Chapter 565

This statement came out; if the news of the Sun King's grave illness had previously been only a top‑secret rumor among a few kingdom elites,

then now the entire Yangyue World knows that the Sun King's days are numbered, his lifespan short, and he needs a successor.

So whoever can become this Light Crown Prince will become the next Sun King, the new master of this ancient kingdom.

Because Anton VI is addicted to women, I am willing, he has never shown any preference or fondness for any of his offspring in daily life.

Therefore, besides Elinor, the eight sons all feel this is their best chance, and they have launched a heated scramble for the throne.

Now it's not just adding fuel to the fire; it's adding fuel and water, crackling, soon a fire will burn the whole camp.

But when it comes to making a living, background matters, especially after Philip and Fiya siblings quickly formed an alliance and built a campaign group.

The eldest of the nine princes, Prince Glen, immediately brought in the interested Prince Titus and Prince Karl, also forming an alliance.

Meanwhile, the weaker Princess Ava and Princess Kasha stood alongside Princess Marlene from the kingdom's northeastern border, who is backed by the opposition.

Thus the eight royal offspring were divided into three factions, dubbed the 'Airship,' 'Three Kings,' and 'Northeast' by major newspapers.

The Airship faction may be few in number, but they have sibling unity, so there will be no internal strife.

Furthermore, as great nobles friendly to the players, they not only have a solid southern voter base but also abundant wealth and goods as leverage.

"Family members, the Royal Capital is handing out gold bars!"

First comes food, clothing, shelter, and transportation; only then come modesty and righteousness. No matter where, poor brothers will definitely outnumber rich ones.

Thus, under a simple and brutal money offensive, large numbers of commoners and minor nobles chose this immediate benefit, becoming supporters of the Airship faction.

As for the Three Kings faction's three princes, though they have no relation to the Royal Capital faction leaders Xiguang Duke and Arc Light Duke, they are all descendants of old nobles of the Royal Capital, so their base is this capital region.

Good news: Prince Glen's relatively advanced age makes his actions very steady, and his desires are low, so he likely won't indulge in sensual pleasures like his father did.

Bad news: Prince Glen is damn old—he just turned sixty last year, standing beside little Princess Fiya makes him look like her grandfather; who knows how many more years he has.

By comparison, Prince Titus, who is just over forty and in his prime, is much better off, but this devil‑muscled man who once met Ji Ming is also a martial fanatic; his wrists may be strong, but he fundamentally lacks the talent to be king.

As for Prince Karl, who is two years younger than Ji Ming but has more illegitimate children than Glen's age...

Ugh, "a hero's son is a good lad"—we can at least be confident he is absolutely Anton's trueborn (for sure)!

More importantly, although these three princes appear to have united out of self‑interest, in reality none of them yields to another.

Each feels they are the one destined by heaven, the best suited to be the next Sun King, making it hard to rank them.

If it weren't for a group of even more heavyweight nobles pressing down, the old‑middle‑young trio might have erupted into an all‑out brawl.

Compared to the noisy Three Kings faction, the neighboring Northeast faction's female dormitory is comparatively harmonious.

Not because the young ladies are virtuous, but because Princesses Ava and Kasha are simply too weak.

Not to mention one‑on‑one; even combined they are no match for Marlene, so they can only obediently serve as mere placeholders.

"Sister is awesome!"

In short, the three campaign teams launched a splendid vote‑seeking crusade throughout the kingdom to get their favored candidate elected.

But soon, because Marlene alone garnered support from the east and north regions, she not only possessed the strongest power among the nine princes, but also bore the opposition's determination and hope to seize the capital.

Even before the princes of the Three Kings and Airship factions could launch an attack on her, they were instead hit by strong, relentless blows from the Northeast faction.

Not to mention public opinion and image—even the trade routes of Yuan Shan territory collapsed in two due to various reasons.

As a sister‑complex, Philip certainly won't swallow this loss; he brandished his sword and immediately prepared a counterattack.

The three princes, who originally disliked each other, were forced to unite under external pressure and the stern insistence of several dukes.

