"As I said earlier, if your foundation of rule is King Kang, this power can never truly be controlled by you."

"Because you're just a puppet, merely a transition."

"So, if you want to truly wield power, you must transform this force."

Princess Xi had completely taken it in at this moment.

She looked up, her blue eyes focused on Qiu Tu, asking, "How to transform it?"

Qiu Tu, with one hand around Princess Xi, pointed with the other towards the reception room where they had come from, then said, "Transform it just like this."

"Leverage a third-party force, apply high pressure to intimidate the upper layer, then control the middle layer and influence the lower layer."

Qiu Tu said, "Only the upper layer has its own political direction. The middle and lower layers have no idea who their superiors are."

"Whoever can feed them, make their lives better, and allow them to rise in rank and wealth, is their god."

"So, you just need to rally the royalist force through these few upper layers, then promote the middle layer and influence the lower layer to marginalize the upper layer."

"I believe it won't be long before this force will no longer bear the Kang name, but the Xi name."

Hearing Qiu Tu's words, Princess Xi frowned slightly, silently analyzing.

After a moment, she spoke, "But that's too slow."

Qiu Tu was waiting for this, so he smiled and said, "There is another method."

"Disperse the middle and lower talents of the royalist faction, then merge with Dongye State's 90,000 troops."

"Currently, the royalist faction can muster about 400,000 troops. A ratio of nine to forty can absolutely be expanded and controlled."

Princess Xi, upon hearing this, suddenly looked at Qiu Tu.

She wasn't a fool. Moreover, Qiu Tu's intentions were too obvious; it was practically straightforward.

Using Dongye State's army as the backbone, the control of this army would almost entirely belong to Dongye State.

By then, the army might neither bear the Xi name nor the Kang name, but the Qiu name!

Whether he sensed Princess Xi's worries, Qiu Tu gently caressed her back, then comforted, "Don't overthink it. If you died now, the army wouldn't be yours either."

Princess Xi: ???

Initially, Princess Xi was rapidly calculating gains and losses in her head, but Qiu Tu's abrupt turn nearly threw her off balance!

Is this supposed to be comforting?

If I died, the army wouldn't be mine either? So, considering so much is pointless?

Not comforted at all!

While frantically critiquing Qiu Tu in her heart, she had to admit Qiu Tu was right.

Her life was in Qiu Tu's hands now. Cooperate to survive; not cooperate, and there's a high chance of dying.

Therefore, thinking about whether the army is hers holds no meaning. First, survive.

At worst... make Qiu Tu the next target for revenge.

Thinking this, Princess Xi unemotionally uttered "hmm," signifying her acknowledgment of Qiu Tu's "comfort."

Seeing Princess Xi agree to the military reform, Qiu Tu shifted his tone and said, "Xixi, don't think I'm taking advantage of the situation. Actually... I'm truly helping you."

Princess Xi raised her eyes, looking at Qiu Tu without joy or sorrow, all the words were in that gaze: Still lying to me?

Qiu Tu directly ignored that look and then said, "Do you remember my previous analysis?"

"Your ultimate goals are two: revenge and controlling the Sanctuary."

Qiu Tu paused, then asked, "Is your revenge only against King Kang?"

"Can you control only the Sixth Sanctuary?"

Hearing Qiu Tu's words, Princess Xi frowned slightly, her exotic face involuntarily turning towards Qiu Tu.

Qiu Tu smiled and said, "Don't forget... you are a member of the Lin Family. You have Lin blood running through you."

"Those Lin family who hurt you in the past are not all dead yet."

"And... being one of the four founders of the Seventh Sanctuary, the Lin Family has high authority in the Seventh Sanctuary."

"You have the right to directly become an Elder of the Seventh Sanctuary, reaching the highest level."

"You also have the right to investigate and impeach any family, elder, and official."

"The reason the Lin Family has always disappeared from the political arena of the Seventh Sanctuary is that they were too weak."

"But no worries, now... you have hundreds of thousands of troops and hundreds or even thousands of talents."

"You can completely become the new Family Head of the Lin Family, thus automatically obtaining the position of Elder in the Seventh Sanctuary, entering the core layer."

Some things are actually simple when spoken, but it's the inertia of thinking that makes them overlooked.

These years, Princess Xi's focus was always on the Sixth Sanctuary, on King Kang, never considering making a surprise move to control the Lin Family, and thereby the Seventh Sanctuary.

Thinking of this, Princess Xi immediately realized her mistake: it wasn't that she hadn't thought of this possibility. But... she couldn't do it.

At that time, she didn't have an army; now she does, but it's controlled by the royalists.

Just as Qiu Tu said: the royalist's foundation is in the Sixth Sanctuary, the orthodox is King Kang's bloodline.

She could only be said to be the Heir of Prince Kang's mother, a puppet ruling on the behalf of a young princely heir.

So, she could leverage the royalist's power to rule, but couldn't directly control them.

However, if she used Qiu Tu's method for transformation, the royalist force would immediately become a controllable force that could enter the Seventh Sanctuary.

And more importantly...

In fact... before today, the Seventh Sanctuary's political structure was stable, even if Princess Xi had hundreds of thousands of troops, it was hard for her to intervene easily.