Let Me Explain, Fairy
Chapter 248 - 192: Choice_2

Chapter 248: Chapter 192: Choice_2

"It should be."

Lou Ji nodded in satisfaction, her tone tinged with a trace of nostalgia, as if recalling past events:

"Li Yaoxuan was an ambitious monarch. Knowing his days were numbered, he wanted to eliminate some threats before he died. Unfortunately, the Sects wished to maintain the status quo, such a pity..."

"...."

Xu Yuan leaned back on the heavy desk, his expression touched with irony:

"The Sects... do they finally understand the principle of one’s lips being cold when one’s teeth are gone?"

Lou Ji’s fair shoulders shrugged, effectively agreeing.

Everything was clear.

There were many clever people within the Sects.

Although the Imperial Family and the Prime Minister’s Mansion were all smiles about peace talks now, the events of more than a decade ago were still there, impossible to ignore without any precautions.

It was possible to deal with the surrounding Barbarian Tribes, but unnecessary, for maintaining the status quo best aligned with the Sects’ interests.

After all, who knew whom they would target next after dealing with the Barbarian Tribes?

The Emperor was aware of the Sects’ thoughts.

If he couldn’t accomplish his goal openly, he would do so secretly.

The plotting had begun years ago.

The setbacks in the military campaigns of the Northern Frontier, the series of defeats due to mutual sabotage, culminating in the siege of Northern Border City, were likely condoned by the Emperor.

Because the Emperor knew that Northern Border City couldn’t be lost, because the Sects would never allow this bottom line to be crossed.

Therefore, he condoned it.

On the surface, Wu Yuan led forty thousand troops of the Feathered Forest Army to break the siege at Northern Border City, coercing the Sects to retake lost territories and to launch retaliatory attacks against the Barbarian Tribes.

In reality, supplies and provisions were already transported. By the time the Northern Border Army reached the Northern Frontier, it was no longer about retaliation, but about complete annihilation.

To slaughter the entire Barbarian Tribes to near extinction, unable to recover for a century.

Upon realizing this, Xu Yuan exhaled deeply and likewise commented,

"Indeed, what a pity..."

He was not part of any animal protection group. He had no complaints about the extermination of the barbaric green-skins and black-skins.

If the Emperor’s plan succeeded, at least they wouldn’t have to worry about the Barbarian Tribes descending from the south and becoming the bosses in the future.

But...

Xu Yuan looked at Lou Ji, his gaze somewhat helpless:

"Sister... it seems I have overestimated the integrity of these Sects."

To directly foil your plans through a self-mutilating strategy without leaving any flaws, making it hard to find a reason for a reckoning come autumn.

At most, they would just offer up a few scapegoats for you to chop down.

Lou Ji was not particularly surprised by this, laughing softly:

"Bottom line? What’s that? Their very existence is about usurping power from the country. Besides that, what’s so strange about betraying one’s own kind for personal gain?"

However, at this point, she raised her hand to pat Xu Yuan’s head, her eyes narrowing into two crescent moons, dangerously:

"But Changtian, this scheme of ours is not over yet~"

At her words, Xu Yuan looked startled and then quickly understood:

"Father has a backup plan?"

"Not your father, but Zong Qingsheng. He sniffed something out from the previous battles and went to the Northern Frontier in advance."

Lou Ji’s red lips curled slightly, her tone a touch disdainful, but her eyes showed admiration, "I thought that brute only knew how to compete with me for money at the end of the year. Now, it seems he can be somewhat useful."

Xu Yuan pondered briefly, recalling this person.

These were memories from a past life. In this life’s memories, this man barely appeared because he seldom visited the Prime Minister’s Mansion.

Most likely, it was to avoid suspicion. He controlled the entire military of the Prime Minister’s Mansion, and staying there often could lead to encounters with other high-level officials, especially Hua Hong, who controlled the Tian’an Commerce Assembly.

Now it seemed the man’s political acumen was quite high.

However, in Cang Yuan, Xu Yuan’s impression of this man was incredibly profound.

Zong Qingsheng, one of the top officials in the Prime Minister’s Mansion who committed suicide due to Xu Yinhè’s uncertain fate in Cang Yuan.

A very fierce endgame big boss.

"Mr. Zong brought troops with him?"

"Otherwise?"

Lou Ji took it for granted, smiling, "Old Zong’s cultivation of the Military Formation Technique isn’t even enough to beat a Second Grader. What use would he be by himself? He took thirty thousand elite troops of the Black Scale Army and holed up in a gully by a river near Dali Mountain, waiting for your father’s message."

"Did he take a Tianxun Crystal Orb?" Xu Yuan asked.

"Correct."

