Chapter 261: Strife in the Great Desert

“Marriage?” A trace of hesitation entered Xu Yuan’s eyes. “Then His Majesty isn’t going to pursue the matter of Nalar Veyr?”

The carriage rocked gently as the black dragon carriage began rolling toward the far end of the alley.

Xu Yinhe smiled faintly. “How could he pursue it? What’s done is done. Between assigning blame and extracting benefits from the situation, Li Yaoxuan would never choose wrongly.”

Xu Yuan caught on quickly. He sighed and sat down across from his father. “His Majesty wants us to give him our full support in the northern frontier?”

“Most likely.” Xu Yinhe nodded, his expression calm and unreadable. “I simply don’t know what means he intends to use yet.”

With that, father and son fell silent for a time.

Xu Yuan found the whole thing rather strange.

Xu Yinhe had shown absolutely no intention of asking about Nalar Veyr. Had this been the Third Young Master from his memories, then after killing a prince of the Great Desert, Xu Yinhe probably would not have bothered asking because there would have been no point.

There would have been no motive. It would have been pure temperament. He killed the man simply because he felt like killing him.

But with everything Xu Yuan had revealed about himself now, killing a foreign envoy, especially one connected to military affairs, had to have been done for a clear reason. Yet his old man had not even asked?

After waiting for a while and seeing that Xu Yinhe still had no intention of bringing it up, Xu Yuan finally raised the subject himself. “Father, aren’t you going to ask why I killed Nalar Veyr?”

Xu Yinhe lifted his eyes. “Why should I?”

That question left Xu Yuan at a loss. He gave an awkward grin. “Didn’t you say before that the Great Desert seems to have allied with the barbarians? Killing him now might—”

“That’s enough.” Xu Yinhe cut him off, amusement glimmering in his eyes. “You naturally had your own reasons for killing him. If you wish to explain them, I can help you think matters through. If you do not, then the death of one Darchai prince is hardly enough to affect the greater situation.”

Xu Yuan did not answer immediately.

Seeing his expression, a hint of fatherly affection appeared in Xu Yinhe’s eyes. His voice grew earnest. “Changtian, while I am still here, I can devise the plans, make the decisions, and see them carried out. But once I am gone, all of this will fall into your hands. When that day comes, no one will be there to help you. “So while I am still alive, you must learn to make your own decisions and learn to bear whatever consequences those decisions bring.”

Xu Yuan’s expression became rather peculiar. He understood now. He simply found it a little hard to believe. No one had said it outright, but among the Chancellor's Manor’s senior diehards who knew the truth, most had probably already guessed that the identity of the heir apparent had changed.

In other words, Xu Yuan could now use that status to arrange certain matters. For example, he could order Lou Ji to investigate something, or have Hua Hong research a particular formation. So long as he had the means to make them obey, he would not need to explain himself to Xu Yinhe.

It was an extraordinary degree of authority, the right to deceive both his superiors and subordinates within the Chancellor's Manor, openly and without fear.

Xu Yuan’s gaze grew complicated. This was a concession his father had been forced to make because time was running short. But it was also a father’s unconditional trust in his son.

Then again, it was probably this very trust that had allowed Xu Xinyao to successfully assassinate such a ruthless titan in Azure Point.

Xu Yuan sighed and spoke softly. “Father, although the fighting in the northern frontier has temporarily reached a stalemate because of the sects and the weather, the fact that the Darchai people dare involve themselves at a time like this probably means the sects offered them enough benefits to send troops.

“Their reason for sending an envoy to the Imperial Capital was also quite simple. First, they wanted to test whether the Emperor and you were truly determined. Second, they wanted to play both sides and see who would offer the better price, the sects or the imperial court. That’s why I dared kill the Darchai prince. The negotiations between His Majesty and the Great Desert were most likely doomed from the beginning.”

Xu Yinhe pondered for a moment, then smiled faintly. Rather than responding directly, he said in an unhurried tone, “Li Yaoxuan has never cared what methods he must use to achieve his goals. To eradicate the sects, he was even willing to support me until I reached my present position.”

Plainly speaking, if the sects could be destroyed, the Emperor would not mind compromising with the Great Desert.

