Compared to the major families who are running around in a frenzy, the Five Great Familial seems relatively calm.
Among them, the Taiyuan Wang family and the Qinghe Cui family are the types who are not very competent on the front lines, so they changed "contributing personnel" to "donating money"; the Xingyang Zheng family is capable in both attack and defense, but the whole city relies on the protection of the old Zheng family head, and the court dare not squeeze them too hard.
The Fanyang Lu family and the Longxi Li family are quite strange. Although they are capable, they haven't done much so far, leaving people puzzled.
Cui Jinqi was entangled by Cheng Jinyang, so she had no choice but to call her friends who are core members of the Lu family and the Li family (note, Li Qingwan lacks potential and is not a core member), asking if there are any secret deals with the court.
"Hey, Ah Ling, let me ask you something... What, you don't know? You're lying, definitely lying! I despise you. Forget it, I'll go find Qingyun."
"Hey, Qingyun, I have a question for you... Hmm, I see, I can understand keeping it confidential, it's just that there's something going on with my boyfriend's family... Huh, you're not asking who my boyfriend is? Nonsense! What do you mean, 'if I say he's my boyfriend, then he definitely isn't'? Would I lie about something that concerns a girl's reputation? I'm not talking to you anymore!"
Cheng Jinyang, who was nearby, saw that she would start arguing after just a few sentences on each call, and quickly reminded her, "Get to the point! Get to the point!"
Cui Jinqi glared at him in annoyance and reluctantly steered the conversation back to the topic, continuing to inquire.
After communicating for a while, the two of them learned that the court seems to be leveraging the power of the Longxi Li family and the Fanyang Lu family to prepare for a big move... Of course, due to confidentiality reasons, they couldn't say more, unless the Cheng family also joined in.
As for whether they could join, it still depended on the court's review.
If they could join, the Shendu Cheng family wouldn't need to respond to the court's call for manpower-intensive frontline work anymore, but would concentrate their efforts on preparing for this "big move."
Of course, due to the need for confidentiality, the number of participants would definitely not be large, but the risk factor would certainly be astonishingly high.
Or more directly, it's actually sacrificing a small number of elite members within the family who participate in the plan, in order to preserve the majority of the family...
Well, it seems like a decision has to be made after all.
In other families, there would definitely be a period of hesitation. After all, the aristocracy emphasizes the elite system, and the status of a family depends entirely on the highest rank of their supernaturals. Even if sacrificing one hundred sixth-grade supernaturals, their losses wouldn't be as great as sacrificing one fifth-grade supernatural.
However, the awkward thing about the Shendu Cheng family is that they no longer have a fifth-grade supernatural, the highest being sixth-grade supernaturals.
Within the aristocracy, there is no such thing as a "sixth-grade family." In other words, compared to seventh, eighth, and ninth-grade supernaturals, sixth-grade supernaturals do not have as stark a difference as fifth-grade ones do, so the pros and cons of this aspect can still be calculated.
After quietly pondering for a while, Cheng Jinyang himself leaned towards participating. Because he suddenly thought of something, which is the aristocratic status of the Shendu Cheng family.
Previously, the emperor promised that he had reached an agreement with Wang Maohong and would not touch the Cheng family's aristocratic status during the war, implying "we'll talk about it after the war." If the war is won and the Cheng family is preserved, but they haven't made enough achievements in the war, then their aristocratic status is still precarious.
After all, after the war, rewards and punishments will be given based on merit, and the current resource cake will inevitably be redistributed. If the Cheng family cannot produce impressive achievements, there will certainly be those who, citing "the Cheng family no longer has fifth-grade supernatural" as a reason, will pressure the family to give up its existing assets. So, if you want to gain achievements, you have to rely on this war...
Difficult, difficult, difficult!
So, the family is in a mess, no wonder why the elders all handed over power so readily, it seems they were also helpless in the face of this situation, otherwise how could they let go so easily!
Thinking of this, Cheng Jinyang called Xing Yuanzhi again to mention this matter.
"I'll go talk to the clan leader right away," Ah Zhi's reply was also concise.
The Cheng and Xing families have always been inseparable due to their special abilities. If the court approves the Cheng family's entry, it's essentially allowing both the Cheng and Xing families to join together. Conversely, if the Xing family chooses not to join, then the Cheng family will have to weigh their options.
While waiting for the Xing family's reply, another unfamiliar call came in.
The caller was the leader of the Jin Yi Wei who had visited Luo Hall last time, representing the court to inform him that the plan had allowed the Shendu Cheng family and the Hejian Xing family to join, classified as "military-top secret," and the specific content would be revealed after joining.
As a condition of joining, the Shendu Cheng family and the Hejian Xing family need to provide four sixth-grade supernaturals to participate. There is also an additional requirement: Cheng Jinyang himself must participate.
Cheng Jinyang: ????
What do you mean I have to participate? I'm just a small eighth-grade supernatural! How much can I contribute on the battlefield?
"This is what His Majesty meant," the leader of the Jin Yi Wei added, implying that he also didn't know why.
Hanging up the phone, Cheng Jinyang once again pondered with distress, only to hear Cui Jinqi curiously asking beside him:
"Hey, Jinyang, did you offend the emperor?"
"Why do you say that?"
"You see," Cui Xiaoniang said seriously, "now in the Shendu Cheng family, there are no fifth grade supernaturals left, and you're the only one with fifth grade potential."
"If you die on the battlefield, won't the Shendu Cheng family be doomed forever?"
At first, Cheng Jinyang felt she made a lot of sense, but then he realized it wasn't that complicated.
If the emperor wanted to reform the Shendu Cheng fami, he could simply declare "due to the lack of fifth grade supernaturals, the Shendu Cheng family is expelled from the noble ranks," right? Even if these words had no legal effect, with the volume of the emperor's position, as long as it was announced, it would quickly spread throughout the noble circle, thereby causing the "social death" of the Shendu Cheng family. It's not that difficult, right?
No!
The emperor's target must not be the Shendu Cheng family!
Could it be...
...me?
"Hey, you don't actually want to participate, do you?" Young Miss Cui asked in astonishment.
"What else can I do?" Cheng Jinyang sighed helplessly. "They've laid out the conditions."
"It's either the whole family slowly dying out, or falling out of the noble circle after the war; or taking this opportunity to gamble, regardless of success or failure, at least the family can suffer fewer casualties. How would you choose?"
"If it were me," Cui Jinqi said matter-of-factly, "since the Shendu Cheng family treated you badly before, I'd just run away. If the family needs to be demoted, let it be. If it needs to be destroyed, let it be. It's none of my concern."
"That's also a way." Cheng Jinyang smiled and said, "But you see, the family treated me badly before, why would I still bother to put so much effort into returning to the family? It's simply because I need the family's resources."
"Moreover, back then, it was my uncle in charge, but now it's me leading the family. All resources are at my disposal. Giving up the family is simple, but it also means losing the family's resources and returning to the precarious life of a commoner."
"So, although being the clan leader is exhausting now, and there's even more danger ahead, if you want me to give up what I've gained so easily, I would definitely feel reluctant."
"So, is this the ambition of a man?" Cui Jinqi shook her head, indicating she couldn't understand. "Well, then you continue to strive here, I'll go watch the drama."
She bounced away, leaving Cheng Jinyang to secretly breathe a sigh of relief, finally able to focus on his work.
After a while, the girl came back with a tablet and sat down next to Cheng Jinyang, giggling as she watched TV dramas.
Cheng Jinyang: .....