Today's second update: Chapter 3054! 2/4!
Both Xuan Bai and Gui Zhi had once belonged to the Neutral Faction. They had only wanted to govern their own marquisates well and had no desire to get involved in the factional struggles of the upper ranks.
Yet precisely because of this, compared to those Tortoise Marquises who had long since attached themselves to the various great kingdoms, marquisates like theirs—neutral and quite formidable—had instead become crucial targets that the various Tortoise Crown Princes had to win over, or even destroy at any cost!
Take Si Prince, for example. As the legitimate eldest son of the Tortoise Lord, one of the Eight Wise Kings, he possessed unparalleled natural advantages.
The political foundation the Eight Wise Kings had cultivated over many years would, in theory, naturally be inherited by Si after his transcendence. That alone could bring him an enormous number of votes.
But that was still far from secure enough!
The neutral factions within the Black Tortoise Race were deeply entrenched and immensely powerful. If too many of them were won over by other Tortoise Crown Princes, then even someone as powerful as Si Prince might not necessarily be guaranteed victory.
Perhaps driven by that anxiety and his inborn arrogance, Si Prince's methods of recruiting the major neutral factions were brutally simple and completely devoid of political wisdom.
Others recruited forces by offering great benefits and forming alliances. But he, a spoiled Crown Prince, treated those he sought to bring under his command like dogs and horses, as if he were saying, "I'm letting you follow me because I think highly of you. It's your honor!"
He had no understanding whatsoever of the proper way to respect the worthy and make solemn promises.
Xuan Bai was one of the targets he had