"One could say that at this time, the Shen Family is beset by troubles both from within and without, faced with crisis upon crisis...it's extremely difficult for them to sort out military and political matters, let alone achieve unity within the Empire,"

Hearing Tang Fei analyze the affairs of the Empire so familiarly and logically, Zhong Tianyi felt both joy and concern in his heart.

He was pleased that Tang Fei cared greatly about the matters of New Star and that he hadn't become disheartened by temporary failure, showing great confidence in winning.

His worry, however, was that Tang Fei cared to such an extent... When it came time to counterattack and return to New Star, would he still be willing to hand over political power?

Would he even have the chance to be a puppet Emperor?

"It seems Brother Tang is well-prepared, which puts my mind at ease," Zhong Tianyi voiced his praise.

He was older than Tang Fei but insisted on calling Tang Fei 'Brother'...

When life doesn't go as hoped, just pull out your 'little brother' and contemplate it, ponder over the philosophy it embodies: it can be long or short, thick or thin, flexible or rigid...

He had been doing this quite a bit lately.

Mostly because he had nothing else to do.

"I shall dedicate my utmost effort to serve Your Highness unto death."

Zhong Tianyi reached out and took hold of Tang Fei's arm, saying, "Let's not speak such inauspicious words. You and I, brothers, shall sit together over this world, sharing its glory and riches."

"It shall be so," Tang Fei said with a hearty laugh.

Thinking to himself, who would dare call you brother?

Your own brothers were almost killed by you, let alone a sworn brother like me.

After bidding farewell to Tang Fei, Zhong Tianyi hesitated for a moment before walking over to the small courtyard where Phoenix lived next door.

The base still afforded special care for these important members of the Zhong Royal Family.

Each of them was allocated a separate courtyard because they had many servants, who, even in their fallen state, followed them, and also for the sake of their security and privacy, living together with the doctors and maids who had fled the Phoenix Palace made everyone quite uncomfortable.

When the maid opened the door and saw it was Zhong Tianyi, she bowed and greeted, "Your Highness."

"Hmm," Zhong Tianyi nodded his head.

"What are you doing here?" Phoenix stood under the eaves with a face cold as frost.

After the night of the shocking events at the Phoenix Palace, Phoenix no longer called her two older brothers 'brothers'.

A person capable of shooting his own father...

Such a person didn't deserve to be her brother.

Although they lived so close, there was no interaction between them, as if they were strangers.

Zhong Tianyi wasn't angry either; he knew his sister now abhorred him, or rather hated him to the bone.

Still wearing a smile on his face, he said, "I have something very important to discuss with you."

"There is nothing that needs to be discussed between you and me."

"Matters concerning family and the nation."

"Those are matters for men...what do they have to do with me?"

"This concerns the Zhong Family. Aren't you a member of the Zhong Family?"

Phoenix fell silent.

She could disown this brother, but she couldn't say she wasn't part of the Zhong Family.

Zhong Tianyi turned and closed the courtyard door, heading straight towards the inner room.

After a brief moment of hesitation, Phoenix followed him.

Zhong Tianyi found a chair and sat down uninvited.

Looking at Phoenix, who stood before him, he asked, "How are things between you and Tang Fei?"

"What do you mean?" Phoenix stared at Zhong Tianyi and asked.

"Though neither of you will admit it, I know you and Tang Fei are in a romantic relationship... I'm just curious how far you two have progressed?"

"What does it matter to you where we are?" Phoenix said impatiently.

"Of course, it matters to me, and it's related not only to me but also to the Zhong Family and the entire Phoenix Empire," Zhong Tianyi said as he looked at Phoenix. "You see, Tang Fei is our only hope for restoring the nation and seizing power... Only with his wholehearted support do we stand a chance of success."

Phoenix sneered and said, "So, you want to give away your sister as a gift?"

"This isn't about giving; it's a perfect match... Moreover, you two are already deeply in love; it's killing several birds with one stone," he replied.

"I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint you," Phoenix said coldly.

The smile on Zhong Tianyi's face also faded as he looked at Phoenix and asked, "What do you mean? Have you two broken up?"

Phoenix fell silent again.

She also found it difficult to define her relationship with Tang Fei, sure of her affection for him.

He was the first boy she ever liked, her first love.

But the events of recent times had pushed them further apart.

The truth was too cruel, the scars too ugly for her to bear revealing.

"If I had a choice, I wouldn't want to discuss these matters with you," Zhong Tianyi spoke with a pained voice, his eyes lowered to his muddy military boots. "But I have no other option..."

"You also know our current situation, and you should understand... my current situation..."

"Tang Fei doesn't like me, and he wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice me if given the chance. I'm quite certain of that."

"That's the consequence of your own actions," Phoenix retorted vehemently.

If not for your greed and willingness to be manipulated, how could you have ended up in this position?

Perhaps the Royal Family wouldn't have collapsed, your father wouldn't have been captured, and the Empire wouldn't have fallen apart into its current state of disarray.

"Yes, I deserve what I got, and I'm not worthy of life," Zhong Tianyi didn't deny it, echoing Phoenix's criticism. "But now that things have come to this, we must try to make amends..."

"The Phoenix Empire is our Phoenix Empire, the Zhong Family's Phoenix Empire; it can't just be taken by the Shen Family, nor by the Tang family, nor by any other family... It belongs to us, the Zhong Family, in the past, and in the future."

"This is the result of hundreds of years of the Zhong Family's legacy. If it is lost on our watch, even in death... we will have disgraced our ancestors..."

"If you and Tang Fei become a couple, get married and have children... then you could influence him to wholeheartedly support the Zhong Family in retaking power..."

"So what you mean is, use my influence over Tang Fei to reclaim the King's throne for you?" Phoenix understood Zhong Tianyi's point.

"It's not just for me, but for you, for us... for the entire Zhong Family..."

"Have you ever heard that old saying from the Old Land?"

"What's that?"

"A married daughter is like water thrown out."

"..."

"Forget that Tang Fei and I have no relation at all right now..." Phoenix looked down upon Zhong Tianyi's bowed head with contempt, her voice dripping with scorn: "Even if things were as you said, and we truly could come together, get married, have children..."

"At that time, Tang Fei and the children would be my family... why would I help you?"

"..."

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