"Back in the days within the Imperial Palace, now I’m the only friend left. Haha... I used to always hear that old man Hua Hong tell stories about how my father killed all his former friends. At that time, I never understood why, and thought it was somewhat excessive, but now I finally understand why."

Li Junqing smacked his lips and asked softly:

"Did Wang Chengping and Gong Yuanzeng also die?"

"Their fathers rebelled together and implicated them."

"You mean they were unaware?"

"Most likely."

"That’s rather unfortunate."

"Not unfortunate."

Xu Yuan shook his head, his dark eyes calm like a deep pool:

"When the rebellion broke out two years ago, both of them had already been promoted to the Third Grade. Even if unaware, they could sense many things, yet they chose neutrality."

Li Junqing was somewhat dumbfounded, even though he was far away in Japan, he had heard of the rebellion before Sword Gate Pass. But hearing the details from the person involved brought some freshness, and he whispered in evaluation:

"These two were somewhat naive."

Xu Yuan was silent for a moment before downing the contents of his cup in one go, then whispered with a smile:

"The two of them have always been like this. Years ago, when we four got into trouble, even though they said I’d be responsible as the Prime Minister’s legitimate son, in reality, they always helped me bear the consequences afterward. Twenty years have passed, yet they’ve made no progress, unwilling to betray family, and unwilling to betray me."

"..."

Hearing this, Li Junqing remained silent, saying nothing more on the matter, and clinked his cup against Xu Yuan’s.

Letting those two go would actually be easy, it would only need a word from Xu Yuan. But he couldn’t let them go.

Because many were watching.

If Wang Chengping and Gong Yuanzeng were let go, what about the other traitors?

How would those who followed Xu Yuan view this?

In the struggle of paths, extreme correction is necessary.

This was also why back in the day he went to great lengths to flee the country.

As he spoke of the past and his thoughts meandered, a question was suddenly thrown from across:

"Junqing... if you hadn’t gone to Japan, how would you have chosen in the rebellion two years ago?"

Li Junqing instantly bristled, without any hesitation, his gaze determined as if he were about to join the party:

"Big brother, you know me, I, Li Junqing, have never missed a judgment on the major trends."

"...."

Xu Yuan stared at him for a few breaths, then shifted the topic, asking:

"What do you plan to do upon returning to the capital this time?"

Li Junqing rubbed his hands and smiled:

"Aren’t you and my elder sister about to get married? As her younger brother, I have to come back and see, don’t I?"

Xu Yuan lifted his eyes, smiling as if amused:

"Well, you do have a heart, but since that’s the case, let’s not talk business today....."

"Pa."

Li Junqing grasped Xu Yuan’s hand holding the wine, earnestly staring at him.

Xu Yuan glanced at him:

"What are you doing?"

Li Junqing took a deep breath, tentatively saying:

"Brother, we still have to talk business. After all, you wouldn’t want your little brother to be driven into the sea to feed the fish by those Golden-haired Ghosts, right?"

Xu Yuan shook off Li Junqing’s hand and poured himself a drink:

"I remember a few years ago I wanted to send someone to help you, but you refused."

Seven or eight years ago, Xu Yuan considered using the war in Japan to delay the progress of the civil war, but Li Junqing flatly refused.

Who knows what the other was thinking.

Perhaps that Five-star Emperor Li Junqing didn’t want to have another Supreme Emperor above him, or maybe he simply didn’t want to be further entangled in the internal power vortex of Dayan.

Li Junqing scratched his head and explained:

"Times have changed. Now Japan is directly bordering the Empire on the other side of the Endless Sea."

"Bordering?"

Xu Yuan was surprised, the continent wouldn’t float like ships on the sea, so...

"Permanent Transmission Array?"

"Yes."

"Why build it earlier or later, yet only now?" Xu Yuan asked indifferently.

Li Junqing patiently explained:

"These years, I’ve secretly sent people to their homeland and discovered that this Empire has more than just the Japan front."

Xu Yuan gently laughed:

"You’re implying that now that their other fronts have ended, they can finally focus on our Dayan Empire?"

"Yes, they are at least much stronger than the Ancient Abyss..."

"Enough."

Xu Yuan directly interrupted his words:

"How many soldiers do you want this time."

"Han King is generous."

Li Junqing was delighted, gave a thumbs up, and extended two fingers, saying: "Two hundred thousand. I guarantee thirty years of peace in Japan, giving Dayan enough time to recuperate."

"Too few."

"Ah?"

"I’ll give you five hundred thousand."

"...."

Li Junqing stared at Xu Yuan, as if he was meeting him for the first time:

"How... how much? Back then, asking for twenty thousand men from you was like taking your life, now you’re directly giving me how many?"

