"A marriage alliance?"
A hint of hesitation showed in Xu Yuan's eyes. "So the Emperor isn't going to pursue the matter with Nalan You?"
The carriage swayed gently as the black dragon carriage slowly proceeded toward the end of the alley.
Xu Yinhe smiled faintly, unperturbed.
"How could he pursue it? What is done is done. When choosing between assigning blame and extracting advantages, it is impossible for Li Yaoxuan to choose poorly."
Xu Yuan caught on quickly. Letting out a soft sigh, he took a seat across from his father.
"The Emperor wants us to give him our full backing on the northern border?"
"Most likely, yes."
Xu Yinhe nodded, his expression deep and tranquil. "However, I do not yet know what methods he intends to use."
With those words, father and son lapsed into brief silence.
Xu Yuan felt a strange unease.
Xu Yinhe had not brought up Nalan You at all.
If it were the previous Xu Yuan from his memories who had killed a prince of the Great Desert, Xu Yinhe's silence would likely have been because asking would be pointless. There would have been no motive, only reckless impulse—killing purely out of whim.
Yet now, given what he had shown of himself, killing a foreign envoy—especially one tied to the looming threat of war—must have had a clear motive. Why had this father of his not even asked a single question?
After waiting for a while,
Seeing that Xu Yinhe still showed no sign of inquiring, Xu Yuan took the initiative to bring it up:
"Father, aren't you going to ask why I killed Nalan You?"
Xu Yinhe raised his gaze and asked in return:
"Why should I?"
That left Xu Yuan at a loss for words. A sheepish grin twitched across his face.
"Didn't you mention earlier that the Great Desert seems to have allied with the Barbarians? For me to kill him at a time like this..."
"Enough."
Xu Yinhe cut him off, a faint smile in his eyes.
"You naturally had your own reasons for killing him. If you wish to speak of it, I can offer my counsel. If you do not wish to speak, the death of a single Dachao prince will not affect the overall situation."
"......"
Xu Yuan did not reply at once.
Noticing his expression, Xu Yinhe's gaze softened with a trace of paternal warmth, and he spoke with earnest solemnity:
"Changtian, while I am still here, matters can be planned, decided, and executed by me. But once I am gone, all of this will fall into your hands. When that day comes, no one will be able to help you. While I am still around, you must learn to make decisions for yourself, and you must learn to shoulder the consequences that follow from those decisions."
"......"
Xu Yuan's expression turned somewhat peculiar.
He understood, yet he found it hard to believe.
Although it had never been stated outright, the inner circle of loyal retainers in the Chancellor's Manor could more or less deduce that the favored heir had changed.
In other words, he could use this identity to direct matters.
For instance, he could instruct Lou Ji to investigate something, or order Hua Hong to research a certain array formation.
So long as he possessed the means to command them, he had no need to explain himself to Xu Yinhe.
This was immense authority—a mandate that allowed him to openly keep his superior in the dark within the Chancellor's Manor.
Xu Yuan's gaze grew complex.
This was a helpless choice forced upon this father by the pressing constraints of time.
It was also this father's unconditional trust in his child.
Yet it was probably this very trust that had allowed Xu Xinyao to successfully stab such a formidable hegemon in the back in *Cangyuan*.
With a quiet sigh, Xu Yuan spoke softly:
"Father, although the northern campaign is temporarily locked in a stalemate due to the sects and the weather, for the Dachao to dare meddle at this juncture, my guess is that the sects offered them concessions to mobilize their troops. Their purpose in sending an envoy to the Imperial Capital was simple: first, to probe whether your and the Emperor's resolve is firm, and second, to bid up their price, trying to reap benefits from both the sects and the court."
"Therefore, the reason I dared kill that Dachao prince is quite simple: whatever the Emperor and the Great Desert intended to negotiate would almost certainly never reach an agreement."
Xu Yinhe pondered for a moment and smiled faintly. Rather than addressing the point directly, he remarked in a leisurely tone:
"To stop at nothing to achieve his goals, and to eradicate the sects, Li Yaoxuan was even willing to support me back then to bring me to where I stand today."
To translate that:
If it meant annihilating the sects, the current sovereign would not hesitate to compromise with the Great Desert.
Xu Yuan was taken aback. After a moment of thought, his eyes showed uncertainty:
"Father, do you mean to say that the Emperor is even willing to give up half of Yuzhou to let the local sects and the Great Desert tear each other apart?"
