'I miscalculated', Wu Long thought as he followed the 9th prince.
The princes were far too young.
The 5th prince was only 19, and this 9th prince didn't ever reach 17. So in place where he expected a calculated action of an adult cultivator he met emotional one of a youngster with barely any experience, let alone an actual grasp on their situation or command of their subordinates.
If it was someone of the same age who grew up in a different set of circumstances, even someone still privileged to an extent like Young Master Kai for example, that wouldn't really be an issue, since they would possess a certain degree of maturity and self-realization.
And even that wasn't guaranteed in the world of cultivation, where the world was too harsh to let children experience it, and thus the vast majority of those born into at least decent circumstances were to an extent cuddled out of necessity.
But in this case he was basically dealing with little children who had divine powers within their words as far back as they could remember, were promised ownership of everything their eye could see, and were manipulated by the people surrounding them their whole lives, and thus haven't yet learned to make up their own mind about anything except for emotional outbursts.
In the first place, Wu Long didn't even think to question the ages of the princes because of two reasons, the first of them being that the battle of the succession was going on right now.
In Dynasties of this level, a battle of succession only really began in the final 100 years of the sitting Monarch's term on the throne, which typically lasted half of their lifespan, so they could spend the latter half as an Imperial Ancestor, guiding and protecting their descendants.
And in case of the Wei Dynasty, the sitting Monarch's lifespan in Essence Ignition Realm was around 18000 years, or in very rare cases in a realm higher around 21000 years, since in Seven Profound Realms, a cultivator's lifespan increased on average about 3000 years with each Major Realm except for the first and last ones.
This meant that the current Emperor, in normal circumstances, sat on the throne for at the very least 9000 years. And in all that time, he only sired children for the throne in the past 20-30 years, as at this point he did not expect any of the older princes to be that much separate in age, although all of that required actual research this time, in order to not repeat his earlier mistake of assuming things based on circumstantial evidence and his own experience.
But assuming that was true, and the 3rd and 4th princes were not much older than the 5th, then the second reason why Wu Long did not question the ages of the princes became even more confusing, because going by Chen Hui's warning, the 1st and 2nd princes were a taboo topic long before he was born. And despite his looks, the Captain of the Imperial Guard was over 2500 years old.
This would mean that the Emperor did sire at least two sons earlier on, but then refrained to do so until about 20 or 30 years ago, coming up right against the deadline of his retirement from the throne where he would basically be forced to do it by the Imperial Ancestors.
The two reached the 9th prince's luxurious boat and boarded it, entering into the shade of the small roof and sitting down on sofas.
"So, now that you have an unexpected guest, have you decided on what to do next?", Wu Long asked with a smile.
"Hahaha, was it that obvious I didn't have any plan? Hmm~ it's true I didn't expect to be able to pry you away from Brother Liheng. I just went there to mess with him~", the 9th prince chuckled, admitting he only invited Wu Long to his palace on a whim that came to him in the moment, and that too, only to spite the 5th prince.
"You do seem to have ample power to do so, Your Highness", Wu Long nodded.
"Ah, that's because my Mother is the Empress, while he's the son of the 3rd Concubine", Wei Yuanjie waved his hand in a languid manner.
"Does that make Your Highness the leading candidate for the throne?"
"Hahaha, of course not. My Mother's firstborn is the 3rd prince, her pride and joy, and the beacon of her hopes, as well as my only full brother, and even he can't really be considered to be a leading candidate, none of us can. But we still have some leverage", the 9th prince thoughtlessly spoke, revealing quite valuable secrets with ease.
'So he's the pampered younger son that the Empress is not preparing for the throne at all, but shields from her oldest son and other princes, allowing him to do what he pleases', Wu Long inwardly noted, as well as confirming to an extent the fact that with the princes being all so young, there were also interests of their mothers and perhaps more importantly, their maternal noble families, heavily involved in this battle of succession.
But this 9th prince's special status explained the lack of advisers around him to steer him in the right direction so that he could succeed the throne, or even just people to mitigate the trouble he created, as he was basically allowed to just run free and believe he was one of the five contenders for the throne.
In a way, he also served as a foil to the rivals of the 3rd prince, as a constant thorn in their side even though, or perhaps precisely because, he didn't have any actual and tangible political power or supporters.
This lack of things to lose like the support of influential backers due to his actions or lack of results, coupled with the fact he was still untouchable, made him capable of reckless behavior that disrupted the whole game. Just like what happened in that room just now.
And if he tried to make trouble for the 3rd prince, the Empress would likely step in to push him into a different direction.
"I do have one question for you though", the 9th prince suddenly spoke up,"How did you kill those pirates if you are in Mortal Transcendence Realm? Is it true you're using some mysterious technique to conceal your true cultivation?"
"Is that what they say about me?"
"Haha, that's the rumors at least", Wei Yuanjie shrugged with a grin.
"I'm not concealing my cultivation though. I really am in Mortal Transcendence Realm", Wu Long said with the same calm manner of speech and smile.
"Hmm~", the 9th prince touched his chin in thought for a moment, various ideas seemingly swirling within his eyes, and then chuckled, "Haha, then how about a spar?"
Wu Long smiled, seeing the sudden excitement in the eyes of the 9th prince as he wished to test out Wu Long's strength.
"As you wish, Your Highness", he nodded without much inner struggle as it didn't really inconvenience him. Moreover, spending a little more time around this prince might give him more easily obtained information that would be hard to get otherwise.