Chapter 552: A Big Black Pot

"Sect Master, I apologize. I did not expect the Gu Lei Kingdom to have foreseen our actions and sent people to guard the Hagendas Kingdom and the Tianshuang Principality in advance," Bai He said helplessly.

This mission could be considered a complete failure.

He had headed to the Tianshuang Principality, but ended up running into Dugu Bo; although Dugu Bo could not catch him, it was impossible for him to continue killing under Dugu Bo's nose.

As for the one sent to the Hagendas Kingdom, it was an Elder of the Min Clan, a Spirit Saint of over level 70.

It was even more miserable; he was captured alive by Yang Wudi. There was no helping it: first, this Spirit Saint's speed was far inferior to Bai He's, and second, Yang Wudi understood the Min Clan's fighting style far too well.

His speed was indeed no match for the Min Clan, but he could predict their next movement; apart from Bai He, no one in the entire Min Clan could dodge his Soul-Breaking Spear.

This time, Yang Wudi did not show mercy because of past sentiments. Whether in the past or the present, it was only the Min Clan that had wronged him; he had never wronged the Min Clan.

During the battle of Longxing City back then, he had single-handedly held the line for the Four Single-Attribute Clans against the Lower Four Sects; he had already fulfilled that sentiment in his own way.

Now that they were each serving their own masters, Yang Wudi would act while keeping his own position in mind.

"Then how did the Tianshuang ruler die? And the Hagendas Kingdom royal family—they were not in our plan at all." This was the true reason for Tang San's Anger.

If the plan failed, that was nothing.

But to act as a stepping stone for others was a huge loss, especially when that person was Nan Feihuang.

He did not want to kill the Hagendas royal family, and even more so, he could not; once they were dead, wouldn't Nan Feihuang take advantage of the situation to directly seize the entire Hagendas Kingdom? "Sect Master, the Hagendas Kingdom's royal family was not actually killed by us," Bai He replied.

Tang San was surprised, "What? Then who was the one who did it?"

"It was the Gu Lei Kingdom! Even the death of the Tianshuang ruler has inseparable ties to them. I did indeed poison the Tianshuang ruler, Nan Feilian, and their son, but I did not expect Dugu Bo to be right by the mother and son's side. He used poison to counteract poison on the spot, using supreme Poison Technique to neutralize the Pufferfish Poison, yet he intentionally left the Tianshuang ruler out. His goal was to use our hands to eliminate the Tianshuang royal family, so that Nan Feilian's son could inherit the throne."

"If I am not mistaken, the same is true for the Hagendas Kingdom. The Tianshuang ruler was, after all, Nan Feihuang's brother-in-law, so he was within our range of targets; we never poisoned the Hagendas royal family at all. It must have been the people of the Gu Lei Kingdom who did the poisoning, and then they pushed it all onto us."

"So, we were actually countered at our own game!" Tang San said in Anger.

"Yes, my clan members were captured alive by the old goat, and the Pufferfish Poison used to poison the Hagendas royal family will surely be found on him. When that time comes, with both human and material evidence present, we will never be able to shake off this blame." Bai He had already guessed the Gu Lei Kingdom's next move.

Next, they would surely announce the intelligence that the Tang Sect had poisoned the two kingdoms' royal families, issue a condemnation to the Star Luo Empire, and then "incidentally" send people to take over these two great kingdoms.

What Bai He could think of, Tang San could naturally think of as well. He did not understand why every step he took seemed to be in the palm of someone's hand, and no matter how he struggled, he was played by that person.

The situation was exactly as he and Bai He had expected.

Over in the Hagendas Kingdom, Nan Feiyan and her husband announced the Tang Sect's evidence of guilt. Since Yang Wudi had captured the Min Clan Elder alive, and the poison found on him was indeed the poison that harmed the Hagendas royal family, there was simply no room for defense.

