Yuwen Huai'an, Who Had Calculated Everything

Yuwen Huai'an clapped as he spoke. "Fine soldiers. Very united."

Bai Fan's eyes were filled with confusion. He could not understand Yuwen Huai'an's purpose.

"Why did you do this?"

A faint smile hung on Yuwen Huai'an's lips. "The result is good, so why pursue my purpose? I trust you will keep your promise."

Bai Fan recalled what had happened. Two weeks earlier, Yuwen Huai'an had sent someone to contact Bai Fan and the others.

He had claimed that he could help Bai Fan dismantle the Silves Kingdom from within, allowing them to take the kingdom without losing a single soldier.

In exchange, Bai Fan only needed to give Yuwen Huai'an a ship and let him leave.

Yuwen Huai'an stood there calmly, waiting for Bai Fan to make his decision.

"Give me a reason to let you go."

"You promised that from the beginning."

"I never said we were people who kept promises. We've become rebels already. Isn't it perfectly normal to break our word and go back on what we said?"

Bai Fan's roguish words did not stir the slightest ripple in Yuwen Huai'an's calm expression.

"A reason? I'm sick of this empire. Sick of that damned woman."

Yuwen Huai'an's voice trembled.

"I, Yuwen Huai'an, am already this outstanding. Why would that bitch still betray me?"

"Why could those lowly Black people make that bitch betray me with just a crook of their fingers?"

"What I, Yuwen Huai'an, cannot accept most in this life is betrayal. Since she chose to betray me and lust after physical pleasure, then let her go to hell along with this lowly empire!"

Bai Fan felt deeply sympathetic. He suddenly remembered his three daughters from his previous life, and his brows furrowed tightly.

"Were those three really my biological daughters?"

As he thought about it, Bai Fan let out a relieved laugh. "Why think so much when they're all dead? Even if they weren't mine, wouldn't I still have had to raise them? Men aren't protected."

"Yuwen Huai'an, if that's the case, why didn't you simply divorce her and continue living your noble life?"

"You think I didn't want to? Every time I see her, I feel sick. But she's a close relative of the imperial family, so I could only swallow my grievances."

"The Heaven Dou Imperial Family is full of contemptible scum. But then again, it's fortunate that Xue Ye is an idiot. Otherwise, I really wouldn't have found it easy to leave Heaven Dou City."

Yuwen Huai'an spoke with vivid emotion. Bai Fan sighed. "Go."

To Bai Fan, that compromise was not only letting Yuwen Huai'an go, but also letting go of his former self, who had likewise been constrained.

Without the slightest hesitation, Yuwen Huai'an boarded the large ship behind him that belonged to him, eager to escape this empire.

Seizing the moment, Bai Fan led his warriors toward the Silves Kingdom to establish a new order there.

Under Yuwen Huai'an's control, the large ship raised its sails and set off. After traveling several kilometers, countless small boats came into view.

Young children sat on those boats. With Yuwen Huai'an's help, all of them boarded the large ship, more than three thousand in total.

"Children, I promised your parents that I would keep you safe. From this day onward, we will sail to a new continent and create a future that belongs to us."

The children had an average age of under seven. They had no ability to distinguish right from wrong, and Yuwen Huai'an was their first teacher.

Yuwen Huai'an looked out over the boundless sea, his eyes bright. "From now on, I, Yuwen Huai'an, will live only for myself."

Meanwhile, Bai Fan's group arrived at the Silves Kingdom as they had wished.

The desolate sight there was horrifying. Corpses and bones could be seen everywhere in the outskirts.

Those who had survived were all from middle-class families. The truly poor had died during the early days of the turmoil.

Da Niu voiced his confusion. "Boss, why aren't there any children here? What the hell is Yuwen Huai'an up to?"

At that moment, Bai Fan understood everything. He praised him from the bottom of his heart. "As expected, no one who can become a noble in an empire that devours people is stupid."

"Yuwen Huai'an, you really calculated everyone."

"So be it. Since ancient times, no nation has lasted forever. A suitable external threat is necessary too."

From the very beginning, Yuwen Huai'an had known what he wanted. He had investigated Bai Fan's group in advance, understood Bai Fan and the others' goals, and analyzed Bai Fan himself in depth.

Then he used benefits to strike a deal with Bai Fan. He firmly believed that there were no absolute enemies, only eternal interests.

He had won the gamble. Bai Fan had not insisted on killing him, a man with no family left, nor had he killed a noble who hated the Heaven Dou Empire.

"All personnel, heed my command. Begin taking over the Silves Kingdom."

Everyone accepted the order and began performing their respective duties. It was worth mentioning that Bai Fan had also arranged for several clever people to learn commerce.

Since ancient times, scholars, farmers, craftsmen, and merchants had been ranked in that order, with merchants at the bottom. But in Bai Fan's eyes, merchants were an indispensable foundation and a necessary link in the operation of the social economy.

Outside the Heavenly Screen.

In the Heaven Dou Empire's imperial court.

Xue Ye was so furious that his eyes seemed ready to spit fire. This time, he did not immediately pursue Yuwen Huai'an's responsibility.

It was not that he did not want to hold him accountable, but that he simply had no way to do so.

Yuwen Huai'an's descendants all held posts in the imperial court, but none of them resembled Yuwen Huai'an. His four sons were all useless fools.

Xue Ye had not thought much of it before, but now, looking at the Yuwen Family's four boys with entirely different appearances—one of whom even had dark skin—he slammed his hand down on the dragon throne in rage.

"Drag the Yuwen Family's four bastards away and execute them immediately."

"From this day onward, if any woman of the imperial family is found to be unfaithful, I shall show no mercy! Skin her alive and tear out her tendons at once!"

Xue Ye was truly enraged this time. An outstanding minister had been forced onto the path of rebellion by a woman.

As soon as Xue Ye finished speaking, most of the ministers present immediately fell to their knees.

"Your Majesty, please uphold justice for me!"

The ministers knelt neatly on the ground, recounting the disgraceful affairs within their households.

Most accused their wives of infidelity, while a small number wept bitterly, snot mixing with their tears.

"Your Majesty, I hope you can help me divorce her. Wild men have already sprung up all over my household."

"I am willing never to marry again for the rest of my life and devote myself to the empire from this day onward."

Seeing most of the ministers kneeling on the ground and accusing the same thing, Xue Ye's blood surged with rage. His already unhealthy body could not endure it, and he fainted.

Most of them had spoken up because the imperial women were arrogant and domineering, and they had taken this opportunity to raise the matter.

That small group was more emotional. They genuinely loved their wives, but their wives looked down on them and even cuckolded them. Overcome with emotion today, they finally said it aloud.

To be honest, nobles had always played their own games. Unless someone was especially obsessive about purity, no one would bring it up.

But this was an empire, a feudal society. Male nobles inherently enjoyed privileges. They did not want to be suppressed by women. They could allow themselves to take concubines, but they would never allow their wives to take lovers.

As an empire developed, women's status would gradually rise toward balance. But because of the physical disadvantages of their bodies compared to men, they would constantly seek to expand their privileges.

Once a threshold was reached, the nobles would feel that their rights had been violated. Women would begin pushing their luck, and conflict would inevitably erupt. This was an unavoidable pattern.

Everything that happened today had followed naturally. These nobles did not merely want to accuse their wives; their deeper goal was to cast off the shackles imposed on them by the imperial family and escape the arrogant, domineering imperial women in their homes.

Just as Bai Fan had said, nobles were not simple people. None of them were fools.