*Thud.*
The sound of the elegant chamber door gently clicking shut echoed through the room. Looking visibly fatigued, Xu Yuan slumped back onto the couch.
Having received an affirmative answer, Hua Hong had stood up and departed directly, leaving only Xu Yuan and Bai Muxi once more in the spacious hall.
Xu Yuan did not speak, and Bai Muxi dared not speak either.
Yet after the time it took for a stick of incense to burn, Bai Muxi could hold back no longer. Kneeling on the floor, she rustled quietly as she shuffled closer toward Xu Yuan, her melodious voice whispering softly, "Young Master... Muxi previously learned some rudimentary knowledge about military arrays. The requirements of an array for armaments are actually not very high; one can form an army with nothing more than spirit blades."
As her voice faded, Xu Yuan slowly cracked open his eyes and glanced at her with a half-smile. "Why didn't you mention that earlier? The money's already spent. Isn't it a bit late to bring it up now?"
Bai Muxi froze, a flash of panic surfacing in her eyes as she hastily explained, "Just now, Young Master forbade me from interjecting, so Muxi naturally had to obey. Duke Hua has not gone far; if you go back on your word now, he should agree to it."
Xu Yuan stared at her for several breaths, then shook his head faintly. "I was only joking."
"You're not wrong, either. The core component of a military array is its people. Truly, equipping each soldier with a spirit blade is enough to form a rudimentary army. But once they take the field, without the protection of armor, the casualty rate among the troops will skyrocket. Moreover, modern armor formation patterns can provide a slight boost to the array's resonance. Therefore, we absolutely cannot cut corners when it comes to military equipment."
At this point, Xu Yuan straightened up slightly, a wry curve touching his lips. "Xiao Bai, if I go find Hua Hong right now, your people will become nothing but cannon fodder once they hit the battlefield. Are you sure you want me to chase after him?"
The purple veil draped down. Bai Muxi parted her crimson lips, then lowered her gaze.
"...I do not."
Xu Yuan raised an eyebrow, amusement in his voice. "Honest this time, aren't you? I thought you'd come out with some coy, sanctimonious words claiming it was all for my sake."
Hearing his playful jab, Bai Muxi immediately relaxed and pursed her lips into a smile. "If Young Master wishes, Muxi can say them right now."
Xu Yuan gave a soft snort and waved his hand. "Forget it. Saying it now ruins the flavor."
Bai Muxi mused for a moment, then climbed onto the couch and knelt upright beside Xu Yuan, presenting him with a straight, slender profile. As she poured wine for him, she spoke softly, "Young Master, this move of yours might foster resentment among the Black Qilin Army."
Xu Yuan glanced at her with genuine interest. "Oh? How so? I'm spending my own silver."
Having filled the cup, Bai Muxi turned her supple torso slightly, extending her hands to present the wine cup to Xu Yuan. "The people of the Seven Cities exist outside the Black Qilin Army. For you, as the heir to the Prime Minister's Manor, to favor one so heavily over the other will inevitably brew grievances in their hearts, even if it violates no formal etiquette or law."
Hearing this, Xu Yuan's brows knit slightly. He had been pondering other matters just now and had not given this much thought for the moment.
Yet immediately after, he felt amused.
Though her homeland was a tiny speck of a place, Bai Muxi was, after all, the paramount leader of the underground palace remnants; she saw through such political stakes with exceptional clarity.
The Black Qilin Army might not hold it against him, but they also might. After all, men do not fear scarcity, but inequality.
Although the funds for this batch did not originate from the Chancellor's Manor, had there been no underground palace remnants, the allocation of such military materiel would have gone straight to them.
Pondering for a breath, Xu Yuan shook his head. "There's no need to worry about that."
"Hm?" Bai Muxi looked surprised.
Xu Yuan pointed toward the door and chuckled softly. "Old Master Hua will handle it for me. The Black Qilin Army won't find out."
In the Chancellor's Manor, finances and military affairs were kept strictly apart.
The senior figures of the Prime Minister's Manor knew well that this was the Lord Chancellor's non-negotiable bottom line.
If anyone from the Black Qilin Army dared to overstep and touch the Tian'an Chamber of Commerce, his father would show no mercy whatsoever.
With this division in place, even though the batch of armaments was massive, so long as Hua Hong and Lou Ji deliberately covered for him, the Black Qilin Army would not catch wind of a single whisper.
At the thought, Xu Yuan felt a wave of relief and ease wash over him.
This was likely the value of having direct loyalists.
Other senior leaders of the manor might adopt a skeptical, wait-and-see, or even hostile attitude toward him, the "crown prince" of the house, but Hua Hong and that elder sister Lou Ji stood firmly on his side.
