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What are the chances of winning?

This question almost caused Shen Qi to lose his composure.

What do you think are the odds of that fox entering the fray?

It was simply impossible for us to wait for the real Chen Qing to fight; should that day actually arrive, none of us would be able to leave the Capital City alive. An open contest was out of the question, so the only way... was to ensure that Wutu Gu met his death before the competition!

Only with Wutu Gu dead could we continue to bluff our opponents!

But of course, this was not something he could let the naively honest child before him know...

Shen Qi softly smiled and said, "If Wutu Gu only possesses the level of skill he displayed in the palace hall, then my master has no chance of losing to him..."

Ali’s face twitched, and she could only put on a calm fa?ade, continuing the act despite the difficulty.

Chen Baiye obviously would not be easily fooled.

He directly asked, "If you thought Wutu Gu was not worth mentioning at the time, why didn’t you just accept his challenge in the Imperial Court and defeat him on the spot?

In doing so, His Majesty would have had no reason to keep Princess Mingxue, and you could have safely returned, could you not? "

"Why would Minister Chen be unaware?" Shen Qi smiled and said, "The Court used some inexplicable methods to make one of our subordinates disappear. You have also seen his importance to Jiangnan. With such a person suddenly vanishing, we naturally could not ignore it. Moreover, at that time, our lord was not confident whether the other party could do it again. I believe you can see that, at this moment, neither the Court nor we have any certainty about the opponent’s capabilities or plans. "

Upon hearing this, Chen Baiye nodded slightly. It sounded fairly honest. If they had claimed everything was under control, he would have immediately turned and left. And if they were in control, why would they come to him?

"What do you want to know? What can you offer?"

Quite straightforward, indeed...

Shen Qi was slightly taken aback, but quickly recovered. Compared to the officials who frequently haunt the political scene and like to test the waters with various probing questions, Chen Baiye, who had a background in the jianghu as a businessman, was actually more forthright.

"There is much we seek to know. What power does the Siao Family rely upon? Are they in league with Wutu Gu? How deep are the waters behind them? The sudden disappearance of our man—do you know of their methods?"

After a pause, he continued, "As for the conditions... we will do our utmost to ensure the safety of your entire family’s return to Jiangnan.

Not just your branch, but if your Chen Family asks, I can secure ten spots for you at the West Sea Dragon Palace.

We won’t interfere with who those spots go to, it will be entirely up to you, Third Master Chen, to decide! "

"Oh?" Chen Baiye said with a laugh, "I’ve heard that the Jiangnan Academy values talent above all. No matter the background, as long as one lacks the ability, they cannot make it there."

"That is indeed true..." Shen Qi said with a smile, "Our Jiangnan Academy selects scholars based on talent, pooling resources for those who are truly qualified and talented, creating room for their development. Isn’t that the meaning of running an academy? Moreover, without the necessary qualifications in our Jiangnan Academy, one cannot learn anything of substance, and without learning, one cannot access resources—wouldn’t that be a waste of a spot? We promise you the spots, but I’m sure you wouldn’t want to bring a few useless individuals to waste our resources, right?

To maximize the use of resources, one must admit those who are truly qualified.

If you wish to send a child of mediocre talent, then in the end, we only waste a little resource, but what you waste. .. would be an opportunity!"

"Haha..." Chen Baiye clapped his hands and laughed heartily, "They say that back in the day, Shen Qi, with his clever words, silenced all the Northern Wasteland Families, proclaiming him to be peerless in argumentation. Truly, his reputation is well-deserved!"

"Truth is not something that can be argued into existence." Shen Qi said with a smile, "Whether it’s reasonable or not, Third Master Chen surely understands in his heart."

Chen Baiye nodded at these words, then turned and said, "May I discuss this with my son?"

"Of course..." Shen Qi replied generously, "Such an important decision naturally requires careful consideration. However, we are pressed for time. How soon can Third Master provide an answer?"

"Two hours!"

"Good, then two hours it is!"

-----------------------------------

After Chen Baiye and his eldest son had left, Shen Qi put away his smile, checked the surrounding barrier several times to make sure there were no problems, then turned to the imposter Chen Qing and asked, "Did you succeed?"

