Noble Families Control the Board, Dynasties Are Chess Pieces

"Father King, may I ask why you summoned me?"

The Fifth Prince was somewhat puzzled as to why the King of the Great Zhou Kingdom had suddenly summoned him to the palace.

After all, he had been preparing for the upcoming engagement banquet recently. Could it be that Father King had something related to it to discuss with him?

"I recently received some news regarding the Chen Family."

"You should know about the past relationship between the Chen Family and the Liu Family, shouldn't you?"

A single sentence from the King of the Great Zhou Kingdom sent a jolt through the Fifth Prince. He had never expected the matter to be about this.

"Replying to Father King, I am aware of this matter."

"But please rest assured, I have already sent people to handle it and guarantee that it will not affect anything."

"As you know, Mengyan has good talent and is a key disciple being nurtured at the Shangqing Sect. Furthermore, we are deeply in love."

"Although the Liu Family once had some contract with the Chen Family, that was so long ago that the contract has long since become a mere formality."

"Father King, I hope this matter will not give you a bad impression of Mengyan."

"I..."

Before the Fifth Prince could finish speaking, the King of the Great Zhou Kingdom raised his hand to stop him.

Seeing Father King's brows furrowed, the Fifth Prince grew very nervous, afraid that it would affect his relationship with Liu Mengyan.

"Take a look yourself. This is the message sent by Wu Chengfeng, the Prefect of Northern Plains Commandery."

The King of the Great Zhou Kingdom directly threw the letter sent by Wu Chengfeng to the Fifth Prince.

Upon seeing the contents, the Fifth Prince actually chuckled.

"So it's about this matter."

"Father King, I know about this. Don't worry, it's merely a scheme by the Chen Family."

"As for that so-called Old Ancestor, I see him as a joke."

"I've already asked my uncle to help eliminate the Chen Family. If my calculations are correct, he should have succeeded by now," the Fifth Prince said with a smile.

As soon as he said this, the King of the Great Zhou Kingdom's brows did not relax. Instead, he stared intently at the Fifth Prince.

"There is another piece of information on it. Did you notice it?" the King of the Great Zhou Kingdom asked.

"Hm? What else?" the Fifth Prince asked, confused.

"A dog!"

"A talking dog!"

"Are your eyes just for show?"

"You actually overlooked such important information?" The King of the Great Zhou Kingdom finally lost his temper and roared.

A dog?

What dog? How could it talk?

The Fifth Prince was stunned and didn't react, his mind going completely blank from the King of the Great Zhou Kingdom's roar.

"Father King, this..."

Suddenly, the Fifth Prince's heart trembled. A talking dog? A Demonic Beast?

A Demonic Beast that could speak human language must be at least fifth-tier. This...

A single fifth-tier Demonic Beast would be enough to destroy the Great Zhou Kingdom, let alone one above fifth-tier!

Why didn't Liu Mengyan tell him about such important information?

"Father King, is this news true or false? Mengyan didn't tell me about this," the Fifth Prince asked nervously.

"Wu Chengfeng probably wouldn't dare to lie to me."

"Therefore, this talking dog must exist."

"Mengyan didn't mention it, which means there are two possibilities: one, she doesn't know, and the other, she deliberately concealed it."

"She doesn't know. Mengyan definitely doesn't know. Otherwise, she would never deceive me," the Fifth Prince stated with certainty.

Hearing this, the King of the Great Zhou Kingdom sighed helplessly.

The Fifth Prince was the most talented among his many sons, and the one he favored the most.

But he never expected that his son, who was excellent in all aspects, would fall head over heels for Liu Mengyan, to the point where his mind seemed to falter.

"Never mind, whether she knows or not is no longer important."

"How do you plan to proceed?" the King of the Great Zhou Kingdom asked.

The Fifth Prince frowned slightly and began to ponder carefully.

His uncle should have already taken action against the Chen Family by now. The best outcome was success, and the worst was failure.

If they failed, the Chen Family would certainly not let this matter rest.

"Father King, in my opinion, we need to prepare for both scenarios."

"Regardless of whether things work out with Uncle's side or not, we must prepare first."

"On one hand, we need to prepare for peace talks and quell the Chen Family's rage. We can push this matter onto Uncle and pretend we knew nothing."

"On the other hand, if the Chen Family becomes too aggressive, we can't just sit and wait for death."

"We can't just sit and wait for death, even if it means mutual destruction," the Fifth Prince said after a moment of thought.

Hearing the Fifth Prince's words, the King of the Great Zhou Kingdom nodded in satisfaction. This was not far from his own thoughts.

After all, he was the son he had chosen, and his intellect was second to none.

"Your uncle dotes on you dearly."

"Aren't you afraid that after this, your uncle will resent you? Or even lose this uncle who loves you so much?" the King of the Great Zhou Kingdom asked.

"Although Uncle dotes on me, I am of the royal family. In my heart, the royal family is the most important."

"If absolutely necessary, I can only choose to sacrifice Uncle. I believe he will understand me."

"Though it may seem heartless, those who achieve great things must know how to make sacrifices," the Fifth Prince said in a deep voice.

"Indeed, one must know how to make sacrifices, but your thinking is still a bit too naive."

"Oh? May I ask what Father King's high opinion is?"

"The Shangqing Sect can be considered the greatest support for our royal family. Although your uncle is only the Third Elder, don't forget, your maternal grandfather is one of the Grand Elders."

"His strength is comparable to our royal family's Old Ancestor, so sacrificing your uncle is out of the question."

"Moreover, I have also invited members of the Noble Families to your engagement banquet this time."

"No matter what, the establishment of our Great Zhou Kingdom was supported by these Noble Families. They will not stand idly by."

"If the Chen Family is willing to accept our apology and reconcile, then everything will be perfect."

"If they refuse, then we will unite all the forces we can, and destroy the Chen Family!"

"But... that is absolutely the last resort."

Noble Families?

The Fifth Prince was young and didn't know much about the Noble Families. He had only heard some rumors occasionally, but he didn't know the specific inside story.

"Father King, are the Noble Families our backing?"

"But I've always heard that we... weren't we..."

"The Shangqing Sect? That's fake. The ones who truly helped us were the Noble Families."

"In this Northern Region, the ones who truly control the situation are those few great Noble Families."

In the Northern Region, the Noble Families were kings. However, their constant infighting led to great losses. Eventually, they came up with a method.

The Noble Families made the board, and the dynasties were the pieces!

Minor disputes between the Noble Families could be resolved by using the conflicts between dynasties.

This way, the losses for the Noble Families could be minimized.

"I see. So we are just a pawn in their game?" the Fifth Prince said somewhat indignantly.

"What else can we do? If we have any rebellious thoughts, with the Noble Families' power, the Great Zhou Kingdom could change dynasties by tomorrow."

"Alright, this is not something you should be considering right now."

"Pass down my order: mobilize all available troops to the vicinity of the capital, just in case."

"Yes, Father King!"