Chapter 2022: Political Maneuvering

Xierdalanna representing Yierlan to show goodwill toward Netheril was somewhat beyond Xia Duo's expectations; wasn't she at odds with the Crown King? Why would she take on such a mission?

However, surprise was surprise, and Xia Duo spoke straight, "Actually, the Seven Towers does not mean to deliberately target Yierlan, but—"

"But what?"

"In the current situation, if Yierlan wants to walk away unscathed without paying anything, I'm afraid it will be a bit difficult!"

Upon hearing this, a trace of gloom flashed in Xierdalanna's eyes, yet she asked without changing her expression: "Then what does Netheril want?"

"I just said, the Seven Towers does not mean to deliberately target Yierlan, it's just that we hope the southern region of Siluwende, which has already been occupied by Yierlan, can become independent!"

"You want to let the southern region of Siluwende become independent?!"

Xierdalanna reacted instantly, realizing that this should be Netheril's bottom line; she had also roughly understood the previous negotiations between the various countries at the Floating City of Xia Duo.

The Siluwende region currently occupied by Yierlan could be considered the key point of negotiation second only to the Demon Descendant oversight power, and for the faction of Crown King Helien, it was an interest they would not yield an inch on.

But for Xierdalanna, this was not something that could not be conceded. One must know that Siluwende had been "supervised" by Yierlan for over a thousand years, especially the southern area near Yierlan, which had been influenced by Yierlan in almost every aspect.

This kind of influence could not be eliminated simply by changing the nationality or becoming independent; that is to say, no matter which side that region ultimately belonged to, the impact on Yierlan's actual interests would not be significant.

In fact, if it belonged to Yierlan, it might even become a burden that was hard to shake off! After all, once it became domestic territory, many methods originally used on a vassal state could no longer be used.

But conversely, if that region were lost, the Crown King's faction would lose a lot of political points. The war was instigated by them, and the land was successfully taken, yet in the end, it was handed back out.

No matter how reasonable the excuse, no one would be willing to bear the reputation of losing territory. Xierdalanna actually found this rare opportunity to severely strike at the Crown King's prestige quite desirable!

Hearing Xia Duo propose such a condition at this moment, her first reaction was not humiliation, let alone being troubled, but pleasant surprise. The Crown King's faction had already gained the upper hand within Yierlan, but this war had seen unexpected occurrences; if nothing was gained in the end, the Crown King would become the one who lost the most points in this war!

Xierdalanna and the Upper Family of her faction did not actually oppose centralized reform; what they truly opposed was the excessive compression of their own Permission Level under the new system.

In other words, if the reform were led by them, they would be even more proactive, or even more radical, than the Crown King, and accordingly, they would compress the Permission Level that originally belonged to the Crown King to the extreme.

If they could use the impact of this war's failure to force the Crown King to make concessions during the reform process, it would undoubtedly be a key victory for the opposition, which had already gradually fallen into a disadvantage or even completely lost power.

"Lord Xia Duo, the country will not easily agree to this matter. Even if I promise you now, I think you probably won't believe it, but what I want to say is that at least on this matter, we have common interests. As long as news about the independence of southern Siluwende is sent back to the country during tomorrow's talks, I will do my best to maneuver this."

Although Xierdalanna said "do my best," her tone was very certain. If it were returning the southern Siluwende region to Siluwende, it might be difficult to maneuver, but if it were just letting that side become independent, there was actually a chance, and the chance was not small.

After the news about the Demon Descendant oversight power from the daytime talks was sent back to Taiweimansa, it immediately aroused the unanimous opposition of the Upper Family. The last time Xierdalanna saw the Taiweimansa Upper Family so united was over a hundred years ago, when Netheril wanted to renegotiate the Tri-Nation Mithral Agreement, but that was the only time.

Afterward, news spread that the Crown King wanted to carry out centralized reform. Since then, whether facing the rise of Netheril, dealing with the Orc Tide, or evaluating Keman, the upper echelons of Yierlan had never unified their opinions again.

Until now, two major forces had formed in the country: one was the new noble force headed by the Crown King, and the other was the ancient family line where Xierdalanna was.

Of course, what Yierlan called ancient was still different from the ancient families in Evereska and Akaola that could be traced back to before the Crown War.

The difference between Yierlan's ancient and new nobles lay in whether the family was formed before the founding of Yierlan. The so-called ancient families were, to a large extent, the declining Upper Family of the Shaerwen country at that time.

Only a very small number of true Upper Families, holding the idea of placing heavy bets to invest in a country, established Yierlan together with those declining Upper Families.

The idea of the ancient family line was: we even established the country, Crown King, you want to centralize power, have you asked us? Is there a sufficiently important position left for us in the new system?

The Crown King was actually also of the ancient family line, and was a true Upper Family at the beginning of the founding of the country; otherwise, there would not be enough prestige to obtain the recognition of all Upper Families. From the founding of the country until now, the Crown King's crown had only been passed down in the Helien family.

And those new nobles were actually not truly emerging families; most of them had various connections with the Upper Family, either as a Branching or as vassals, and only gradually developed.

In the past, the ancient line never thought that the domestic situation in Yierlan would be divided like this, and even held the idea of spreading branches and expanding wings, giving those new nobles a lot of support, to the point that by this generation of the Crown King, the new noble force had almost reached its peak.

Coupled with the fact that there were many Elves within the ancient line who recognized the Crown King's political philosophy, it ultimately led to one result—

The Upper Family, who still held most of the power in this country, were going downhill in terms of momentum, actual strength, and future potential, and they were going faster and faster!

If it weren't for avoiding a civil war and the entire country falling apart, perhaps the Crown King would have pushed through the reform long ago.

In Xierdalanna's view, in this key institutional reform, although it was first proposed by the Crown King, this was also an opportunity for the ancient family line. If successful, the families they belonged to would be completely bound to Yierlan and passed down forever.

And accordingly, this was also the last chance for all new nobles and even future emerging families in Yierlan. Once missed, if there was no heaven-defying reversal in the future, it would be difficult to get ahead again.

In fact, Xierdalanna also vaguely sensed danger, not from the Crown King's faction, but an uneasiness about the idea of a country controlled by only a few families.

This might also be an important reason why many ancient families stood on the Crown King's side, but that idea of letting the family heritage last forever was also a temptation that many high-level Mage found hard to resist.