Su Shi Yilu's expression changed again and again.
At last, it settled into a moment of gloom, brimming with killing intent.
After a long while, he let out a heavy breath.
"Indeed. Only the dead pose no threat... The Fifth Prince and Seventh Prince have already shown me their murderous intent, and I don't even know which prince stands behind them. As long as they want the throne, I'll be a thorn in their side, a splinter in their flesh."
Most importantly, he had repeatedly urged the Great King to swiftly establish the Twelfth Prince as the legitimate heir and weaken the other princes' power. In doing so, he had already offended every one of them at the root. In the current situation, either he died, or they did.
His trusted aide's words laid bare the worry Su Shi Yilu had harbored all along, and further cemented his resolve.
"General, there's one more matter..."
The trusted aide hesitated.
"Speak freely," Su Shi Yilu said.
The trusted aide voiced his concern. "About the marriage alliance—if the Great King decides to pursue the matter, what should we do?"
At that, Su Shi Yilu fell silent for a long time.
How could he not know what a headache this was?
With his usual fiery temper, he would have laid everything out before the Great King, telling him that the Fifth and Seventh Princes had grown bold enough to sabotage Ten Crows' plans against Geng Country for their own gain, and had nearly cost him his life. Their intentions were treasonous.
But he had no hard evidence to accuse the two, nor any survivors to testify. Holding two adult princes with real power to account based only on the patterns on the corpses could easily put him on the defensive—and even drag the Great