Lou Ji nodded. Speaking of this, a touch of dissatisfaction appeared on her alluring face, and she pouted, "The three Tianxun Crystal Orbs in the experimental phase, one is with your father, one with that lad Xu Changge, and the last is with the old man. Even I don’t have one, tsk tsk...."

Saying this, Lou Ji suddenly threw a coquettish look at Xu Yuan:

"Changtian, your brother has that Tianxun Crystal Orb because he’s the heir, and in the future, it will probably be handed over to you...."

"....."

Xu Yuan directly rolled his eyes.

Here we go again.

This old aunt couldn’t help but start looking for benefits from him the moment she lost focus.

In less than a month since they met, she already swiped 15 million taels of silver from him, along with two extinct priceless Enchantress Divine Flowers.

Had it not been for the last Enchantress Divine Flower that Xu Yuan insisted on keeping for Su Meimo to comprehend, it probably would have already been swiped by this old aunt, too.

Lou Ji leaned in closer, eagerly and gently shaking Xu Yuan’s shoulder:

"Changtian..."

"You want me to proactively ask Xu Changge for the Tianxun Crystal Orb?" Xu Yuan asked, sidelong glance at her.

"Mhm mhm."

Lou Ji nodded her head, the motion exaggerated, and following it, she wobbled.

Xu Yuan’s mouth twitched as he pointed at the tip of his own nose:

"No, sister, on what grounds do you think that guy Xu Changge will give the thing to me? Because I’ll get a thrashing?"

"Would he dare?"

Lou Ji’s willowy eyebrows shot up, and then she spoke softly to Xu Yuan, "If he dares to lay a hand on you, your sister will help you beat him up."

Xu Yuan glanced at her, completely unmoved:

"Ha, how come I remember that when he used to hang me up and whip me, the one laughing the happiest seemed to be you, sister?"

Impossible, absolutely impossible; he, Xu Yuan, had been craving that Tianxun Crystal Orb for a very long time.

Want it? No way.

Lou Ji looked pitifully at Xu Yuan, "I really won’t do it again in the future...."

"We’ll talk about it in the future."

Xu Yuan waved his hand to cut her off, using delaying tactics, but then it seemed like something occurred to him, and he immediately brought the conversation back in a low voice:

"So, you’re saying that father is planning to work with the Emperor on this matter?"

Knowing there was no chance, Lou Ji harrumphed coldly and sat on the chair opposite, directly placing her long, slender, jade-like legs with a "thud" on the table and said grudgingly while crossing her arms:

"Changtian, although there is a gap between the Prime Minister’s Mansion and the Imperial Family, more often it’s about collaboration. If the Imperial Family were to be completely opposed to our Prime Minister’s Mansion, unless something earth-shattering happened in the future, the whole of Dayan would just get slowly sucked dry by those Sects until we’re back to the Sect-dominated world of ten thousand years ago."

Hearing this reminder, Xu Yuan’s eyes were fixed on those slender, fair jade legs, and he felt somewhat speechless inside.

Of course, he understood this point.

After the cooperation between Xu Yinhe and that Emperor, both muscle-bound men, the combined strength of the Imperial Family and the Prime Minister’s Mansion was the closest it had been in Dayan’s 1,300 years of history to the Sects.

A civil war between allies was definitely not going to happen first.

Within Cang Yuan, there were so many different timelines, and during the turmoil lasting until its mid-stage, the Imperial Family and the Prime Minister’s Mansion stood together in the initial phase.

He had asked the previous question entirely because if the Prime Minister’s Mansion intervened to relieve the situation now, it was highly likely that the Barbarian Tribes would be wiped out.

This would not conform to the subsequent plot development since in Cang Yuan, without a female lead, the Barbarian Tribes barely had any presence yet they featured, more or less, in every storyline.

If the Barbarian Tribes were eradicated now, the entire subsequent plotline would be thrown into chaos.

In other words, within Cang Yuan, his father should not have chosen to cooperate with the Imperial Family on this matter.

There must be some hidden details.

Is it because of his presence?

Because his father felt that with a new heir, so he temporarily changed his decision?

And there was that so-called Princess Wu Yuan, who never even appeared in Cang Yuan; she probably died in the war against the Barbarian Tribes.

Thinking about these matters, Xu Yuan’s thoughts began to wander aimlessly.

"Changtian...."

"Changtian."

"Changtian!!"

Lou Ji’s voice suddenly pulled Xu Yuan back from his thoughts; she pouted and asked:

"What were you just thinking about?"

Xu Yuan, coming back to his senses, smiled and said:

"Nothing much, just pondering father’s choices."

Lou Ji looked slightly suspicious but did not ask further, only repeated her previous question:

"Changtian, are you now preparing to go with me to the Northern Frontier or directly to the Imperial Capital?"