The atmosphere in the hall was somewhat awkward.

Longhu was already gritting his teeth in his heart, but he knew that he couldn't blame his clan for this, so he could only remain silent and act dumb.

The clan leader Qin Beiwang and the two great elders also saw that Longhu was very unhappy, so they spoke to comfort her, claiming that the clan would definitely not force the two to make sacrifices, but now that Qilin was so powerful, it would be difficult to refuse directly.

Longhu could tell that this was a delaying tactic, and he immediately felt even more depressed.

When Long Long first heard Qin Beiwang say that Qilin wanted to marry Qi Yingzhu to him as his legal wife, he felt somewhat uneasy - a female fox was fine, a female dragon was also good, but wasn't this tigress a bit too much?

However, years of lurking as a traitor have already made Long Long a very meticulous person.

The saying "take one step, think two steps ahead, look three steps ahead, and proceed at every step carefully" perfectly describes Long Long's cautious and resourceful character.

He simply went over the currently known information and the corresponding situation in his mind, and immediately felt that something was wrong.

After thinking about it carefully, suddenly something clicked in his mind. He cried out inwardly a few times and said seriously:

"Chief, please send your attendants away."

Qin Beiwang was stunned for a moment. We were the only ones in the hall. Why should we send the people away?

However, he reacted quickly and exchanged glances with the Great Elder Qin Chaocang.

Qin Chaocang quickly used his magic, and the dragon's might spread in all directions.

"There's no one around." After a moment, the elder confirmed, "You can speak now."

"I have something I don't understand, and I would like to ask the three seniors." Long Long asked slowly, "Now that Qilin Clan leader and demon clan emperor Qi Weihuan has passed away, there are two people who can succeed him, one is his illegitimate son, and the other is his younger brother Qi Weihong. Am I right?"

"That's right." Qin Beiwang said.

"What is the attitude of Qilin Patriarch?" Long Long asked again.

Qin Beiwang was suddenly disappointed. That’s it?

You don’t even know the political situation of the Qilin family. Have you paid attention in your political classes?

But he soon realized the problem: Long Long's political studies were always the best in the class! How could he not know this?

It's just a leading question!

So Qin Beiwang showed an encouraging expression and said:

"Ancestor Qilin will never let Qi Weihong succeed to the throne."

"Why is this?" Long Long asked calmly, with no sign of seeking an explanation on his face.

The great elder Qin Chaocang glanced at the thoughtful Dragon Fox beside him and explained:

"Because when Qi Weihong was competing with Qi Weihuan for the throne, he borrowed too much power from the Xuanwu clan, which resulted in his power base now almost completely overlapping with that of the Xuanwu clan."

"Involving outsiders in a family civil war is a taboo for any demon clan, so the Qilin Patriarch has long been disgusted with Qi Weihong."

Long Long was of course very clear about these basic political common sense. It was said that in his early years, in order to seize the throne, Qi Weihong not only married into the Xuanwu clan, but also signed a number of deeply binding treaties in private.

Even the neutral factions within the Qilin clan couldn't stand it, and they contemptuously called the Qilin Prince "the son-in-law of the turtle family." Many elders came out to support Qi Weihuan at the last minute, and finally successfully pushed him to the position of clan leader and emperor. It was because Qi Weihuan pursued power too much, even at the expense of the family's interests, which made many tribalistic Qilin feel disappointed with him.

"If that's the case." Long Long asked again knowingly, "Why didn't Qilin Patriarch kill Qi Weihong, but let him continue to roam freely in Beizhou?"

"Of course it's because of the protection of the Xuanwu ancestor." Qin Beiwang replied.

In terms of overall strength at the immortal level, the Qilin clan is stronger than any other demon clan in the Eastern Emperor Realm, otherwise they would not have been able to sit firmly on the throne of the royal family.

But the problem is that if the Qilin and Xuanwu tribes fight each other with their immortal levels, the ones who will benefit in the end will inevitably be the other demon tribes - naturally no one will be stupid enough to fight to the death.

Therefore, unless one has the strength to completely defeat the other party, everyone would rather use the Immortal Rank as a nuclear weapon for deterrence, and usually use negotiation, mediation or proxy wars to resolve conflicts. This also constitutes a very unique political ecological environment in the Eastern Emperor Realm.

