Northern Yuan Province, Silla town;
In the most famous brothel of the Silla town, beautiful maidens were dancing as the top courtesan was playing a piece of melody music, good enough to make everyone go into a trance and enjoy it.
There are many men around but two of them seemed set apart from the others. No one seemed as wealthy as two men whether it was their attire or the dishes and the wine they were served. They were also accompanied by three popular courtesans.
One of them was actually the crown prince who was on the run while the other was the lord of the town.
As no one had ever seen the former crown prince before, he was wearing a half-mask that was covering the left part of his face, not to mention he was in the 6-circle realm, and was sitting up on the second floor reserved for only VIPs, they only assumed that it was some powerful elite warrior their town lord knew.
No one bore any suspicions about his identity and focused on the entertainment presented before them. Meanwhile, the two men were discussing the affairs of the empire, and it looked like Shang Zexi looked a bit displeased at the moment.
Taking a sip of wine, Shang Zexi spoke in a bit of a drunken state, "You know, Lord Yi, one year ago, I was in a position where I may ascend to the throne at any moment. Fate kicked me like a dog."
"Your Highness, a lot of nobles are dissatisfied by His Majesty's policies. It's not even that long he ascended to the throne and he has already offended at least half of the sects and guilds. Now that he is injured in the imperial court itself, the bells of rebellion could be soon rung. His Highness could use this opportunity to rise once again," replied the town lord.
Shang Zexi let out a bitter smile, "If there is anything I have learned in these past couple of months, it is that no amount of politics is a match for absolute strength. To dethrone Shang Jun, loyalty from the nobles isn't enough. Now that they are no longer in authority, their influence alone wouldn't give me the throne.
As for the sects, even if they express dissent against the imperial court, they won't interfere in the matters of the court. I need someone like Song Tai on my side; someone like Lu Zhen, who could change the dynamics of a war. I hate that bastard but I must admit that he is quite powerful."
Before the town lord stated his opinion, a voice interrupted their conversation, "Well, thank you for the compliment, Prince Shang."
"Hmm?" Shang Zexi and the town lord turned around to find Mark standing there and staring at them.
Seeing that the other party got interested, Mark took out a large scroll from his inventory and handed it to the prince.
Prince Shang opened it. The Town lord also leaned forward a bit in curiosity. It is a map of the Phoenix Empire.
However, there was something drawn on the map with a pencil. The drawing goes around the imperial city in the north and slowly comes down from the border of the Kunyu mountain range, cutting the Qing province vertically in half.
From the right, it cuts the Sui province horizontally into half and then goes along its border with the neighboring Jin Province before going down and cutting the Zhao Province vertically in half.
Neither of them understood what it meant. As they looked at Mark for answers, the latter said, "Whatever lands located outside the drawing is my price, meaning, the entire Jin Province, the outer sector in the north of the imperial city, half of Sui Province, half of Qing province, and half of Zhao Province. It is around 28% of the Empire's land but only has roughly 162,000 citizens, i.e.
a meager 3.1% of the population and a few notable sects. This is my price."
"Huh?"
***
After a while;
"Okay then, I'm done here and need to return. Send me your confidant to Lunaris City after you acquire the support of the Yuan clan. Remember that this person will be our mediator until the end."
Mark left the brothel with all smiles, leaving behind a happy Shang Zexi; He was seen clenching his fist tightly as he stared at Mark's back, "I always thought this bastard had a strong background but didn't expect there is a demigod behind him. If I get the support of a demigod, giving up those barren lands is worth the price.
It looks like those rumors about him having the backing of a force from a higher plane of existence aren't false if he wasn't lying about it."