And in this war, the news that the Min Clan belonged to the Tang Sect was already known to everyone. Because the Hagendas royal family's bloodline was severed, in order to maintain national stability and to avenge the Hagendas royal family, Duke Beilixi decided to accept the appointment in a time of crisis and succeed to the throne, from then on following the lead of the Gu Lei Kingdom.

Nan Feilian's side was a bit more pitiful; her husband was dead, and she only knew he died at the hands of the Tang Sect, not knowing that her own father, Nan Tianchen, had schemed in it.

There was no helping it; Duke Beilixi could live because he was only a Duke. Even if he succeeded to the throne, he would not value the majesty and heritage of the Hagendas Kingdom too much. On the contrary, because he lacked royal blood and his position was somewhat illegitimate, he needed a backer even more, and the Gu Lei Kingdom was undoubtedly his greatest pillar of support.

But the Tianshuang ruler was different; he was the legitimate king of the Tianshuang Principality. No matter what, he could at most become an appendage of the Gu Lei Kingdom.

And Nan Feihuang would definitely unify the world in the future, so keeping him would be of no benefit to this matter. These monarchs still valued their country's heritage and territory very much.

It would be better to let Nan Feilian's son succeed to the throne. A child could only listen to his mother, and Nan Feilian would certainly listen to everything Nan Tianchen and Nan Feihuang said.

Thus, obtaining the Tianshuang Principality would be effortless.

As for Nan Feilian not knowing the truth, that was actually for the best; otherwise, if she knew her husband died due to her own father's schemes, that would be too tragic.

Let her continue to hate the Star Luo Empire and the Tang Sect. The Tianshuang Principality's Frost Army was also quite excellent and could become one of the main corps against the Star Luo Empire in the future.

Qian Renxue had just prepared to write a letter to Nan Feihuang when she heard the two messages released from the Hagendas Kingdom and the Tianshuang Principality.

It seemed she and Nan Feihuang did not need to explain; the Gu Lei Kingdom had not been fooled.

She could not help but secretly praise that it seemed there was someone in Feihuang's camp who could devise strategies within a command tent. He not only broke Tang San's plot of framing others but also implemented a counter-frame, making the Tang Sect an existence that everyone shouted to beat.

Xun Yu was organizing all the intelligence from this incident. This plan was quite successful, and they had gained quite a few benefits.

First, Tang San had been pulled from the shadows into the light; if he wanted to stir up trouble in the dark in the future, it would not be so easy. It also greatly damaged his reputation; the Tang Sect's unprovoked poisoning of the Hagendas Kingdom and Tianshuang Principality royal families had already made them viewed as a public enemy by the major kingdoms.

Second, the Gu Lei Kingdom could take over the Hagendas Kingdom and the Tianshuang Principality one after another without shedding blood, greatly enhancing the country's strength. Xun Yu was confident that he could integrate all forces within a year, at which point the Gu Lei Kingdom could be called the Gu Lei Empire.

Third, although the Gu Lei Kingdom was the biggest beneficiary in this incident behind the scenes, they were the biggest victim on the surface. After all, they were caught in the crossfire while "knowing nothing." In the battle of Gengxin City, their country's important official Xu Rong was caught in the Spirit Empire's city-slaughtering operation and died an unjust death. In the assassination incident, the second Princess Nan Feilian's husband was poisoned by the Star Luo Empire's Tang Sect, leaving only her and her son as orphans and widows.

It could be said that both of these great empires had forged a huge hatred with the Gu Lei Kingdom. In the future, when Nan Feihuang used this as an excuse to strike at either side, he would have reason and evidence, and his cause would be just.

Xun Yu sent people to the common folk to listen to their tea-time chatter, and as he had expected, the uninformed masses were all lamenting the bad luck of the Gu Lei Kingdom, clearly having done nothing wrong, yet having to suffer such persecution from two great powers.

Many Gu Lei Kingdom citizens were even filled with indignation, hoping that the Flying General would take action as soon as possible to seek justice for their Mr. Xu Rong and the two Princesses.

(End of chapter)