Governor Jiahe was discussing the current affairs of the Subei Province with his Cabinet. There was a dozen of men and women all wearing small black hats with different golden lines and symbols on them. Each one also had the emblem of the Subei Province on their robe. As he was representing the Imperial City in the Subei Province, Governor Jiahe had many aides to assist him in his decisions and report them to the Imperial City afterward. Besides, this Subei Province was vital for the Hongchen Kingdom.

Although it wasn't as important as the Sunmen Province to the north, it was still bordering the demon territories. As such, the Subei Province was monitored by the Imperial City a lot. In fact, there had been an inspection by an Imperial Investigator recently. Like any other governor, Jiahe Lan's authority was given to him by the Emperor. In practice, it came from the Imperial City. As such, they could easily take it away if he was doing a poor job. His Cabinet though was appointed by him, so they all wanted him to stay Governor. In the worst case, they might even be executed if Governor Jiahe was called back to the Imperial City and their work was found lacking.

The Governor had several children but they all lived in the Imperial City. It was customary for the families of the officials to live in the Imperial City, at least during a huge part of their mandate. Sometimes, they could get special permissions, but it was rare. Indeed, it was a way for the Imperial City to keep their officials in check. If they were to commit a big transgression, they could easily punish their families. But they could also influence the families and thus the officials. Using violence and intimidation was not the right way to ensure a kingdom's stability.

Although it was essential that this threat stayed present in their minds, it was even more important to cultivate gratitude. As such, the families of officials were very well treated in the Imperial City. In particular, they had access to education. And obviously, this education was stressing out loyalty toward the Hongchen Kingdom. Their main tool was the School of Ren Dao, the Human Way. Technically, there was no compulsory faith, but the School of Ren Dao was seen as a philosophy rather than a religion. Some sects of the School of Ren Dao were worshiping Emperor Nuwa as a goddess, like the School of the Celestial Goddess. But the School of Ren Dao in itself was essentially a philosophical school of thought. Since the Founding Era, it had been the official philosophy of the state. Its main doctrine was teaching that humanity and the Hongchen Kingdom were of the utmost importance. To ensure their survival, unity and morale were imperative.

Its second most important doctrine was to teach that cultivating immortality was the greatest goal one could pursue. But it also taught that cultivating without any morale was the worse thing one could do. This School of Ren Dao had almost single-handedly created the concepts of orthodox and demonic cultivators. Just like Emperor Nuwa, cultivation was essential to have the strength to preserve one's ideals. But at the same time, this very strength could be used to do terrible and evil deeds, just like Demon God Da Mo had done. Power was necessary, but so was a good morale compass. Morale without strength was just like a tiger without teeth and claws. But power without morale would be like a ferocious beast unleashed on the lambs.

Among Governor Jiahe's three children, only one was by his side in Qingyun City. Governors were appointed by the Imperial City. This meant that it was impossible to inherit one's position. However, it wasn't rare that the Imperial City would choose the new Governors among the family of the previous ones, unless there had been a problem with this Governor of course. Indeed, they could easily take over the connections woven by the previous Governor and it would be easier for them to work with the local population. However, there was no reason to choose a Governor's child.

An official could also be punished if any member of his direct family was found lacking. In the worst cases, the Imperial City often punished an entire family, either by banishing them from any official position for several generations or sometimes, even by killing a certain number of them. To prevent that, they had to weave complex connections between families in order to protect themselves from the action of another family member. That way, it was possible for some to completely reject a family connection and save their skin.

All this political stuff was rather complex. But the families within the Imperial City were both very close to power and in perpetual danger. As such, they were always conniving to ensure their safety and that they would keep their influence and power. Even if the officials were not in the Imperial City right now, they still had this mentality.

Of course, no one in the Cabinet wanted the Governor to lose his position. But Governor Jiahe's suppression of General Yun had started to be noticed by some Imperial Inspector. Thanks to his connections in the Imperial City and in the Subei Province, Governor Jiahe had saved his place for now but he could not take too many risks.

Right now, Guai Mo's proposition was giving Governor Jiahe a headache. He couldn't completely side with him. But even allowing him to participate in the upcoming competition would be poorly received by the Xue family. On the other hand, letting the Yun family have him would be terrible as well. Thus, he intended to ask his Cabinet for a plan.

To the right of Governor Jiahe, a man spoke first. He was the Minister of the Subei Province, Minister Yong. After the Governor, he was the most important man of the administration in Qingyun City. In the hierarchy, there were then the eleven counselors who were present in the room. Each counselor also had secretaries. Every single official was receiving their authority and legitimacy from the Emperor himself and through him from Emperor Nuwa. To this day, the line of transmission had not been broken. Every single Emperor had nominated their successor.

"Governor, Counselors, I have news from scouts about the demons. Apparently, the Empyrean Asura Theocracy is getting more and more active. After examining our reports and the reports of the Sunmen Province, it appears clear that they are still consolidating their power. But there is no doubt at all that they mean to attack us with their full might."

