Qiao De's words were completely understandable by everyone and they knew what had happened was normal.
"So one party went back on their word and got snitched on by a third party." Ziran stated hearing it all.
"Yes." Qiao De nodded his head.
"And things got worse after that?" Lin Mu asked, wondering how it progressed.
"Well, upon learning that the conditions of the bargain were not held up the Great Wave Kingdom obviously demanded Huyun Chuan over so that they could punish him themselves. In addition to that, since the Purple Sparrow Kingdom had broken the deal, they also wanted additional compensation." Qiao De replied. "Until this point, things were still fine but it got complex once the Royal court of the Purple Sparrow Kingdom got involved. They quickly learned that the Huyun Clan had been behind the return of Huyun Chuan.
As such, they looked to push blame on the Huyun Clan and got them to pay out the compensation that the Great Wave Kingdom demanded. This was of course in addition to handing over Huyun Chuan. The Huyun Clan of course resisted, but had to yield under the threat of getting their titles removed and their property seized by a royal decree.
They decided to pay the Great Wave Kingdom and even hand over Huyun Chuan who had now been imprisoned in the Royal Prison. But before the Royal Court could get all the things sorted out, the Great Wave Kingdom seemed to have gotten impatient.
A day before the Royal Court was going to inform the Great Wave Kingdom about the new agreement and the payment of compensation, the kingdom took a drastic and rash decision." The merchant said before taking a pause, as if teasing them like he was selling some goods.
But he could see the hints of irritation on the faces of Lady Kang and her servants as such he decided it was best to continue speaking.
"The Great Wave Kingdom sent their experts to infiltrate and kill the people of the Huyun Clan. They were also told to search for Huyun Chuan but did not find him in his clan. Thinking that the royal court was actually hiding the man, they considered it an even greater offense.
Of course, the latter attempts of the Purple Sparrow Kingdom's ruler failed as the Great Wave Kingdom simply saw it as them trying to shift blame and give excuses. All communication fell through after that and the border between the two kingdoms was shut.
While the orders for war were not given out yet, cold tensions had already formed between the two kingdoms. The only reason they hadn't acted out was because both knew a war would be a tough choice as both kingdoms had strong experts that could keep each other in check." Qiao De explained, causing others to reach their conclusions from previous information by the Crown Prince.
"And the breaking point was the death of a powerhouse?" Crown princess Shang spoke.
"Indeed. When the tournament happened, the top powerhouse of the Purple Sparrow Kingdom was said to have disappeared suddenly. The other kingdoms investigated it and rumors spread that the powerhouse had died." Qiao De replied. "Afterwards the Great Wave Kingdom increased their forces along the border and showed all signs of an impending war. It didn't take much for others to figure out that the kingdom had probably found some confirmation about the powerhouse's death.
It they were dead, it meant the balance of power was now shifted in the favor of the Great Wave Kingdom. Now even if the conflict was based around Huyun Chuan, they were not going to stop at that. A weakened kingdom was a lot more tempting to them." He revealed.
The people at the table digested this information and thought about all things that could have happened in the background.
"What about the other kingdoms?" Monk Hushu questioned. "And the other experts that were rumored to have died?"
"Well after the first powerhouse was rumored to have died, the tensions rose and the other kingdoms watched carefully. They didn't do anything though, instead choosing to observe how things would turn out.
But no one expected that mere four months after rumors of another expert dying would arise. This time the powerhouse belonged to the Cloud Fall Kingdom." Qiao De answered.
"That… is the kingdom on the left of the Purple Sparrow Kingdom, is it not?" Ziran recalled having read the map earlier.
"Indeed. The Eight Kingdom Alliance is basically a ring and on the left of the Purple Sparrow Kingdom is the Cloud Fall Kingdom. Going counter clockwise from there, was the Dragon Plane Kingdom, the Dust Light Kingdom, the Ring Mist Kingdom, the Steel Heart Kingdom, the Rock Drop Kingdom and then finally back to the Great Wave Kingdom." Qiao De gave the rundown to them before placing a jade slip on the table. Belongs to (N)ôvel/Drama.Org.
