Ever since overturning Luo State, Chu State Nobility had grown increasingly arrogant.
That was Luo State!
Defeating Luo State meant that Zhou State's Mandate of Heaven was no longer unassailable, and Heaven had begun to abandon Zhou State.
Especially since, among the remaining major powers, Chu State could almost take on two at once, Chu State Nobility basked in the triumph of being first under Heaven.
Few realized that a great big word-danger-had already been pasted onto their foreheads.
Every day, Chu State Nobility quarreled furiously over their interests.
But every one of them was a royal kinsman or highborn relative who had rendered great service, a powerful Enfeoffed Lord within Chu State. None had wronged the ruling house, and their struggles with one another were private feuds that did not draw the ruling house into the fray.
This gave the King of Chu a terrible headache, because their disputes indirectly affected Chu State's strategic planning.
As the King of Chu surveyed the chaos among his nobles, he was utterly overwhelmed.
In governing a state, many things could only be done by the State Chancellor, not the monarch, and so he once again began to miss his maternal uncle, Xiang Cheng.
Before his death, Xiang Cheng had laid out Chu State's future strategy. "Your Majesty, Wu State's lands abound in snakes and insects. When a snake catcher catches a snake, if he cannot kill it outright, it will inevitably harm him.
"Wu State is a country like a venomous snake, and it lies at Chu State's back, close to its vitals. If Wu State is not destroyed, it will certainly cause harm in the future.
"After years of cultivation, Wu State's lands have likewise become a granary. Once Chu State has recovered its strength, it must immediately begin the destruction