In the Wu Country"s tents, the candles were burning brightly.
As one of the stronger country in the area, Wu Qiankun"s news was undoubtedly more detailed than that of Xia Country"s.
"The First Prince has invaded Sunset Division and presented Purple Dream Princess to the king. Elated as he was, he invited her into his tent before dying abruptly. Purple Dream Princess is nowhere to be found... is this a revenge plot for the fallen soldiers?"
Wu Qiankun clenched the piece of message and he was in disbelief. "Their king has spent half of his life fighting wars and has fought a name for himself. In the end, his life was ended by a woman, who would have guessed..."
"He deserved it!"
"This old thief, he"s finally dead!"
As the king, he had to be mindful of his words and expression. However, Wu Wudao and General Fei Long had no considerations, and both of them appeared elated.
The Yuan King was a cruel man. He had attempted to invade the South many times and had no restraint in anything that he did. His hands were splashed with blood from countless people, and even the Wu Country had once suffered an invasion which involved 18 cities being taken down by the Yuan Country, and the casualty rate was extremely high.
Most importantly, this person was extremely cunning and was suspicious of everyone. He was like a poisonous snake!
Such an easy death made Wu Qiankun feel as though he was dreaming.
"If not for Ge Ritu, who led his army back to resolve this issue using military force, I would have thought that this might be their plan to confuse us..."
Looking at the ministers below, he smiled bitterly.
"My king! This is a good opportunity! And a rare one too!"
General Fei Long"s eyes burned with pa.s.sion. "There is internal conflict among the foreigners. If we gather our infantry and create trouble for them in the Dragon City... Even if we cannot destroy Yuan country completely, we can at least cripple them..."
As he spoke, his voice became increasingly soft.
"Hehe... With all the other countries outside, why should we be the first one to strike?"
Wu Wudao smiled coldly. "I have understood it now. On this piece of land, every country is in defence. Whoever who strikes first will die! Furthermore... what do we stand to gain by destroying Yuan Country? Do you think we can convert the gra.s.s plains into farms, and subsequently reward the soldiers with it? If they decide the capital to be at the garrison, then we would need to spend huge amounts of money and effort before being able to take them down. There might even be an impending doom for us in the future, and this has all happened in history before!"
"So do we wait and do nothing?"
General Fei Long replied, unconvinced.
"Of course not!"
Wu Wudao held his fists and bowed at Wu Qiankun. "King! The chaos in Yuan Country and the fact that they have no leader now means that you can contest the appointment as the alliance leader! Thereafter, you can gather all the countries to come together to take down Dragon City and support the First Prince in becoming their new king!"
"This..."
Wu Qiankun"s eyes glittered.
The alliance leader would be the leader in name to lead and bring soldiers into alliance! It was unbelievable to be able to pressure the Dragon City and choose the next king of the Yuan Country!
"That"s right!"
General Fei Long answered loudly. "We stand to gain a lot from this! Firstly, we can pressure the many countries to stand on our side. Gathering our influence, we will become a force to be reckoned with! After gathering our influence, the princes who would want to become the crown prince would have to establish relations with us! Our country can benefit from both sides!"
"And this is only the first advantage!"
Wu Wudao twirled his moustache. "Based on the power we can gather, the truth is that we still cannot completely exterminate Yuan Country. Supporting the First Prince is in preparation of the future."
"Wise words, Imperial Advisor!"
Wu Qiankun felt that there was much to be explored.
In getting involved with the Yuan Country"s internal affairs, the future for Wu Country would be more or less decided. The gra.s.s plains would no longer be p.r.o.ne to invasion. The only thing to do would be to train up a deputy. If well performed, generations of alliance leaders from the Wu Country would become the king of the plains, and the plains would be well protected!
Not just that, everyone would be used to the outcome in time to come!
Once Yuan Country had been taken over completely, and with the current power of the Wu Country, their collective power would be increased by folds! Wu Country would become the strongest in the region, and would be one step closer to becoming the alliance leader!
Of course, all these had to be done slowly, and might even take more than a generation"s time.
However, if they were to persevere, they would ultimately be an unmatched power! The most important was that their plans were all gradual and would likely not be met with a lot of resistance.
"This is... a plan to unify the whole region!"
Wu Qiankun became increasingly excited. "Even if it takes my life, I must complete the first step, as a foundation for generations to come!"
"We will put our lives on the line for Wu Country!"
Wu Wudao and General Fei Long kneeled down, bowed and both of them were burning with pa.s.sion and loyalty for the country.
The second day.
"What? Is the conference re-opening? So quickly?"
In the campsite of the Xia Country, Fang Yuan and company received the news.
It was a messenger from the Wu Country, and his face was gleaning with happiness. "Regarding the Yuan Country"s affairs, my king as already received news, and is intending to discuss with every country over the conference."
After the messenger took his leave, Xie Lingyun and the rest were lost in thoughts.
"The chaos in Yuan Country is natural. It seems that Wu Country wants to take action now!"
Lan Xiaosheng folded his foldable fan and rhythmically slapped in his other palm. "Princess and Fang Yuan, what are your plans?"
"We"ll react to whatever happens. Let"s go take a look!"
Fang Yuan looked in the direction of Dragon City, the capital city of Yuan Country. He could feel a tinge of uneasiness.
He thought of the Eighth Prince from Yuan Country, and his formidable influence and power. Even with so much power, he still became fl.u.s.tered the moment he received the smoke signal.
The Wu Country had an ulterior motive for this conference. Would Fang Yuan let them have their way?
