"Father King, may I ask why you summoned me?"
The Fifth Prince had been unexpectedly summoned to the palace by the King of Great Zhou, and he was somewhat puzzled.
After all, he had been busy preparing for the upcoming engagement banquet. Could Father King have called him here about that?
"I recently received some information concerning the Chen Family."
"You should know about the relationship the Chen Family and the Liu Family once had, shouldn't you?"
The King of Great Zhou's words made the Fifth Prince's heart jolt. He had never expected this to be the reason.
"Father King, I know about it."
"But rest assured, I've already sent people to take care of it. I guarantee it won't affect anything."
"You know Mengyan has excellent talent and is highly valued at the Shangqing Sect. And we're in love with each other."
"Although the Liu Family once had a Contract with the Chen Family, that was a long time ago. The Contract has long since existed in name only."
"Father King, I don't want this matter to give you a bad impression of Mengyan."
"I..."
Before the Fifth Prince could finish, the King of Great Zhou raised a hand and stopped him.
Seeing Father King frown, the Fifth Prince grew tense, afraid this might affect his relationship with Liu Mengyan.
"Take a look for yourself. This is the information sent by Wu Chengfeng, the Northern Plains Commandery Governor."
The King of Great Zhou tossed the letter Wu Chengfeng had sent him to the Fifth Prince.
After reading it, the Fifth Prince instead smiled.
"So it's this matter."
"Father King, I know about this. Don't worry, it's nothing but a scheme by the Chen Family."
"As for that so-called ancestor, I think he's a joke."
"I've already asked my maternal uncle to help destroy the Chen Family. Judging by the time, he should have succeeded by now," the Fifth Prince said with a smile.
At this, the King of Great Zhou didn't relax his frown. Instead, he stared fixedly at the Fifth Prince.
"There's another piece of information in there. Did you notice it?" the King of Great Zhou asked.
"Hm? What else?" the Fifth Prince asked, confused.
"A dog!"
"A dog that can talk!"
"Are your eyes just there to let air out?"
"How could you overlook such important news?" The King of Great Zhou finally lost his temper and roared.
A dog?
What dog? How could it talk?
The Fifth Prince was completely caught off guard by the King of Great Zhou's outburst, his mind going blank.
"Father King, this..."
Suddenly, the Fifth Prince's heart jolted. A dog that could talk? A Demonic Beast?
A Demonic Beast capable of human speech had to be at least fifth-tier. This...
A single Fifth-tier Demonic Beast could bring about the destruction of Great Zhou. What of one above the fifth tier?
Why hadn't Liu Mengyan told him about such important news?
"Father King, is this information true or not? Mengyan never told me about it," the Fifth Prince asked anxiously.
"Wu Chengfeng wouldn't dare lie to me."
"So that talking dog must exist."
"There are two possibilities for why Liu Mengyan didn't tell you: either she didn't know, or she deliberately kept it from you."
"She didn't know. Mengyan definitely didn't know. Otherwise, she would never have kept it from me," the Fifth Prince said firmly.
Hearing this, the King of Great Zhou let out a helpless sigh.
The Fifth Prince was the most talented of all his sons, and the one he had the highest hopes for.
Yet he had never expected that his son, so outstanding in every way, would fall for Liu Mengyan at first sight and become so addlebrained.
"Never mind. Whether she knew or not doesn't matter anymore."
"What do you plan to do next?" the King of Great Zhou asked.
The Fifth Prince furrowed his brow and thought carefully.
His maternal uncle should already have made a move against the Chen Family. The best-case scenario was that he had succeeded; the worst was that he had failed.
If he had failed, the Chen Family would certainly not let the matter rest.
"Father King, I think we need to prepare for two possibilities."
"Whether my maternal uncle succeeds or not, we should make preparations first."
"On one hand, we should prepare to negotiate and quell the Chen Family's anger. We can pin the matter on my maternal uncle and pretend we know nothing."
"On the other hand, if the Chen Family presses us relentlessly, we can't just sit back and wait."
"Even if we have to perish together, we can't simply sit here and wait to die," the Fifth Prince said after a moment's thought.
Hearing this, the King of Great Zhou nodded with satisfaction. The boy's thinking was much like his own.
He was, after all, the son he had chosen. In terms of judgment, he was among the best.
"Your maternal uncle dotes on you very much."
"Aren't you afraid that after this, he'll resent you? You might even lose the uncle who's always cared for you," the King of Great Zhou asked.
"Although my maternal uncle has always doted on me, I'm a member of the Imperial Family. In my heart, the Imperial Family comes first."
"If there's no other choice, I can only sacrifice my maternal uncle. I believe he'll understand."
"Those who would achieve great things must know how to make sacrifices, even if it seems heartless," the Fifth Prince said gravely.
"Good. You do need to know how to make sacrifices, but your thinking is still a little naïve."
"Oh? What does Father King think?"
"The Shangqing Sect can be considered the greatest support our Imperial Family has. Your maternal uncle may only be the Third Elder, but don't forget, your maternal grandfather is one of the Grand Elders."
"He's as powerful as the ancestor of our Imperial Family. So abandoning your maternal uncle is out of the question."
"Besides, I invited members of the Aristocratic Clans to your engagement banquet."
"However you look at it, the Aristocratic Clans stood behind the founding of Great Zhou. They won't stand by and do nothing."
"When the time comes, if the Chen Family is willing to accept an apology and make peace, then all will be well."
"If not, we'll unite every force we can and destroy the Chen Family!"
"But... that's very much a last resort."
Members of the Aristocratic Clans?
The Fifth Prince was young and knew little about them. He had heard a few things here and there, but knew nothing of the details.
"Father King, are the Aristocratic Clans the power backing us?"
"But I've always heard that back then, wasn't it..."
"The Shangqing Sect? That's false. The ones who truly helped us were the Aristocratic Clans."
"Here in the Northern Domain, it's the great Aristocratic Clans that truly hold power."
In the Northern Domain, the Aristocratic Clans ruled. But their constant infighting often caused heavy losses, so they eventually came up with a solution.
The Aristocratic Clans held the board; the dynasties were the pieces!
Minor clashes between the Aristocratic Clans could be settled through struggles between dynasties.
That way, the Aristocratic Clans' losses could be kept to a minimum.
"So that's how it is. Then we're nothing but a piece on their board?" the Fifth Prince said, unwilling to accept it.
"What else can we do? If we harbor any rebellious intentions, the Aristocratic Clans have the power to replace Great Zhou with a new dynasty by tomorrow."
"Enough. This isn't something you need to worry about now."
"Pass on my command: gather all nearby troops around the capital, in case they're needed."
"Yes, Father King!"
Before you continue