人人操人人爱人人

Chapter 642: The Nine Princes

Zhang Lie stilled. "Two or three years? Is the king of the realm\'s health that poor?"

"After all, he\'s lived for thousands of years. Even though he\'s supported by the will of the world, his body\'s still going to decay away sooner or later."

"Tell me more about the battle for succession."

"There are three separate factions: one for the crown prince, and two for the other princes."

Heijie Niu picked a branch off the ground and drew two large circles in the dirt, one which he labeled the crown prince and the other which he labeled the other princes.

"Of the two factions formed by the other princes, one is indigenous and the other is supported by aliens from the Milky Way."

Heijie Niu divided the circle representing the other princes in two. The indigenous support came from the Wang, Feng, and Qian clans; the alien support from the Hei, Jin, Yin, and Zi clans.

"The two factions are nominally enemies, but there are a few temporary alliances in place. The Zijing clan and Qian clan are in cahoots, as are the Jindao and Feng clans. The Yinlian and Wang clan are working together, while we, the Heijie, are working with the crown prince."

Heijie Niu then drew ovals connecting the various informal alliances.

Zhang Lie glanced at the drawing on the ground. He couldn\'t help sighing, "Things really are quite complicated in the capital, aren\'t they?"

Heijie Niu shrugged. "This is how court intrigue tends to go."

Zhang Lie lifted his head and turned to the ninth prince. "Did you know about this beforehand?"

The ninth prince shook his head.

Heijie Niu sighed. "The ninth prince has no backer and no strength. He\'s not considered a part of the battle for succession at all, and he\'s been kept in the dark. Of course, with your presence, lord of Renhuang, the ninth prince is now considered a dark horse."

"And what about the other princes?"

"The crown prince was tutored by the king of the realm himself, and he\'s beyond a peak-grade level. The second prince, supported by the Jindao, has strength just slightly inferior to the crown prince himself. He\'s ambitious and charismatic, and I\'m sure he\'s up to something."

Zhang Lie continued, "What about the princes supported by the indigenous clans?"

"The third, fourth, and fifth princes, supported and fostered by the three major clans of the capital, are intelligent and resourceful in their own right, but too young to pose a threat to the first two princes in general."

"And the others?"

"The sixth and seventh princes are rather inferior, especially in comparison to the first five. They were born to houses that had recently ascended to the nobility, and their background didn\'t prepare them well for succession."

Zhang Lie narrowed his eyes. "In that case, why is your clan in support of the seventh prince?"

"Heh! It\'s precisely because the seventh prince is inadequate that he\'s easy to control."

"Hmm..."

"The eighth prince is a piece of trash, and the ninth prince doesn\'t have any backers to speak of. He was such an inferior option that we didn\'t look closely at them."

Zhang Lie frowned. "And the Zijing clan is willing to sponsor a piece of trash?"

"As I\'ve said, there has to be something wrong with the Zijing clan."

Heijie Niu\'s comments about the Zijing clan were the same within hypnosis as before. It looked as though there really were something suspicious about the Zijing ?clan that he would have to investigate.

Zhang Lie nodded. "Return to your clan and tell them that I, Zhang Lie, am interested in working with the Heijie."

Heijie Niu\'s eyes widened. "Lord of Renhuang, you\'re willing to help the seventh prince?"

The ninth prince shook.

Zhang Lie chuckled coldly. "Given what I\'ve learned, if I really wanted to help one of the princes ascend to the throne, do you think I would choose the seventh prince?"

"In that case, what do you want, Lord of Renhuang?"

"There\'s no need for you to worry about that. Tell the Heijie of my intentions."

"I understand, Lord."

Heijie Niu knew that Zhang Lie\'s help would be of tremendous utility to the clan. If the seventh prince had the chance to become the king of the realm, Zhang Lie might help them out in return for some benefits; on the other hand, if the seventh prince were to threaten the ninth, Zhang Lie might kill the seventh prince and all his supporters.

Zhang Lie had the strength to meddle in this game of kings. Whereas the weak had to be chosen, the strong had the right and might to choose.

Zhang Lie turned around. "Let\'s go."

The ninth prince hesitated. "As for him..."

Zhang Lie waved a hand. "If he dies to a genetic lifeform, it\'ll be his own bad luck."

As they headed off, Zhang Lie noticed that the ninth prince seemed to want to say something, but was visibly holding back. He turned around impatiently. "What\'s the matter? Spit it out!"

"Master, the man called you... lord of Renhuang?"

"Yes, yes, I built a kingdom or two and ruled over a huge tract of land. It\'s nothing too impressive."

The ninth prince\'s mouth spasmed. "In that case, Master, are you planning to head back to that kingdom?"

"No," Zhang Lie replied curtly. "I\'ve already left, and I can\'t return, not that I have any intention to."

"Why not? Wasn\'t it a kingdom you built with sweat and tears?"

With sweat and tears? It really hadn\'t been anything too strenuous—constructing his farm had been rather a slog, but the rewards were well worth it. "Once you climb to the peak and witness your surroundings, you\'ll understand how I feel and why I\'ve made the choices I\'ve made."

The ninth prince lowered his head. "Yes, Master."

To be able to construct a kingdom was something countless men spent their entire lives working fruitlessly towards, but Zhang Lie had written it off as though it were a meaningless accomplishment.

He simply couldn\'t understand how Zhang Lie could give that kingdom up so easily, but he wouldn\'t press the matter further.

The ninth prince\'s behavior was very satisfactory to Zhang Lie; he was truly assimilating to his identity now.

Beforehand, the ninth prince had been formal and courteous, but only because he had a request to make of Zhang Lie. Now, he was truly treating Zhang Lie like his master and senior.

Perhaps it was because he had learned that Zhang Lie himself was once a king, or because he had learned from Zhang Lie\'s conversation with Heijie Niu that Zhang Lie had no intention to betray him for another prince.

Zhang Lie continued calmly, "Before you ascend to the peak of that mountain, you won\'t understand my feelings. To me, a mountain is just a mountain. After climbing one mountain, you set your sights on another. Our lives are filled with mountain after mountain, and there\'s no need to be too fixated on any one of them. Of course, these are just my thoughts. You can agree or disagree with them at your leisure."

The ninth prince nodded.

Zhang Lie jumped up on White, while the ninth prince got on Whiter.

The ninth prince continued hesitantly, "Master, there\'s still something that bothers me. Why choose me, and not any of my other siblings?"

Zhang Lie had rejected the seventh prince\'s offer immediately, but was the scrap of tattered parchment the ninth prince had given him really worth that much?

The ninth prince thought that someone like Zhang Lie could easily have discarded him for another prince, vastly increasing his own chances at acquiring the primordial starflower. So why had he chosen the ninth prince, the prince least likely to take the throne? Zhang Lie had the qualification to work with any of the princes, after all...