Chapter 918: Inviting a Savior (II)

“Our Liu family started as merchants, so I chose the Ministry of Finance when the nine ministries were formed,” sighed the old man. “We were in charge of the world’s finances. Merchants are diplomatic and do not offend people if we can help it. If we offend someone, we immediately bend at the waist when they show signs of ascension. Dignity and apologies are inconsequential in our goal to help the other forget their grudge.

“You neither send your apologies and compensation to Li Hao, nor communicate with Armed Forces and Administration. You do not collude with the other marginalized ministries or with the three great organizations. You do not look for the eight main cities or nurture your own faction. Is this all in the name of watching a show? Just for a show?”

He cast a resigned look at his son. His son was less than him. Each generation paled in comparison to the last. Of the current generation, only the ones of Armed Forces and Administration were acceptable. The rest were... mediocre. His own son had wasted a lot of time on nothing; he didn’t know what his son wanted.

Was Liu Yunqing still furious about Li Hao eliminating the Four Seas Company? Or enraged that the nine ministries had carved up the Liu family interests for themselves? If that was the case, his shrewdness ran much too shallow!

“In all honesty... I think better of Li Hao than our peers,” Liu Yunqing said slowly after a long silence. “But father, it’s one thing to think highly of Li Hao and another to actually take definitive action. The matter of the ancient civilization alone makes it hard to come to a decision. Battle Heaven stands behind Li Hao, but there is more than just Battle Heaven in the ancient civilization!

“As for the current age, there are the two parties of Skystar Town versus Silver Moon. Silver Moon is stronger, but it has not awoken...”

The old man understood his son’s meaning. His son looked favorably upon Li Hao, but didn’t offer his fealty because he didn’t think well of the young man’s chances after the second awakening. Therefore, he chose to stay on the sidelines.

There was nothing wrong with that. Indeed, many plant spirits had revived in the central region and they could continue to absorb energy. Were there even ten recovering plant spirits in all of Silver Moon province? And so what if all of them supported Li Hao?

The seven divine mountains had their own plant and beast spirits. The three great organizations must have their own as well, and none of them supported Li Hao. The three founding dukes also possessed their own, but they also didn’t support Li Hao.

City of Supernaturals had plenty of those and neither did they support Li Hao.

His son took more into account and saw through things very clearly. But because of this, he dithered even more so.

“Since you can see it all clearly, you make the decision!” the old man sighed.

“Father’s reminder is right.” Liu Yunqing nodded. “If we continue in this vein, the family will be in awkward straits once the second awakening begins. It’ll be Li Hao representing Silver Moon then! Right now, my question is who will be representing Skystar Town? Or... if us Lius stand a chance of representing all of the ancient plant spirits in Skystar Town?”

The old man contemplated silently before responding, “It is likely only the three great organizations who are confident in standing against Li Hao—Red Moon!”

“Why do you say that?” Liu Yunqing was rather surprised.

“They... might have a main city behind them as well,” chuckled the old man.

“Main city? Aren’t they all in Silver Moon?”

“Yes, but have you forgotten that Ying Hongyue is from Silver Moon?” the old man continued chuckling. “Is there a difference between Li Hao and Ying Hongyue to the eight main cities? They are both the eight family bloodlines and of Silver Moon. They are both geniuses and powerhouses. They are both of modern society. Is there a difference between who they support?

"Ying Hongyue’s swift rise must have much to do with the faction behind him, and there may be more than one!”

Liu Yunqing furrowed his brows. He’d never been able to determine who stood behind Ying Hongyue, but it was true that Red Moon had a lot of patrons. A main city...? That, he’d never fathomed.

“So father means that we shouldn’t work with either the royal family or Ministry of Administration? What about the City of Supernaturals? They have the twelve ancient aristocracies and each possesses a plant spirit. There’s twelve total...”

“What do you think?” smiled the old man.

What do I think?

I think... the chances aren’t high for their success.

Liu Yunqing sighed and fell silent. He still didn’t know how he should decide. There was another point in that Li Hao was a difficult person to befriend and someone who should not be provoked. He was of the martial world, if no other reason was considered. They had zero tolerance for certain matters.

𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Liu Yunqing had felt that Li Hao would become a threat ever since they lost their first engagement. He’d once thought of cooperating with Li Hao, but whether it was the Four Seas Company or their other groups, all of them possessed a fatal drawback.

They’d all colluded with pirates.

