CHAPTER 722: CHAPTER 442, WHAT NONSENSE ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT?_3

Having finished speaking, he prepared to turn around and leave.

Yet, Shen Wuxiang felt somewhat stifled inside.

The barefooted fear not the shod, and the Shen Family was that shod one...

Lu Ban Mountain had already demonstrated their outstanding equipment suppression capabilities and had formed a partnership with another military giant of the Empire, the Qin Family.

How many forces were backing them from behind?

Should a real battle erupt, even if the Shen Family won, it would be a Pyrrhic victory...

Moreover, completely eradicating the Qin and Lu Families would require mobilizing the frontier legions.

In such a case, both the Aus Empire and the Kaman Federation would take the opportunity to stab them in the back.

Once the war fell into a stalemate, things would become even more troublesome.

The Aus Empire and the Kaman Federation wouldn’t miss this chance for a pincer attack from the inside and out...

The Shen Family would end up being dumplings encased by them.

At the end of the day, Shen Wuxiang still believed that his side was the true ruler of this Empire.

Their own things could not be messed up and ruined by others.

If the Empire was still in the hands of the Zhong Royal Family, the Shen Family would swing their hoe faster than anyone...

"I’ll give you one more chance to make an offer," Shen Wuxiang said to the old man’s retreating figure, "the last chance."

The old man thought for a moment, turned around, and sat back down in his original seat.

He picked up his teacup and drank a cup of tea before smiling at Shen Wuxiang and said, "Just now, on the spur of the moment, I suddenly had a new idea."

"I’m all ears," Shen Wuxiang said unaffected.

"You’ve seen it, you want Tian Que to ascend, we want Tian Yi to ascend, neither of us can persuade the other... Why don’t we choose a compromise?"

"What kind of compromise?"

"We jointly support Princess Xiu Xue’s ascension, allowing her to become the Empire’s first female emperor. How does that sound to you?"

Shen Wuxiang looked at the old man with a surprised face.

It was only at this moment that he realized he had been strategized by this old cunning man.

He first proposed a plan he himself could never accept, then firmly denied his plan, putting up a do-or-die attitude...

It was all to bring out this compromise.

That was his real intention.

He had been led by the old man’s emotions, moving forward to his rhythm.

They wanted to promote Zhong Yu Xiu Xue?

Had they already reached a consensus with Zhong Yu Xiu Xue’s side?

If Xiu Xue ascended, what benefits and what drawbacks would it bring to their side?

Seeing Shen Wuxiang fall silent, the old man continued to whisper enticingly, "You know the capabilities of Phoenix, much stronger than those two useless brothers of hers."

"That doesn’t align with our interests," Shen Wuxiang said.

They wanted a ’puppet’ who would obey their commands, not an ambitious and potentially great emperor.

If that were truly the case, they would be the ones panicking.

Whose orders would they have to obey then?

Were they just chasing after their own tails?

"I understand your concern, but it’s a minor issue... The Shen Family’s power is supreme, and there are many prodigies within the family... Relying solely on her, what could she change?"

"Besides, Phoenix is a girl after all... Her ambition for power isn’t as strong as her brothers’..."

"Put her up there as a figurehead; we keep doing what we need to do below... If we like what she says, we listen; if not, we pretend we haven’t heard..."

"As for our two sides, we could turn swords into plowshares. I’m fine, you’re fine, everybody’s happy, which is naturally the best."

"If we really can’t get along, then we just spar under the table, it wouldn’t affect much... How does that sound?"

Shen Wuxiang was silent for a moment, then said, "Supporting Princess Xiu Xue’s ascension is not impossible. However, I have one condition."

"What condition?"

"Let Princess Xiu Xue and my Shen Family’s Shen Xinglan set a marriage, forging a century-long alliance."

The old man’s expression was one of shock; he restrained himself time and again, ultimately exploding in profanity: "What the hell are you thinking?"