Li Linghai rolled his eyes and said, "The Dongfang family has expanded abruptly in the past hundred years. There's no telling how much wealth it has looted. Are you not tempted at all to divide the Dongfang family completely? Also, all the Immortal Cultivators of the Dongfang family will certainly hate you for the heavy losses you have caused to the Dongfang family. If you do not eliminate them right now, you may be swallowed by the remnants of the Dongfang family in the future! "
"Hehe, my good granddaughter, this little trick of yours can only fool those short-sighted people who forget righteousness at the sight of profit. Playing this trick in front of your grandfather is a little too childish!"
Li Jiande said with a smile, "The picture of completely dividing the Dongfang family is indeed wonderful, but one moment of carelessness will trigger a chain reaction, and we will be burnt in the end. Not only will we have to vomit all the resources that we have swallowed, but the foundation of the four Kurfürst families will also be hurt!
"In fact, that is your fundamental purpose, isn't it?
"In the past few months, you have been instigating the strength of the Immortal Cultivators of other surnames and the bottom-level in the Dongfang family and intensifying the contradiction between the main bloodline and the secondary bloodlines of the Dongfang family. Finally, the two tides have been gathered into a torrent that will swallow the entire family!
"The other three Kurfürst families seem to be able to take advantage of the so-called 'reform', but the fatal threat that we are faced with is actually the same as that of the Dongfang family.
"In the dozen or so Sectors that the Dongfang family governs, 90% of the Immortal Cultivators do not belong to the Dongfang family. Even on the most elite starships, most of the bottom-level posts are filled by the Immortal Cultivators of other surnames, who are highly dissatisfied with the Dongfang family. Aren't the Li family, the Yun family, and the Song family the same?
"The Dongfang family has the contradiction between the main bloodline and the secondary bloodlines. The secondary bloodlines have been trying to overthrow the main bloodline and replace it as the dominator of the Dongfang family all the time. As for the other three families, which of them dares to say that they are all brothers without any grudges?
"You have instigated the ambitions of the Immortal Cultivators of other surnames and secondary branches in the Sectors under the governance of the Dongfang family. While it is true that a fire that is burning through the sky has been gathered, allowing us to finish the so-called 'First Family of the Imperium' without any trouble, if the fire burns more and more fiercely, won't it burn to the territory of the Li family, the Yun family, and the Song family unstoppably like a passing wildfire?
"If the Immortal Cultivators of other surnames and branches in the territory of the Dongfang family can rise up and overthrow the reign of the Dongfang family, why can't the Li family, the Song family, and the Yun family?"
Li Linghai sniffed and said casually, "Grandfather, you worry too much."
"No, I am not overthinking."
Li Jiande sighed and said, "If we are truly blinded by greed and allow the fire to continue burning until the entire Dongfang family is burnt to the ground, it will be too late by then. With the entire Dongfang family as the fuel, the fire will certainly sweep across the entire Imperium. The few Cultivators of the main bloodlines of the Li family, the Yun family, and the Song family will not be able to compete with the thousands of Immortal Cultivators of other surnames and secondary bloodlines who have gone mad. The four families will be like four tombstones that will only fall one after another. Eventually, the order of the entire Imperium will be gone, and the center of the cosmos will be a tray of loose sand, mired in endless wars!
"Although I don't know why you are doing this, I will not let your plan work out for the Li family or the Imperium. I'm sorry, my good granddaughter!"
"Got it."
Pursing his lips hard, Li Linghai said coldly, "Since the very beginning, even when you were threatened by my army, you never thought to completely annihilate the Dongfang family!"
"Yes, I am already old. When a person gets old, many things, including their ambitions, will shrink. They will be more prudent when considering problems. They will no longer think about what they will gain after success but what they will lose after failure."
Li Jiande was truly like a kind, amiable grandfather who was teaching his naughty granddaughter a lesson. "If I were a hundred years younger, I might've really been tricked by you and risked my life to destroy the Dongfang family without caring about the consequences.
"But right now, I already understand that the four Kurfürst families, namely the Li family, the Yun family, the Song family, and the Dongfang family, are a community of destiny that is bound together for good or ill. To maintain the authority of the Dongfang family is to maintain the authority of the four Kurfürst families as well as the Li family itself. If the Dongfang family declines or is even completely annihilated, countless people will be triggered to overthrow the four Kurfürst families in one go. By then, the Imperium will be a complete mess!
"Therefore, I never thought to annihilate the Dongfang family since the very beginning. I only wanted to beat them up so that they would be replaced by a soberer leader.
"The four families are the four legs of the table. If any family is too strong, we will beat them up, and if any family is too weak, we will give them a hand. After all, this is such a huge cake in the entire universe. Which family can eat it all by themselves? If they eat it, their stomach will explode, right? Hahahaha. Cough, cough. Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough. Since we are going to eat at the same table, no matter how awful our faces are, how hard our hands are, and how hard our chopsticks are clashing, we should show some mercy on our feet. It is not good to really break the legs of the table. What do you think, my good granddaughter? "
Li Linghai's face was more and more awful. He said, one word after another, "No wonder the Yun family and the Song family stood behind the reformists so easily. As it turns out, they were instigated by you when they joined us. They were already clenching their sabers!"
