly and even took charge to help to maintain and improve the military.

Empress Xiuying might be a ger, but the generals respected him, and the soldiers loved him, both for his beauty, his strength as a martial artist, and his intelligence.

So when they heard the gossip that Empress Xiuying and Emperor Xianliang had an argument, they thought it was just a lovers argument.

Who knew things would escalate so quickly, with the Emperor banishing the Empress he once said to be his only wife forever.

They thought everything would be alright. Maybe the Empress was just resting in his lavish palace… until Commander Huitong reported his finding.

…

Emperor Xianliang was interested when General Lu mentioned a ger man. It actually reminded him of his banished wife, Empress Xiuying. He thought, maybe if he could find someone similar to Bai Yunyu, he could send this ger man to accompany Bai Yunyu and talked with him about this problem between them, like a mediator.

So that ger man could help and mend their relationship.

"Tell Zhen, who is this ger man? I want to meet him," Emperor asked.

The General was speechless with such shamelessness of his Emperor. He thought the Emperor wanted to fill his harem with more ger man. He didn't even realize they were talking about Empress Xiuying the whole time.

The generals refused to answer, so Emperor Xianliang had no answer about this man. Soon after, many smaller generals followed, like a silent protest. And Emperor Xianliang was both frustrated and at loss of what's happening.

The military is the lifeline of an Empire. He couldn't afford the army to weaken because of an unknown reason. He refused to believe a ger man could affect the whole military.

***

SLAM!

He slammed the table as he read the report from one of his ministers. He glared at his minister, who got scared, and he asked, "Are you telling me that we got plenty of rebels for no apparent reason!?"

The minister prostrated immediately. He was so scared because the Emperor was in a bad mood nowadays. There are many messy situations, especially with the increasing protest and rebellions in the poor regions.

There had been a surge of invaders too.

"What's the cause of this? What makes me displeased?"

"R—Reporting, Your Majesty, it seems that many smaller regions have been infested with corruption, especially by the lower rank officers. Also, There has been an influx of poor civilians who joined the rebel group instead because our military cannot protect their homeland from invasion, so they joined the invaders from other countries and tribes to save themselves and their homes from getting desecrated."

"T—This minister believes our military has been weakened, but I cannot determine what caused it, Your Majesty…"

Yes, Emperor Xianliang also noticed the weakening of the military.

'What's causing this… our military was probably the strongest across the land just two years ago, but now…'

Huang Shu sighed. He ordered the minister to leave his room. He was so tired of his duty as the Emperor every day.

"If only Yunyu is here with me…" Huang Shu mumbled as he stared at the drooping tree outside of the window. Yunyu was like his place to utter his woe, and he would always pacify him and gave him good advice.

He had the urge to visit Bai Yunyu, but he felt it would be so shameless of him to do it.

His pride told him not to visit the banished Empress because he was still being punished for his offence. Huang Shu had to show a great example of fairness and justice.

"I will not visit him, not until he repents his mistake!" Huang Shu yelled stubbornly.