I am the Main Character? No Thanks! (Volume 3): Chapter 5

‘Fucking Nobles and their stupid games!’

‘You asked for it, so don’t go blaming others for it. This is how things have always been, and they are not about to change now.’

‘….We could change-‘

‘No. We cannot. Especially not those extremely flawed and unsuitable governing structures from your previous life.’

I leaned back silently in my throne and continued silently watching the bickering nobles of the Yin Long Empire, long since used to their stupidity thanks to the past year I spent as the Emperor of this land.

Looking to the side, I saw my beloved wife, Empress Yin Lingxi, watching the show with amusement, knowing that I would now have to step in to mediate the situation.

Damnit girl! Can’t you do something about this and not push me forward at every step?

‘She is only doing this for your own good. You need legitimacy in the court. While you have already established yourself properly in the Military and Martial forces of the Kingdom, thanks to your merits during this war, the same cannot be said about the politically inclined houses and the various guilds, except for the Alchemy, Formations, and Trade guild for obvious reasons.’

‘….Why can’t anything ever go our way for once?’

‘That’s wishful thinking and you know it. Truthfully speaking, your path has been quite smooth compared to most Emperors of the past.’

‘…If the past year is something that you call smooth for an Emperor, I can’t imagine what you consider being rough.’

‘Hmm, let’s see, leaving aside the Yin long Empire since you already know its history, in my timeline, various other empires rose and fell during my reign as the Heavenly Demon for over a thousand years. During that, I saw a prince kill his entire family in various ways so that he could ascend to the throne, only to have the families of his various step-siblings cooperate and kill him the moment he ascended the throne.’

‘There was also the time when a small-time sect managed to manipulate another empire’s royal family and supplant their bloodline with that of their sect master’s descendants over the years, and then take it over from inside. The poor Emperor of that time did not even know that he was not the son of the previous emperor and was born from an affair that his mother had with the Sect Master’s son.’

‘And then-‘

‘Stop. Just stop. I don’t want to hear it. Please.’

‘Alright. Look, David. What I am trying to say is that things could be infinitely worse for you compared to what you face now. After all, instead of wandering the continent aimlessly, filled with nothing but darkness like I did during this time period, you are instead only facing a few petty nobles and their stupid schemes that can be easily undone if you so wish. You tell me which is better.’

‘Point taken.’

I took a deep breath and let go of my restraint a little bit, causing the surroundings to become a little heavier as the bickering nobles stopped talking and looked at me with trepidation.

Even after an entire year, I still can't understand how these fools refuse to listen to reason and only respond to strength. Just how did these guys become the heads of their respective families with this kind of IQ anyway?

I withheld my thoughts as I lightly glared at the nobles.

“There is no need for further talks. I have decided on what course of action needs to be taken.”

“All of you will strengthen your respective territories and prepare for any kind of invasion. If any force tries to attack your cities, regardless of their affiliation, they must be either forced back or captured and then sent to the capital for interrogation.”

Slowly, I increased the pressure of my Qi, making these fools tremble in fright.

“And if I find that the incident from a few months ago has occurred again, where the prisoners were treated unfairly and used as toys for your own amusement, I will kill the perpetrator and take away the status and wealth of your families. Do I make myself clear?”

“”””Yes! My Emperor!”””"

Watching the nobles tremble in fright at my words, I slowly retracted my power and felt like dying on the inside due to how cringe my words were.

Unfortunately, these fools only understand one language, the language of violence, and the only way to control them is through fear.

It is an unfortunate truth I learned early on after I ascended the throne after marrying my lovely wife.

Shortly after we were married, the Baihu Empire started the war in full and started attacking the borders, including my village, with their mortal soldiers.

While the forces were relatively lower in number, the potential destruction that they could cause was not insignificant, so I personally oversaw that battles and provided various tools to my army so that they could emerge victorious.

And win they did, by a landslide at that.

The majority of the Baihu Empire’s army was captured alive, and those who were killed were given a proper burial according to their culture.

I remember something that I once read about back home.

Enemies, allies, friends, and relationships all exist when we are alive. But in death, everyone is equal, and there is no difference between good and bad.

This was why I allowed this last right for those who died in battle.

