Fighting has always been a matter of people and weapons. Not to mention a power struggle like this—there’s a saying that two fists can’t beat four hands. Unless someone is strong enough to ignore everything else, manpower, money, and weapons—none of them can be missing.
Otherwise, his elder brother and second sister wouldn’t have gone all out recruiting people and strengthening their forces earlier.
Just judging from the information the three of them had revealed to the outside, Ji Chenxi was actually at a big disadvantage. His foundation was still shallow, and he didn’t have a force of his own. If it really came to a fight, it seemed like he wouldn’t even have anyone to charge into battle for him. But in reality, that wasn’t the case. With a place as big as Rose Manor, and with Ji Chenxi and his mother living outside for so long, it was impossible that they hadn’t built at least a bit of their own power.
The reason Ji Chenxi sought out Manye Zhe was because Manye Zhe was an expert in assassination—a perfect card to play when it came to taking down the leader first. He didn’t need the other party to stand on the same side as him. What he wanted was simply for the other party to stay out of it when he and Chen Xing truly clashed.
As for Gu Hechuan, his codename Crow entering that group was just to recruit more capable people for Ji Chenxi. Ji Chenxi didn’t need to worry about Gu Hechuan at all. The one he really wanted to contact was Lu Tu, the person by Gu Hechuan’s side.
Lu Tu’s true identity was a star pirate. Even if that pirate group was mysterious and carried many legends around it, it couldn’t be denied that it was still a dark force. So for a dark force, which is more interesting—supporting the rightful royal line, or stirring up chaos and taking the chance to seize power?
Or maybe “interesting” isn’t the right word—it should be which one is more profitable.
If not for Gu Hechuan’s connection, the answer would have been obvious.
Ji Chenxi could accept that he and Chen Xing would each show their abilities, but he didn’t want Chen Xing to have too many capable allies on his side.
After Ji Anze left, Ji Chenxi didn’t rest right away. Instead, he operated the virtual screen, arranging the next steps. Given the current situation, he could have informed the Emperor in advance—even just a heads-up would have been good—but Ji Chenxi chose not to do that. Rather than alerting the enemy, he preferred to keep the initiative firmly in his own hands.
Chi Zhuo didn’t force Ji Chenxi to rest early. Instead, he stayed by his side.
To avoid seeing Ji Chenxi’s arrangements and offending him, Chi Zhuo even kept a certain distance. The maids came in from time to time to add snacks and tea. Even Ji Chenxi himself didn’t know how many times the hot tea had been replaced. By the time he finally finished arranging everything, the sky outside was already bright.
Ji Chenxi tilted his head and looked at Chi Zhuo. In Chi Zhuo’s hands was a book—a black-covered one with gold edges.
“Is it good?” Ji Chenxi asked with a smile.
When he first saw that Chi Zhuo was actually reading this book, Ji Chenxi had been slightly startled, but he quickly forced himself to calm down.
Chi Zhuo closed the book in his hand and instead asked, “What do you think?”
Ji Chenxi’s question “Is it good?” had originally been meant to test whether Chi Zhuo could even understand the book, but instead, the other party tossed the question right back to him.
Ji Chenxi took the book and casually opened it. Familiar words came into view again.
Ji Chenxi had read this book too many times. He could recite the content from any random page, but at this moment, he smiled and said, “Hard to say. To me, it’s just a book written in ancient text that I can’t understand at all.”
“Mm, it’s hard to understand. But there are clear signs it’s been read many times, so I was curious what drew you to it.”
“Maybe it’s exactly that mystery that drew me in?”
“Although it’s a bit late, Your Highness can still eat something to fill your stomach.” Chi Zhuo raised his hand, his fingers moving slightly as he closed the book again. The page Ji Chenxi had just flipped to happened to be a somewhat intimate marking scene between Chi Zhuo and Bai Anran.
The book was closed a little too quickly and cleanly.
Ji Chenxi lowered his eyes and didn’t continue talking about the book. He casually tossed it aside and went to eat breakfast with the other man.
Ji Chenxi had a preference for seafood porridge, and today’s breakfast just happened to be his favorite. That bit of restlessness in him was soothed nicely by the food.
He used a spoon, taking small sips of the porridge, and while eating, he continued planning in his mind. Thinking from Chen Xing’s perspective—if Chen Xing wasn’t satisfied even with someone like him, whom he had known for years, then Ji Zhiqing would be even less likely to satisfy him. Unless Ji Zhiqing’s mother became Empress, making Ji Zhiqing the absolute rightful heir, otherwise, with Chen Xing’s personality, he would never serve Ji Zhiqing.
Since it wasn’t about paving the way for someone else, then what was the reason behind Chen Xing’s bold actions? It couldn’t be that he really wanted to rebel. Rebellion wasn’t impossible, but it didn’t fit his usual sense of aesthetics at all.
Just as Ji Chenxi frowned in thought, his communicator vibrated lightly again.
From the vibration pattern, Ji Chenxi was certain it was the darknet account he had kept logged in since yesterday.
As if sensing something, when he opened it, he wasn’t surprised to see Chen Xing’s invitation.
The other party wanted to continue planning with him.
This was normal—if he hadn’t already known that Chen Xing was no longer an ally.
“What is it?” Chi Zhuo asked.
Ji Chenxi smiled. The smile looked gentle, but it carried a sharp edge. “Looks like I’m about to attend a Hongmen Banquet.”
Hello, everyone ヾ(＾∇＾). I hope you enjoyed the story! If you’re feeling generous, please buy me a coffee, share/comment on my translated works! Check out the link below for early chapters. (๑>ᴗ<๑)
