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If the story recorded in Cangyuan was a history that never came to pass, then the countless events in his past life that had been glossed over or left baffling had, in this life, turned into earth-shattering cataclysms deciding the lives and deaths of countless people. Yet by this point, the position Xu Yuan occupied and the intelligence at his disposal had already allowed him to unravel the threads hidden beneath the surface of history, layer by layer. In Cangyuan, the collapse of the Chancellor's Manor was not truly abrupt. The root of calamity had been planted long, long ago. An ant colony can cause a thousand-li dike to collapse. Decades of rapid expansion, the defeat on the Northern Border, the death of Li Yaoxuan, the rupture between Emperor and Chancellor—all of these had accelerated the festering of that hidden bane. In Cangyuan, the Prime Minister's Manor had forcefully ignited warfare while dragging along a Great Yan court riddled with internal strife and external threats, riddled with holes. Therefore, failure was predestined. Xu Yuan often wondered whether his old man in that timeline had known all this, whether he had known it was an expedition doomed to fail. He probably did. Yet how could one simply abandon a path trodden over a lifetime? In the end, his heart could never accept it. So, even knowing he would become a blade in the hands of those lurking in the shadows, even knowing that not a dawn of victory was in sight, this Great Yan Prime Minister had still chosen to press forward unflinchingly toward the world he desired. The situation the Prime Minister's Manor faced now was vastly better than the internal and external woes in Cangyuan, yet on the matter of the Sword Sect, it still had not escaped the fate of becoming the hidden sects' blade. Xu Xinyao nervously twirled the hem of her dress. Born into the Prime Minister's Manor as direct kin of the Xu family, ever since childhood, every elder in her eyes had been omnipotent—save for the Third Brother before her—especially that stern, unsmiling father. And so, she found it somewhat hard to accept the claim that her father had been manipulated by others. Could that father also become a blade in someone else's hands? Xu Yuan saw through what was running through the girl's mind. Because when he had first figured it out, his initial reaction had been the exact same. Their father ought to be matchless under heaven, devoid of any worthy rival, capable of finding a solution no matter what he faced. Yet... "Xinyao, Father is only human too. And as long as someone is human, there will be things they cannot solve." "But if only one between the Sword Sect and the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion can survive, why mobilize troops against the Sword Sect at all?" Xu Xinyao hesitated before offering her thought. Jiang He had never been tight-lipped around her; regarding many matters from secret meetings, with just a couple of coaxing words, her master would spill everything in one breath. "Wouldn't it be better to let the Sect Alliance tear itself apart through internal strife?" "Because the first strike when the blade of our Prime Minister's Manor leaves its scabbard must fall upon the Sword Sect." Xu Yuan did not hide anything from his fourth sister. He casually retrieved several confidential dispatches from his Sumeru ring and tossed them out, gesturing for her to open and read them. Though this girl had a dark history of betrayal in Cangyuan, by now she had been pretty much brought into line. Hesitantly, Xu Xinyao flipped through the secret letters. Her beautiful eyes instantly took on a look of disbelief: "Local imperial officials have already been killed by the sects?" Xu Yuan gave a dry, humorless smile, his voice flat and cold: "'Fallacious policies, chaotic decrees, mediocre officials falsely delivering imperial edicts'—they're just shy of chanting 'Purge the treacherous ministers around the throne.'" Faced with the Immortal Law of Equal Taxation, the Sect Alliance certainly would not sit idly by and await death. The very moment the decree was distributed down to the local commanderies and counties, word had immediately come back that top officials had been executed by sects. This was still within expectations. However... "That happened half a month ago. Since stepping away from Moyin Pavilion these past days, I haven't known the specifics, but I imagine such incidents have already begun spreading through the regions. Before long, the sects will likely seize control of local government offices by force." "Then... then are we just going to sit back and do nothing?" Xu Xinyao asked in disbelief. "How could we intervene?" Xu Yuan countered with a sigh. "The sects are scattered like stars across every corner of Great Yan. Though your brother knows little of warfare, I know that under these circumstances, we cannot disperse our forces and advance deep in isolation. And concentrating our military formations to wipe out a few small sects wouldn't serve as a warning to the rest; instead, it would only stoke the sects' sense of crisis and accelerate the centralization of power within the Sect Alliance. "Xinyao, what do you think would happen then?" "..." Xu Xinyao fell silent. Xu Yuan said earnestly, "Right in the heart of the realm, around Hongnong, they would coalesce a colossal military formation centered on the Sword Sect, severing Great Yan into north and south. The imperial court and the Sect Alliance's territories are interlocked like dog's teeth. When that happens, the areas under our court's actual control in the south will be left isolated and helpless—take our old home of Jingjiang Prefecture, for example; it would come under siege from the Sect Alliance's formations across at least three surrounding provinces. "Therefore, even knowing full well this is an overt scheme laid out for us by the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion and the various hidden sects, we must still crush the Sword Sect, this head of the Sect Alliance situated in the heart of the realm—both to awe the myriad powers and to seize the strategic initiative!" Xu Xinyao sat in silence for a moment, then murmured softly, "Then what about the promise you made to Sister Qingmo, Third Brother?" Xu Yuan parted his lips. "Where did you hear about that?" Lowering her eyes, Xu Xinyao replied in a soft, timid voice, "When you weren't around before, I asked Sister Qingmo how the two of you met. She told me herself." "..." Thinking of the big block of ice gave Xu Yuan a headache, and thinking of the little block of ice immediately after made it throb even harder. Just as he was about to brush it aside and change the subject, an indifferent voice drifted in from outside the door: "Changtian, come out for a moment." "Father is calling for me." With that, Xu Yuan temporarily suppressed his vexation. Leaving the conflicted fourth sister behind, he quickly stepped out of the wing room. The sunlight outside was splendid, the early morning sun washing over the mortal world in radiant splendor. Standing outside the courtyard gate, Xu Yinhe glanced toward the wing room and asked Xu Yuan as he approached, "What did Xinyao come see you about?" He had never been one to eavesdrop on his children's conversations. Xu Yuan let out a soft sigh and answered, "Regarding the gift you sent to the Sword Sect." "Is that so?" "What did you need me for, Father?" Xu Yuan asked directly. Xu Yinhe lifted a hand slightly, gesturing for them to walk and talk. Instead of answering immediately, he asked, "How is your cultivation of the Black Scale Array Art progressing?" Xu Yuan answered truthfully, "Array arts differ from qi arts. I've encountered a few stumbling blocks; right now, I estimate I can control source qi resonance for roughly five hundred people at most." Xu Yinhe showed no impatience over this somewhat slow progress. Pacing toward the study, he said calmly, "There is no need to rush array arts. You already have experience with qi arts; once you cross the threshold, your progress thereafter will advance by leaps and bounds." "Understood," Xu Yuan replied, though doubts arose in his heart. In such turbulent times, his father would hardly take time out of his schedule just to ask after his cultivation. As he pondered, Xu Yinhe seemed to finish weighing his words and asked softly, "Did Xinyao only tell you about the gift I sent to the Sword Sect just now?" What did he mean by that? Hearing this, Xu Yuan's eyes narrowed slightly, a foreboding premonition rising in his chest. "Yes. Was there something else?" Xu Yinhe halted his steps and drew a deep breath. Turning around, he looked at his somewhat uneasy third son, and said in a solemn voice: "Changtian, Ran Jianli was intercepted and killed."