Chapter 2250: Marriage Alliance

"You've misunderstood," Zu An explained. "It's not that they mistreated me; rather, I don't want to abuse my power to infringe upon the interests of the common people."

The Little Demon Empress wore a bewildered expression. "I've never encountered such an idea. If everyone thought like you, probably no one would want to be an official. You're already the Regent, yet you still live so frugally."

"Usually, things are fine," Zu An said. "It's just that lately, forging artifacts has been consuming an immense amount of resources." Zu An then roughly explained what he had been doing.

The Little Demon Empress immediately grew interested, bombarding him with questions. Finally, she declared, "I don't care! You are also our demon race's Regent, so your research cannot be exclusively for humans."

Noticing her slightly anxious gaze, Zu An couldn't help but chuckle. "Don't worry, the demon race is also my home. Besides, don't I have you?"

He secretly added in his mind, *And Yu Yanluo*, though of course, it wasn't appropriate to say that to her.

The Little Demon Empress, who had been extremely tense, immediately brightened up at his words. "Such sweet words! I'd love to have a taste."

Zu An was speechless.

Demon women truly are more passionate and uninhibited.

Zu An cleared his throat. "By the way, the Human Empress Dowager wants to meet with you to discuss an alliance between our two races to counter the external demons."

The Little Demon Empress didn't reply. Instead, she asked, "I heard that Empress Dowager was a beauty who captivated countless men back then; otherwise, Zhao Hao wouldn't have chosen her as his Empress. Now, her radiance seems to surpass what it once was; she glows every day. She certainly doesn't look like a woman who just lost her husband."

Zu An's heart skipped a beat. He could only say, "They were a couple in name only. Now that Zhao Hao, that immense burden, is gone, she's simply in better spirits."

"It seems you know her quite well," the Little Demon Empress remarked with a knowing smile. "Are you two having an affair?"

Zu An was speechless.

Why do these women always try to set traps with their words?

"Let's stick to the main topic. Be serious," Zu An said irritably.

"Alright," the Little Demon Empress didn't press the matter. "With the demon invasion, our two nations should indeed unite. However, there's one issue: who will take precedence?"

Zu An frowned. "The human race is currently stronger. It's probably unrealistic to expect them to cooperate under your command. Of course, I'll do my best to ensure equal standing in cooperation between the two nations."

"It's not as simple as you make it sound. When the Human Empress Dowager and I meet, an issue is bound to arise: who will visit whom?"

"Anyone going to the other's territory would be seen as deferring. Asking the Human Empress Dowager to visit me, she would most likely refuse; for me to visit her is absolutely out of the question."

Zu An was momentarily stunned. "Is such a minor issue truly that serious?"

"Of course!" the Little Demon Empress's voice rose. "When we ceased hostilities with your human race recently, many radicals within the demon race felt the Royal Court was too weak in its external policy. I barely managed to quell them. Now that Zhao Hao is dead, many on the demon side are already restless. The crucial point is that this external demon invasion cannot be publicly disclosed. Therefore, if we ally with the human race and appear to show further weakness towards them, I'm afraid there will be serious unrest on my end."

As she spoke, she massaged her temples, clearly in distress.

Zu An recalled the situation of the demon race: a loose tribal system where various tribes merely acknowledged the Royal Court as their common sovereign. The Royal Court's control over its territories was not particularly strong.

Many individuals from these tribes were hot-headed and prone to fighting, with a single-track mind. Trying to reason with them, or convince them to temporarily endure for the sake of the future, would be like casting pearls before swine.

"So what should we do?" Zu An also felt a pang of frustration. If this matter isn't handled well and leads to hostility between the two races, the idea of an external alliance will become impossible.

"I do have an idea," the Little Demon Empress suddenly said with a mischievous smile. "Your Emperor could marry a woman from our demon royal family as a marriage alliance. That way, both sides save face, and it would be much easier to arrange a meeting using that as a pretext."

"That's not a bad idea. Which royal woman? Do you have someone in mind?" Zu An nodded.

"Yes, there is," the Little Demon Empress said casually. "Princess Nanwu of the Peacock Royal Family. She's beautiful, extremely intelligent, and capable. I imagine she could make a significant contribution to the friendship between our two races."

