Only then did Ye Lin understand how the Empress had come to be. Now everything made sense.
The forces behind so-called princes were, for the most part, their mothers' maternal families. But the Empress had no family to speak of. After she fell, the Third Prince became an orphan.
As for the Emperor, no matter how much he favored him, he still had to treat everyone fairly. Whatever the Third Prince received, the other princes had to receive as well, so there could be no special treatment.
The other princes steadily grew stronger by relying on the power of their mothers' families. Only the Third Prince stood alone. Anyone with eyes could see that he was a lost cause, so no one was willing to follow him.
Even if he was the next Emperor acknowledged by the Golden Crow Emperor, it made no difference, because such things had happened before in the history of the Golden Crow Empire.
Before one Emperor died, he issued an imperial edict. Yet before that edict could even leave the palace, it was intercepted and destroyed. In the end, even the heir acknowledged by that Emperor was slain.
Throughout the entire process, not a single person stepped forward to stop it.
Golden Crow Pass was an empire's true foundation. They only cared whether you could lead the Golden Crow Empire toward a brighter future. As for who you were? That did not matter.
Even if you were not of imperial blood, it was still possible.
This was also the rule laid down by the founding Emperor of the Golden Crow Empire: emperors flowed like water, while Golden Crow Pass stood like iron. As time passed, Golden Crow Pass grew ever stronger, becoming the true behemoth of the Golden Crow Empire, capable of crushing every force.