To withdraw the Xiyuan Army, leaving the Yuzhou sects bordering the desert to go head-to-head alone against those desert wolf cubs.
Xu Yinhe's expression remained calm.
"Forty years ago, he did it once."
Hearing that timeframe, Xu Yuan considered it for a moment:
"Forty years ago... Shortly after the Emperor ascended the throne?"
Xu Yinhe nodded.
"During that period, the power of those sects in Yuzhou had grown so great that they dared reach their hands into imperial taxation. Forced by circumstance, he withdrew the Xiyuan Army back to the border between Daying Province and Yuzhou."
Xu Yuan: "......"
A literal case of having the rebels guard the nation's borders.
A look of reminiscence surfaced in Xu Yinhe's deep, fathomless eyes.
"That war lasted three years. Although some very severe chaos erupted along the way, the outcome was fairly good. Every one of those sects in Yuzhou shrank considerably. Many died, but the imperial court thoroughly reclaimed control over Yuzhou, which also allowed Li Yaoxuan to secure his throne."
Hearing this, a flash of realization crossed Xu Yuan's eyes.
The near-monopoly status of the Tian'an Chamber of Commerce in Yuzhou was likely rooted in that very event.
Thinking of this, Xu Yuan glanced out the carriage window.
By now, the black dragon carriage had left the alley and was heading onto the Beast Thoroughfare within the Imperial Capital.
Although the streets on either side bustled with heavy traffic, the common folk along the road did not dare speak loudly due to the presence of their black dragon carriage, making the bustling street strangely hushed.
"Father, among the three greatest foreign tribes bordering Great Yan—the Barbarians, the Great Desert, and Guyuan—all their ambitions ultimately boil down to a single goal: entering the Fourteen Provinces of the Central Lands. This covetous desire burns fiercest among the Barbarians and the Great Desert. Letting them in would be even worse than dealing with the sects, so we must never allow them to strike a deal."
"Is that so?"
Hearing this, Xu Yinhe looked at Xu Yuan with a meaningful smile, but said nothing more.
"......"
Xu Yuan felt slightly unnerved by his father's parting look.
What he had said just now was true, yet he had withheld certain details.
Killing Nalan You was not solely out of righteousness for the human race. More importantly, it was because of the true purpose behind Nalan You's visit to the Imperial Capital.
Although that man was the Sixth Prince of the Great Desert Royal Court, he was actually a turncoat within the Dachao royal clan.
Perhaps out of infatuation, or perhaps because the presence of the Divine Maiden was advantageous to the Dachao foundation, Nalan You had become a loyal follower of the Divine Maiden of the Great Desert.
In other words, while Nalan You was ostensibly sent by the Dachao royal clan, he was truly representing that sly enchantress, the Divine Maiden.
For the Dachao royal clan to send someone to negotiate in Di'an City just as the northern campaign was locked in stalemate was nothing more than an attempt to take advantage of the crisis. Even if an agreement were made, that pack of wolf cubs would still mobilize to loot and pillage.
Yet the Divine Maiden was different.
The presence of the Linlang granted the Divine Maiden a status transcendent above all else within the Great Desert Royal Court.
Tied so closely to the Linlang, the Divine Maiden could compel it to provide more of the blood of the divine beast—which, in other words, meant helping the Great Desert produce more powerful experts.
And therein lay the problem.
With such a transcendent status, if she harbored no ambitions for power, the Divine Maiden and the Dachao royal clan could coexist in peace. But if she did possess such ambitions, it would spell a political catastrophe for the Great Desert.
Unfortunately, this current Divine Maiden was exceedingly thirsty for power.
Therefore, the envoy sent by the Divine Maiden would ask for neither land nor supplies. Offering neutrality as her condition, and perhaps even paying a steep price, she sought only to trade for high-ranking cultivators and resources to assist her in staging a coup.
High-ranking cultivators were something Great Yan did not lack.
In other words,
If Nalan You were allowed to meet the Emperor, the two sides would very likely reach an accord.
And in *Cangyuan*, once that enchantress of a Divine Maiden seized power, she would burrow deep into the Great Desert to steadily build her strength, causing the Great Desert's power to rise exponentially within a matter of years.
That was something Xu Yuan refused to see happen, and it was the real reason he had to kill Nalan You.
Chapter 209