At first, everyone thought the internal strife in the Thirteen Villages caused the gang’s collapse. Though, it was also said that Ji Liang, the number one swordsman in the world, took over the bandits’ village. Either way, no matter what happened, everyone was relieved that such a wicked village had disappeared.

It never occurred to them that this group of people was incorporated into the army by Emperor Song as they became his men, attacking the enemy cities under his command.

There was no subject who did not want to serve a mighty king.

Although Song Jinglan killed his father, seized the throne with brutal methods, and unfairly took the throne, ever since he became the Emperor, he had changed the monarch’s previous style of ruling since he became the Emperor. He despised arrogance and lust, beheaded corrupt officials and demoted weak officials, trained his troops, fought against outsiders, and secured internal affairs. Because of that, the country’s national power got stronger and stronger, and finally, Song Jinglan seemed to resemble the Overlord of the Central Plains that the Song Empire once was.

Those who once condemned him lost their voices, whereas those who once opposed him surrendered willingly. He has killed the servile moths, leaving only a group of talented people with ambitions.

In just a few years, the state of the Song Empire had become powerful at an astonishing speed. They now showed off the fangs of the wolves that they had become.

And the Great Lin Empire could only watch all this happen across the River Huai, unable to do anything except strengthen their army through training.

Emperor Lin wanted to do something about it, but the Yong Kingdom was a pain in the *ss that would harass him from time to time. Therefore, he couldn’t focus his undivided attention on Song Jinglan.

It was even more impossible for the Lin Empire to join forces with the Yong Kingdom to deal with the Song Empire. The Yong Kingdom once beheaded the two Emperors of the Great Lin Empire back then, and their corpses were hung at the city gates for half a month as a show of force. Inversely, the Great Lin Empire also slaughtered the entire tribe of the Yong Kingdom after achieving victory, including the old, the weak, women, and children.

What’s more was that with the cruel and greedy nature of the Yong Kingdom, once the Song Dynasty was destroyed, they were capable of backstabbing as well.

The best status quo was the three main forces maintaining their power and keeping each other in check.

Fortunately, the Song Empire’s current actions were all limited to the south of the Huaihe River. As long as Song Jinglan’s hand does not stretch across the River Huai, the Great Lin Empire wouldn’t need to do anything.

However, watching his opponent grow stronger every day made Emperor Lin very unsettled. He had been aging for the past two years, and his health had worsened. He usually relied on the elixir pills to maintain his state of good health, but now the drugs no longer worked on him that efficiently anymore.

It would have been fine if Emperor Lin accepted his old age, but he was stubborn as he missed his youthful and vigorous state. After listening to so many ‘Long Live the Emperor’ and perched on the dragon’s throne for such a long time, he honestly thought of himself as a dragon that wouldn’t be vulnerable to old age. After all, he refused to accept that he was getting weary and weak.

When Lin Feilu went to the palace to pay her respects, she heard the news that Emperor Lin had increased the dosage of the pill intake.

She felt helpless and worried, so she could only go to Lin Qing after thinking about it.