Chapter 140: Chapter 141 Two Old Foxes
Trantor: 549690339
Having returned to Zhu Gate, it was already nearing nighttime.
After a busy day, he was tired and soon fell asleep early.
However, deep into the night, Qin Yang suddenly appeared in his room, startling the alert Zhu Minng.
“The master has sent for you,” Qin Yang, who appeared and vanished like a phantom, was dressed in ck brocade that blended into the night. If not for the glimmer in her eyes, Zhu Minng would have thought there was a ghost in his room.
“What is it that can’t wait until tomorrow?” Zhu Minng was still very sleepy.
“It’s about the matter of taking an oath of residence,” Qin Yang added.
Zhu Minng immediately sprung up from his bed and sshed his face with cold water.
Zhu Minng’s building was quite far from Zhu Heavenly Officer’s study, chosen precisely to avoid disturbance from his father.
This father of his mightmand awe and authority without showing anger outside, but in truth, he was quite the chatterbox, which Zhu Minng sometimes found annoying.
Approaching the study, the building itself wasn’t particrlyrge. It was surrounded by peach trees, an open and spacious wooden bookhouse without an attic, filled with many ancient artifacts, mostly historical casting tools.
The night was cool, stepping into the study, one could see that the opposite side waspletely open, facing a glisteningke.
The stonenterns standing in the water illuminated the gently swaying waves with even more grace. Looking along theke surface, one could even spot several wooden boats slumbering under the moonlight at a great distance…
“Hungry?” Zhu Heavenly Officer was sitting in front of a long tableden with food and drink.
Observing his ravenous eating, it seemed he must have been busy with something during the day and hadn’t managed to eat.
“Not hungry, please go ahead,” Zhu Minng shook his head.
“The matter regarding the Li Chuan Continent is almost certain now; there truly are Ancient Ruins there. No matter how I threatened or tempted, those old codgers just wouldn’t budge,” said Zhu Heavenly Officer as he took a sip of his liquor, casually using a nearby piece of silk to wipe his mouth.
“Then I’ll have no choice but to hurry back to Li Chuan as soon as possible and take those people I know to flee,” Zhu Minng said helplessly.
Zhu Minng could not stand idly by and watch the people of Li Chuan Continent be reduced to very.
“Now we have two options. The first is to break faces with them directly, eliminating whoeverpetes with us.”
“The second… well, this is a method they proposed, and it puts us at Zhu Gate at a great disadvantage, so I believe dering war directly on them is the more secure option.”
n war derations were somewhat rare in the stable and clear-cut power structure of the Supreme Court Imperial City, but were quitemon in other major realms.
It was nothing more than irreconcble differences between powers, turning them into enemies, where upon encountering members of the opposing side, a fight was almost certain.
At the lighter end, they would leave someone crippled or wrecked, at the worst, it led directly to ughter.
“Just tell me about the second method for now, how is it detrimental to us?” Zhu Minng inquired.
Implementing the first method directly was too violent!
Zhu Heavenly Officer actually suggested such a course of action; he must be confident enough in his ability to wipe outpeting powers, or at the very least, leverage the growth of Zhu Gate to force the opponent to back down knowing the difficulty.
But by doing so, Zhu Gate would likely make many enemies!
Zhu Gate itself had only risen to be the leader of the n powers in recent years; its foundations were not yet firmly established.
“The second method, inly put, is their way of humiliating us. You know that the true strength of Zhu Gate doesn’t lie within the n itself, but rather in those powers that prosper and suffer together with us, like your grandfather’s Yaoshan Sword Sect…” Zhu Heavenly Officer stood up and faced the open wall, gazing out at Droplet Lake enveloped by the night.
“I’m aware of that, so even if we have to eliminate those powers, it is mostly up to others to take action,” Zhu Minng said.
“They know our n’s focus isn’t on nurturing Divine and Mortals or Dragon Shepherds, so they deliberately integrated thepetition into this major power contest. Those shrewd old foxes don’t want to wade into murky waters themselves, so they push it onto their young disciples.”
“Integrate thepetition into a major power contest?” Zhu Minng was somewhat surprised to say.
Apetition was a contest between powers.
inly speaking, it meant employing the entire power’s might to secure greater benefits for one’s own power.
It is usually the figures at the level of Uncle-Master and Grandmaster who jointly make decisions, especially in the case of territorial disputes whererge-scale conflicts and direct derations of hostilities often ur.
In fact, it’s the influence of the Dragon Shepherds; dragons consume an enormous amount of resources, and even a wealthy city may not be able to sustain the expenses of a Dragon Shepherd Team.
Not to mention those forces involved in dragon raising—they invest huge sums of money and a great deal of manpower each year in feeding Juvenile Spirits, collecting Juvenile Spirits, and selecting Juvenile Spirits.
Rich territories are fiercely contested for control, with forces frequently shing on a grand scale!
As for the majorparison of forces, it is purely apetition among the young disciples of the major forces, focusing on friendly sparring and stopping when a point is made.
