Luo Family Patriarch raised his eyebrow once more.

“Haha, of course not, when have things ever been so easy?”

Wu Long chuckled as General Feng nodded with approval.

“Hmm, Master Wu is speaking the truth, there is no reaping without sowing”

“… Old Man Zhao might have a significantly prolonged life from that but the strength he regains will be fleeting, and would not last that long unless he starts cultivating in a suitable environment and achieves another breakthrough, which is currently impossible even if the quality of Spiritual Qi on the continent continues to rise at even higher pace.

Not to mention that he couldn’t beat Gu Zhen even when both were younger and full of strength, so what makes you think he would suddenly be able to tip the scales in our favor?

We just need for him to get to a point where he can create that slight doubt in Gu Zhen’s confidence, that will give us the time we need since the latter is cautious”

Wu Long continued after a slight pause.

“But then, what do you plan for us?”

Luo Family Patriarch looked at Wu Long with narrowed eyes, since it did not seem like Wu Long planned to just relocate them all.

“First, we would need His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince to get the Empire on board and petition the Current Emperor to start intervening in the affairs of the Kingdoms”

Wu Long turned to Song Minfu who nodded. He was already thinking that the Song Dynasty could not sit idly by, hoping their Great Ancestor the Azure Eagle will protect them. They had to start moving before it was too late.

“But I have received news that Song Guanyu, the pure bloodline heir you met before has been lobbying with His Majesty to send an oversight group which would ensure the treatment of Lingfei is progressing smoothly”

He then noted and Wu Long’s eyes narrowed.

‘Hmm, a coincidence of aligned interests or did they come in contact? Hard to say since it could be his independent wish as he’s not given up on Her Highness’

His thoughts went to the time he first met the man and the eyes that looked at Song Lingfei. It was definitely early to write that man off, even if he was held at bay with Wu Long’s previous actions in the capital for some time.

“Hmm, well there is already a problem in the sect we cannot touch at this point yet because of the way the situation shifted, so if they succeed we would just have to deal with them at the same time as the other troublemakers”

Wu Long then nodded since even if this was an unexpected development, it was not a detrimental one. 𝑖𝘳𝑎.𝒸ℴ𝘮

“What we need next is to prop the Feng Family and younger generation of the Luo House as the rightful opposition and receive the former king into their custody using the pressure from the Empire.

This would allow us to stand on equal grounds with the royal family in Fantian Kingdom, effectively creating two governing bodies and a state of cold civil conflict and thus allow us to reclaim the disassembled Feng Family troops and retreive the ones sent away to the borders and subjugations.

There are also a few plans for the neighboring Gutian Kingdom that will come in play later when the situation here stabilizes and other parts will also start moving”

He then explained as both Luo Family Patriarch and General Feng nodded, understanding the general play here.

“That would need to happen after Old Man Zhao’s treatment, but almost as soon as that happens. In the scenario we cannot get the Imperial Family to move we will have to kidnap the former King and stage a forced dual government scenario”

As he added the last part the Luo Family Patriarch gasped since it seemed extreme. But he understood that it was only a contingency in case the Song Dynasty refused to move and the Crown Prince could not exert any influence.

“At the same time we will use the fact that the Soaring Feather Trading Company is now relocated to the Tuamei Kingdom to establish closer connections with their Royal Family. Ultimately what we want to do is snatch that grain and cattle trade from the hands of the Golden Ox Trading Company in order to lessen their influence on that country”

Wu Long then turned to Sui Luxiao.

“But where will we sell off that food stock? We cannot buy out an entire country’s worth of export with no limit”

“The Azure Eagle Empire initially… but not all as we will store some to sell later here in the Fantian Kingdom”

Wu Long chuckled as Song Minfu slightly coughed from surprise. It seemed he had a lot of work in the upcoming days and months. But then as he heard the next part sighed with relief as it seemed that the Empire would not have to shoulder the entire burden just to take the influence from the Golden Ox Trading Company.

“Here? But we are producing enough to even export to Gutian…”

“I will explain that part later when it comes to play”

As the Luo Family Patriarch raised his doubts Wu Long only shook his head indicating that it was still early for that.

He then shifted focus, looking at two people on the other side of the formation.

“The Liugwei Escort Agency will not be a problem to establish as the preparations are almost done, and you can soon start operations. Your first focus would be to move between Tuamei and the Azure Eagle Empire. Don’t try to do more than that at first, as it requires time, but we will gradually expand to this country next just so you know your next goal”

Cao Xiang and Cao Mei both nodded as they were already organizing and training their people.

“The Alchemy Tower will try to exert its influence which is why we need to introduce a few new pills to the market and destabilize their influence and tie their hands so that they are focused on their own market, there are also a few tricks we have to use there”

Wu Long looked toward Yu Huan who nodded. She still had only Sui Luxiao’s alchemists under her command but it was enough to start producing the new pills Wu Long gave her the recipes and techniques for.

“Next is the most problematic Tingren Kingdom…”

Wu Long then started going over the further plans as the meeting went on with various parties getting their roles to play in the upcoming struggle for power on the continent.

“Haa~, that is about it in regard to the upcoming moves”

Wu Long sighed at the end after a round of questions regarding parts they did not fully understand or required clarification about. Almost every move in this strategy had multiple simultaneous effects and connected to the other parts, so they all had to be executed in tandem.

“Then, we shall go start our preparations”

The Luo Family Patriarch and General Feng, as well as Song Minfu and his daughter on the other side stood up to leave. Lian Zhiqiu also silently left the wall she stood by while Yu Huan left Bi Rui’s side with the words “see you later”. .𝒎

They could all see as they were leaving that Wu Long and his beauties sat or stood in their positions, understanding that there was a second part of this meeting, just more private and not for the ears of outsiders.

Old Yen and Butler Bang also tactfully left the rooms, remaining outside the doors on both sides of formations to ensure no one disturbed the meeting.

Updated from 𝘪.𝘤𝑜𝘮