~humm~
The jade slip glowed and a formation screen was projected above it, showing the map of the entire Eight Kingdom Alliance. The names of the kingdoms were highlighted, along with a few more important markers showing on it.
"Once the rumors about the Cloud Fall Kingdom's powerhouse dying spread, the Great Wave Kingdom seemed to have become firm in its resolve and openly became aggressive against the Purple sparrow Kingdom." Qiao De stated. "But the other kingdoms were now getting anxious." He added with a smile.
"They smelled the weakness." Lady Kang spoke this time. "With the Purple Sparrow Kingdom losing its powerhouse, and then the neighboring kingdom doing the same… They didn't think the Great Wave Kingdom would stop at just one kingdom." She guessed.
"Well said, Lady Kang." Qiao De nodded with a smile. "That is exactly what happened. The other kingdoms started to prepare for any possibility and became alert. This was especially the case for the smaller kingdoms like the Dust Light Kingdom and the Dragon Plane Kingdom. They even initiated talks for a direct alliance between them, in case the Great Wave Kingdom didn't stop.
The Dragon Plane kingdom was the next one after the Cloud Fall kingdom, and the Dust Light kingdom after, thus their fears were not unfounded. Plus, considering they were the two smallest kingdoms of the alliance, their power was also not as great.
The only security they had was their own powerhouses, which could stop the incursion of other kingdoms." He explained.
By now, the others were able to figure out well enough how this would proceed. It was the same for Lin Mu, who had already experienced geopolitical conflict like this in the Xiaofan world.
That one could be considered even a bit more complicated due to the mixture of Sects as well as kingdoms colliding. Though if one considered the size of it all, the entirety of the Xiaofan world would probably be the size of the Eight Kingdom Alliance.
An entire world's conflict was the same as a continent's conflict here with a few more topographical constraints such as the Sea of Muxuan added to the mix.
"When did the rumors of the third expert dying appear?" Crown Princess Shang questioned.
"A year after the first expert's death and eight months after the second expert's death." Qiao De answered.
"And which kingdom did this expert belong to?" Lin Mu furrowed his brows.
"It was the Ring Mist Kingdom." Qiao De replied, causing the kingdom to be highlighted on the formation screen.
"That's… three of the top four kingdoms weakened." Monk Hushu said, looking at the map.
"Indeed. And that was basically the last straw for all the kingdoms. They now knew conflict would be impossible to stop and the Great Wave Kingdom's greed would rise.
If they were in that position, they would do the same too as it was far too tempting. It was the most beneficial choice for any kingdom in that position," Qiao De said as a matter of fact.
"But that's still a year ago, right?" Lin Mu said, thinking about the timeline. "Why didn't the war happen in this one year?"
"That's because the Four kingdoms, the Dragon Plane Kingdom, the Dust Light Kingdom, the Ring Mist Kingdom and the Rock Drop kingdom ended up forming a close alliance between them against the Great Wave Kingdom.
This prompt action of theirs slowed down the Great Wave Kingdom's offense and they only focused on the Purple Sparrow Kingdom. The Cloud Fall Kingdom, on the other hand, supported the Purple Sparrow Kingdom from the back, knowing that they would be next if their neighbor fell.
Things entered a stalemate from that point until… Last week." Qiao De said, his expression turning serious.
He circled his finger around the Rock Drop kingdom and expanded its size.
~gasp~
Lin Mu silently gasped as he saw the change.
"The Rock Drop Kingdom took over the Ring Mist Kingdom?!"
"Yes… it was a silent takeover faster than anyone could have thought. All the other kingdoms were left shocked, as the Rock Drop Kingdom suddenly announced they had captured their neighbor."