Chapter 191 - Power

After leaving the stone chamber where the communication crystal was kept, the three of them followed the flagstone path in silence.

The vast county office made no sound at all. After the disaster brought by the demonic beasts, the place no longer had the tight security it had when they first arrived. All the Sageridge border army soldiers on duty inside had already been dispatched across Sageridge to maintain order.

They walked a long way before Xu Yuan let out a long sigh.

A marriage contract. Marriage... That word had always felt far away to him, both in his past life and this one. In his past life, his elders had started urging him to get married after he graduated from university, but urging was one thing. Whether he listened was another. Yet now, the matter had actually been placed right in front of him.

Mu Zhiyun... Her appearance surfaced in Xu Yuan’s mind almost without him meaning it to. She was very beautiful, and very fierce. Before he managed to drug her, she had nearly taken a bite out of him. She probably hated him. After what had happened back then, it would be strange if she did not. This marriage contract was, through and through, a political marriage.

Because of his family, Xu Yuan had seen families formed through political marriages in his past life. He had an elder he was on pretty good terms with who had ended up in one. They were married. They had children. But they still each played their own games.

The man was already in his forties or fifties, yet he still spent his days following young people like Xu Yuan to bars. The things he got up to were even wilder than the younger guys.

Xu Yuan gently shook his head. Times had changed. Although this world still largely preserved the social customs of ancient times from his previous world...

Thinking to this point, he stopped himself from going any further.

Just thinking about it made his head ache. Rather than keep worrying, he might as well take things one step at a time. For now, it was only a marriage contract. And even after a marriage contract was made, it could still be broken.

They walked on until they arrived before the drill ground, the place covered with the bodies of the Sageridge border army’s fallen soldiers. Beyond it was the main hall where General Wang was.

General Wang had not stayed by the door of the communication crystal to wait for him.

Too many people had died under the demonic beast tide. Sageridge’s entire administrative system had basically been paralyzed, while the matters needing attention were far too many. The man could not split himself in two.

As they walked along the uneven flagstone road, a quiet, clear voice rang out.

“Xu Yuan... are you going to get married?” Ran Qingmo’s cool, clear eyes stared at him without blinking. She seemed to have thought about it for a long time before finally squeezing out that question.

Xu Yuan thought for a moment, then gave a helpless smile. “I don’t have much say in it. But most likely, it’ll go south.”

When Ran Qingmo heard the second half, her beautiful eyes blinked. “South? Does that mean there will be some unexpected change?”

Xu Yuan pondered for a moment, then said in a low voice, “Marquis Wucheng’s estate belongs to the imperial faction. He and my father have never gotten along in court. Last time, because of what happened with me, he nearly came to blows with my father right there in the Golden Throne Hall. This reconciliation is most likely the will of the one in the palace.”

Xu Xinyao suddenly asked softly from the side, “But Third Brother, since this is His Majesty’s will, why would anything go wrong?”

Xu Yuan glanced at her and tapped a finger against his own temple. “Little Four, when something happens, use this a little more.”

Xu Xinyao’s beautiful eyes flickered.

Xu Yuan did not rush to explain. He simply waited beside her.

After a long while, Xu Xinyao said quietly, “Is it because of the conflict between His Majesty and Father?”

Her words were brief. Xu Yuan was very pleased. He nodded and said, “Looks like you’re not too stupid after all. Just too naive. If you think carefully, you can still figure things out. When the birds are gone, the bow gets put away. When the hares are dead, the hounds are cooked. The saying going around the Imperial Capital, if the Chancellor does not nod, no decree leaves the Golden Throne Hall, may be a little exaggerated, but the power Father holds as a subject is truly far too great.”

Xu Xinyao fell silent. The Chancellor treated her as his own daughter, and there was almost nothing he kept from her. Because of that, she knew very well just how long the Chancellor's Manor’s reach had become.

In money and grain, there was the Calm Sky Merchant Association, wealthy enough to rival a nation. The intelligence network controlled by Lou Ji, the Blackscale Guard, was even stronger than His Majesty’s own Secret Investigation Bureau. As for military force, there were the Calm Sky Martial Halls, a channel spread throughout the realm for recruiting soldiers. Although she did not know the exact number of troops Father controlled, she could still make a rough guess.

After all, the Great Flame Empire was truly vast.

Seeing his little sister fall silent, Xu Yuan raised a hand and gently stroked the ends of her hair. His voice softened.

“I heard from Auntie Lou Ji that when Father was young and wandering the world, he met the current emperor. Back then, that emperor was still only an imperial prince. The two of them saw the exhaustion of the Imperial Court. They saw the sects’ cruelty. They saw the suffering of the common people beneath the Heavens, and they resolved to change it all. Later, Father supported Li Yaoxuan in ascending the throne and becoming emperor. The two admired each other as kindred spirits, and together they began reforms, intending to bring the sects to heel.

“Perhaps the power Father holds now was built up by His Majesty’s own hand. But over these past few decades, Father’s growth may have far exceeded His Majesty’s expectations. The friendship and mutual admiration they once shared may have already changed. It’s changed into suspicion, doubt, and using each other for their own ends.”

At this point, Xu Yuan looked deeply at Xu Xinyao. “Little Four, if you were the Emperor, would you allow a powerful minister like Father to exist?”

Xu Xinyao fell silent. After a little while, though, she still said softly, though she did not answer in her own name, “His Majesty probably would not.”

“Of course he wouldn’t.” Xu Yuan answered at once, his tone calm and unhurried. “People change. Father can change, and naturally, so can the Emperor. There is no true family affection within the imperial clan, much less for an outsider who merely shared his ideals once upon a time.”

As he spoke, Xu Yuan looked at the countless corpses spread across the drill ground and said quietly, “In the Emperor’s eyes, Father is only a blade. A blade used to chop off the sects’ heads. The Father of the past probably understood that very clearly, but he was willing to become that blade in the Emperor’s hand, because the two of them had the same goal. To cut down the sects, and return peace to the world.

“But now, everything has changed. Decades have changed many, many things. Father has Mother now. He has us. He has those loyal subordinates who follow him with all their hearts. And of course, he has power.”

Xu Yuan’s gaze was calm. Power corroded the heart. Once a man had tasted the flavor of power, very few could put it down again. Xu Yinhe was a qualified father, but he was not a true saint. Even if his cultivation had reached the level of a Sage, he himself was not one.

A Sage in terms of cultivation was only a title others had flattered and praised into existence. Luo Daofan had said as much before. When he was alive, he had merely been an ordinary man with somewhat stronger cultivation. A true Sage might not appear once in a thousand years.

Father was already sunk too deep. To give up power would mean giving up too much. He himself, his family, and every one of the people under him would all be purged. Mercy was not something one could beg for.

Xu Yuan said quietly, “To His Majesty, Father has already become a spiritual blade with a will of its own. And to Father, His Majesty has also become an obstacle. With the great enemy of the sects still outside, they can still work as one. But when the sects are truly dealt with, those old friends who once admired each other and shared the same ideals will only be able to meet with blades drawn.”