Chapter 14: The Punishment

"Your Royal Highness, we have found the traitors."

As soon as Yusheng arrives in the large open space, Qi is the first person to speak in his presence, as for Guang, well, the moment he walked out the prison, he saw his oldest protector anxiously rushing over the prison barrack.

So, the older man has been following Yusheng back in utter silence, after all, Guang dares to leave the large open space despite his order.

Even if Qi and the other hidden guard arrived before he left, it doesn't change the fact that the middle aged man has dared to ignore his order.

"Guang, you silently stand in the side? Don't speak a single word out and keep still. Just watch as I deal with the entire situation."

You think I will believe your reason that after finding out I am all alone you couldn't control yourself from leaving because of being overwhelmed with worries and concerns over my safety right?

Yusheng is quite sure that Guang is more concerned about him finding the young man in the hidden room filled with tortured weapons.

"Guang, this is the last time. Go against my decision and ignore my orders once more and I will punish you to death."

Yusheng doesn't give a single glance to the trembling middle-aged man who has lowered his head, seemingly embarrassed and ashamed for his dishonorable actions as a subordinate and at the same time as Master Protector of a Royal Family.

"I apologize, Your Royal Highness. I promise that there will be no next time."

"Guang, I want to… but I can no longer trust your words anymore. I am honestly extremely disappointed in you. As my subordinate, you shouldn't ignore my orders no matter how much I trust your loyalty. So, starting from today, Qi will take the lead."

Ding!

Loyalty to the Host is decreasing!

"Your Royal HIghness, please give me one more chance! I promise to fulfill my duty! I won't make a mistake anymore! Please, Your Royal Highness, for all the years I have faithfully followed your side, give me another chance!"

Heh!

Yusheng wants to laugh out loud, look at that, those words spoken are filled with heartfelt emotions along with a hint of begging but the loyalty toward him is continuously decreasing!

How ironic! This is the Master Protector he has trusted the most! How utterly blind his eyes have been, and how easily deceiveable he was in his previous life!

"...You won't accept my punishment? Was it harsh enough for you to beg for it?"

You continue acting and I will also act along with you too!

"Guang… rather than staying here… go to your room and repent for a week on what mistakes you have made."

When the soldiers, officers and military doctors listen and witness the Imperial Prince showing utter disappointment on his face after dealing with the most trusted Master Protector who has obviously disregarded an Imperial order, their impression of the middle aged man couldn't help but lower.

Although it was out of concern, nonetheless, even a low soldier understands that a task given by the higher ups must be performed with utmost seriousness!

"Your Royal Highness! You can't do this!"

"Take Master Guang to his room."

After looking at the disappointed expression on the Imperial Prince's face, Qi couldn't remain silent anymore and ordered the hidden guards to take the middle aged man away when it's obviously shown that he won't listen to the Imperial Prince's order.

"Qi! What are you doing?"

"Following His Royal Highness Yusheng's order. Since Master Guang continues to disregard the wish of His Royal Highness Yusheng, then I can only step forward to fulfill it."

Without any fear, Qi voices out his own thoughts with a paralyzed expression still on his face and surprisingly there is a hint of displeasure and anger in his voice, causing Yusheng to take a quick glance at the Young Protector.

Look, this is what a good loyal subordinate should act! Feeling indignant and angry when the Master's honor, power and authority is being disregarded and questioned by others.

Especially when loyalty is being questioned.

"Master Guang, please come with us."

Soon, Yusheng watches as the hidden guards follow Qi's order, easily accepting the fact that they are now following the Young Protector's order rather than the older one, easily taking hold of Guang who still retained reason to not struggle from the hidden guard's tight grip.

He decides to only use his mouth to try changing the obviously bad situation he suddenly finds himself in. It hadn't emerged in Guang's mind that he would receive such harsh punishment for ignoring one order!

Taking away his power is obviously bad for him! He won't be able to monitor and control the Imperial Prince's movements if he lost it!

"Please, Your Royal Highness!"

Yusheng shakes his head with utter disappointment, and lets out an audible, depressed long sigh before walking towards his chair while secretly taking notes of all the eyes glued to his figure as he walks by.

He understands that despite Guang's knowing and accepting his new change, the man has still underestimated his determination to be ruthless and indifferent.

At least, Yusheng has a great reason to take the power he has given to his oldest protector and give it to a more trustable person without causing any suspicions to the real master whom Guang faithfully served.

And when Yusheng secretly observes the surrounding people's reaction, he is quite sure that whatever prestige and respect Guang had secretly gotten in the army has been disillusioned.

"Now, let's start by dealing with what happened during the horse accident. After that, I will personally administer the punishment for the injustice that has occured in the army."

Once again, casually sitting in the chair, Yusheng begins to gently tap his finger in the armchair while staring at the various tied up people, and calmly listens to the loyalties that were disappointedly so low, particularly when most of them are high ranked officials and soldiers in the army.

In Yusheng's opinion, after the observation of loyalties he came across, there are already different types of loyalties he managed to group together.

When it's in a negative state, the individual is already considered a traitor since they don't have any loyalty to the Empire. As long as it is for their ambition, greed, reason or just a mere whim, they won't hesitate to betray the Su Empire when a situation occurs.

As for the other type of loyalty list.

0%: Neutral

1-19%: Weak Loyalty

20- 49%: Normal Loyalty

50- 79%: Responsible Loyalty

80- 90%: Unwavering Loyalty

91- 100%: Loyal to Death

And the tied up people before Yusheng range from weak loyalty to neutral, which can be interpreted as these people still have consciousness about which Empire they belong to and also, the one in the dangerous line of plunging to negative loyalty when a certain circumstances occurred.

Surprisingly though, only two people have negative Loyalties for the Su Empire, and they were the people under the Lieutenant General's power.

"Ah… so many people wanted to harm me or more likely, wanted me to die? I'm confused though, why?"

Yusheng can't help but ask in an extremely calm voice while the visible purple eye lands on the tied up people, one by one with a penetrating gaze causing them to tremble in fear.

At the same time, everyone feels like there is a hand pinching their throat, causing them to be unable to let out a single word.

"Oh, there is no need to answer my question. I just want to let out my thoughts, the evidence is already found and everyone is deemed guilty. Besides, it's quite easy to guess; as the Imperial Prince, there are people who always want me dead."

Even if being favored by the Emperor makes his situation better than the Princes from the other Empires, there are always people who wish to harm the Royal Family.

"No matter what, you are hereby punished to death for even plotting to harm and kill a member of a Royal Family."

Yusheng doesn't hesitate to quickly announce the punishment while Qi begins to list all the evidence they are able to find out, even the Head Military Doctor was in the tied up people, which wasn't really surprising.

"Y-Your Royal Highness! You can't do this! We wanted a fair trial!"

Finally the tied up people begin to utter their complaints, asking to be given a fair chance to prove their innocence, even going so far as to say that they are being framed, nonetheless, Yusheng doesn't listen or hesitate to take care of them.

Fair chance?

Even if they are innocent, Yusheng will still be able to punish them to death, after all, there is a reason why tyrants, corrupted officials and even useless people with power in their hands or just from their family alone are able to easily take the life of anyone under them.

This is what kind of world Yushing is now living in and he is among the top upper-level people, where he can easily dictate a person's life.

"Qi, chop off their heads."