Due to its small population, the secular power structure of the Phoenix Spirit Realm was actually very simple, nowhere near as intricate as Great Zhou's, nor did it possess so many hidden forces.
After all, the entire Phoenix Spirit Race, young and old combined, numbered only a little over a million.
The eight surnames of Chi, Chen, Huang, Lü, Qing, Lan, Zi, and Wu, along with the imperial Jiang Surname, made up the power of the nine surnames.
Of course, beneath each of these nine surnames were major branches and lesser offshoots, their interests interlocking like dog teeth and crisscrossing with one another. Yet because of the small population, matters were still not all that complicated.
Basically, among the eight surnames, the Chen, Zi, and Chi families were the current Phoenix Spirit Queen's most diehard loyalists.
When the Phoenix Spirit Queen seized the throne forty years ago, it was these three families that formed the foundation of her strength.
In fact, forty years ago, aside from the Chen, Zi, and Chi families, the other five families could all be counted as supporters of Caiyi's mother, Jiang Yuyi.
It was only that several of them had not supported Jiang Yuyi with the same determination and thoroughness that the Chen, Zi, and Chi families had shown toward the Phoenix Spirit Queen, Jiang Menglian. Some had even wavered.
But that was only natural. Politics, after all, was nothing but profit.
Back then, among those who supported Caiyi's mother, Jiang Yuyi, only the Lü and Huang families could be considered ironclad supporters.
For that very reason, the Lü and Huang families had suffered repeated blows from the Phoenix Spirit Queen over the past forty years.
The Huang Family had fared better. After all, it was one of the Eight Phoenix Spirit Surnames and had