Cooperation Reached

To be fair, given the Great Yan Dynasty's current internal tensions, whether the Dachao People chose to sit on the fence and watch from the sidelines, or practiced bat diplomacy—playing both the Great Yan court and the Great Yan sects to reap benefits from both sides—either would have been a fine choice.

But unfortunately, the arrangements of the late Dachao king had directly placed Jia Yi over the flames. The room she had once had to maneuver had been reduced to this single multiple-choice question.

Either choose the sects, or choose the court. There was no third option.

The rising dawn entered the room alongside the renewed bustle of the streets. With the lid removed, the aroma of meat from the blue-and-white porcelain pot spread into every corner. Four people and one dog sat around the low table, silently eating breakfast. The only sound was Big Yellow's noisy chomping as it wolfed down food like a starving ghost.

Life needed a sense of ceremony, and it also needed a touch of refinement.

As Xu Yuan slowly chewed the food he had cooked, he gently stroked the Kirin Wolf curled up by his feet, his peripheral vision occasionally drifting toward the Western Region girl across from him, who had her eyes lowered as she silently ate.

If he stood in Jia Yi's shoes, between the two military blocs of the Great Yan court and the Great Yan sects, Xu Yuan would choose the latter without hesitation.

Whether judging from the immediate crisis at hand or the Great Yan Dynasty's long-term situation, the sects held absolute initiative.

Taking the sects' side offered better odds of victory than choosing the court.

That was also why Nalan Ting had handed his heart over to the sects.

Still, when considering a matter, one also had