CHAPTER 234: ANNOUNCEMENT!

"The thing he lacks is... my support! I have already given my support to Princess Fanrong, and whoever has my support is destined to become the leader!"

Though his words were arrogant, his tone was as if he were speaking facts.

On the other hand, Fanrong couldn’t help but feel touched. She hadn’t had anyone who took her side this blatantly in front of everyone. Even her uncle Shizi was only by her side on her father’s request.

Her Mother and Brother had always belittled her capabilities, not showing any trust in her.

The Matriarch and the ministers, on the other hand, found Ashen’s words comparable to nothing but empty confidence.

Ming Han already had the support of three King realm experts. Moreover, the Matriarch had supported him from the start, prompting many ministers to join his side.

Fanrong, on the other side, only had Shizi as her support, and he was already dead.

So did Ashen mean that his support was more important than all the ministers and three king realm experts combined?

Even if he had inherited the Beast Sovereign’s inheritance, his words still sounded ridiculous.

The Ministers, however, remained quiet, just for a single reason.

There was already someone present who fully supported Prince Ming Han and wouldn’t acknowledge such empty words— The Matriarch.

Matriarch looked at Ashen with narrowed eyes, displaying her distrust in his words as she asked:

"Is that the only reason you believe that Fanrong is a better leader than Prince Ming Han?"

Ashen nodded and replied, "There may be more reasons that I may be unaware of; however, they do not matter to me. The only thing that matters is what I want!"

The Matriarch smiled sarcastically and replied: "Oh! But I cannot make Fanrong the leader just because of your support, Lord Huan Tian."

Ashen, in a polite tone, replied: "I am aware of that, my lady."

"Then you must be aware that I cannot force prefecture lords to follow anyone, right? Anyone who wants to gain the support must earn it themselves!" The Matriarch sounded righteous, as if talking about justice.

"I am aware of that, My lady."

"If you are aware of all that, then what are you proposing right now? You talk about uniting the tribe under one leader, but then you speak vaguely as to how you are going to achieve this. Tell me clearly what you want from me and the tribe!"

The Matriarch was fed up with beating around the bush, not coming to the point.

From her point of view, Ming Han was a better leader; however, she couldn’t just order everyone to accept him as their master.

It was the same with Fanrong. Even if Ashen wanted to appoint Fanrong as the leader, she couldn’t order all the tribe to accept Fanrong as their master.

The source of a leader’s power should be themselves, not someone else.

Ashen also knew this and hence answered clearly, putting his opinions forward:

"My Lady, I’m not asking you to appoint Princess Fanrong as the leader, as you do not have the right to do so. I’m only asking for an opportunity for the Prince and Princess to make everyone follow them!"

"Oh? And what is this opportunity you are talking about?" The Matriarch asked curiously.

Ashen remained silent, letting the suspense build up in everyone’s hearts.

It was only after everyone was readily waiting for him to speak that he opened his mouth, announcing loudly in a dramatic manner with open arms:

"Conqueror’s Battlefield!"

"Conqueror’s Battlefield? What do you mean by this?" The Matriarch asked, puzzled.

Ashen, raising his finger, explained:

"This means that the Prince and Princess will battle the prefecture lords, and if they win, then the loser must submit to the winner and submit to them! Moreover, the prefecture lords are free to form alliances to resist against the Royals (Prince and Princess), or if they want to submit to one of them before battle, they can do so too. The one who defeats everyone will be crowned the leader and your successor!"

"WHAT?!!" The Ministers couldn’t hide their shock as they instantly started to oppose this:

"Lady Zetian, this is ridiculous. You cannot agree to this madness!"

"I concur, my lady. Please shut this down immediately!"

"We cannot allow this to happen. This will certainly harm our tribe and allow the other tribes to launch an attack in the moments of chaos!"

"My lady, think about the reaction of the Prefecture Lords. What if they betray the tribe because of this? We cannot let King Realm experts leave the tribe!"

Under this chaos, the Matriarch raised her hand and released a little of her dominant pressure: "Quiet!"

Silence ——!

Under this silence, the matriarch expressed her views calmly:

"Lord Huan Tian, I cannot deny the ministers’ worries. I’ll request you to clear their worries!"

"As you wish, my lady!" Ashen replied politely with a smile.

The Matriarch looked at one of the ministers and nodded, giving him permission to speak.

The minister stood and questioned:

"Lord Huan Tian, if the tribe were to accept your suggestion, don’t you think it would ensue chaos? The Prefecture lords would be busy fighting you instead of being able to look after their territory."

"Respected Minister, you also know that a Prefecture Lord is just a figurehead and most of the work is done by the powerless ministers who won’t be affected by this war. Moreover, the battle will be only between King realm experts, so the prefecture’s functioning won’t be affected as you fear!"

"Then what about -" As the minister wanted to further question, the matriarch stopped him: "Only one question per person!"

The minister quietly sat back down before the next minister stood up and asked:

"Lord Huan Tian, what if an enemy tribe attacks while the prefecture lords are engaged in battle? Won’t that create weakness? Moreover, if they are tired after the battle, they will become easier to defeat!"

"A good question, however, this is a needless worry. There will be a rule in the Conqueror’s Battlefield that whenever an outside enemy attacks, we are to stop fighting amongst ourselves and first vanquish the outer enemy! By the power of the Matriarch, this rule will hold utmost importance!"

Being satisfied with the answer, the minister sat down with a quenched smile before another one stood up to ask the question:

"Lord Huan Tian, what if the Prefecture Lords betray the tribe and join the enemy tribe just to escape this Conqueror’s Battlefield? We cannot afford to lose King Realm experts when they are the ones maintaining the power balance among the tribes."

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(A/N - Thanks for reading. ^..^)