"Your Majesty, I'm deeply grateful for your support and help. But isn't this approach... a little too heavy-handed? The council members are bound to take serious issue with what you've done," Xu Yi asked, choosing his words carefully.
Lampari the Thirteenth glanced at Xu Yi. "What? Were you hoping to be stripped of your noble status?"
Xu Yi shrugged. "I don't actually attach much importance to being a noble. If they strip me of the title, so be it. The problem is that your decision may turn the Nobles' Council against you. That hardly seems worth it for my mere viscount's title."
"It's enough that I think it's worth it." Lampari the Thirteenth slowly shook his head and gave Xu Yi a meaningful look before asking gravely, "Xu Yi, if I had ignored this matter today, and you were stripped of your noble status, then lost your private fief and certain privileges reserved for nobles, what would you have done next?"
"Nothing much." Xu Yi shook his head. "I don't have the power to defy a decision by the Nobles' Council. If they insisted on doing it, I would simply hand over my fief and privileges."
"What about the Xinfei Merchant Guild, then? What would you do with it?" Lampari the Thirteenth pressed.
"If I could build the Xinfei Merchant Guild up from nothing to where it is today, then with the foundation we now have, I'm certainly confident I could find somewhere else and build it up again." Xu Yi smiled confidently. "The location doesn't really matter. As long as I'm still here, the Xinfei Merchant Guild will be here too."
"You certainly have confidence." Lampari the Thirteenth nodded approvingly. "But while you may think it doesn't matter where you develop, I think it matters a great deal. The