Chapter 369: Supporting the Dragon?

"It's over."

I don't know how much time had passed—perhaps the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn, perhaps an hour. The strange phenomena on the horizon had dissipated, and the shrill, miserable screams had also slowly subsided.

"I wonder how many people the Empire captured?"

Wang Zhan's face was full of curiosity, but he also knew this was not the time to go poking around.

"Don't be a busybody. Those matters are not something we can interfere with right now."

"After this, we can set off with peace of mind. There won't be any more danger ahead."

Su Fan believed that after this incident, he would likely have a period of tranquility. After all, such a powerful phenomenon must have been seen by many.

They would inevitably know that he was protected by experts beyond the Profound Mastery realm, and ordinary factions would likely not dare to set their sights on him.

As for the remnants of the Six States, Su Fan believed they would be even more afraid and would likely hide even deeper.

Su Fan believed that the remnants of the Six States still held some power; otherwise, it would be impossible for them to remain so obsessed with restoring their nations.

If they only had a group of Profound Mastery experts—who weren't even a match for the Net—how could they have the strength to revolt and restore their kingdoms?

With only a few experts, they could only hide in the shadows, not daring to show their faces. If they were discovered by Great Qin, it would be dangerous.

Therefore, Su Fan had never believed that the remnants of the Six States would send stronger people to assassinate him. A one-for-one trade was a loss for the Six States.

After all, Su Fan's existence boosted Great Qin's national strength. However, in reality, even without Su Fan, Great Qin's national strength was already very powerful; for the remnants of the Six States, there was actually no difference.

Their scale was far smaller than Great Qin's, so they were more concerned with preserving their remaining strength.

But the Divine Court was different. The Divine Court's strength was on par with Great Qin's. If Great Qin's national strength increased, that would be a different story. Therefore, in their eyes, Su Fan's importance was different.

Although Su Fan didn't know how many experts the Divine Court had sent this time, it was impossible that they had only sent one or two deities at the Five Qi Morning Origin realm.

He hoped the more, the better; Great Qin's harvest would be all the greater.

"Hmm! Won't it be a bit boring from here on out?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Zhan immediately raised an eyebrow.

"Boring? Once we reach Sanghai Cheng, that might not be the case. I remember that Young Master Fusu is in Sanghai Cheng, right?"

"Hmm! It seems so. It's said he came to meet that person from the Little Sage Virtuous Manor."

"But, you chose Sanghai Cheng—was it for Young Master Fusu?"

Wang Zhan looked at Su Fan suspiciously. He didn't think Su Fan was the type to be obsessed with power. For example, the Agriculture Office had now become an agency almost on par with the Nine Ministers.

As the person in control of the Agriculture Office, his power was immense. Yet, having known him for so long, he had witnessed with his own eyes how Su Fan handed over most of his power to his subordinates.

Such a person was not keen on power at all. So why seek out Fusu?

As the Emperor's son, Fusu was the most likely candidate to succeed Great Qin. He didn't think Su Fan wanted to be a "dragon-supporting minister."

As it stood, Su Fan, as the Agriculture Colonel and Director of the Agriculture Office, was already in a high position of power, only slightly lower than ministers like Li Si.

But as the Agriculture Office continued to be elevated, his status would only grow, and many even favored him to eventually control the central government.

Since that was the case, why bother getting involved in the Emperor's family affairs?

Since ancient times, the struggle for the succession had been the most dangerous and cruelest of affairs. The Emperor had many heirs, and of course, the most likely one was the eldest son, Fusu.

Eldest Son Fusu did indeed have many supporters, but those who had truly attained the rank of Nine Ministers would never easily step into that fray.

Not to mention, who knew when Fusu would actually sit on that throne? It was possible the Emperor would still be sitting there until he died of old age.

Even if he did sit in that position, for the Nine Ministers, they had already reached the pinnacle of power. Even with a "dragon-supporting" merit, how much of an improvement could there be?

The benefits were small, while the dangers were great. Once you made the wrong choice, there was no possibility of turning back.

In his eyes, Su Fan was not at all obsessed with power, and he would be even less likely to choose to be a "dragon-supporting minister."

That was why Wang Zhan was so curious: why did Su Fan choose Sanghai Cheng?

"Do you think I would do it for Young Master Fusu?"

Su Fan glanced at him and said, "If I really came for Young Master Fusu, what would you do?"

"What would I do? What else could I do? Naturally, I'd follow you. Since I'm your deputy general, I have to follow wherever you go."

Wang Zhan also heard the meaning behind Su Fan's tone, so he smiled and joked.

"Haha!"

"Cunning!"

Su Fan also smiled and shook his head, looking toward the city that was about to come into view, his eyes growing increasingly deep.

His choice of Sanghai Cheng naturally couldn't be because of Fusu.

Su Fan had no particular feelings about Fusu. Perhaps he was a tragic figure; no one knew for sure how he died in history—whether it was suicide or something else.

Because of a single imperial decree, he committed suicide. To be honest, Su Fan couldn't fathom it.

You have to know, at the time, he was in the Northern Territory, and Meng Tian, who was under his command, was a clear supporter of his, with hundreds of thousands of troops in hand.

There were so many ministers in the court supporting him, yet he still committed suicide.

As someone who has been groomed as an emperor from the start, the result is just this; to be honest, in Su Fan's eyes, Ying Zheng's performance in this regard is truly mediocre.

No matter how great his talent and strategy, when it comes to selecting a successor, his judgment is truly lacking.

With such a disposition, how could he possibly hold up and carry the Great Qin?

He can only confront those ambitious rivals by relying solely on his "benevolence and righteousness."

For an emperor, benevolence and righteousness are the most useless things; even among those emperors in history known as benevolent rulers, how many were truly kind?

A person's character is very difficult to change. Su Fan does not believe that Ying Zheng could not see Fusu's flaws. Since that is the case, he should have made a decision earlier and replaced the Crown Prince.

Perhaps in other dynasties, changing the foundation of the state might have had a huge impact, such as in the Ming Dynasty, where the relationship between the Crown Prince, the ministers, and the emperor became cold to the extreme.

However, that does not exist in Great Qin. Among the many emperors of Huaxia, Ying Zheng can be said to have reached the pinnacle of power.

Those who can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Ying Zheng are only a few; founding emperors like Emperor Wu of Han, the Ming Taizu, and the Yuan Taizu can barely compare to Ying Zheng in terms of imperial power, and of course, that is at most just comparing.

They are even slightly inferior.

As for that so-called "Heavenly Khan," he is even worse.

And Ying Zheng truly achieved the state where his word was law; absolutely no one dared to refute his orders. It can be said that in terms of being an emperor, he had already walked to the peak.

With such power, wanting to change a Crown Prince could not be easier.

Historically, if he had made a decision earlier, the Great Qin would absolutely not have perished in the second generation.