"Wait, little brother you…"

"Could it be…"

So both sides looked at each other, realizing they each had only one region's support—and they had both suffered a loss at the hands of the black‑handed Marlene.

Moreover, since both Philip and Fiya are offspring of the Arc Light Duke, compared to the opposition they will surely lean more toward the Royal Capital faction where their maternal grandfather resides.

Thus, although the two sides did not formally ally, they also engaged in a series of friendly consultations under Grand Duke Arc's mediation.

United, we must together crush the arrogance of those good sisters!

Thus Philip launched a classic trade offensive, wielding an invisible hand to raise prices on a wide range of goods in the northeastern region.

However, he did not target staples like grain, meat, and coal, which are closely tied to ordinary people's livelihoods.

Instead, he focused on high‑value luxury goods that nobles must buy to maintain their dignity, imposing ruthless price hikes.

"If you don't buy, plenty of others will—I won't even give it to you to flush the toilet!"

The Three Kings faction, meanwhile, launched a counterattack against Marlene in the capital region, after all Hui Guang Kingdom is still a kingdom, and the opposition can't go wild without the capital's many industries.

Thus Prince Titus conducted a sweeping safety inspection, ordering several northeastern factories and shops to shut down, forcing the opposition to reconsider their gains and losses, naturally deterring further recklessness.

Nevertheless, even so, the three factions merely maintained a balance; achieving a decisive edge to let Anton VI, who surely does not want the kingdom split, choose himself remains somewhat difficult.

However, after all their hustle, the three factions actually only divided four regions among them, whereas the Hui Guang Kingdom's surroundings comprise a total of five regions.

So who is this overlooked fifth region? The answer is the perpetually low‑profile western border, where not even a duke can be found—a miserable west.

But that pity is of the past; as a vast tract of land with no occupying force, the western border became overnight a contested battleground for militarists.

Just like the world's biggest idol event, swing states are definitely more popular than ironclad strongholds, and for a time the western border even showed signs of a revival.

"You're monkeying around, huh?"

Naturally, the western border folk who have suffered bitterly do not actually trust these royals.

But with food now placed before them, as the most pragmatic group they will surely open their mouths, at least enjoying a bit of blessing.

And in this process, although these three households each love to make a racket, they caused a noisy uproar.

Yet both the church and the Sun King himself maintained neutrality, never expressing any opinion on the matter from start to finish.

Until the end of February, the royal feud intensified further.

Even when a super tug‑of‑war broke out over the private virtue of a marquis in the capital region, the Sun King, unable to watch any longer, finally intervened.

Although the old man surely dislikes the opposition, he is flesh and blood, not a Tang‑era person, so he could never bring himself to strike down his own daughter.

Thus he did not act against Marlene, who tried to undermine the Royal Capital faction from within; instead he invoked the ancestral law, still maintaining neutrality and calling a halt to this farce.

He opened with a classic cliché: "There are no treacherous ministers, only loyal ones!"

Then came: "The Marquis of Clear Water's intentions were good; although the execution was bad, the starting point was indeed good, just slightly bad."

The Church also said it could give the Marquis of Clear Water a chance; Holy Light is merciful, indulgences are on a limited-time big sale—just fork over 108,000 and Holy Light will cleanse your sins.

Under the joint fire‑fighting of both sides, the debate that had nearly forced a great noble to his death barely came to a close, without opening the precedent of "forcing the killing of nobles" that would strike terror into people.

So things having come to this, the Sun King, who indeed feared spawning unnecessary trouble, no longer dared to continue indulging this bunch of brats who, over a mere "toy," were about to tear their faces apart.

After settling this major crisis, he directly ordered all his descendants to head to the ancestral land, arriving no later than March 15, with no room for error.

It sounded normal enough, but as the messenger sent by the old fogey's favored concubine, the lovely maid who knew the royal situation inside out was left dumbfounded by the words.

"Yes! Uh… Your Majesty, this is a big deal—could you say it again?"

The Sun King slammed the table in anger on the spot.

"I want all my descendants, whether feudal lords or young sons, to all go to the ancestral land—understood?"

