Peace Talks and William Resigns from Office
Pacifying the people of Southern Lyn, dealing with the Three Excellencies and the prime minister, and arranging new officials to take over—none of these tasks could be finished in just a few days. By the time these matters were finally settled, Little Dumpling was already half a year old, and after nearly a year of fighting between Eastlyn and Northlyn, Northlyn, unable to break Eastlyn's defenses, finally gave up and, before winter arrived, announced a retreat and proposed peace with Eastlyn!
Prince Nolan was just about to push Serena to wean Little Dumpling when he received news that Northlyn wanted to negotiate peace. He was so frustrated—if not for his remaining rationality, he would've sent troops to attack Northlyn right then!
Northlyn wants peace—should we accept or keep fighting?
Prince Nolan had already made up his mind, but he didn't share his decision with anyone. Instead, he brought Northlyn's peace proposal to the full court for discussion.
After the fall of the Three Excellencies and the prime minister, most of the faces at court were young. These people were easy to control, but they lacked experience and acted impulsively. Prince Nolan deliberately wanted to temper them a bit.
Sure enough, quite a few hot-blooded young officials, completely ignoring Eastlyn's current state, saw Northlyn retreat and immediately clamored to strike back.
Strike back?
If it were really that easy to strike back, Eastlyn and Northlyn wouldn’t have been deadlocked at the border for nearly a year. Although Eastlyn’s strategy had its issues, Victor Phoenixfield’s conservative, defense-first approach was actually for Eastlyn’s benefit.
After the battle with Southern Lyn, Eastlyn was badly wounded and needed time to recover. It was really not suitable to launch a fierce attack on Northlyn. On the other hand, Eastlyn couldn’t swallow Northlyn whole right now—even if they managed to conquer Northlyn, they wouldn’t be able to govern it properly.
When a great country fractures, each part can quickly establish its own regime and become independent. But unifying countries that once ruled themselves is never so easy.
Although the Four Kingdoms were originally one, after so many years, the people of each nation have grown used to identifying as Northlyn or Southern Lyn folk. If Eastlyn were to swallow them up all at once, their instinct would be to resist. If things weren't handled carefully at this moment, chaos would surely erupt.
The story Serena told him about Qin unifying the Six States was a bloody lesson—he didn't want his own dynasty to last only two generations.
Conquering the world is hard; ruling it is even harder. If he were alone, he'd have no hesitation—he'd use iron cavalry to subdue every kingdom and city. But now he has a son, and he wants to leave his child a strong and prosperous country.
You have to eat one bite at a time—Northlyn and Westlyn are already in his pocket, so there's no need to rush.
Some advocated for war, some for peace. The war faction and peace faction started arguing right there in the throne hall, and Prince Nolan didn’t intervene—he just let them quarrel. William Wang Jinling pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. No matter how much time passed, he could never get used to such a noisy environment. Maybe it was time to resign.
Once that thought appeared, it wouldn’t go away. As the two factions kept shouting about war or peace, William Wang Jinling was already considering the possibility of stepping down.
His temperament really wasn’t suited for officialdom, and the power in his hands was honestly too great. Now, all authority in court was firmly in Prince Nolan’s grasp, and after the incident with the Three Excellencies and the prime minister, no one dared touch Serena. Everyone could see just how fiercely the Phoenixfield Clan protected their own—and how terrifying their counterattacks could be.
Three Excellencies and the prime minister—nine clans, over ten thousand people, not a single one left!
Such a brutal outcome shocked the entire court and everyone else. The fate of the Three Excellencies and the prime minister made it clear to all the ministers: as long as the Phoenixfield Clan exists, Serena as Empress is untouchable—she is the unrivaled legitimate heiress of the Phoenixfield Clan, and even the imperial house cannot bully her!
The Phoenixfield Clan—these lunatics—are terrifying. Back then, they dared to challenge the Former Dynasty for the sake of a single heiress; now, of course, they’d go up against the world for their legitimate daughter.
With the Phoenixfield Clan backing her, Serena didn’t need him at all.
The more William Wang Jinling thought about it, the more he felt he ought to resign. There was nothing in officialdom worth his attachment. If there was anything he’d miss, it would be that after resigning, he couldn’t freely enter the palace and would be farther and farther from Serena. But...
“One day, the tie must be cut. If you don’t cut it now, it’ll only bring trouble later.” William Wang Jinling understood clearly—he had to let go of Serena, or he’d be consumed by obsession. But he just couldn’t put her down.
“It’s time to make a decision,” William told himself. And he really did it—right after the grand court assembly ended, he submitted his resignation.
“Resign? Lord Wang wants to resign?”
William Wang Jinling’s move shook the whole court. For the civil and military officials, the shock was no less than when the Three Excellencies and the prime minister fell.
William Wang Jinling—favored courtier of the Emperor, truly second only to one, above all others. The Emperor’s trust in him had never wavered, not even when William held immense power. And yet, under these circumstances, William was actually resigning...
“Are you crazy?” William’s father looked at his increasingly mature and steady son, not daring to say a harsh word. Even this question came out weakly.
The Wang Clan was at its peak. With the Hsieh Clan gone, the Cui Clan hunkered down in Westlyn, and the Wen, Liang, and Chen families all failing to seize the opportunity or win the new Emperor’s favor, only the Wang Clan soared to the top, becoming a first-tier noble house. But at this critical moment, William Wang Jinling—the pillar of the Wang Clan—wanted to resign. The Wang family just couldn’t accept it.
But once William Wang Jinling made up his mind, no one could change it. He was determined not only to resign, but also to step down as Wang Clan Patriarch.
“Whether I’m patriarch or not doesn’t matter. As long as I, William Wang Jinling, am alive, no one in the world dares look down on the Wang Clan. But what about after I’m gone? You need to learn to stand on your own—I can’t protect the Wang Clan forever.”
William Wang Jinling was truly a gentleman. When he said he’d resign, he did so cleanly and never interfered in court affairs again. When he said he’d step down as Wang Clan Patriarch, he handed over all his power—including the people he’d privately trained over the years—to the new patriarch.
“Unless the Wang Clan is wiped out, don’t come looking for me.” That was what William Wang Jinling told his family. With those words, he packed up and moved to a thatched cottage outside the city.
That cottage was where he’d lived longest back when he was blind—it was the home he chose for himself. No matter how far he traveled, he’d always return there in the end.
A sea of flowers, a thatched cottage, sunlight filling the room, a cup of clear tea, an old book, a gentleman—this was the life William Wang Jinling chose for himself.
“Why put yourself through this?” On William Wang Jinling’s first day in the cottage, Serena came to visit, standing outside as their eyes met, both of them misty-eyed.
“It’s not suffering.” With a gentle smile and a plate of freshly washed grapes, William Wang Jinling personally offered them to Serena. “Try some.”
He couldn’t forget that woman in the little courtyard of Feng Manor, so at ease as she ate her grapes; he simply couldn’t forget...
He kept telling himself to let go, but if feelings could be controlled at will, they wouldn’t be feelings at all. William Wang Jinling knew he couldn’t let go, so he chose to fulfill his own heart—coming to the cottage where he first met Serena, to spend the rest of his days...