After hearing Yun Zhe's words, Blake waved his hand vigorously, "Yun Zhe, where did you hear this news? Do you have concrete evidence to prove that the other party acted extremely quickly?"

Yun Zhe looked at Andrew and bowed slightly. "I asked some of the soldiers captured by Lord Andrew about the day they received the Lunlang family armor, and... based on conversations with some people, I have preliminarily confirmed that this information is true."

Andrew frowned. He thought of his eldest son, Stone. Although he had later verified many things, he had never connected them to the plague in terms of time.

Sind shut his mouth, because he knew best when the Lunlang family had contacted him. The timing was very tight; it was the day after he learned of the plague outbreak.

At the time, no one believed it was a conspiracy by the Lunlang family, because the plague was easy to break out but difficult to control, and it was hard to say whether it would affect the Lunlang family.

But as we all know, the plague was effectively contained near Donic City and did not spread on a large scale.

Sind stroked his long, thin beard, beginning to consider whether his backer was truly reliable and a worthwhile partnership. After all, the fact that they had even considered this possibility was indeed somewhat frightening.

Blake and Andrew exchanged glances, while Serena's chest heaved again. She'd had this suspicion before, but never truly believed it. But today, after Yun Zhe said it, Serena thought of her parents and brother's departure, and the possibility that the Lunlang family was behind it all. The pain and anger deep within her were completely ignited by this fact. However, Serena unusually didn't immediately explode, not because she wanted to hear Yun Zhe's explanation to calm her, but because she was too angry to speak.

“So, the Lunlang family’s goal is to annex the Donic family’s land. This plague is their best excuse.” Yun Zhe got up from his chair, held onto the back of the chair and continued, “But what I can’t be sure about is the Lunlang family’s motive, because if outsiders find out about this, it will inevitably lead to devastating consequences.”

"So, the Lunlang family can get far more than the Donic family's land, which is why they are so fearless, right?" Blake continued, following Yun Zhe's words.

Yun Zhe nodded.

"Then came the elven attack. I learned that this land was originally an unclaimed territory, an enclave between elves and humans, which was only recently occupied by humans. At that time, the elves did not send troops to stop this occupation. After so long, they suddenly sent troops to attack again. I think their reason is probably the same as that of the Lunlang family. The Lunlang family actually has interests of equal weight to those of the Donic family, so they want to take over this land."

"Damn it, apart from growing crops, there's nothing else in this place that's appealing. Could there be gold buried here?" Zade muttered under his breath.

The group looked at each other, realizing that none of them knew what was so special about this land that made it worth fighting over.

“Then,” Yun Zhe paused for a moment, “I thought of two things. The Lunlang family has a daughter who married into the royal family, and then the royal army that attacked the Lunlang family appeared. Correspondingly, the Duke’s army is stationed on the border, ready to strike.”

“What does this prove?” Newton said with dissatisfaction. He hated the atmosphere where everyone was being led by Yun Zhe, and finally found an opportunity, though it wasn’t an opportunity, to express his dissatisfaction.

"This means that everyone except us knows this secret. This huge profit may even make Duke Salder dare to challenge the royal family and forcefully try to get a share of the pie."

"Six thousand royal troops and ten thousand dukes' troops are the limits of what they can mobilize quickly," Andrew said, glancing at the people sitting at the table. He suddenly realized this key point and blurted it out.

“And they didn’t rush into the battle. Obviously, they were either waiting for the enemy to make a move or waiting for reinforcements.” Yun Zhe sat back down in his chair and scanned everyone, observing their reactions.

"But what does this have to do with whether Serena marries him or not?" Undeterred, Newton continued to ask, looking at Yun Zhe with barely suppressed anger in his eyes.

“Legally, because Countess Serena is the recognized heir to this land. If Duke Salder really wants a share, then he must win Serena over. If I’m not mistaken, we can try to spread the news of Serena’s presence in River Valley Village. The royal family will definitely send someone to show goodwill.”

“There are so many princes; if you can marry one, you can marry two.” Blake understood Yun Zhe’s thoughts and couldn’t help but add indignantly. He finally understood why, even after Serena’s rude rejection, the Duke still wrote a personal letter to continue proposing marriage.

Andrew also understood why he could break away from the main force and go deep into the country to rescue Serena without anyone interfering.

Now, even Nyrent was speechless. Things were clear: although Serena seemed to have nothing now, her identity was her best bargaining chip, even more valuable than the army she had lost.

“But we still don’t know what treasures are hidden in this land…” Serena said in a low voice. Obviously, after this analysis, her rejection of the Duke was a fairly normal choice, but there was still a little regret. What could possibly make so many forces tear off their masks and come here to fight each other?

“No, you know,” Yun Zhe said with a slight smile.

Serena jolted awake, glancing at Yun Zhe, then quickly at Blake and Andrew, who were also looking at Yun Zhe with surprise.

"You need to let them know that you know, whether you actually know or not is not important. So, I suggest that you write a polite letter to His Excellency the Duke, not rejecting the marriage proposal, but not agreeing immediately. Delay it as long as you can."

Serena was initially bewildered by Yun Zhe's words, and it took her a while to realize what he meant. She suddenly thought of the plays and novels she had read. There was always a detestable woman in them, neither agreeing nor rejecting the devoted male protagonist, making the reader grit their teeth in hatred. And Yun Zhe was clearly making her play that role.

Serena's face flushed slightly. She glared at Yun Zhe resentfully, then got up from the table, intending to go back and write a letter.

Yun Zhe scratched his head and grinned awkwardly. He already knew what Serena was thinking.

At the conference table, people began to whisper amongst themselves. Sinde and Newrent each found an excuse to leave the table. They needed to reconsider their futures. Meanwhile, Zade and Philby happily walked up behind Yun Zhe, patting him on the shoulder and chatting. Only Blake and Andrew remained, their faces grim, whispering amongst themselves.

Yun Zhe looked at everyone, but his mind was on the question he hadn't asked.

"Why are vampires here too? Are these things really unrelated to those swords?"