"Yes, yes…"

Although he spoke those words with deliberate pauses, they were full of the kingly aura of a ruler.

But after this order was disseminated, the great Andong Liushi regretted it within three days.

Nothing else—he simply had far too many children!

The recorded, acknowledged offspring alone numbered over a hundred, and the unacknowledged bastards were twice that number.

Moreover, since you're planning to gather the royal offspring for a grand event, don't blame everyone for coming to join the fun.

In an instant, the whole country was in an uproar; large numbers of widows, even women with husbands, declared that their children were actually royal offspring and wanted to go to the ancestral land to recognize kin.

"Holy crap, there's still this kind of nasty work?"

According to rough tallies by major newspapers, after this royal edict was issued, in less than half a week, nationwide—oh sorry, domestic and foreign—children claiming to be of royal blood surpassed a thousand, and the growth rate kept accelerating.

If Yangyue were a Crusader Kings 3 world, the notifications of bastard births would have filled Andong Liushi's field of vision except for the young girls' faces—nothing but a blur of old, dim eyes.

And according to experts' estimates, if this continues, by the time Andong Liushi reaches the ancestral land on March 18, he could see at least eight thousand sons and seven thousand daughters standing ready here.

If that huge number were true, the productivity of the "Super Seeder Andong 6.0" would already far outstrip rabbits.

If the old man grits his teeth, takes something harsh, and doses himself with tiger‑wolf medicine, he might even be able to wrist‑wrestle the bug swarm!

"Damn it!"

Andong Liushi's original intention was also good—he wanted to turn himself into a cage, keeping all his offspring close during this turbulent autumn.

That way, no matter what result he finally announces, at least no one will have the ability to flip the table on the spot, giving him ample room to maneuver.

And once the crown prince matter settles a few days later, with the outcome broadcast worldwide, those who disagree will find it too late to stir up trouble.

Sigh, worldly affairs are not easy; if he could complete this transfer of royal power in the gentlest way, that too would be a great achievement.

But who could have imagined that after issuing the order, such an unexpected turn would occur?

Good grief, I'm about to die, and on top of my already tarnished reputation, I now have to add a huge ladle of manure!

In this aggravating yet ridiculous crisis, Andong Liushi had originally wanted to shout an emergency halt.

But a sovereign's words are no joke—he had already invoked that once with the Marquis of Clear Water affair; doing it again would greatly devalue the weight of a royal decree.

Having no choice, he switched tactics, announcing that he understood the children's hardships, that it was hard for them to leave their fiefs, and permitting anyone to apply to be excused.

At this point someone might ask: if only those who apply can be excused, why not just not apply?

Don't get it? The point isn't who applies to be excused; it's who the king thinks actually applied to be excused!

In short, with the civil servants' impeccable, infallible statistics, the vast majority of offspring ended up voluntarily applying to be excused.

What? You're saying you didn't write an application?

No worries, we have backups here… uh what? Oh, sorry, last night the archives were burned by a bucket of water.

Having said all this, kiddo, any further objections would just be you going against dear old dad.

So only a handful of conscienceless offspring stubbornly held their ground and, in early March, obtained travel orders personally signed by the Sun King.

So who are these ungrateful wretches who defy their father's face? Naturally, they are all the royal offspring who hold real power and might overturn the table.

But there is only one exception: Eleanor, because she is the only one among the thousands of children who proactively wrote an application to be excused.

"None of my business; might as well work overtime."

In short, under the Sun King's maneuver, eight feudal lords and more than ten royal offspring with offices set out in mid‑heading for the ancestral land of the Hui Guang Kingdom.

Funny enough, the Hui Guang ancestral land actually lies in the kingdom's western borders—after all, the First Sun King, Little Lion's generous benefactor, started out as nothing more than a country lad.

Still, wanderers have no fixed abode; the young man had no childhood sweetheart waiting for him back home, and the horse‑queen's entourage was in fact snatched from the hands of a big‑dog household in Qixia City.

Thus Little Sun, upon successfully ascending the throne and becoming a great monarch of a nation, did not make his hometown his home; instead, he designated the natal family that had given him considerable support as the capital.