Chapter 650: Chapter 78 Moving Stones and Stubbing Feet Chapter 650: Chapter 78 Moving Stones and Stubbing Feet “Let’s start with the Xuan Gui Clan,” Qin Beiwang said in a deep voice.
“Do you know what conditions they have offered?”
Long Long pondered for a moment:
“The promises of Qi Weihong?”
“Exactly,” Qin Beiwang said with a cold laugh.
“Qi Weihong has promised that after his ascension to the throne, he will share a series of powers with the Dragon Clan, and he has laid out an extensive list.”
“The elders and I have reviewed the list and believe that, if it could be fully honored, it would indeed be very attractive to the Dragon Clan.”
“The premise is that it can be fully honored,” Long Long said calmly.
“Are there no immediate benefits that can be paid upon signing the alliance?”
“There are,” Qin Beiwang said succinctly.
“For example, some trade conditions, intelligence sharing, and rights to resource development, but in comparison to the whole, they hardly carry any weight.”
“The Xuan Gui Clan lacks sincerity,” Long Long immediately concluded.
“We don’t have the power to force Qi Weihong to honor his promises after ascending the throne; benefits that can’t be paid immediately are meaningless.”
“That’s also what the old ancestor thinks,” Qin Beiwang sighed.
“At the moment, we’re putting pressure on Gui Yan.
They seem very hesitant, continuously making concessions on specific terms, but as mentioned before, they never offer much that can be settled immediately.”
“It’s quite peculiar,” Long Long frowned.
“Given the current political situation, the Xuanwu Clan doesn’t have the capability to confront both Qilin and White Tiger at the same time.
An alliance with the Dragon Clan is a must for them…
but that’s entirely at odds with what the Xuanwu Clan is currently offering.”
He sorted the current information in his mind and said:
“There are several possibilities.”
“The first is that the Xuanwu Clan can’t pay these costs.”
“Is that possible?” Qin Beiwang asked curiously.
“The terms they’re currently offering aren’t beyond their capacity to pay.”
“It’s unlikely,” Long Long answered.
“Unless Qi Weihong has different plans.”
“What do you mean?” Qin Beiwang frowned.
“False promises might work on smaller Demon Race clans because they lack sufficient political understanding, but such verbal guarantees can’t fool our Dragon Clan,” Long Long speculated thoughtfully.
“I can only say that unless the Xuan Gui Clan grossly underestimates us, it’s improbable they would negotiate with us in this manner-they would anticipate that an empty show of power would only enrage us.”
“You mean, there is a disagreement between Qi Weihong and the Xuan Gui Clan,” Qin Beiwang understood quickly.
“This Qilin prince is too lofty and careless, thinking he doesn’t need to take us, the Dragon Clan, seriously, and is insisting that the Xuan Gui Clan follow his commands?”
“Or to put it more precisely, this Qilin prince, Qi Weihong, has a considerable objection to me…
um, to my saving the little emperor from the assassin in the capital,” Long Long guessed tactfully.
“If that’s the case, then Qi Weihong is truly acting out of spite,” Qin Beiwang shook his head.
“However, sometimes we have to give in to such unreasonable big shots.
What’s the second possibility?”
“The second possibility is that the Xuan Gui Clan has already secretly formed an alliance with the Vermilion Bird Clan,” Long Long replied.
“They’ve reached an agreement bypassing us?” Qin Beiwang frowned.
“But without the Eastern State as a hub, what good is an alliance to them?”
“That’s true,” Long Long said thoughtfully.
“But let’s skip that step and think about what they would do next if they’ve formed an alliance.”
“If they’ve formed an alliance…” Qin Beiwang followed his train of thought, “they still can’t do without the involvement of our Eastern State; otherwise, the North and South States would be split and unable to coalesce.
So their common goal must be to bring our Eastern State into the alliance.”
“But if the two have already formed an alliance, we won’t be able to hold out for a better offer,” Long Long reminded.
“Hmm,” Qin Beiwang uttered in sudden realization, “That explains it!
This also explains why the Xuanwu Clan’s offer was so low, because they had already colluded with Vermilion Bird and couldn’t possibly make a higher bid.”
“Let’s discuss the two possibilities,” Long Long, seeing that the clan leader was completely following his line of thought, spoke eloquently, “The first possibility means the real resistance comes from Qi Weihong, not the Xuanwu Clan.”
“This situation is rather bad because we don’t have much of a connection with Qi Weihong-in other words, it’s unlikely we can change his perception of the Dragon Clan.
Therefore, under these circumstances, we absolutely must not form an alliance with the Xuanwu Clan…more precisely, we must not allow Qi Weihong to ascend to the throne.”
“Exactly, that’s the reasoning,” Qin Beiwang expressed his thorough agreement.
How much trouble can an emperor prejudiced against a certain feudal lord bring to them?
Not to mention anything else, just look at everything Qi Weihuan did to South State during his reign!
Even after Qi Weihuan’s death, Vermilion Bird refused to compromise with Qilin, resulting in outright hatred between the Feathered Clan and the Horned Clan-that’s how much trouble an emperor can cause.
???G?.??
An emperor of the Demon Race in the Eastern Emperor Realm might find it very difficult to accomplish any great feats, but it is far too easy to make life miserable for a feudal lord.
“But if it’s the second possibility, it’s not too bad for us,” continued Long Long as he elaborated on his deductions, “It’s just that the buyers have colluded, preventing us from hiking up the price.”
“Hmm,” Qin Beiwang indicated he had completely understood, “We were originally choosing between neutrality and allying with Xuanwu based on who offered the higher bid.
Now that there’s no choice to make, it’s actually easier.”
“There’s actually a third possibility,” Long Long gently reminded him, “If Qilin’s offer is high enough, it might not be out of the question…”
Qin Beiwang was somewhat surprised because, considering how Long Long was treated in the capital, he had assumed Long Long was the most opposed to cooperating with Qilin.
Excellent, truly the most intelligent talent of our Dragon Clan’s generation!
“Cough, Long Long, you’ve made a good point.
There’s a task within the clan I want to entrust to you,” Qin Beiwang thought for a moment, realizing that they still needed to spy out the exact situation between Xuanwu and Vermilion Bird-otherwise, their analysis would just be random speculation with no actionable value, “Aren’t you on good terms with Gui Ling’er of the Xuan Gui Clan and Princess Feng Yan of the Vermilion Bird?
Go and foster relations with them, then find out if they’ve formed a secret alliance and what Qi Weihong’s attitude towards our Dragon Clan is.
Go!”
Long Long: ……….
How did I end up shooting myself in the foot again!
Damn, if I had known the clan leader would ask me “What do you think,” I should have just nodded along!
He left the hall, crestfallen, pondering how to extract information from Gui Ling’er and Feng Yan while also keeping himself from being devoured when suddenly, he saw Long Hu running over, beaming with excitement.
“Long Long!” She rushed over and embraced his arm, exclaiming with surprise, “I heard from people outside that Feng Yan has made a very generous offer to the Dragon Clan, asking for you to marry into their Feathered Clan.
Is that true?”
Long Long’s eyes darted about as an idea took shape in his mind, and he whispered to Long Hu:
“The clan leader wants to clarify whether the Vermilion Bird has a secret alliance with the Xuanwu Clan, which is why he instructed me to accommodate Princess Feng Yan and Gui Ling’er to glean information from them.”
“But, but!” Long Hu anxiously spun around, her tears nearly spilling over, “Feng Yan clearly has designs on you, and the clan leader is still sending you to extract information?
Isn’t that like a snake entering an eagle’s nest?”
“It won’t do!
Let me handle this; you mustn’t go!”
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