Wu Geng nodded: "Starting from Yi Yin in this dynasty, the high priests have had great power. Successive Shang kings have wanted to reclaim divine authority, but unfortunately, apart from a few Shang kings like Wu Ding who were exceptionally capable, divine authority was controlled by the high priests of other royal families... What is the fourth reason?"
"The fourth reason..." Zu An paused and said, "The reasons I mentioned before were the fundamental reasons for the demise of the Shang Dynasty. The fourth reason should be the direct reason for the demise of the Shang Dynasty. During the reign of King Zhou, the old nobles, led by his uncle Bigan and Jizi, were not of one mind with the Shang king because of centuries of tradition; Wei Zi Qi was dissatisfied because he lost the throne that was rightfully his for a ridiculous reason, so he wanted to use the power of the Zhou people to become king. In the end, he got his wish. Although he did not become the Shang king, he became the Song king."
"And then there are the important officials in the court. Shang Rong and Xin Jia are friendly with the Zhou people. There must be many more whose names I can't recall. When King Zhou looked at the entire court, he must have felt a sense of despair that no one in the world was not on good terms with Zhou."
“Actually, you’ve overlooked someone,” Wu Geng said. “Jiao Ge, whom Father promoted, has also secretly defected to the Zhou people long ago.”
Zu'an was taken aback: "Jiao Ge? Wasn't he rescued from slavery by your father and promoted by him? How could such a direct descendant defect to the Zhou people?"
Wu Geng snorted: "Because he had already been bought off by the Zhou people before Father saved him. Don't forget that he is an Dongyi. After hundreds of years of war, the Dongyi and Shang people are sworn enemies. Moreover, the Dongyi's sacred jade cong was looted by the Shang. How could they sincerely submit to the Shang?"
“Jade Cong…” Zu An’s heart skipped a beat. The girl Jiang Jiang outside had asked him to find that very jade. He had indeed seen it during the reign of King Wu Ding, but it was later buried with Fu Hao.
However, he quickly regained his composure and continued, "Besides the people I just mentioned, you, the Crown Prince, also seem to be dissatisfied with King Zhou and should have participated in their rebellion. King Zhou has enemies everywhere, so how could he not be defeated? But I don't quite understand. It's understandable for others to rebel against King Zhou, but you are already the Crown Prince, so why did you join in rebelling against him?"
Wu Geng looked dejected: "Back then, my father favored Daji, and my mother was always out of favor and could be deposed at any time. If Daji had another son, how could I hold onto my position as crown prince? It was better to strike first. In fact, many nobles in the court at that time did not really want to rebel against Shang, but just wanted to use the Zhou people to force my father to step down. It's just a pity that the Zhou people had such great ambitions and came with the goal of destroying Shang from the beginning."
"We've let a wolf into the house," Zu'an sighed. The power struggle among the Shang Dynasty nobles led them to bring Dong Zhuo into the capital, but who knew this "Dong Zhuo" would be so fierce.
“By the time we realized it, it was too late. The situation was already settled, and the Zhou people had become the rulers of the world.” Wu Geng said through gritted teeth, “At that time, the Zhou people were too strong. I could only bide my time and accumulate strength. Later, Ji Fa died and his young son ascended the throne. I found an opportunity to fight the Zhou people. Because I was worried about losing, I prepared this secret realm in advance. That way, even if I lose, someone will know the truth of what happened back then.”
After Wu Geng finished speaking, he looked at Zu An and Pei Mianman: "You are quite good. The previous trial participants all had higher cultivation levels than you. It's a pity that I directly stripped everyone of their cultivation levels in this trial, turning everyone into ordinary people. Because what I value is not the cultivation level of the trial participants, but whether they can understand the anger and grievances of us merchants, and whether they can find a solution."
He continued, "Among the previous trial participants, there were many intelligent and talented individuals, but many failed to pass the first test. Some were misled by Xiao Tuo, some turned against Fu Shuo, and some, after decades of living as emperors, forgot their identity and the reason for coming here, completely losing themselves."
"As for the second trial, if she hadn't genuinely cared for Sancai since childhood, she wouldn't have taken the initiative to propose a marriage in her place. Once the female trial participant marries into Xizhou, she will only face death."
"As for the third challenge, you actually managed to sort out the chaos, knowing who the enemies and friends were. You recalled the main force during the Battle of Muye, and even had your companion lead a surprise force to suddenly join the battlefield. You even figured out my identity. If my father had acted like you back then, the outcome might have been very different."
Zuan and Pei Mianman exchanged a glance and breathed a sigh of relief. Clearly, they were the first pair among all the trial participants to reach this point.
However, Wu Geng then changed the subject: "Unfortunately, you still did not complete the trial. You only understood everything at the last moment, and by then it was too late to stop anything. As long as I gave the order, my army would have turned against us, and the outcome would still have been predetermined. You did not change anything in the slightest."
Zuan and Pei Mianman's expressions changed simultaneously, and they collapsed at the final threshold of the level, feeling extremely frustrated.
Wu Geng's tone was also full of regret: "Your performance in the trial was really excellent, much better than all the previous trial participants. But the more you do that, the more I look forward to it. Maybe in the future there will be trial participants who are even more outstanding than you and can perfectly solve all of this. So, you are ready to die."
After speaking, he slowly rose up, his whole body shrouded in black mist. He slowly raised one hand, and a layer of ferocious Taotie patterns appeared on his palm. Then, his palm turned into a black hole, from which came a huge suction force. Everything around him began to be destroyed, even the tall and majestic Deer Terrace began to crumble. All sorts of things were sucked into his palm.
He clearly judged the two to have failed the trial and decided to close the trial world, waiting for the next destined couple to open it after many years.
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