Li Jiande put the nebulizer mask to his mouth and nose again. Taking a deep breath, his face reddened. He sighed and said, "My good granddaughter, I really regret sending you to the palace. I should've kept you by my side and taught you carefully so that you could become the most distinguished heir of the Li family! Your talents are obviously so good, but you are too young, too impatient, too confident, and too arrogant without the guidance of an expert!
"The tallest tree in the forest will be destroyed by the wind. It will be … driven away!"
Li Linghai looked at Li Jiande thoughtfully and then at Dongfang Sheng. He said coldly, "After the balance of the four Kurfürst families is restored, the reformists are about to be killed. General Dongfang, is this your so-called 'loyalty to the ideology of the reformists'?"
"My good granddaughter, you have truly misunderstood General Dongfang."
Before Dongfang Sheng argued back, Li Jiande had already defended for him, "Peace is the most important thing in everything. 'Silver Fox' Li Jiande, unlike Dongfang Wang, who is known to be iron-blooded, I dislike fighting and killing most of all. We are all people of the Imperium. Is there anything that we can't sit down and talk about?
"While the four Kurfürst families are the pillars of the Imperium, the middle and small nobles and the warlords at the peripheral worlds are indispensable parts of the Imperium, too. The reformists, including you, are important lubricants for the Imperium. Your operation of 'Honor the Majesty and Settle the Rebellions' is also a wake-up call for the four Kurfürst families, asking us to reflect on whether or not the actions of some people in our families were indeed outrageous.
"Rest assured. After the incident, the four Kurfürst families will all conduct internal reorganizations. We will also give away abundant interests so that the forces that have made remarkable contributions and suffered heavy losses in the war in the past twenty years will be satisfied. In any case, I do not want to see a civil war within the Imperium before the Holy League is completely destroyed."
"Grandpa, you are truly a great talker. Had it not been for the fact that your notoriety as' Silver Fox 'hadn't been well-known a hundred years ago, I would've almost believed it."
Li Linghai sneered nonstop. Suddenly, he bulged his eyes and shrieked, "General Dongfang, do you really believe that the four Kurfürst families will step back and let go of the fat meat next to their mouths? This is just their stalling tactic. After they come back to themselves and figure out the details of the reformists, they will settle the scores later. Don't regret what you did today when you are about to be killed! "
"Your Grace, I've made up my mind. There's no need to argue in vain."
Dongfang Sheng said expressionlessly, "You have so many secrets that I cannot completely trust you, unless you tell me the whole story first, including the resources to build the Deep Sea Fleet, your mysterious Cultivation, and also … why you snuck into the royal library stealthily just now and vanished into thin air. What was that all about? Where did you go exactly?"
"Yes. Just tell us everything, my good granddaughter."
Li Jiande coughed hard for a while again and breathed heavily. "Tell us all the secrets and agree to our terms, and you will still be the most revered queen of the Imperium of True Human Beings. You will still be involved in the distribution of interests in the postwar reconstruction. In the game of power, I will try my best to keep a place for you."
"Exactly."
Dongfang Sheng said, "To this moment, I still consider you to be the leader of the reformists, and I will not fight you unless it is absolutely necessary!"
Li Linghai completely calmed down.
Her translucent pupils seemed to have lost the warmth of a human, releasing gloomy flames that burned to the surroundings.
Stroking her long hair that was like a white waterfall softly, she said casually, "What if I don't talk?"
"Then, we will have to ask Your Grace to talk in another place!"
"Acyclic Earth" Yun Kuohai rubbed his gigantic hands and grinned hideously. "Don't blame us for being ruthless. I believe that Your Grace will certainly tell everything that happened in the past hundred years in the end!"
"Don't struggle on your deathbed and make the situation so ugly."
Li Jiande slightly frowned and said, "Our men are everywhere. All the people who are loyal to you in the Deep Sea Fleet have been controlled. Even the control system of the defense arrays in and out of the royal palace has been hacked by us.
"Nine barriers have been deployed. You cannot even send out any telepathic thoughts. It is impossible for you to call 'Vulture Li Yao' for help. I have planned the capture carefully for you as an unparalleled expert at the peak of the Divinity Transformation Stage. You do not stand the slightest chance. It's time to admit defeat, my good granddaughter!"
"Is that so?"
Li Linghai smiled without giving any comment. Black veins suddenly surfaced on her pale face and twisted like thousands of reptiles. Her smile was more and more mysterious and hideous.
She was still stroking her long hair that was like a white waterfall softly, but as she waved her hands, her white hair that was as white as snow turned black inch by inch starting from the tip!
The white was a shocking white, and the black was an unfathomable black. It was like a special coating that could swallow all visible and invisible light waves!
No, it was not just her hair. Even her originally white eyes were injected with ink-like black mist. Soon, her eyes were completely black, and even the white of her eyes could not be seen. It was as if two miniature black holes had been forcibly embedded into her beautiful face.
In the blink of an eye, there was no longer any whiteness in her black hair, and there was not the slightest brightness in her eyes anymore. The White Queen had turned into the Black Queen through and through!
"I … I … I … I have never known 'failure'!"
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