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The Empyrean Asura Theocracy was probably trying to solidify itself as the Empyrean Asura had very recently gathered several kingdoms under his banner. Besides, he was also purging some elements from his kingdoms. As the name suggested, this Empyrean Asura Theocracy was based around a powerful religion. Although it was complex on certain matters, the core belief of this religion was simple enough. All humans had to be eradicated so that the Demon God would come back from the dead. Thus, it was impossible to have peace with them. But that didn't mean that the Hongchen Kingdom wanted war either. The strength of the humans against the demons was their unity while demons had several kingdoms, some of which at war with each other. As such, the worst scenario would be for the other kingdoms to rally the Empyrean Asura Theocracy against the humans. However, the Empyrean Asura Theocracy was not necessarily appreciated by all.

"Minister Yong, I do believe you exaggerate tings. The Empyrean Asura Theocracy never broke the Seven Treaties. Of course, the Empyrean Asura has a very violent discourse, but it's just a way to improve morale. He knows that he couldn't break our array formations."

"I do not think that this new theocracy will respect our treaties. For the current Empyrean Asura, those treaties are not binding. In his views, they were made by lesser demons than he is and his Empyrean Asura Theocracy has no reason to respect them. The only reason why he hasn't attacked yet is because of our strength. But as he builds his empire, he will soon be powerful enough to even take down our array formations on the border."

"Anyway, if worse comes to worst, they will not attack our Subei Province but the Silver Wolf General's province. In the worst scenario, we will only have to back them up. And with him leading our forces, no demon army will penetrate our territory. Instead of losing too much time on this issue, we should focus on stabilizing the noble families. There has been more and more tension since the demonic beast stampede. The Yun family gained a lot of traction within the people and some lesser nobles."

"Indeed, I understand and share the worries of Minister Yong. But the best thing we can do to be ready against such a possibility is to get our own house in order."

Frustrated, Minister Yong was about to talk when Governor Jiahe took over.

"Thank you, Minister. Your fears have been listened. Today, we have another topic to discuss though. As you may know, a 1-star Human alchemist visited our Subei Province recently. We have been observing him and he should at least have the qualification of a 4 or even 5-star Human alchemist. And he made us a proposition regarding the Alchemy Conference."

Cao Yun's mastery over his flame had indeed helped him flaunt his talent to the spies watching his chambers. Governor Jiahe retold Guai Mo's words to his Cabinet.

"Governor, I don't think we should allow him to join the competition at all. Although the Yun family seems weak on the surface, they are probably more influential than the Xue family right now."

"But if he joins the Yun family, there is nothing we can do to prevent his participation. Other families have also called alchemists from neighboring provinces. We would have no ground to forbid his participation. Thus, he will participate anyway."

"Supporting him directly will put us at odds with the Xue family and denying him will send him to the Yun family, strengthening them. Why don't we find a balance? Why don't we have another noble family endorse him in our stead?"

"Then, the Xue family wouldn't find any fault in our behavior."

"But what if he wins, everything he achieves in the Alchemy Conference and even later in life will be attributed to that family..."

"Can he really win?"

"It's hard to say. If the reports are accurate, he's probably on par with Xue Rui."

As the discussion was going on, Minister Yong's face became livid. He could see that the counselors wanted to avoid the topic of war. It wasn't out of the question to sacrifice a few officials before a war. In that way, all the problems that had caused this war would be blamed on them and they would ask for the blessing of the ancestors by getting rid of those errors alongside their own heads. Certainly, no one wanted to assume the responsibility of starting the war even though they knew it was coming. The best solution was to stall as long as they could in the hope that the problem would fall on someone else's shoulders. After all, the Subei Province was not the only one under constant aggression by the demons. Hopefully someone else than them would screw up at some point.

Unfortunately, the most important task of those politicians was to safeguard their interests. Apparently, the corruption of the officials had spread far if even in such a province under siege by the hereditary enemies of mankind, common good was not thought of with much regard. Lesser men had succeeded Emperor Nuwa and her descendants. If General Yun, or worse the Silver Wolf General, had heard those discussions, they would have lost all rationality. Unlike them, they knew the battlefield.

Even Patriarch Xue seemed to have higher moral values that those small officials. Although he was crafty and sometimes disloyal, he was still thinking about the good of mankind. Of course, the good of his lineage was always considered more important than anything else. Luckily, protecting mankind was necessary in order for his family to strive.

On the other hand, those politicians were thinking about their personal matter first. Everything else was secondary. In fact, they never even thought for one instant that they could be killed by the demons. Even if the border was close to them, this simple idea never made its way into their narrow minds. They always thought of themselves as safe from the danger. Only soldiers and officers were faced with that kind of danger. What they were risking was only their position and maybe their life, but because of the Imperial City, not because of some invasion or war.

"Endorsing this Guai Mo might not be a bad idea at all..."

The discussion lasted a few hours so that all the details could be worked out. But not a single time did Governor Jiahe talk at all. In fact, he simply watched as his aides were throwing ideas. By the end of the reunion, they had a clear plan in mind. Thus, they all turned toward Governor Jiahe and asked for his opinion on the matter. Their idea was simply to allow Guai Mo to participate but to send a representative to the Xue family to smooth things over. Governor Jiahe could claim that he had done so to prevent their rival from getting a talented alchemist.

Besides, this could be an opportunity to talk about the Yun family. And then, he would go to the Yun family to also smooth things over as well. This, it would show that the Governor cared about the unity of the Subei Province. That could be a good point to raise if the Imperial City inquired about it.