A Reconciliation Between the Two Nations?

"Qinghe, come have a look at this letter sent by the Star Luo envoy."

Inside the imperial study of the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace, Xue Ye gestured for the Crown Prince Xue Qinghe to pick up the letter on the imperial desk.

Obviously, he was testing Xue Qinghe's intellect.

It isn't about the abnormal movements in the Star Luo Imperial City, but a letter sent by the Star Luo Empire?

Qian Renxue felt quite surprised inwardly, but she picked up the letter from the imperial desk with a calm expression and unfolded it.

There were two sheets of paper inside the letter, and Qian Renxue looked at the first one first.

As she read it carefully, Qian Renxue's expression grew increasingly shocked.

That woman Bibi Dong is truly more of a hindrance than a help!

Upon seeing the letter mention that Ghost Douluo of Spirit Hall had rashly broken into the Star Luo Imperial Palace, Qian Renxue only felt anger.

Had she arranged it, she would never have been so careless as to let the Star Luo Imperial Family discover them just like that.

Even if they truly were discovered, she would never have let a Titled Douluo's final choice be a "disgraceful flight."

This wasn't scouting out intelligence at all; it was clearly humiliating the entirety of Spirit Hall.

And this was precisely what Qian Renxue could bear the least.

Internal anger was internal anger, but she could not show it on her face; instead, she had to display an excited demeanor.

After all, the Qian Renxue of the present was disguised as the Crown Prince Xue Qinghe.

Only to see Qian Renxue wearing a smile as she said excitedly, "Father, this is good news."

"Hostility between Spirit Hall and the Star Luo Imperial Family is by no means bad news for our Heaven Dou Imperial Family."

"Over these past few years, the Douluo Continent has seemed peaceful, but undercurrents are actually surging everywhere. It seems Spirit Hall dispatched a Titled Douluo because they regarded the Star Luo Imperial Family as..."

"Good, Qinghe, your analysis is quite sound." Xue Ye nodded, then motioned for Xue Qinghe to keep reading. "Have a look at the second page."

Catching the implication in Xue Ye's words, Qian Renxue hurriedly picked up the second sheet of paper and read it.

Damn it, this incident has actually promoted relations between the Star Luo Empire and the Heaven Dou Empire.

No, I must find an excuse to persuade Xue Ye to politely decline the Star Luo Empire.

Otherwise, once the relations between these two great empires draw closer, it will surely disrupt my subsequent plans for Spirit Hall.

After finishing the contents of this letter, Qian Renxue's heart skipped a beat.

This was because on this second sheet, the Star Luo Imperial Family wrote at great length about Spirit Hall's wild ambitions, stating that Ghost Douluo's unauthorized intrusion into the imperial palace was by no means an ordinary matter.

Under such circumstances, the two nations, whose flames of war had ceased for several years, should cast aside past grievances and unite against a common foe.

As for that foe, it was naturally Spirit Hall.

In the letter, the Star Luo Empire side also expressed that the two sides should "frequent each other more often."

Although the Star Luo Empire wrote very tactfully, anyone could see what the Star Luo Empire intended to express.

That was their desire to foster a deeper alliance.

This old fogey Xue Ye must be tempted.

Without leaving a trace, she observed Xue Ye's expression, and Qian Renxue quickly abandoned the plan she had just thought of.

Although she was already the crown prince now, she had only assumed the position not long ago, and her foundation was not yet stable.

In this matter, it was best to honestly follow along with Xue Ye.

Because this news was a good thing not just for the Heaven Dou Imperial Family, but for the Heaven Dou upper echelons and even the entire Heaven Dou Empire.

One had to know—and it was no exaggeration to say this—that the Star Luo Empire possessed the capability to sweep across the Heaven Dou Empire and unify the entire Douluo Continent.

Had Spirit Hall not stepped in to stop them back then, the Douluo Continent would only have had the Star Luo Empire by now.

It was precisely because of this that the Heaven Dou Empire had always been a notch lower than the Star Luo Empire.

Even though the Douluo Continent had been peaceful for so many years, the relationship between the two sides had never been good.

Now that the Star Luo Empire felt the threat from Spirit Hall and was willing to "lower its stature" to ally with the Heaven Dou Empire,

this was naturally monumental good news for the entire Heaven Dou Empire.

Leaving aside how many benefits could be reaped after a formal alliance was established,

just the absence of border frictions would already be extremely advantageous to the Heaven Dou Empire.

An alliance? With me around, that is impossible!

Immediately following this, a new thought brewed within Qian Renxue's heart.

Since the matter of an alliance between the Heaven Dou Empire and the Star Luo Empire could not be directly rejected, she would scheme from within to sabotage it.

Viewed in this light, this turned out to be a tremendous opportunity instead.

As long as she operated skillfully, then forget an alliance; causing the two nations to fall out directly was not entirely out of the question.

To take a step back, even if she failed to cause an enmity between the two nations, she could still use this opportunity to suppress certain factions, facilitating the nation-stealing plan she would execute later.

That woman surely never imagined that the disaster she caused would become my merit.

At this moment, Qian Renxue's mind had already begun to fantasize about the look of utter exasperation Bibi Dong would wear upon learning this news.

Yet on her face, she put on an expression of deep contemplation.

Following that, Qian Renxue began to speak respectfully to Xue Ye:

"Reporting to Father, in this child's view, this is definitely a once-in-a-lifetime great opportunity for our Heaven Dou Empire!"

"Once an alliance is formed, with the national strength of the two great empires, we can certainly check Spirit Hall and weaken its control over the Soul Master community."

"Beyond that, matters like border frictions will likewise be eliminated through this..."

Since she was shifting her strategy to fully promote the establishment of an alliance between the Heaven Dou Empire and the Star Luo Empire,

Qian Renxue naturally spared no effort in describing the benefits of an alliance.

Of course, she wasn't a fool; she would certainly point out some existing problems and drawbacks as well.

Meanwhile, Emperor Xue Ye had been sitting there all along, listening to Xue Qinghe's speech and nodding in agreement from time to time.

Reaching the end, Qian Renxue let out a soft sigh and said, "By availing ourselves of such an opportunity to recuperate and build up our strength, our Heaven Dou Imperial Family will be able to gradually accumulate more might."

"Father, perhaps in the future, our Heaven Dou Imperial Family will also be able to make our own imperial authority powerful, just like the Star Luo Imperial Family."

Having said these words, Qian Renxue fell silent, standing respectfully in place as she awaited Xue Ye's reaction.

"Indeed..." After a long while, Xue Ye finally uttered these words with a complex expression.

He looked at his crown prince with a gaze full of gratification.

The words Qian Renxue had spoken just at the end had struck right at what was in Xue Ye's heart.

One might ask: which emperor did not want his own imperial authority to be powerful and centralized, leaving only his voice within the borders of the empire?

Yet their Heaven Dou Imperial Family really had it difficult.

It was not merely a matter of inherent shortcomings.

Aside from the complicated internal powerful factions, there were two major external crises as well.

They were treading on thin ice!