The Medallion novel Chapter 101

"To be frank, you've always viewed things in an extremely simple way. If His Majesty only considered things like that, he never would have arranged a marriage between Shirley and Basil. After all, Shirley is the successor of the Ximen Clan. Based on its current strong power, the Ximen Clan may even surpass that of the royal family in several years. Basil, who is supposed to become the son-in-law of the Ximen Clan, will therefore have enough powerful force to contend against the royal family. If Basil would become unfaithful to the emperor, no one can say for sure who will take over the throne. Therefore, I really doubt whether my father did it intentionally. Maybe his purpose for the arrangement was to make Basil become the next emperor of the Holy Dragon Empire." Alston tried to guess the emperor's true intention by considering all possibilities.

"In my humble opinion, Prince Alston, the emperor does not plan to let Basil become his successor. If His Majesty intends to make the boy become his next successor, why did he even bother to demote Basil down to a commoner?" Cleary, Priest Dean held a totally different idea.

"Do you remember that my father was determined to bring that bastard Basil's mother back to the royal family? He even promoted her from a worthless concubine to an imperial one, regardless of the strong opposition coming from the entire royal family. I know he still held a deep affection for that bastard's mother, thus he definitely had a reason for doing so. I'm certain that his demotion of Basil as a commoner is only a means of hiding his true intentions. Otherwise, how could that bastard have broken through the Earthly Stage at such an astonishing speed in just two months? I absolutely don't believe that the bastard can break through to the Earthly Stage with his own strength. He has definitely received some kind of assistance from others." Alston clenched both of his fists together, blue veins appearing on his forehead due to his anger and jealousy.

"I do have to admit that what you said also makes sense to some extent. Basil really broke through the Earthly Stage at an amazing speed. Moreover, he took out a yellow spiritual crystal at the Dragon Birth Festival. How could such a precious thing be in his possession?" Priest Dean nodded his head as he began to be aware that the whole thing was a bit odd.

"I'm sure that this is one of my father's secret arrangements. First, he deliberately demoted Basil down to a commoner so that he could secretly help him. Later, he arranged for him to be a hit at the Dragon Birth Festival to let everyone present be sincerely convinced of his great strength. Then, it became quite natural for the emperor to rename him as a prince and arrange a marriage for him," Alston concluded.

"Oh yes, now that you've mentioned it, I remember that during the Dragon Birth Festival, it was General Marcia who arranged Basil to come onto the stage. That was quite strange," Priest Dean said, his suspicion growing even more.

"General Marcia is my father's confidant and he trusts her more than anyone else. Therefore, it was a pretty obvious thing that General Marcia helped Basil to appear at the Dragon Birth Festival." Alston expressed his speculation.

"I see. If we consider these things from an outside perspective, they seemed to have happened by pure coincidence," Priest Dean said noncommittally.

"All these things were planned in advance. If we let Basil marry Shirley, he might have his strength redoubled. Therefore, I hope that you can lend me a helping hand. Of course, you can rest assure that I won't mistreat you. Once I get the grand throne, I will designate you as the Chief Priest whose responsibility is to protect the whole country. You can own the position as long as you want. Yes, you will have to obey my every order, but you will have the power and authority over everyone else," Alston said, trying to sweet-talk the Priest into cooperation.

Priest Dean was definitely enticed by Alston's words. However, he did have some concerns. Now that Basil had attracted the attention of the royal family and the entire Holy Dragon Empire, if anything happened to him, it would certainly cause quite a stir.

"I know that you might have some concerns, but please don't worry. It won't be necessary for us to take practical action in this matter. I just need you to give me an idea on how to make that bastard lose his reputation in a way that would anger His Majesty, so much so that he would be expelled from the royal family forever. If he could be executed, it would be even better," Alston said with a deeply sinister look on his face and then laughed maniacally. He knew that Priest Dean had been with the emperor for so many years and understood his style of conduct. He believed that Priest Dean knew best on how to make the emperor give up on Basil.

"The most unforgivable thing for His Majesty is betrayal from his subordinates. Over the years, no one who once betrayed His Majesty has come to a good end. So, if we can find a way to make Basil betray His Majesty, then everything will naturally happen in accordance with our plan," Priest Dean said. He hesitated for a moment, but eventually could not stop himself from showing a cunning look.

"You have already come up with an idea, haven't you?" Alston knew exactly that he had not picked the wrong person to offer him ideas.

"His Majesty's favorite concubine at the moment is Consort Allison. What do you think he would do if he finds out that his beloved concubine was seduced to bed by his son?" Priest Dean suggested, convinced that it was a very clever idea.