While Duan Hu remained completely impassive to Wu Mingli's remarks, the same could not be said about the Gong clan's elder. Gong Jie had deeply clenched his fists as he cast a cold gaze toward Duan Hu.
"Didn't we tell you that your approach would do more harm than good? See what it bore. Is this what you truly wished for?" asked Gong Jie, as he used his palace sense to communicate with the former emperor secretly.
"What other choice did I have? The Five Clover Kingdom already had the backing of the Zou family, and we were all on our own. How did you expect us to contend against them when they had that sort of backing?" asked Duan Hu in a slightly frustrated tone, as part of his attention fell on Deng Wei, who still had the look of serenity and gentleness.
"There could have been a better way to handle it that didn't end up with us selling out the entire empire to the Golden Bamboo Pavilion.." Gong Jie said with a certain reluctance and regret in his tone.