Lilith still attended in full dress today, keeping them company at the guest seats.
Ebon raised his wine cup and said excitedly. "Saint Lord Alex, today I truly must thank you for your assistance!"
"If you had not rushed thousands of miles to the Mourning Candle Dynasty and killed the fox demon with great wisdom and courage, not only would my life be hard to guarantee, but the commoners would also be plunged into an abyss of suffering!"
Alex smiled faintly. "Your Majesty is too polite. I merely lifted a finger. It is not worth mentioning."
"Not at all, Saint Lord Alex’s lifting a finger is a life-saving grace to my Mourning Candle Dynasty!"
"Come, I toast Saint Lord Alex a cup!"
"Please, Your Majesty."
Watching Ebon and Alex exchange cups and chat amiably, Lilith felt incredibly comforted in her heart.
However, Noah on the side had a slightly complicated expression.
Saint Lord, is it really interesting to sit here exchanging pleasantries with yourself? Since everything is completely under your control anyway, would it not be better to just get straight to business?
After three to five cups of wine, Alex narrowed his eyes, shifting his thoughts.
Ebon immediately put down his wine cup. "Saint Lord Alex, I have a matter I wish to discuss with you, though I do not know if I should say it."
Alex smiled and nodded. "Whenever it is, Your Majesty may speak freely."
"Through this incident of the fox demon invasion, I have deeply realized how important it is to have powerful cultivators." Ebon said sternly.
"If my Mourning Candle Dynasty had experts, how could the fox demon have been so wildly unbridled?"
"Therefore, I boldly wish to invite Saint Lord Alex to lead the Hale family disciples to station themselves in my Mourning Candle Dynasty."
"The land, houses, and various cultivation resources your noble clan requires will all be supplied by my Mourning Candle Royal Family!"
Hearing this, Lilith’s heart instantly jolted, and she hurriedly spoke up. "Imperial Father, for such a major matter, should we not summon the officials to discuss it first?"
"After all, our Mourning Candle Dynasty originally also had a group of cultivators..."
Ebon waved his hand dismissively. "Those pieces of trash, those useless shits? Besides throwing their weight around and bullying the commoners on normal days, what else can they do?"
"This time, when my mind was controlled by the fox demon, not a single one noticed. If Saint Lord Alex had not arrived in time, they would have just watched helplessly as I died."
"For this group of trash, I will issue an edict later to dismiss them all and send them back to their hometowns. Do not let them occupy the royal family’s resources!"
"This..." Lilith instantly felt a wave of alarm, her expression complicated, seeing her imperial father so resolute, she did not know how to persuade him.
Alex pondered slightly, pretending to be put in a difficult position. "Your Majesty, would this not be inappropriate?"
"My Hale family is, after all, people of the Heavenly Flame Dynasty. If we migrate to the Mourning Candle Dynasty, if word gets out, I am afraid it will arouse public criticism..."
"Saint Lord Alex, what harm is there in that?" Ebon waved his hand dismissively.
"My Mourning Candle Dynasty is already a tiny, pellet-sized dynasty, frail and insignificant."
"Even an invasion by a group of fox demons could nearly cause my nation to perish."
"If we do not have a powerhouse like Saint Lord Alex, who knows how our fate will be battered in the future."
"If Saint Lord Alex has this concern, I will immediately issue an order: the Mourning Candle Dynasty is willing to become a vassal state of the Heavenly Flame Dynasty, obeying commands from now on, paying annual tributes, unchanging until death!"
Lilith was speechless.
Wait, has Imperial Father’s brain been chewed up by the fox demon?
The successive past emperors of their Mourning Candle Family exhausted their blood, sweat, wisdom, and courage to finally preserve this territory and the dynasty’s destiny. She had originally hoped that future generations could carry forward the Mourning Candle Dynasty and restore its former glory.
She did not expect that with just a touch of his upper and lower lips, her imperial father would so casually merge the Mourning Candle Dynasty into the Heavenly Flame Dynasty.
"Imperial Father, this is inappropriate, right?" Lilith said with a bitter face.
"Our Mourning Candle Dynasty has historically had no grievances nor any relations with the Heavenly Flame Dynasty."
"Right now, all is peaceful and there are no conflicts between the two sides. Why suddenly become a vassal state?"
"For such a major matter, how can we make a decision without going to the Imperial Ancestral Temple to ask for our ancestors’ opinions?"
Ebon waved his hand and smiled faintly. "Lilith, for you to speak like this is truly too foolish."
"Ancestors? Where are the ancestors?"
Ebon sneered. "For hundreds of years, we have constantly worshipped our ancestors, constantly burned incense and made offerings, treating them with the reverence of gods."
"But who has actually ever seen where these ancestors are?"
"What we worship is nothing more than a pile of lifeless, dead wooden tablets. Who knows if the ancestors can even see them?"
"Besides, even if the ancestors truly exist, on what grounds should a bunch of old fossils, who have rotted so much they do not even have bones left, dictate the decisions of us, the living?"
At this very moment, the pupils of Lilith’s beautiful eyes were quaking, enough to prove just how utterly shocked she was.
In the past, her father was the one who placed the most importance on rules and ancestral teachings, he constantly talked about the ancestors and would absolutely refuse to do anything that damaged their prestige or violated their teachings.
What was going on with him today, to actually spout such heaven-defying remarks? If the ancestors could really hear him, they would be so angry they would spray out a mouthful of blood.
Ebon continued. "Furthermore, right now our two families are at peace. If our Mourning Candle Dynasty is willing to submit, the Heavenly Flame Empress will inevitably treat us as distinguished guests and personally come to welcome us."