Starting My Cultivation With Time Management

Feng Yan coveted Long Long's body.

This was a very normal thing. Who wouldn't be covetous?

Both the Ancestral Azure Dragon and the late Qilin Emperor had thought about forming marital alliances with the Dragon Clan, proposing marriage to Long Long.

However, while the Qilin Emperor valued his bloodline, Feng Yan was more interested in his intelligence.

Within the Feathered Clan of South State, almost all members with powerful bloodlines were infamous for their volatile and unruly temperaments. The Vermilion Bird clan was relatively better, occasionally producing some with sharp minds, but overall, they still revered martial combat.

Among the direct descendants of the Vermilion Bird, Feng Yan was perhaps the smartest high-ranking member of the Feathered Clan.

It was for this reason she looked at Long Long, a member of the Demon Race blessed with both noble blood and wisdom, in a different light. However, she couldn't issue a decree directly like the Qilin Emperor did, nor could she beat around the bush by sending Gui Ling'er over like the Xuanwu had—she hadn't even settled on a candidate for the matrimonial alliance.

As images of her sisters fluttered through her mind, Feng Yan maintained her facade, engaged in idle chatter with Qin Beiwang, when she casually remarked,

"The new Qilin Emperor sent us his imperial intentions after his ascension to the throne."

"Oh?" Qin Beiwang's eyes brightened, "Then it must be an exhortation."

"Indeed, an exhortation," Feng Yan said with a slight smile.

For an emperor to send exhortatory edicts to various lords after his coronation was widely seen as a placatory gesture, a signal indicating "I don't want trouble during this period."

Yet, the previous emperor had gone to war with the Feathered Clan of South State, and even after the ceasefire, no peace treaty was signed, clearly indicating an intent to resume hostilities once recovered...

Then the emperor died, and the new emperor ascended, outright overturning the former emperor's national policies and shifting his stance on South State to one of cordiality, indicating that Central State was indeed in a state of weakness.

Naturally, this was more or less expected by the various lords. How could a bastard son who had never been seen before possess the prestige to be emperor?

If it weren't for the protection of the Qilin patriarch and the political leverage used by the Empress Lü Ya from West State's White Tiger, this emperor might have been overthrown by his own Qilin clan right after he had ascended—now, he surely needed to quickly consolidate his political authority.

Qin Beiwang wasn't concerned about that. What he really wanted to clarify was South State's stance: Would they now side with the Qilin-White Tiger alliance? Or with Xuanwu?

From the underground agents stationed in South State, he learned that there was a stronger voice within the Feathered Clan for pursuing friendliness with Xuanwu, for South State had been at war with Central State for so long, and one couldn't expect most of the clan to consider an alliance with Central State—the vast majority of the populace understood international politics merely in terms of "he is our friend" or "he is our enemy."

Alas, politics is never within the grasp of the common masses. And this Princess Feng Yan, reputedly much favored by the clan leader and the elders, her attitude to a certain extent could determine the Feathered Clan's true stance.

"You must find me laughable," Feng Yan cunningly played coy, "Making decisions under such circumstances is exceedingly difficult. Before hunting, one must first lock onto the prey, and the Feathered Clan wishes to see things more clearly first."

"Indeed," Qin Beiwang immediately understood.

The Feathered Clan hadn't made a decision. Feng Yan explained it as "wanting to see the offers from both sides," but Qin Beiwang surmised that this princess had likely already made her decision, but she still needed time to persuade the clan leader and the elders.

"By the way," Feng Yan leaned forward slightly, feigning interest, "I am quite curious about the Dragon Clan's stance, especially since your last visit to Central State seemed to be rather unpleasant."

A straightforward probe, and Qin Beiwang had no intention of bluntly giving away an answer, he vaguely responded,

"It's not so much unpleasant as it is that many changes have occurred."

"Indeed," Feng Yan replied with a disingenuous smile, "Central State has always been the center of the political whirlpool in the Eastern Emperor Realm, no matter what the Qilin Emperor thinks, it will inevitably involve forces from all directions."

She sighed half truthfully, half falsely, and then added in a low voice:

"I've recently been reading the history books. The number of political figures who have died in Central State is seven times that of those in the other four states. There's no doubt that such a political whirlpool is very skilled at easily tearing apart those within it; actually, the best method would be to not get involved at all."

"It's just that these are not things we can decide..." Qin Beiwang said subconsciously, then suddenly realized:

This Princess of the Vermilion Bird seems to be implying something!

It is well-known that the higher one's leadership position is, the more one prefers to speak in a roundabout way. Some do it to create an aura of mystery, as if their actions are beyond comprehension, but more often it's to serve as an intelligence filter—the listener's intelligence.

Politics is an unequivocal game of strategy, and an inept ally is more terrifying than a capable enemy. Everyone must carefully choose their allies, and being able to understand the hints both spoken and unspoken, is the first step in the selection process. Read exclusive adventures at My Virtual Library Empire

Qin Beiwang began to contemplate carefully: Not to become involved?

Avoiding participation in the conflicts of both camps is indeed what the Dragon Clan dreams of. After all, conflicts inevitably bring injury, and it would be best to sit back and watch the two sides fight to the death.

But the problem is that neither camp will be foolish enough to let you reap the benefits without contributing. Most likely, upon confirming your desire to remain neutral (meaning, the opposing camp will not protect you), they'll take the initiative to strike hard and eliminate you.

However, considering the scale of the Dragon Clan, being wiped out is highly unlikely; it's more probable to be subjected to extreme pressure and then be forced to pick a side... which would be better than being passive after all.

Could it be that Princess Feng Yan is actually advocating for such an unreliable decision?

Qin Beiwang looked at Feng Yan with an odd expression in his eyes, while Feng Yan maintained a proper smile, feeling slightly disappointed in her heart.

At this moment, Long Long was sitting in a lower seat—although with his Transformation Rank cultivation level, he wasn't qualified to be in the same hall as the Demon Kings, the recognition of his intelligence by both the Ancestral Azure Dragon and the clan leader was a different matter—he listened intently to the conversation between the two leaders just like the other bigwigs and spoke up:

"What Princess Feng Yan has said is very true; after all, no one wants to be caught up in the whirlpool, but most of the time, it's only due to their lack of strength that they cannot resist the trend."

Qin Beiwang nodded approvingly with a touch of authoritative pressure, expressing his agreement with Long Long's remarks. This political struggle, can you really not get involved just by wishing to abstain... huh?

He suddenly realized, acutely aware that Long Long was also hinting at something and, being from his own clan, he had emphasized the key words with added weight: "lack of strength."

Wait, if it's impossible for the Dragon Clan to not take sides in this political struggle on its own, what if they formed an alliance with the Feathered Clan?

An alliance with the Feathered Clan... an unprecedented path, but if they really did form an alliance, then by uniting the strengths of these two powers, they could become the Eastern Emperor Realm's third faction.

The Qilin-White Tiger faction and Xuanwu faction, due to their dispute over the legitimate claim to the emperor's throne, would surely continue to battle each other.

But a third faction like the Dragon-Feathered Clan, with sufficient power and leverage, could easily sit in the Southeast, watch from the sidelines, or even, when the situation starts to lean in one direction, take action to help them "rebalance" and then continue to watch them deplete their strength.

To have Central State, West State, and North State bloodied in battle, what a delightful prospect!