"Kong Nanwu?" Zu An was startled. He never imagined it would be her. The beautiful woman's image appeared in his mind. Come to think of it, she had shown him kindness back then. Could he really let her marry this foolish emperor?

"What, are you reluctant to part with her?" The Little Demon Empress had been closely observing his reaction and smiled when she saw it.

"Why would I be reluctant?" Zu An cleared his throat. "I just think Princess Nanwu is too proud and might not be content to be subservient. And the new Empress here is also a proud person; she might not tolerate her. If they start fighting, it could easily jeopardize the relations between our two nations."

The Little Demon Empress said with a knowing smile, "After all that, aren't you just reluctant to part with Princess Nanwu?"

Zu An was speechless.

"Alright, alright, I was just teasing you," the Little Demon Empress joked. "Setting aside Princess Nanwu's noble status, I can't simply ignore her opinion and arbitrarily decide her marriage. Even if she agreed, there's no way I'd let a demon woman marry into the human race; it would look like a humiliating peace-through-marriage arrangement."

"If it's impossible, then why did you even suggest it?" Zu An was somewhat speechless.

"While it's impossible for a demon woman to marry into the human race, a human princess or someone similar could certainly marry into the demon race!" The Little Demon Empress finally revealed her true intention.

Zu An irritably retorted, "You demons find it humiliating for a woman to marry out, but isn't it the same for humans? Now that they hold the advantage, they'll be even less likely to agree."

"Normally, they certainly wouldn't agree, but there's one person whom the human race, I imagine, wouldn't refuse." The Little Demon Empress pretended to be mysterious.

"Who?" Zu An was somewhat curious. "The Demon Emperor is still young; he's probably not old enough for marriage talks yet, is he?"

"Who said it was him? It's clearly you," the Little Demon Empress said with a mischievous smile.

"Me?" Zu An shook his head vehemently. "Absolutely not."

What a joke! His intimate female companions were already causing enough chaos; why would he want to get involved in something like this?

"Who says you can't?" the Little Demon Empress laughed. "Your status is unique, and with your current power and position, I imagine countless human women would want to marry you. What's more, you are also our demon race's Regent, so marrying a human woman on behalf of the demon race would bring us honor. Everyone would be happy! As for why you aren't marrying a demon woman, after all, you are of human origin. If a demon woman were to marry you in this situation, they might perceive it as a sign of weakness."

Seeing that he was still refusing, she had no choice but to say, "If your refusal leads to the human and demon races being unable to cooperate, and the world is consequently overrun by demons, your culpability will be immense."

"Don't pressure me with that," Zu An said coldly. "I will not use marriage as a bargaining chip."

"Alright, then I have no other choice. Let the Human Empress Dowager worry about this matter then. I wash my hands of it," the Little Demon Empress said, looking exhausted.

Zu An knew she meant well and felt his tone had been a bit harsh. So he explained, "Your suggestion isn't really feasible either. Zhao Hao did have a few daughters, but they are all already married. The current new Emperor has no daughters, so there are no unmarried princesses in the royal family."

"No princesses or commandery princesses? That's fine too," the Little Demon Empress said with a mischievous smile. "For example, your Prince Qi's commandery princess. The human court probably finds her an eyesore now, right? Wouldn't it be great to marry her into the demon race? Then I'll keep an eye on her, and there's no way she could stop you from having affairs outside."

Seeing her become increasingly outlandish, Zu An quickly changed the subject, asking about the Second Prince's battle in the Sealed Land.

When this was mentioned, the Little Demon Empress's expression also grew serious, and she earnestly communicated various pieces of intelligence with him.

They talked for another half an hour like this, until even the Little Demon Empress felt the pinch of the videophone's cost, and they had to hastily end the call.

However, after his recent conversation with the Little Demon Empress, he realized the situation was dire. He decided to inform those close to him first, lest they be caught off guard and fall victim to the demons' ambushes, leading to irreversible regret.

He went to the official court's videophone location, which was normally only used for matters of military and national importance.

He authorized himself to use it under the pretext of notifying all major sects across the land, and no one dared to stop him.

He first dialed Yun Jianyue's videophone. He hadn't heard from her for some time, and a faint unease lingered in his heart.

The videophone buzzed continuously, emitting special fluctuations that spread afar, but the call never connected. His heart sank.