Chapter 380 General Meeting
Wu Long did not need to persuade Luo Mingyu's parents as General Feng was the one who did most of the talking. Not to mention that the beauty has been subtly preparing them all the while she stayed there.
The Patriarch of the Luo House, her grandfather would not budge, as he was a man of tradition and strict discipline. But since his old friend who would normally be driven by honor and tradition himself was the one asking, he understood that the situation was not as easy as it seemed.
His decision was something Wu Long more or less expected, which was to let the younger generation of his children and their peers as well as their descendants join their side while he and the old fossils of the Luo house, the previous generation remained in their place, fulfilling the duty of the house to the Kingdom, even if it meant burning with it.
'Mortals have a different outlook after all. Maybe due to the finite lifetime they are less hesitant to throw that life away for a principle'
Wu Long thought. It was a different mentality than his who would do everything in his power to survive and prevail but he did not judge it as he knew there were people with different principles that might be hard to understand, but that were not something outsiders had the right to have a say in since their actions ultimately only concerned their lives, while leaving the younger generation to decide their own fate.
Immortals were a lot less likely to exhibit such behavior, as someone who fought tooth and nail to achieve freedom from death not many of them would willingly embrace it to prove a point. Not to mention that the notion of ideas with higher value than life was also somewhat of a mortal concept.
"Heh, dry as ever, old friend"
General Feng chuckled as he shook his head with a tinge of sadness but understanding the choice. His household did not have such complications simply because he was the first generation patriarch, and the authority of the entire family was in his hands.
'Heh, truly a military family, he has no doubt whatsoever that his decision would be followed. It looks like we can expect no objections or small talk there'
Wu Long thought as he watched General Feng's attitude. His decision was yet to be announced since their movements had to be swift once they made their plans known, but there was no concern on how the family would take the news whatsoever in his demeanor.
"The core of the Feng Family including trusted retainers and our private army would total no more than 300 people, but 100 of them are split in the two subjugation missions with Feng Yi and Feng Huan, with the latter still there as well"
General Feng said as they sat in the room of the Long-Distance Communication Formation at the local branch of the Soaring Feather Trading Company.
General Feng and the Luo Family Patriarch were the outsiders on this side of the formation, while Palace Master Lian Zhiqiu, Crown Prince Song Minfu, his daughter Song Lingfei and the alchemist Yu Huan were the ones on the other side. The rest were Wu Long with all of his women on both sides of the formation, the sight of which astonished both outsiders.
The beauties also took the opportunity to look at the faces they did not recognize, as this was the first time all members of the Dao Family all saw each other at the same time, with some of them never having met.
Old Yen who discreetly arrived in the capital and Butler Bang were also present, with Old Yen giving the rundown of the current situation.
"Of course if it was possible to retrieve the troops that were sent away to the borders and forced to fill the ranks of the reorganized Royal Army, the Feng House would add another 500 souls, but that is easier said than done, since that movement could not be done discreetly and would attract attention to us earlier than we are ready"
He then added with a sigh.
"The younger generation of the Luo Household who would be joining your side would only amount to 50 people, as for retainers and servants, they are not someone our house keeps close"
Luo Mingyu's grandfather replied with a snort.
"Hahaha, Old Luo, it seems you have been slacking off hahaha. Shouldn't you have more grandchildren and great-grandchildren? Not to mention that most of your grandchildren are of age to have families of their own"
The red-headed man's loud voice resounded in the room as Luo Family Patriarch narrowed his eyes.
"Hah! I don't want to hear that from someone who only has first generation children of my grandchildren's age. Not to mention I had more children than you. The rest of your household are your siblings and relatives, not amounting to what my younger generation totals.
Tsk, tsk, tsk, that's why you have to treat your retainers and servants as part of the household to have at least a decent number of people for a Noble House"
The grumpy old man nagged as he pursed his lips.
"Huh? You wanna fight you old fart?"
"We're the same age you old musclehead! Who wants to fight with you? You just can't win with words, so quit yer yappin"
"I..."
"Would the two gentlemen please leave that aside, as we have a lot to discuss"
Sui Luxiao returned the conversation to the topic at hand with a tranquil voice and they both nodded while clicking their tongues in each-other's direction.
"Does it mean that we will be retreating into the Yin Yang Unity Palace with the Feng House and Luo House?"
Old Yen asked tentatively, as that seemed the most safe strategy.
"I would have done that, but it seems we cannot turtle up in the sect since that would signal the other side to war. Not to mention that isolating ourselves would just show them we have nothing hidden, showing all of our cards"
Wu Long shook his head. As soon as he started preparations in full,it would immediately become a red flag.
"But did you not say that as long as that old man you met was alive the other side would not start?"
Wei Lan raised her eyebrows.
"It is not as clear-cut as that. They are reluctant to start because as things stand at the moment, they will in fact win, but with much more struggle and losses.
The reason they wait for Old Man Zhao to die, at least for the past 100 or a bit more years, is to not struggle as much, since by now he has lost the level of deterrence and his power is rapidly waning. All the while they can just solidify their win by preparations so time technically works in their favor from their point of view"
Wu Long sighed as he would have also preferred if the old man's life guaranteed peace.
"The problem is that as soon as they even suspect that the threat from our side is rising to alarming levels and has even the smallest potential to disrupt them, they will strike with full force as they will not take chances of all those preparations and time waiting becoming undone"
He finished as the others pondered. They were sitting in a circle on sitting mats, with some people standing by the walls, the formation creating an illusion of them all being in one room.
Prior to starting the formation, Wu Long added an array disc with talismans to it which he also gave Sui Luxiao before leaving the sect, which ensured the security of their communication as an added measure. Even though he doubted the other side had the ability to eavesdrop, he did not want to take that chance.
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