Since they are all young, with limited connections and power, even if some friction arises between two forces during thepetition, it’s unlikely to affect the overall harmony. The disciples will ultimately seek their elders’ decision, and the elders usually handle issues amicably, taking both sides’ backgrounds into ount.
Even if there are incidents like Zhu Tong being killed in action or Zhu Heavenly Officer killing Hao Shaocong, it wouldn’t lead to an eruption of grudges between Zhu Gate and the Purple Sect n.
“Do you think they’re going too far?”
“It seems I, Zhu Heavenly Officer, have been far too lenient with these pedantic, stubborn, arrogant fools.”
“Don’t go out casually these days. I’ll have the people from Broken Gate first wipe out a few of the minor forces causing us trouble, cut off a few of the Imperial Dynasty’s military supply lines, and also call over the ck Armor Army from Pei Country…”
Zhu Heavenly Officer was seething with fury, as if he had suffered a grave injustice over thepetition for session during his recent visit to the court.
“Father, please calm down,” urged Zhu Minng.
“Calm down? They’re practically trampling all over us. Our Zhu Gate doesn’t cultivate Dragon Shepherds or God and Mortal beings, but they want us topete for the territorial rights of the Ancestral Dragon City-State in the majorparison of forces. It’s no different from them telling us to get lost. Son, even if thend had nothing to do with you, even if it were apletely newnd with which we had no association, the way they’re pushing us out is too much to swallow. Do they really think we’re still the insignificant family from before?” Zhu Heavenly Officer said indignantly.
“Father, let’s follow their wishes and decide thepetition based on the majorparison of forces. Nan Lingsha and I have both already entered and made it to the second round,” Zhu Minng said.
“How could that be okay? Whenpared to those Sect Forests with thousands of years of heritage, our Zhu Gate disciples are at a great disadvantage. Why don’t theypare their forging skills with us instead?” Zhu Heavenly Officer stated.
“So, Father, would you rather wipe out their Sects than believe that I can distinguish myself in this majorparison of forces?” Zhu Minng asked.
“It’s not a question of trust, it’s a matter of fairness. We are the newest andrgest of the Six Great ns; there will always be old ns and Sect Forests who disapprove of us. If wepromise on certain matters once, there will be a second time, a third time… There’s no need to bother with their so-called majorparison of forces. I’m going to see what they’ll use topete with us for that parcel ofnd in the Ancestral Dragon City-State—we, the Zhu Gate, will im it!” Zhu Heavenly Officer dered.
Zhu Minng nodded.
Indeed, when it came to the whole matter, the various forces of the Supreme Court Courtyard Continent bullying Zhu Gate in this manner was just them throwing their weight around.
“How about this? We can ept their proposal, but all the major forces need to contribute more resources to thepetition. After all, it’s apetition between forces, not just a contest between disciples. Why would they only offer such measly trinkets? If we’re going to y, let’s y big!” Zhu Minng suggested.
Zhu Heavenly Officer’s eyes lit up.
What a good idea!
Agree to this method, but with everyone upping the stakes, increasing the scale to what is appropriate for a truepetition.
As for the Zhu Gate, we basically don’t need to offer anything; we just need to share the ownership rights of the Li Chuan Continent, allowing all forces to qualify for thepetition!
“The Red Bird City of Purple Sect n, Thunder Iron Mine of the Royal Family, the True Fire Refining Ding of Azure Dragon Pce, the Forging Camps under the control of the Church’s empire… I have long desired these valuable resources and have been at a loss for a reason to have them transferred to us.” A smile quickly spread across Zhu Heavenly Officer’s face.
“They want to make things difficult for us; we’ll just strip them of ayer of skin. Father, tomorrow you just need to put on a warlike stance. Then, let those forces friendly to us feign dissuasion and suggest everyone raise the stakes for thepetition…”
Zhu Minng picked up his wine cup, handed it to Zhu Heavenly Officer, and continued,
“The forces friendly to us should make big bets first, at least of a city-state’s resource level, to force the other forces to either withdraw from thepetition, fearing too great a loss, or to scrape off ayer of skin. When Nan Lingsha and I win thispetition and take all the benefits, we will return the resources of our friendly forces in full, and split the resources of the other forces fifty-fifty between us.” Zhu Minng picked up his wine cup and poured a ss for both himself and Zhu Heavenly Officer.
Upon hearing this speech, Zhu Heavenly Officer’s previous annoyance vanished, and his face was full of smiles.
He raised the ss that Zhu Minng had poured for him, clinked it against his son’s, and said, “To fifty-fifty shares!”
In front of the house, Qin Yang, d in ck brocade, stood quietly.
Her gaze swept across the faces of the father and son, noticing their smiles and unspoken understanding, as cunning as a pair of old foxes…
Which power was about to have a streak of bad luck?
Even when Zhu Gate was only the least of the Six Great ns, Zhu Heavenly Officer and Zhu Minng seldom came out worse in dealings with the major powers.
Now that the family was prospering, those forces still troubling Zhu Gate everywhere likely wouldn’t fare well.