She paused, her gaze sharpening further.
"You trust Tang Lan of the Tang Sect that much? You trust the intelligence he sent? You trust that he mobilized forces from every side to encircle Dongyang City purely to eliminate evil and uphold justice, with no other agenda?"
Yun Su's voice was not loud, yet every word was like a needle, striking directly at the core of an emperor's calculations.
"You must understand that the imperial throne may gleam with gold, but beneath it lie countless ambitions, blood, and bones. Who knew how many eyes were fixed upon that chair? Who knew how many people dreamed day and night of pulling you down and sitting there themselves? The Tang Sect is in the limelight now, and Tang Lan himself is unfathomably mysterious. His strength and influence have grown far too quickly.
Today, he may be your ally, helping you deal with the Holy Spirit Cult. But what about tomorrow? What happens once the Holy Spirit Cult, this shared threat, has weakened?"
The old woman's tone carried the warning of one who had endured countless years.
"As the ruler of a nation, you must always remember: in the arena of power, there are no eternal friends, only eternal interests. Even one's current allies must be guarded against.
Preserve your strength, leave room to maneuver, and balance every faction—this is the way of an emperor. To place so many elite forces upon trust in one man and intelligence that has yet to be fully verified... isn't that far too risky?"
Yun Su's words were the seasoned counsel of one who planned for a nation. They were filled with deep concern for Xu Sanshi's safety and the Empire's future, and they also represented the views of certain conservative forces within the court and even within