Chapter 010: A Huge Farce (Part 2)

Du Fan couldn’t help but frown slightly… He had a vague idea of what Prince Fischer meant, but under the prince’s meaningful gaze, he was unable to say a word.
“A powerful martial skill!?” Prince Fischer finally smiled grimly. “Du Fan, don’t you think that in comparison… this vast Gavin Empire has become an increasingly ridiculous joke? Before, they won every battle, but now they’ve been utterly defeated in just one! Do you know why?”
Du Fan forced a wry smile.
Prince Fischer didn’t wait for Du Fan to answer and continued, “The reason is actually very simple! I’m sure you’ve seen it clearly, but you just refuse to admit it! The simple reason is… the empire has never won a single battle against the Lani Empire; instead, it loses every time… In the past, although they lost, it wasn’t that embarrassing, so those generals who suffered heavy losses resorted to deceiving those above and below. But this time, with such a crushing defeat, they can no longer hide it and must report it…”
“Then before…”
“Before?” A hint of deep sorrow flashed in Prince Fischer’s eyes as he said calmly, “You mean, in those previous battles, they still brought back spoils, right? I’ve sent people to the Southern Kingdom to investigate these matters. News just came in this morning—over the years, those so-called great victories were actually defeats, while minor wins were exaggerated as tremendous achievements… That so-called Southern Legion, with 400,000 soldiers, consumes one-third of the empire’s military budget each year. But whenever war breaks out, they only defend their cities and don’t go out. Once the enemy retreats, they simply massacre any town or village they find. Those piles of heads are proof of victory, and the wealth in those cities is the so-called spoils… This is how the legend of our Gavin Empire as an invincible force came about!”
Du Fan sighed. He had long noticed many hidden problems within the Gavin Empire, but he never imagined that an empire once renowned for its strong martial skills would have become so weak on the inside. Even in national wars, people resorted to such deceptive tactics… With the capital in such a state, the empire was not far from destruction!
Looking back at the still-prosperous capital outside the window, with its bustling streets filled with people coming and going, though noisy day after day and prosperous year after year, the foundation of this vast empire had long been slowly rotting—only unknown was when it would collapse!

Seeing the same expression on Du Fan’s face, Prince Fischer finally asked, “So, Du Fan, what’s your opinion… about this legend of being undefeated in a hundred battles…”
Du Fan frowned but still spoke slowly, “Why… why have these things been kept hidden for so many years? How… how is that possible? Isn’t there even one loyal noble willing to report the truth to His Majesty the Emperor?”
“The truth?” Prince Fischer sighed and gave a bitter smile. “The truth is that what we’re telling you now was already a well-known secret among the nobles in the imperial capital years ago… It’s just that the Southern Army has always been in the hands of a few military elders. Since they report things this way and His Majesty is pleased, who would be so foolish as to expose it? As long as the royal family is kept in the dark, those military elders won’t lose their power. As for war, there’s plenty of funding available… Everyone only wants to protect their own interests, and each group protects its own interests. Under such circumstances, who would speak the truth? If it weren’t for the crushing defeat this time… and the fact that some nobles could no longer bear it after losing three provinces, they wouldn’t have reported the war results. Maybe by then, my father would still be dreaming of unifying the continent!”
A strange expression appeared on Du Fan’s face. After a moment, he said calmly, “So… with the Southern Army retreating step by step under these circumstances, why doesn’t the Laney Empire take advantage of the situation and instead seek peace with us?”
Prince Fischer snorted and said, “It’s simple. Even though the Gavin Empire is strong on the surface but weak inside, it still has a solid foundation after all these years. Even if the Southern Army is so poor in performance, if they really reached the gates of the imperial capital, wouldn’t the imperial guards be formidable? Besides, right now that the Laney Empire has taken over three provinces, it needs time to digest this and consolidate its victory. If it can’t even do that and still aims to swallow up the entire Gavin Empire, that’s unlikely… Moreover, war is often just part of political deals. Now that the Laney Empire has such a good bargaining chip, it naturally has many advantages in negotiating with us. Why risk fighting when benefits can be obtained easily?”

“So, the Lanny Empire definitely won’t fight at this critical moment, because even if they wanted to continue fighting, they need time to replenish their troops, and that time is also needed by us… So, we want peace, and the Lanny Empire is actually eager for it! As for Prince Leoport coming, it seems he has already indicated that the Lanny Empire’s royal family has accepted the idea of peace. Their current high-handed attitude is just to extract more from my Gavin Empire!”
Du Fan sighed and said, “If that’s the case… peace is indeed unavoidable… Even delaying things a bit and sending other legions to fight would be good!”
Prince Fischer glanced at Du Fan and said, “I used to think the same way, but after thinking it through, I realized that moving legions is simply impossible… For example, your Green family’s northern legions, which are tasked with guarding that large group in the north, have long lost their ability to be moved… As for the western and eastern legions, they too cannot be moved… In the west, I need to prevent those sea creatures from attacking suddenly, and in the east, there are those bastards from the Icebound Alliance… So, the troops in these three areas absolutely cannot be moved… And the imperial city defenses in various places need to be stationed everywhere; moving them would harm the foundation of the empire… So, the only forces that can be moved right now are the imperial palace guards… But with my elder brother’s personality, asking him to give up his power… it’s completely impossible! So, the only thing we can do now is seek peace… I understand this, the empire’s nobles understand it, and the Lanny Empire understands it too, but there’s one person who still hasn’t seen through this…”
“Who?”

“Who else could it be?” Prince Fischer smiled bitterly. “Of course, it’s my father… After meeting Prince Leopold, my father simply couldn’t accept the fact that throughout all these years of war between the two nations, the Gavin Empire had never won—not even once. Du Fan, can you imagine how devastating this must be for my father, who is so ambitious? He refuses to believe it, or rather, even if he does, he won’t admit it… That’s why despite strong calls for peace from the imperial side, my father refuses to budge… And that’s why things have remained stuck. That Prince Leopold, as an envoy from the Lani Empire, has been in our capital for over half a month, yet no talks about peace have taken place. For the Lani Empire, peace talks are just a way to buy time—they certainly don’t care… Even if it drags on for half a year, the empire will still have to admit defeat. What they gain will only increase, not decrease… The military and the treasury have been racking their brains over this issue, but as long as my father doesn’t agree, peace won’t be achieved. This is another reason why tensions in the capital have been rising these days. Under such circumstances, all factions are itching for action. I’m afraid the day my father makes up his mind will be a day of great upheaval. It’s a shame he still hasn’t seen through this… He’s been dreaming of becoming a great power for so many years, yet he still refuses to wake up!”
Du Fan had nothing to say this time—Prince Fischer was a prince, and speaking ill of the old emperor here, even if others found out, wouldn’t matter much. But if he spoke carelessly, criticizing a monarch could be a capital offense!
Moreover, after speaking for so long, the implications in Prince Fischer’s words were astonishing. These were all secrets of the empire—how could ordinary people possibly know?
After pondering for a moment, Du Fan looked into Prince Fischer’s eyes and said, “Your Highness, many of the things you’ve told me just now must involve imperial secrets, right? You’ve been so open with me, Du Fan. I really don’t understand—what do I have that deserves your favor so much?”
“Lord Du Fan…” Prince Fischer gave Du Fan a deep look, then shifted his gaze outside the window. After a while, he turned back and suddenly said softly, “Would you be willing to pledge loyalty to me!?”
Du Fan’s heart skipped a beat. He couldn’t help but think to himself: As expected!