"Five hundred thousand." Xu Yuan said without changing his expression.

Li Junqing squinted his eyes, pondered for a moment, seemed to realize something, and asked in a low voice:

"Brother, about the... logistics supplies..."

"Not a single penny."

"....." Li Junqing.

Xu Yuan softly said:

"Yunqing, Dayan is very poor now. During the civil war, both we and the Sect Alliance trained too many professional soldiers. Now the war is over, we can’t afford to maintain them, and we don’t dare to disband them. How to properly handle them is a big problem. Since you need troops, it also helps me and your sister solve a problem."

His speculation confirmed, Li Junqing got a bit anxious:

"But, Xu Changtian, the problem is I can’t afford them either. How can Japan sustain them?!"

Xu Yuan leaned back on the soft couch, speaking indifferently:

"Just tell me if you want them or not."

"I want them."

"Heh."

Xu Yuan sat up, staring into Li Junqing’s eyes, speaking word by word:

"Since you’ve agreed, there are some things I must clarify with you.

"I don’t care how you provide for those five hundred thousand soldiers. After all, Japan is not part of Dayan’s territory, everything that happens there is entirely up to you, the Prince.

"However,

"These soldiers are always the citizens of Dayan. If I hear of any problems arising due to provisioning, I’ll personally come to take your head."

"....."

Listening carefully, Li Junqing knew the other was not joking, but he just laughed plainly:

"Don’t worry, you may not know my capabilities, but Changtian, you also must promise me one thing."

"Speak."

"After this war, I need to migrate a batch of people to Japan."

"Why?"

"Are you just pretending to ask?"

"..."

They looked at each other in silence, exchanged smiles.

After rounds of toasts and drink exchanges, Xu Yuan spoke again:

"Don’t say I don’t support you. Regardless of armor, weapons, or ballista castle-type military equipment, you can receive them for free. After the wedding tomorrow, contact President Tianan yourself, see how much you can take back, that depends on your ability."

Li Junqing finally reacted completely, rolled his eyes and said:

"Isn’t it just that you don’t have money for maintenance? You’ve gained an advantage and are playing good. Once they leave, you’ll save quite a bit of fiscal expenditure, you know it well."

Xu Yuan didn’t mind the tone of the other party, focusing back on the topic:

"The provision for five hundred thousand cultivators is no small number. But exhausting all of Japan’s resources still won’t support them for long. When the reinforcements first arrive, it would be best if you could take one or two Permanent Transmission Arrays unexpectedly, paving a way to the other side of Endless Sea. Only this way can the war be supported by the war itself."

Li Junqing was somewhat speechless upon hearing this:

"Isn’t this looking down on those Golden-haired Ghosts? War is not child’s play, people do have intelligence. How could they possibly...."

"Yuan Hao will also be going."

"Brother, you’re indeed the best to me."

"...." Xu Yuan.

"...." Li Junqing.

Li Junqing coughed twice, raised his glass to shift the topic:

"Let’s not talk about this, let’s not talk about this—here’s to wishing you and Sis a happy marriage, early blessings with a child, let’s drink until we’re unconscious today."

"Put a pin in that, I don’t have time to drink until we’re unconscious now." With that, Xu Yuan stood up: "We’ll drink again at tomorrow’s wedding."

Li Junqing also stood up, happily following behind Xu Yuan, chuckling:

"Alright, alright, Brother, put some effort in, and in a few years I, the Imperial Uncle, will give our nephew a big gift."

"If you don’t force me to kill you with my own hands, that’ll be considered nice."

"Tsk.... the way you say it, let me walk with you."

"Brother, do you want some golden-haired foreign beauties? The women there have quite a short shelf life, they age quickly, but their blossoming period is rather flavorful."

"Oh, my female attendant is fine too, she just graduated from the Ninja Sect, I haven’t touched her yet."

"If it really doesn’t work out, we can go to the most expensive brothel in Di’an, this time I’ll treat...."

"Think about it, today is your last day of being single, you definitely have to go wild....."

"If you don’t want to die in Di’an, you’d better shut up immediately." Xu Yuan interrupted him.

Li Junqing smiled lightly, showing a bit of a playboy’s demeanor:

"Heh, just kidding, isn’t it? With you here in the world, who dares kill me?"

"Indeed."

"Right?"

"But your sister just sent me a message."

"...."

Li Junqing broke out in a cold sweat, mouth agape:

"Uh, my...my sister? This..I...uh, tsk...well, I seem to have something tomorrow so I can’t go...."

"Your sister wants you to enter the palace."

Xu Yuan glanced at Nine Dragon Mountain Peak, interrupting his stuttering, coldly saying, "She wants you to enter the palace immediately."

Li Junqing: "....."