Dragon's Origin

“Above all, don’t let those feudal lords know that one of your princes, along with a few offspring of ministers, can depose a marquis personally appointed by the Emperor.” Wang Sheng offered his advice but didn’t forget to add a threat: “Regardless of whether this is true or not, it’s not good news for the feudal lords. Of course, for the royal family, it might be even worse.”

If a prince and some offspring could depose a marquis, to what extent would the royal power surge? If it really came to that, the various feudal lords would have no choice but to fight the royal family to the death.

Conversely, if this was just a joke, it would mean that the feudal lords enfeoffed by the royal family were actually just a laughingstock in the eyes of the royal family, playing with them. The consequences would be even more terrifying; no feudal lord would want to be used as a tool for the royal family's amusement.

As Wang Sheng said, he wouldn't even need to use the great weapon of 'using the Emperor to command the nobles'; just the spread of this news would spell the end of the royal family.

The Seventh Prince was just a good-for-nothing, and those important ministers were a bunch of trash. Why couldn't they understand this point? The Emperor thought, complaining and feeling relieved.

Fortunately, he had decisively abandoned them at the time. Otherwise, if he had really followed his initial thoughts of killing Wang Sheng and thinking that would be the end of it, it would probably have been the beginning of a disaster.

The current problem isn't about using the Emperor to command the nobles, but about completely blocking this news. Fortunately, until now, outside spies only know that Wang Sheng has become a marquis, but no one knows the reason. And within the court, no more than five people know about this, all of whom are high-ranking and powerful ministers who presumably wouldn't betray the royal family.

The Emperor rarely cupped his hands at Wang Sheng: “This time, I owe you a favor.” Wang Sheng didn't spread the word, indicating that he himself didn't intend to directly turn against the royal family, which was the best news.

“Save it, and use it when I need it someday.” Wang Sheng was not polite at all. If the Emperor said he owed someone a favor, others would definitely rush to decline, fearing that the Emperor would think they were taking advantage of his kindness. Wang Sheng, however, wasn't afraid at all and brazenly told the Emperor to remember it, not treating the Emperor as someone to be around with caution.

“Good!” The Emperor was not formal at all, directly nodding in agreement, so readily that even the Chief Steward Zhou, who was listening outside, was surprised. How many years had it been since he had seen the Emperor so agreeable?

“Using the Emperor to command the nobles!” After a moment of silence, the Emperor opened his mouth in a low voice, with some dissatisfaction: “Is there any way to deal with it? Because of these mere seven words, I haven’t slept well for two whole months.”

Even revealing that he hadn't slept well for two months showed that the Emperor had truly put down all pretense and really wanted Wang Sheng to fulfill his promise of offering a suggestion.

“It’s simple!” Wang Sheng replied as if casually: “It’s still the same idea as before. You just need to become stronger, so strong that the feudal lords don’t dare and can’t use the Emperor, right?”

“If I could do that, would I still be losing sleep for two months?” The Emperor was slightly annoyed. Who didn't know that if they became stronger, others wouldn't dare to have ideas? Did he need Wang Sheng to say that?

“The other method is also simple.” Wang Sheng still spoke with that casual attitude.

This time, the Emperor became serious. Even he didn't realize that he had straightened his body, waiting for Wang Sheng's answer. As for the Chief Steward Zhou outside, he pricked up his ears, afraid of missing a single word.

“The reason why the Emperor can be held hostage is that the people who do it know that the royal family doesn't have a strong sense of resistance.” Wang Sheng bluntly said: “As long as a large army presses the border and eliminates the guards around him, then the Emperor becomes a puppet that can be manipulated at will. The royal family is the same.”

These words were filled with extreme contempt for the royal family and the Emperor, not caring at all about the Emperor's unpleasant expression sitting opposite him. But the Emperor couldn't refute it, because this was very likely the truth. Because he thought about the members of the royal family, and couldn't find anyone who possessed the strong sense of resistance that Wang Sheng spoke of.

After hundreds of years of peaceful emperors, although the territory they controlled wasn't large, it was enough to make these members of the royal family become content and live day by day. If they were held hostage, from the Emperor himself down, they probably wouldn't put up much of a fight.

That was the problem. The Emperor was very afraid that such a situation would occur, but he himself hadn't thought about how much resistance the entire royal family could put up if he were held hostage, so being controlled and held hostage became an inevitable result.

“So, you just need to let the feudal lords know that the royal family, from top to bottom, has the spirit of preferring to be a shattered jade rather than an unbroken tile, then would anyone risk the reputation of regicide to spend troops and expend experts to do this?” Wang Sheng easily provided a solution.

“Preferring to be a shattered jade rather than an unbroken tile!” The Emperor chewed on this phrase, suddenly realizing that this never-before-heard phrase so accurately described the kind of spirit their royal family needed, and couldn't help but sink into contemplation.

“Wouldn't this provoke them, causing them to slaughter the entire royal family?” The Emperor had many concerns, but it was clear that he was now in a state of confusion, and he was getting stuck on some very simple questions.

“If they wanted to kill the entire royal family, then at least you wouldn't have to worry about being held hostage, right?” Wang Sheng couldn't help but remind him: “At that point, it's actually a head-on confrontation, whoever is stronger wins. Of course, it's not like there's no way, it just depends on whether you're willing or not.”

“Of course I'm willing!” The Emperor was overthinking things. As soon as he heard that Wang Sheng really had a way, he immediately answered the question and then asked: “What way?”

“Let's not mention what benefits those feudal lords would gain from really killing the entire royal family, or whether they would do so.” Wang Sheng thought for a moment and said: “Let's just talk about one fact, and that is that in a head-on confrontation, the royal family probably isn't a match for any of the eight great feudal lords, do you admit that?”

The Emperor nodded directly, without speaking, but completely acknowledging Wang Sheng's words.

“Then, the royal family needs outside help.” Wang Sheng quickly said: “If there are additional experts willing to fight for the royal family when it's in trouble, as long as there are more experts like this, the feudal lords naturally won't actively jump out to do this thankless task.”

“Why would other experts be willing to fight for the royal family?” This was the main problem the Emperor was considering, because the Emperor himself didn't feel that the royal family had such appeal. If it did, would they be in this awkward situation now?

“Offer enough rewards, let those experts know what kind of benefits they will get for taking action for the royal family.” Wang Sheng replied without hesitation: “For example, me, with a title, a mansion, wealth, beauties, a win-win situation for both fame and fortune. Do you think that would make those experts take action when the royal family is in danger?”