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Hearing Lu Chen's question, Zhuge Zhongguang smiled slightly, stroked his beard, and then said, "According to this old minister, there are three possibilities."

"The first possibility is that His Majesty feels that after the elimination of the Aristocratic Families in the South, the Ancient Families no longer pose much of a threat. The greatest threat is from the various Seigniors across the lands, so he wants to use this opportunity to eradicate all the Seigniors within the Great Sum territory in one fell swoop."

Upon hearing the first possibility, Lu Chen said with confusion, "Since ancient times, emperors have weakened the Seigniors gradually. My father has enticed all the Seigniors to expand their forces, and when the time comes, the Imperial Army may not be a match for those Seigniors."

There are more than a dozen Seigniors in Great Sum. If all the Seigniors were to expand their troops, their soldiers added together would definitely outnumber the Imperial Army's. At that time, the Imperial Army might be unable to suppress the rebellion, and the Sum Emperor's actions might misfire disastrously.

Zhuge Zhongguang said, "Just like how His Majesty forced Prince Lu Shuyun to rebel by heading south, since His Majesty dares to arrange such a scheme, he must have already made the necessary preparations. Perhaps in his view, those Seigniors are not to be feared."

Lu Chen thought about it and felt there was some reason to that; perhaps his father had already figured out how to deal with those Seigniors.

Lu Chen continued to ask, "What about the second possibility?"

Zhuge Zhongguang replied, "The second possibility is that His Majesty might indeed be sick."

Lu Chen said with a smile, "I'm afraid that's the least likely."

Zhuge Zhongguang said, "This old minister thinks so too."

Lu Chen asked again, "What is the third possibility?"

Zhuge Zhongguang answered, "The third possibility is that His Majesty's real intention might be to lure North Country into launching an attack, and then eliminate North Country, this significant concern."

"The Imperial Army has already been deployed to the Qi Country border, clearly ready for a conflict with North Country. From the rumors in the Capital city, it's likely that His Majesty has guessed that this old minister hasn't broken through to the Heavenly Human Realm."

"Perhaps in his view, Prince, you sending out a hundred thousand troops non-stop to probe the Imperial Army actually signifies that you have the intention to rebel, lacking only a good opportunity. Therefore, by deliberately falling ill, His Majesty is giving Prince a chance to rebel."

Hearing this, Lu Chen fell into contemplation. After pondering for a moment, he then said, "If my father really thinks this way, then he greatly misunderstands me."

At this point, Zhuge Zhongguang mentioned, "In fact, this old minister has thought of another possibility, although it's even less likely."

Lu Chen asked, "Great Scholar, please share your thoughts."

Zhuge Zhongguang said, "Does Prince remember the abnormal phenomena that appeared in the Capital city?"

Lu Chen replied, "Of course."

Zhuge Zhongguang continued, "This old minister suspects that His Majesty has also entered the state of Pseudo-Celestial Realm. According to Senior Xuanyuan, this means that His Majesty is very likely already at the Unity Realm."

"Considering His Majesty's life experiences, he is a monarch with immense ambition. The trials His Majesty faces in achieving Unity might likely involve gaining complete control over all of Great Sum. For this, he must eliminate all the Seigniors. By enticing the Seigniors to grow their forces and rebel, His Majesty then has the justification for weakening them."

"Perhaps His Majesty can't wait any longer, and that's why he's pretending to be ill now, tempting those Seigniors to break the rules and expand their forces on their own. This old minister even believes that the very first Seignior to expand his troops might also be His Majesty's man, helping in stirring the other Seigniors."

Lu Chen was stunned by Zhuge Zhongguang's speculation.

Had Zhuge thought so far ahead?

He had never considered these points. He thought that Zhao King's initiative in expanding his troops was merely because he saw the Sum Emperor's critical illness and hence wanted to rebel, that's why he was frantically expanding his troops. But in Zhuge Zhongguang's view, could Zhao King possibly be the Sum Emperor's man?

Zhuge Zhongguang continued, "His Majesty had previously cooperated secretly with the Dongfang Family well in advance in order to eliminate the Aristocratic Families in the South. If His Majesty is really pretending to be ill and ignoring the Seigniors' expansion, then there must be allies among the Seigniors who are His Majesty's supporters."

After listening to Zhuge Zhongguang's words, Lu Chen sorted out his thoughts and then asked, "According to the Great Scholar, what should I do, and what should North Country do next?"

Zhuge Zhongguang replied, "According to this old minister, Prince now only needs to manage North Country well and pay no attention to the events happening in Great Sum."

"Once Great Sum truly falls into civil unrest, North Country will welcome a new period of development."

Every time Great Sum experiences war, a great number of refugees will flee to North Country for asylum. Now, North Country has a population of just a few million, too few to support the development of North Country. If North Country wants to grow stronger, it needs a larger workforce."

Zhuge Zhongguang then cautioned, "Moreover, Prince should take the initiative to guard against the Great Wu dynasty. This old minister suggests that during Great Sum's internal chaos, Prince should actively seek to exchange or purchase territory bordering Great Wu from Qi Prince, enabling North Country to swiftly deploy troops against Great Wu."

Currently, North Country's southwest borders Great Jue, the south borders Qi Country, and western Qi Country borders Great Wu.

If North Country were to launch an attack on Great Wu, it would have to go through either Great Jue or Qi Country. If it could swap for a piece of land from Qi Country that borders Great Wu directly, North Country's army could then directly head south and attack the Great Wu dynasty.

Of course, this doesn't mean that North Country really intends to attack Great Wu. By doing so, North Country is simply deterring Great Wu. If Great Wu dares to send troops against Great Sum during its internal strife, North Country can seize the opportunity to launch an offensive against Great Wu.