A row of people walked up to an elevated platform. Subconsciously, Xie Lingyun and Lan Xiaosheng"s eyelids twitched.
There were many flags being positioned around the platform, and Wu Qiankun was wearing a crown. He was dressed in a dragon"s robe and sat in the leader"s seat. Many servants surrounded him, and the entire scene was majestic beyond words.
"This is the alliance leader"s seat!"
Xie Lingyun shook her head. "Wu Country did not wait for the voting from the other countries, and claimed the appointment for themselves?"
"Don"t say that, Lady Xie!"
Wu Wudao walked out from the side and laughed. "Yuan Country"s king has just died. My country king is not appointed as the alliance leader with the recommendation from Qi, Zhu and Kun Country. How is this unfair?"
"When was this?"
"Last night!"
Wu Wudao smiled and felt that the depression that was in him for the past few days had all been let out.
"King of Xia Country, you"re late. Hurry up and ask the alliance leader for forgiveness!"
One of the small country governors came out, only to put Xia Country on a spot.
They were clear about the fact that the chaos in Yuan Country would lead to the inevitable uprising of Wu Country. The only way was to establish good relations with them and stand on their side.
"I... I..."
The king of Xia Country was only a puppet. He could not even complete a proper sentence now.
Xie Lingyun quickly showed a hand sign. Immediately, two servants supported the king of Xia Country to pay respects to Wu Qiankun. "Greetings, alliance leader!"
"No need for formalities!"
Wu Qiankun waved his hand.
"After being recommended by many countries to become the alliance leader, I am fearful. I will do my best and will not let everyone down!"
Suddenly, he stood up and looked in the direction of Dragon City in Yuan Country. "Yuan Country is also part of the alliance. However, they are in a state of chaos now because of the death of their king. After this conference, I shall bring every country in this alliance together to head towards Dragon City to bring peacekeeping efforts to them and to protect the royal family, ensuring the survival of the late king"s descendants!"
It was always important to sound n.o.ble.
As Wu Qiankun shared his n.o.ble objective, many country governors agreed in unison.
"Alliance leader, you are compa.s.sionate!"
"This is what needs to be done!"
In reality, everyone knew what would happen if troops were to enter Yuan Country.
"Good!"
Wu Qiankun was flushed. "Today we shall drink blood and swear to make our alliance official. We will look out for each other and enjoy good times together. Those who betray us, we will deal with them together!"
With the wave of his head, an official carried a bull"s head and walked up the platform.
As the alliance leader, Wu Qiankun would not personally kill an animal. He only had to demonstrate the action of killing it.
Not long after, cups of blood wine were distributed to the several country governors.
Fang Yuan was observing from the sidelines.
The country governors from Zhu, Kun and Qi Country were all pale, but all of them did not hesitate to gulp the cup of blood. They were all fearful of what Wu Qiankun could do to them.
"Everything is now official!"
Fang Yuan looked down and stared coldly. "Next up... They will surely kill one person as a form of warning and sacrifice, right?"
Indeed, at the next moment, Wu Qiankun"s swept the crowd with a sinister look.
"Alliance leader!"
At that moment, the Qi Country Governor leapt out. "The essence of an alliance is trust. Today, in the conference, we have a country who is untrustworthy! Xia Country Governor, since you"ve agreed on a marriage with Wu Country, why did you go back on your words? Also, regarding the rebellion in the Secluded Mountains Prefecture, why did you cover up for the mastermind? What are your intentions?"
"This..."
Against such a huge pressure from everyone, even Xie Lingyun found it hard to deal with.
"This is Xia Country"s internal affairs! As an outsider, what right do you have to interfere?"
Fang Yuan stood out from the row. Disregarding the stares from everyone around, he calmly continued. "Especially all of you country governors! Today, Wu Country can abruptly interfere in Yuan Country"s internal affairs, and tomorrow all of you would do the same. Even if all of you do the same one by one, it would be equally detrimental! Remember what happened to Yuan Country today! Your country could end up like Yuan Country or Xia Country one day!"
"What audacity!!!"
Wu Qiankun was fuming mad. "You dare to be disrespectful in front of me?!"
In reality, this was just an excuse.
The main point was that Fang Yuan had managed to explain everything that he had done and everything that he had planned to do.
"Alliance leader, Fang Yuan was the one who opposed our soldiers. He should have been given the death sentence! Today, he was disrespectful in front of you, and is another offence! Please execute him!"
Wu Wudao stood out and said coldly.
"That"s right. In front of all the armies, discipline and order are of utmost priority. Please execute him!"
General Fei Long knelt down and pleaded Wu Qiankun as well.
"Righteousness would be the best excuse to kill someone! If we were all normal people, and if I were to encounter this situation, I would surely die!"
Fang Yuan solemnly thought to himself.
He finally knew how it felt like that if everyone were to decide that he was guilty, he would be guilty!
Every country"s representative was here. With so many people accusing him at the same time, it was indeed something to be feared.
Of course, the most important was the oncoming soldiers that were slowly making their way to surround him, together with the leaders, General Fei Long and Wu Wudao.
"Alliance leader has his orders. This is not a drill. Be mindful that this person is extremely powerful, and all are instructed to protect your respective country governors..."
Wu Wudao"s face was flushed with excitement. He had the thrill as though he was about to take his revenge.
"How dare you! What do you intend to do to my imperial advisor?"
Xie Lingyun stood up with a serious look on her face.
As for Lan Xiaosheng? He kept on retreating and was already nowhere to be seen.
"Haha... Lingyun, you and your country have made the right decision!"
Fang Yuan stood in the middle, scanned his surroundings and suddenly broke out into laughter.