"Mmm..." Ali’s eyes shone emerald green, flickering with a ghostly light, "The time was too short. However, because they had been continuously thinking about this matter, I still read the essential information."

"Good!" Both Shen Qi and Chen Ying took a deep breath.

This fox’s abilities were terrifying, but as a teammate, incredibly useful!

While Shen Qi felt slightly relieved by Ali’s answer, he didn’t hold too much hope.

If Chen Baiye’s memories could be read, it meant he had not reached transcendent status, not even Super First Rank.

Conversely, someone like Wutu Gu, who at most had the strength of a First Rank military general a few years ago, now had subordinates who had stepped into transcendence, indicating that Chen Baiye was merely on the periphery, likely knowing very little.

"Do you know what power stands behind the Siao Family?"

"He is unaware in his memories. There are only some details and speculations. After Liu Yu’s fake death, that Emperor of the Siao Family began arranging the Ghost Temple in the Capital City.

At first, he did it stealthily, using only his trusted subordinates to set up the Ghost Temple.

Later, when the Duke of Wei from the north rebelled, Chen Baiye guessed that it was originally designed by the Emperor. "

"Oh? So that’s how it is..." Shen Qi felt he had guessed a few things.

He had said that the Duke of Wei’s rebellion was so abrupt; it turns out it was like this... a diversionary tactic!

All the talk about demons plaguing the Court, the Duke of Wei secretly taking away the Princely Heir, raising arms in rebellion to cleanse the Emperor’s side, it was all calculated...

With the strong Emperor’s network of informants in the Capital City, how could the Duke of Wei, a duke who had been operating in the north for years, simply take a bunch of Princely Heirs and escape?

If the Court had truly been occupied by demons, the Duke of Wei would have encountered trouble long ago for not submitting, right?

The Duke of Wei was a renowned general of his time, with high prestige in the north, but without a decree personally penned by the Emperor, the Duke of Wei couldn’t have gathered the Northern Wasteland Families to rise in rebellion so smoothly.

Everything was done to shift attention. The Duke of Wei succeeded in doing so; with his formidable military strength and the Emperor’s covert cooperation, he almost encircled the Capital City, startling those Noble Families that had been eyeing the Royal Family.

A vast number of Noble Families’ military generals were dispatched to the north to fight, and a significant number of magicians’ descendants were sent to support.

Many families, because the Northern Wasteland was too powerful and there was a high chance that Emperor Siao may have been controlled by a demon, were secretly planning and finding a way out.

Very few loyalists might have been bought over by the Emperor to secretly set up. ..

Shen Qi stroked his chin: "So it means that at that time, the Emperor was not powerful enough to disregard all the Noble Families in the Capital City, otherwise he wouldn’t have needed to orchestrate so many diversions."

Chen Ying also realized: "It seems like that’s the case."

"Ghost Temple... This might be the key..." Shen Qi looked at Ali, "When did the arrangements of the Ghost Temples start to become open and aboveboard?"

Ali: "About half a year ago..."

"I see..." Shen Qi nodded once more. As the Dragon Palace event caused a huge uproar, it was strange that the Emperor’s forces did not participate openly, almost appearing disinterested. On the contrary, it was the Noble Families of the Capital City who were fervently involved.

"At that time, the Emperor probably was worrying about something big enough to distract these Sorcerer Families.

We just happened to present him with the perfect opportunity, and he took advantage of it, letting the Chen Family take the lead in joining the exploration of the Dragon Palace initiated by Our Lord.

The Noble Families were probably all focused on competing for a spot in the Dragon Palace event, having no resources to pay attention to the Capital City. "

"The military generals were distracted by the North, while the Sorcerer Families were drawn to the Dragon Palace event, leaving only a few to notice the Emperor’s clandestine setup of the Ghost Temples..."

"Then why did the Emperor start acting unrestrainedly half a year ago?" Chen Ying asked in confusion.

"Probably because by that time... he no longer needed to be cautious!" Shen Qi said with a cold laugh, "Because he had already obtained enough power, at least the kind that the current families could not resist..."

Continuing, he looked at Ali, "How many Ghost Temples were there half a year ago?"