Xu Yuan froze. After thinking for a moment, uncertainty entered his eyes. “Father, are you saying the Emperor might even be willing to abandon half of Yu Province and let the local sects and the Great Desert tear each other apart?”

He would withdraw the West Gulf Army and leave the sects along Yu Province’s border to solo the Great Desert’s wolf cubs.

Xu Yinhe’s gaze remained remarkably calm. “He did it once 40 years ago.”

Hearing that number, Xu Yuan thought for a moment. “40 years ago… not long after His Majesty ascended the throne?”

Xu Yinhe nodded. “Back then, the sects in Yu Province had grown so powerful that they even dared interfere with taxation. Left with no other choice, he withdrew the West Gulf Army to the border between Windfall Province and Yu Province.”

So this was basically letting the rebels guard the frontier.

A trace of reminiscence surfaced in Xu Yinhe’s deep, still eyes. “That war lasted three years. Some extremely serious problems arose along the way, but the final outcome was satisfactory enough. Every sect in Yu Province was cut down substantially. Many people died, but the imperial court completely restored its control over the province, and Li Yaoxuan secured his position on the throne.”

Understanding dawned in Xu Yuan’s eyes.

The Calm Sky Merchant Association’s near-monopoly in Yu Province had probably been born from that very conflict.

At that thought, Xu Yuan glanced out the carriage window. The black dragon carriage had already emerged from the alley and was heading toward one of the Imperial Capital’s beastways.

The streets on either side were packed with traffic, yet the commoners lowered their voices at the sight of the black dragon carriage. The road was bustling, but strangely hushed.

“Father, the three greatest foreign powers bordering the Great Flame Empire, the Barbarians, the Great Desert, and the Ancient Abyss, all want the same thing in the end. That’s entry into the 14 provinces of the Central Plains. The Barbarians and the Great Desert covet them most of all. Better to leave the land in the hands of the sects than let either of them in. We absolutely cannot allow these negotiations to succeed.”

“Is that so?” Xu Yinhe gave Xu Yuan a meaningful smile but said nothing more.

That final look sent a faint chill crawling up Xu Yuan’s back. Everything he had said was true. He had simply omitted a few details.

Xu Yuan had not killed Nalar Veyr solely out of some grand sense of duty toward humanity. The greater reason was the true purpose behind Nalar Veyr’s visit to the Imperial Capital.

Although the man was the sixth prince of the Great Desert’s royal court, he was secretly a turncoat within the Darchai royal clan.

Perhaps it was because he admired her. Perhaps it was because her existence benefited the foundations of Darchai rule. Whatever the reason, Nalar Veyr had become a devoted supporter of the Desert Goddess.

In other words, Nalar Veyr had ostensibly been sent by the Darchai royal clan, but in truth, he represented that waist-devil of a Desert Goddess.

The Darchai royal clan had sent someone to Emperor’s Hold for negotiations at precisely the moment the northern frontier had fallen into a stalemate. Obviously, they wanted to profit from the Great Flame Empire’s misfortune.

And even if the imperial court agreed to their demands, those wolf cubs would still send troops and take advantage of the chaos.

The Goddess, however, was different. The existence of the Qilin Wolf placed her in a transcendent position within the Great Desert’s royal court.

Because she was so closely bound to the Qilin Wolf, she could make it provide more divine beast blood. In other words, she could help the Great Desert produce far more powerful cultivators.

And therein lay the problem. With such an exalted position, the Goddess and the Darchai royal clan could coexist peacefully so long as she had no desire to compete for power.

But if she did harbor such ambitions, it would become a political catastrophe for the entire Great Desert.

Unfortunately, this generation’s Goddess was ravenous for power.

That meant the representative she sent would not ask for land or vast quantities of supplies. In exchange for the Great Desert’s neutrality and perhaps even at considerable cost, she would ask the Great Flame Empire to provide high-ranking cultivators and resources to help her stage a coup.

And the Great Flame Empire had no shortage of high-ranking cultivators.

In other words, as long as Nalar Veyr managed to meet the Emperor, the two sides would most likely reach an agreement.

In Azure Point, once that waist-devil of a Goddess seized power, she holed up deep within the Great Desert and quietly built her strength. Within only a few years, the Great Desert’s power began growing exponentially.

That was something Xu Yuan had no desire to see. It was also why Nalar Veyr had to die.