My brother entrusted his child to me, and I livestreamed raising the baby, making the Empress cry wi

Da Shiman slightly raised his half-closed eyes, his eyelids parted slightly, revealing a calm light.

As if knowing his thoughts, she spoke up: "If we encounter another natural disaster... then a massive firestorm is inevitable!"

He looked at Ashina: "What we need to do now is wait!"

"Wait until this rain floods the fields of Da Yan, wait until Da Yan is ravaged by natural disasters and man-made calamities..."

When that time comes, it will be their chance to devour the flames!

The wind outside the hall suddenly picked up, carrying raindrops that squeezed in through the cracks in the door. The candlelight all tilted to one side, casting flickering shadows on everyone's faces.

The shadows twisted, stretched, and then suddenly shortened on the wall, like a group of silent and frantic ghosts.

Ashina clenched his fists suddenly, his eyes reflecting the flickering candlelight in the hall, as if two black flames were burning in his eyes.

He burst into laughter, his voice echoing beneath the high dome of the council hall, each word trembling and burning: "Hahahaha! Excellent—excellent! Truly, heaven is on my side!!"

The laughter lingered for a long time, and when the last echo faded away, the hall fell into a brief silence.

Fujiwara no Shūjin and the others below were also shocked by this latest development.

The Javanese elder stared blankly for a long while, his bull-like eyes wide open, his lips twitching slightly, but he couldn't say anything.

Elder Yali gasped, holding his breath for a long time before slowly exhaling.

They never expected that they would encounter such a big thing so soon after joining the Western Regions!

Fujiwara no Shūjin had even more thoughts in his mind.

He sat at the head of the right, his eyes slightly lowered, one hand resting on the low table in front of him, his fingers unconsciously tracing the rounded curve of the table corner.

The wood beneath his fingertips was worn smooth and slightly cool, and that coolness crept up his fingertips, making his mind even clearer.

If the Western Regions and the Great Flame were to fight, perhaps... he could also get a share of the spoils!

It seems that Da Yan's situation is not optimistic this time.

Fujiwara no Shūjin slowly raised his eyes, his gaze passing through the palace gate and landing on the gray, misty rain outside.

Rainwater trickles down the eaves, forming thin streams that gather at the corners before falling with a soft "tap" onto the steps in front of the door, splashing a small patch of water on the stone surface before being covered by the next drop.

But he couldn't hear any of that.

In an instant, I could almost hear the roar of the torrential rain from the South China Sea crashing onto the land.

The sound was deep and muffled, like a sob coming from the depths of the earth.

Fujiwara no Shujin's pupils contracted slightly, a faint hint of fear flashing across his eyes. Having witnessed the island being submerged firsthand, he knew all too well how terrifying this natural disaster was!

It's not so bad that the wind and rain are strong, but the main problem is that they are huge and never stop!

The winds were so strong they could uproot trees and houses; the rain hadn't stopped for over half a month! The waves crashed against the shore without pause, and the water level rose day by day, gradually reaching a point of despair...

This is something that cannot be overcome by human power!

As for Lin Ye, that so-called immortal... Fujiwara no Shūjin thought of him and his lips twitched down very slightly.

When he first heard the envoy report that the Great Flame had appeared in the sky and was being punished by the immortals, he was so fearful that he personally went to the Great Flame's territory.

They wanted to properly apologize to the immortal, but they couldn't let the immortal take his anger out on Japan.

When the sky reappeared, he knelt in a courtyard in the western border of the Great Flame Kingdom and dismissed everyone. His forehead pressed against the cold floor tiles as he kowtowed, a chill running down his spine, and he prayed to every god and Buddha he could think of.

As a result, nothing happened.

Later, the sky appeared many more times. Apart from taking away Ye Fan's body to punish Shu Jingwei, Lin Ye also gave things to Wang Meng. He didn't do anything significant at all.

There was no divine punishment, no change in the celestial phenomena, and even the overthrow of Shu Jingwei was accomplished by Wang Meng leading his troops.

In his eyes now, Lin Ye was just an ordinary person with some skills. In the end, he was still made of flesh and blood and needed to eat and drink, just like them. He needed to wear clothes and hats when it was cold.

Even if he has some strange methods, they won't be too strong. After all, if he had the ability to summon wind and rain, he would have unified the world long ago. Why would he have waited until now?

Why bother communicating with Wang Meng through a veil of darkness? Why bother using those books to gradually help Da Yan grow stronger?

Fujiwara no Shūjin's hands, which were resting on his knees, slowly tightened. His eyes narrowed slightly, his pupils darting around, his gaze deep and shrewd.

What's truly amazing is probably the place behind him!

That place with so many magical things, capable of creating smooth and wide roads, carrying people to move and fly in iron boxes and iron birds... and even projecting images into the sky!

He could definitely do it in that magical place!

By now, any intelligent person could probably see this. And Ashina and Dashiman were clearly not fools.

Having thought this through, Fujiwara no Shūjin made a decision about what to do next.

The chances of success for the Western Regions are quite high, so he can contribute his share.

After all, if he couldn't make any outstanding contributions, it was hard to say whether he would still be able to remain as prime minister after the Great Yan was defeated.

He himself had been a king for many years and was very familiar with the art of changing faces.

He's treated like an honored guest when he's useful, but discarded like trash when he's no longer needed. He's played this role countless times himself.

The high positions they are given now, such as prime minister and elder, are merely to undermine their will to resist and to reassure the soldiers and subordinates who still care about them.

When they attacked the Great Flame, their soldiers fought alongside the soldiers of the Western Regions and were completely integrated into the Western Regions. At that point, these soldiers would become dispensable.

Fujiwara no Shūjin lowered his eyelids, concealing the cold glint that flashed in his eyes.

The rain outside the palace was still falling, showing no signs of stopping.

The rain kept flowing down, forming a shallow puddle in front of the door, with each newly fallen raindrop creating ripples on the surface.

The ripples intertwined, overlapped, dissipated, and then reappeared, endlessly repeating...

Having lived half his life, he has always understood one principle: there is no such thing as a free lunch.

In the following days, Ashina's actions confirmed Fujiwara no Shūjin's suspicions.

At the end of each council meeting, Ashina would ask everyone else to leave first, leaving only his people from the Western Regions.

Sometimes Dashiman stayed behind alone, and sometimes he stayed behind together with several local elders from the Western Regions.

The doors to the council chamber closed behind them, and very low voices could be heard through the cracks in the doors.

Those who were nominally of equal status with those remaining inside the palace could only stand under the eaves outside the palace, led by servants towards the palace gate.

In the council, they could speak, but whether or not to listen was entirely up to Ashina.

Their words were like pebbles thrown into deep water; the surface rippled slightly the moment the pebble hit the ground, then returned to calm, leaving no trace.