Perhaps because he had been disciplined so much, Dongfang Xiao stopped his actions almost reflexively when he heard Xu Shi's reprimand.
But she did have some doubts.
"What do you mean?"
What does it mean to use his hands to finish this game of chess? What game is Cheng Gujian going to play?
Hasn't he already lost? Why is Xu Shi still trying to stop him from killing him?
"Can't you tell?"
Xu Shi's expression was not good. "He is paving the way for you with his own life, Your Majesty."
"What did you say?!"
The little queen thought there was something wrong with her ears, and after checking, she still couldn't believe it.
Cheng Gujian, did he use his life to pave the way for himself?
Who would believe that if I told them?
Anyway, she didn't believe it. In her mind, the other party was already a deeply ingrained image of a powerful and treacherous official. How could he possibly do such a thing?
“I know you don’t believe me, and I didn’t believe it at first either.”
Xu Shi explained, "But if he really wanted to rebel, the timing was just too bad."
Yes.
He had sensed something was amiss during the battle with the Vatican, but his focus was entirely on the Holy Maiden, so he didn't have time to think too much about it.
After calming down, he realized that Cheng Gujian's timing in raising an army was problematic!
It should be understood that the most powerful forces in the Hualan Empire today are nothing more than three parties: the Papacy, the royal family led by Cheng Gujian, and himself, an outsider.
In this situation, if you want to obtain the greatest benefit, there are only two best ways.
The first option is to unite, with both sides joining forces to eliminate one of them first, and then slowly wear each other down.
The second method is to steal the enemy's base, taking advantage of the chaos when two sides are locked in a fierce battle to seize the spoils of victory.
If we had to put it in perspective, the previous situation leaned more towards the first scenario: he had reached a cooperation agreement with the royal family and was now targeting the Papacy.
There's no need to worry about anyone having ulterior motives. When he first came to the main city, he knew how much the royal family and the Papacy were at odds. Cheng Gujian himself had a strong personal bias towards the Papacy. Hoping for them to cooperate was a pipe dream. It was impossible for them to even join forces against him, an outsider.
Xu Shi himself had his own reasons, and of course he wouldn't do anything with the Vatican.
but.
From the moment today's events began, this situation changed.
Gu Yi was absolutely right when she said that Cheng Gujian was using them. After all, when they were fighting to the death with the Holy See, Cheng Gujian did not do anything to help them. This was obviously a case of using someone else to do the dirty work, hoping to use this opportunity to make both himself and the Holy See suffer heavy losses.
It would be best if one side were completely wiped out; even if not, at least one side would suffer heavy losses.
According to relativity, if someone else becomes weaker, it's equivalent to me becoming stronger, so they are the biggest beneficiary.
However, despite this logic, Cheng Gujian couldn't really do nothing. He had to intervene when both sides were exhausted in order to maximize his profits. Ideally, he could eliminate both competitors in one fell swoop, so that he would become the undisputed leader in the future.
Anyway, if the roles were reversed, Boss Xu would definitely do the same thing. He didn't believe that Cheng Gujian didn't understand such a simple principle.
That's the strange thing. Since they knew there was a hidden danger, why did they turn around and go to the palace to usurp the throne?
This move is utterly baffling. Even considering the circumstances of the Hualan Empire, where the throne naturally carries an inherent sense of confidence, this is absolutely a terrible move. Wouldn't it have been better to eliminate other threats first before launching a rebellion? After waiting for so many years, why worry about such a short time difference?
Not to mention that he only started raising troops after the dust had settled between himself and the Holy See—Xu Shi knew very well that Cheng Gujian had been paying close attention to him all along, and he was also fully aware of the specific situation between himself and the Holy See.
Without being immodest, we were practically dominating the Papacy; in terms of statistics, our casualty ratio was almost in the double digits.
Such exaggerated data also means that once Xu Shi has dealt with the Vatican, he is fully capable of continuing his battle with Cheng Gu Jian.
Don't think that Cheng Gujian is so fearless because he's an SS-rank. The Holy See also has an SS-rank old pope, and he was still dealt with.
Since everything is so clear from beginning to end, there is only one possibility why the Grand Duke of Gujian would still do this.
He did it on purpose.
The fact that he did it intentionally means that his ultimate goal is not to rebel and become emperor. On the contrary, he wants to give himself, or rather Dongfang Xiao, an opportunity so that she can rightfully eliminate him.
In other words, he never intended for this so-called rebellion to succeed, and even if it had succeeded, he would have found a way to make it fail.
"If my thinking is correct, even without my interference as an outsider, you would still have decided to cut yourself off from Her Majesty the Queen, wouldn't you?"
Xu Shi took a deep breath and said calmly, "However, considering that I am also a potential threat in your eyes, I'm afraid your actions will be even more extreme."
"For example... self-destruction?"
"..."
Cheng Gujian's face had been getting worse and worse as Xu Shi analyzed the situation, and after hearing him say the word "self-destruction," he finally sighed resignedly.
It's obvious that what Xu Shi said wasn't exactly the same as what he was thinking; at least 80-90% of it was correct.
He never intended to replace Dongfang Xiao; instead, he always followed the late emperor's edict, wholeheartedly assisting the young empress in her development, and ultimately seizing power to consolidate the empire.
However, Dongfang Xiao was too young when he ascended the throne and could not make decisions at all, so he had to show his ruthless methods to control the government and clear away obstacles for him.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
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