It was said that Li Hao despised pirates. There would be no problem if he was a politician, but the key was that... he wasn’t. Therefore, there may never have been a possibility of them working together. Liu Yunqing was well aware of this, his father deeply understood it, so his father suggested Ying Hongyue!

Liu Yunqing grasped his father’s meaning. Since the nine ministries excluded the Lius and Li Hao was not an option, then they could only choose Ying Hongyue.

However, it was Liu Yunqing’s opinion that Ying Hongyue was too slippery. Someone like that was difficult to deal with. Even if Ying Hongyue didn’t care about their past dealings, it might be a very bad decision for the Liu family to choose him.

“You can choose to withdraw if you find it inappropriate!” the old man laughed when he saw his son stay silent. “Hand over our financial powers, our many years of wealth, and our private army. We can find a quiet place to live out our days. That might actually result in a good ending for us!

“Sovereigns have ever been wary of those with military power, political power, or financial power. If we choose to hand over the family fortune, even a stick-in-the-mud like Li Hao will choose to forgive us, so long as we don’t commit further mistakes!

“With the unrest in the world, our fortune will be a treasure to those who seek to rule the world. It might be worthless to cultivators, however.” He looked at his son. “Choose well!”

As for the Liu family taking center stage, that was hard. Those who held the reins of money always found it difficult to reign supreme. Anyone familiar with history would know that under these circumstances, their best choice was to choose a good liege lord to be loyal to. They would receive good endings in life even if they lost the family fortune. That made for a good decision.

While he himself had some thoughts, it was ultimately up to his son.

Liu Yunqing closed his eyes without uttering a word. He hesitated in this moment. Not only him, but so did a similar scene play out at the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Another sight was present at the Inspectorate. Chen Yao looked at his father, perplexed.

“Li Hao’s been running back and forth all day. Has he accomplished anything? Does he not know that the royal family has reached an agreement with the Ministry of Administration? What is he running around for?”

Chen Zhongtian chuckled merrily and ignored his son, raising his head only when the latter turned impatient. “What are you in a rush for! Have some patience! Look at Li Hao, he’s young, but conducts his business in a very orderly way...

“You should get busy too.” He thought for a moment. “Head out and inspect the various branches in the central region. Kill whoever you should kill, execute or demote whoever deserves it. Be tougher! Once this operation concludes successfully, half of the world will follow the Li banner!”

“That fast?” Chen Yao’s eyes widened. It’d only been a few days, but half of the world was going to be Li Hao’s?

“Is that fast?” chuckled Chen Zhongtian. “Such speed is normal when the victor is seeking to dominate the world. The attempt becomes difficult once they slow down! What is meant by churning through the world? You must move swiftly once the wind stirs. That is what is meant when we talk of conquering the world, just one night of a comfortable breeze is sufficient to bring much joy!”

The hell is he going on about?

Chen Yao inwardly rolled his eyes at how his old man was spouting nonsense.

“Don’t worry.” Chen Zhongtian laughed meaningfully when he saw that his son didn’t believe him at all. “It will be soon. The world is split into three parts at present—Li Hao and Silver Moon for one part, the nine ministries and royal family for another, and the three great organizations, three founding dukes, and various local overlords as a third!”

As soon as the ones in the ruins were disposed of, the third that belonged to the nine ministries and royal family would probably go to Li Hao.

“This is only the beginning of unification. He’ll then move onto cleansing the remnants of the ancient civilization—they need to either surrender, die, or be exiled. Once the other four nations answer to Silver Moon, that will be when we return to glory!” Chen Zhongtian waxed eloquent. “The four nations... are showing signs of instability. Peace that has reigned for hundreds of years is about to be broken.

“As of current, Skystar’s internal discord is too severe. Li Hao must swiftly decimate his opposition to have sufficient energy to bring against our external foes. Otherwise, Skystar is destined to break apart! The four nations will not rest easy. Whether it is Great Li or the Divine Nation, either of the two are difficult opponents.”

“The nations of the four directions can threaten Skystar?” Chen Yao asked quietly. He was indifferent about the other issues.

“And why not? Skystar’s infighting is too pronounced! As small as the four nations are, they have many powerhouses and troops. The more difficult their lives are, the more united they are. Skystar is the great nation of the central plains, but we are a skyscraper about to topple over. Why can they not set their sights on the central plains?”

Chen Yao frowned and didn’t say anything. He hadn’t paid much attention to the four nations before, but after his father’s words, perhaps he should arrange for some spies to be installed in those nations. Perhaps all of the nine ministries already had their own people in place; he’d just been unconcerned about any situation outside of home.