Unfortunately, I forgot that my way of thinking was rare in this world. Something that I found out far too late.

Turns out, the army of the Baihu Empire was optimistic and was planning on capturing one of the border villages as their outpost. For that reason, the army had brought along a rather large group of commoners with them to establish a place of their own within the borders of the Yin Long Empire.

Needless to say, things did not go as they had planned, and they were directly captured.

What came after, however, showed me that I needed to bring a lot of reforms into this Empire if I am to be its Emperor.

In the brief time I left for the capital after the battle, the captured soldiers of the Baihu Empire were tortured for information, while the mortals were humiliated and robbed of their basic rights, as if they were nothing more than toys for the soldiers and officials of my empire to entertain themselves with.

After I learned of what happened, I made sure these soldiers and officials paid for their crimes. However, the damage was already done.

The original population of mortals from the Baihu empire, which was numbered in the hundreds, was cut down by a third. What remained of them were mostly women and children, who had also suffered at the hands of my army.

Disgusted does not even begin to describe what I felt when I saw the state of those people after I returned to the front lines.

For their crimes, the previous General and the second son of the Lanjian family were executed directly along with their loyal followers and soldiers.

Then, severe punishment was carried out for the rest of the army that participated in such cruel acts.

There is no doubt that my actions caused the morale to drop sharply, but an example needed to be made to remind them that as long as I am the Emperor, this like this will never be allowed.

Shaking my head to get rid of those depressing images, I turned back to the court to proceed with the next issue on the agenda, however, I was interrupted as the door to the chamber opened and a Royal Guard walked in hurriedly before kneeling in front of me.

“My Emperor, the Princess is in trouble again!”

‘‘Fuck!’’

The collective curse of Xiang and me resounded in my head as I heard those words.

“What happened this time? And who do I need to compensate?”

The guard continued kneeling while he spoke, but the way he was sneaking glances at a certain man was not comforting for me.

“I heard from her guards that she was strolling the capital in her free time when she encountered Young Master Lanjian Tianyi. I do not know what happened, but the word is that their exchange became a heated debate before they drew swords on each other.”

Meaning, that brat of the Lanjian family was being his bullheaded self and provoked Da Ling like he liked to do most of the time these days and got his ass handed to him.

The question is, how badly did my girl beat him up this time?

“….What is the damage?”

“The Princess is fine aside from a few scratches, while Young Master Tianyi broke his hand, again.”

The brief burst of killing intent made me look towards Lanjian Yufeng, who immediately schooled his features.

But the moment he looked into my eyes, he realized that he was caught.

Without hesitation, he kneeled in front of me and kowtowed.

“This subject’s son has made a stupid mistake. I beg the Emperor to show mercy and punish me instead.”

“…Go to him, Lanjian.”

I did not say anything more as the man left the hall, but I kept an eye on him through my senses, knowing that he might do something stupid.

Unfortunately for him, the entire capital falls under the influence of my ‘domain,’ which means that anything he does, I will know about it if I wish to.

As for the actions of his son, they don’t really matter. Because I knew that it was definitely under the orders of his father that the boy would do something so stupid and against his personality.

‘It is because of shit like this that I really hate politics’

‘Like I said, you chose this path when you decided to marry Yin Lingxi.’

I did not reply but continued working on the next issue while keeping an eye on the nobles and their families with my power.

As for Da Ling, I did not take any action.

My daughter is already fourteen this year and is basically considered an adult according to this country's customs. As such, she can take care of herself just fine.

Besides, she has been craving a little independence from my overprotectiveness recently, especially after we moved to the capital and made this palace our home. So I will respect her wishes and let her solve her own problems.

However, that does not mean that I will allow anyone to harm her anyway.

It is the reason why I assigned her with Royal Guards equipped with the best of my escape and defensive artifacts in the first place.

I felt my lovely wife hold my hand from her throne, bringing me out of my thoughts.

Turning to look at her, I found her amused smile still in place, but I also saw the hidden concern in her eyes, making me smile and return the gesture with a small squeeze of reassurance.

The Royal court is annoying, the Nobles, equally so. I hate the politics and the lack of freedom as the Emperor, especially in these war times.

But was all this worth it? Was Yin Lingxi worth all this trouble?

To me, yes. She is.