"That is to say, Qi Weihong is protected by the Xuanwu clan, and the Qilin ancestor does not want to break up with the Xuanwu clan, so he temporarily tolerates his existence. However, we cannot accept the Xuanwu clan using Qi Weihong to interfere in the internal affairs of the Qilin clan." Long Long concluded, and seeing the three dragon clan elders nodding, he asked again:

"If that's the case, then who will Qilin Patriarch choose to replace Qi Weihong to inherit the throne?"

"Of course it's the illegitimate child." Long Hu finally couldn't help but answer.

She really didn't like the way Long Long kept people in suspense, deliberately not telling them even though he already had the answer.

"Oh?" Long Long did not comment, and then asked, "But if we stand on the side of the illegitimate child, won't it attract the power of the Queen's mother's clan? Is the White Tiger Clan easier to deal with than the Black Tortoise Clan?"

"That's because the two are fundamentally different." Qin Beiwang explained, "Qi Weihong is already highly tied to the Xuanwu clan, and the two are almost inseparable."

"As for the illegitimate child, he is not the Queen's biological son, so both the blood connection and the emotional connection are much weaker. The Kirin Patriarch has plenty of time to bring Qi Weihuan's illegitimate child to the Kirin clan."

"And the queen's recognition of her illegitimate child also supplements his weak legal rationality. The support of the White Tiger Clan behind him can help the Qilin Clan resist the interference of the Black Tortoise Clan. Therefore, they can actually have a cooperative relationship."

At this point, Qin Beiwang smiled and said to Long Long:

"Do you think what I said is right?"

Long Long was speechless. It was something that could be explained clearly by "White Tiger can form an alliance when it is weak, but Black Tortoise cannot form a peace when it is strong", but why did he waste so much time on it... So he smiled and said:

"The clan leader is wise and has a keen eye."

"But I have another question: If the Qilin Patriarch chooses to support the Queen's illegitimate son and forms an alliance of interests with the White Tiger Clan, can the Black Tortoise Clan defeat them?"

Qin Beiwang and the two elders immediately began to think deeply.

"No." The great elder Qin Chaocang was the first to make a judgment. "The Qilin clan has the Qilin ancestor to deter them. It is estimated that the forces supporting the illegitimate child will be greater than the forces opposing it. Coupled with the support of the White Tiger clan, it will have an absolute advantage over the Xuanwu clan."

"So, what will the Xuanwu clan do after learning about the decision made by the Qilin Patriarch?" Long Long continued to induce, "Will they give up Prince Qi Weihong and seek peace?"

"Absolutely impossible!" Qin Beiwang said without hesitation, "The Xuanwu clan has invested too much political cost in Qi Weihong. If they abandon Qi Weihong and seek peace this time, it will be tantamount to wasting all their previous efforts!"

“Furthermore, if power falls into the hands of the Queen’s illegitimate son’s faction, even if the Xuanwu clan is intimidated by the strength of the opposing camp and accepts the status quo, then the benefits they originally gained from the alliance with the Qilin clan will be forced to be handed over to the White Tiger clan!”

The other two dragon elders followed Qin Beiwang's thoughts and suddenly thought of the key point that they had always overlooked:

In fact, when Emperor Qi Weihuan was in power, the political situation in the Eastern Emperor Realm remained very stable.

He hated his wife Lu Ya, but tolerated her to stay by his side; he hated his younger brother Qi Weihong, but allowed him to live freely in Beizhou.

As a result, the White Tiger Clan and the Black Tortoise Clan restrained each other, and neither could afford the cost of pushing the Qilin Clan to the opposite side, so they had to maintain a long-term and stable alliance with the Qilin Clan, allowing Qi Weihuan to calmly intimidate the Dongzhou Dragon Clan and use military force against the Nanzhou Xuanniao Clan, and ultimately achieve powerful rule over the entire Donghuang Realm.

However, the stupidity of Queen Lü Ya and the carelessness and sudden death of Qi Weihuan completely broke this balance.

Driven by huge expected benefits, initial sunk costs, and speculative adventurism (based on the long-term peace in the past and the desire of each tribe to gain more benefits), the White Tiger and Black Tortoise tribes will inevitably support their own representatives within the Qilin tribe.

In other words, this is no longer a struggle for succession among the Qilin clan. It is very likely a proxy war between Western State and Northern State, or even a prelude to an all-out war!

Thinking of this, the three dragon elders looked at Long Long at the same time.

This time, the expressions on their faces were no longer the kind expressions of "Am I right?" that they used to use when teaching the younger generation, but a serious look that required his immediate confirmation.