Taking the wine cup, he drained it in one gulp.
Xu Yuan smiled softly. "Still, thank you. I was occupied with other thoughts just now and didn't notice."
Bai Muxi blinked her bright eyes and whispered, "Other thoughts... Muxi is willing to share Young Master's burdens."
After a moment of thought, Xu Yuan said quietly, "I was wondering how to deal with the parting words Old Master Hua said to me."
"His parting words?"
"Those aristocratic clans responsible for producing armaments."
"..."
A hint of embarrassment surfaced in Xiao Bai's eyes; she had no idea how to reply.
This fell squarely into her blind spot.
The Seven Cities Alliance was only so large. The production of weapons had always been coordinated directly by diviners like them, and within the underground palace, aristocratic clans simply did not exist.
Noticing her awkwardness, Xu Yuan paid it no mind and went on leisurely at his own pace, "Old Master Hua's final words were a warning to me that those people are trying to form a military-industrial complex."
"A military-industrial... complex?" Confusion showed in Xiao Bai's eyes.
Seeing her puzzled look, Xu Yuan explained with a smile, "A massive interest group composed of military manufacturing and military administrative bodies."
Bai Muxi thought for a moment, then spoke in a low voice, "However... aren't those clans under the umbrella of the Tian'an Chamber of Commerce? They shouldn't be able to interface with the Black Qilin Army directly, right? Besides, scattered clans could hardly achieve significant scale."
"For now, that's true."
Xu Yuan's voice carried a hint of helplessness as he murmured, "If the war expands, for the sake of manufacturing efficiency, the merchant associations of these armament-producing clans will most likely be consolidated. After all, even the simplest spirit blade has to pass through more than a dozen hands to go from upstream ore to finished weapon, let alone those intricate, large-scale siege weapons."
At that, Xu Yuan sighed faintly, casually handing the empty wine cup back to Xiao Bai.
"And if the war worsens, these metallurgical and armament clans will almost certainly be permitted to coordinate directly with the Black Qilin Army."
Holding the wine cup, Bai Muxi stroked its edge with delicate fingers fair as mutton-fat jade, an instinctive look of concern welling in her eyes.
She could understand the stakes involved.
Should it truly come to that, the Chancellor's Manor's military industrial capacity and army's combat strength would be fully unleashed. Yet by the same token, the authority of this faction would expand without limit—perhaps even growing powerful enough to sway the direction of the Prime Minister's Manor itself.
The thought flickered past, and Bai Muxi suddenly smiled faintly, whispering, "Why should Young Master fret over this? Isn't Duke Xu still here?"
Even if things unfolded just as the young master predicted, those people were all Xu Yinhe's direct subordinates. As long as Duke Xu was willing, dealing with them would hardly be difficult.
At those words, Xu Yuan smiled wryly, humoring her. "You have a point. Perhaps I'm merely borrowing trouble."
With that, Xu Yuan said no more on the matter, though the worry in his heart did not diminish in the slightest.
While his father was around, these people indeed could stir up no waves. The problem, however, was that his old man's health was poor; he had once stated bluntly that he had only about twenty years left to live.
If the war could conclude within twenty years, the military-industrial complex that rose during the conflict could be dismantled once more. But once the war dragged on beyond that span, this rotten mess would be dumped entirely on Xu Yuan's shoulders.
At this thought, Xu Yuan inexplicably remembered Yuan Hao.
That madman who loved to kill.
The moment this thought surfaced, Xu Yuan's lips parted instinctively, only to close again, before finally relaxing into a faint smile.
He suddenly realized that regarding the very matter currently worrying him, his father had long since laid down a stratagem.
Yuan Hao was a key his father was leaving for him.
Campaigning against the Wanxiang Sect, waging fierce war against the Barbarians, slaughtering the Northern Border—all of this was Xu Yinhe accumulating military merits for Yuan Hao, elevating his standing in the Black Qilin Army step by step. In the ensuing wars, Yuan Hao would likely replace Zong Qingsheng gradually, rising to become the commander of the Black Qilin Army.
And once everything drew to a close, Yuan Hao's prestige would reach its zenith.
And then,
atop that mountain peak, he would fall as magnificently as a shooting star.
"Third Young Master, those who kill shall themselves be killed. How could someone like me come to a peaceful end?"
Those were the words Yuan Hao had spoken to Xu Yuan when they first met.
And it was also a chess piece placed by his black-robed father, spanning decades, positioned in the future beyond his own death—laid out entirely for him.
Chapter 545