Originally, this situation would have continued indefinitely.
But Grand Duke Seaton's near-all-in campaign against the Faluleong Kingdom changed everything.
The Grand Duke's greatly increased prestige gave him enough political capital.
He seized the initiative in the centralization reforms!
When the reformists and their opponents were evenly matched and the situation was balanced,
only then could a territory like An Yu's Earl's Territory play both sides.
But now,
the situation had begun to tip in one direction.
And the first targets were precisely the factions that tried to play both sides, yet were loyal to neither!
At the recent grand court assembly,
a close confidant of Grand Duke Seaton had reopened the old debate over whether An Yu's original inheritance of her count's title had been legally legitimate.
Faced with such a fundamental issue,
An Yu had no way to avoid it.
She could only confront it head-on!
In just half a month,
the conflict between Blood Rose's Earl's Territory and Grand Duke Seaton had escalated sharply!
According to Mada's analysis,
it was entirely possible that Grand Duke Seaton would resort to force to make Blood Rose's Earl's Territory submit!
And the odds of that happening were quite high.
After reading the intelligence,
Wang Dong sat silently in the captain's cabin for a long while.
It had been years since he'd last seen her.
So when he thought of An Yu,
his mind certainly didn't conjure up anything indescribable about being big and white.
He was a perfectly decent man.
Wang Dong thought of Xiao Duyou instead.
His eldest son, that chubby, soft little bundle of flesh.
The little guy was full of energy.
Ever since he'd learned how to walk,
he'd loved running around all day long.
He didn't even like being carried by other people.
If Wang Dong wanted