Dai Yutian: You don't want Zhu Zhuqing to die or be sad, do you? (Seeking Readership!)

Dai Yichen asked directly, "Father Emperor, you called me here so early today because...?"

Dai Yutian said calmly, "I called you here today not only to inform you that you'll be enrolling in Star Luo Royal Academy in half a month. There is another matter as well."

After speaking, Dai Yutian glanced at Zhu Ming beside him.

Zhu Ming smiled, walked up to Dai Yichen, and crouched down. "Yichen, tell me—what do you think of Zhuqing?"

Dai Yichen was utterly confused, but after thinking it over, he still answered, "Zhuqing is great. She's very cute, and we get along well."

Zhu Ming nodded in satisfaction. "But do you know that, according to the original arrangement, once Zhuqing awakened the Netherworld Spirit Cat Martial Soul, she would have been given priority to be betrothed to Third Prince Dai Mubai? His Majesty originally considered how close the two of you were and thought that if you awakened the White Tiger Martial Soul and showed greater talent than the Third Prince, he would change his mind. But..."

Dai Yichen clicked his tongue. Got it. These two came over so early just to play mind games with me?

He had seen plenty of this kind of thing when he had first entered society in his previous life!

Dai Yichen remained calm and composed as he said, "Uncle Zhu, Father Emperor, there's no need to beat around the bush. I prefer being direct."

Then Dai Yichen looked at Dai Yutian. "Father Emperor, you said in the main hall yesterday that you would not betroth Zhuqing to Third Brother. A sovereign's word is gold."

Zhu Ming was stunned. Good lord, he isn't following the script. Shouldn't he be nervously questioning us right now?

Dai Yutian: ...

Originally, they had planned for Dai Yutian to play the stern one while Zhu Ming played the gentle one, certain that they would have Dai Yichen firmly in hand. Yet their plan had been interrupted immediately.

Dai Yutian shot Zhu Ming a glance before turning to his fourth son. "Yichen, what are your thoughts on the royal competition rules passed down by our ancestors?"

For some reason, Dai Yutian suddenly wanted to hear what his youngest son thought.

Standing to the side, Zhu Ming was also extremely nervous. If Dai Yichen could bring a little more humanity to the Star Luo Imperial Family's competition, that would be wonderful.

For generations, the Zhu Family had been bound to the Dai Family. The women of the Zhu Family were the weaker party; even if they succeeded in the competition, they would ultimately only become empresses, gaining far fewer benefits than the emperor.

Moreover, he had three daughters in this generation. That meant two of them would have to die. Every one of them was the apple of his eye, and he was unwilling—

It was not that he kept having children because he wanted to watch his daughters die. The main reason was that his branch still had no son to inherit its future title.

Yet he had never expected to have three daughters in a row. It had nearly driven him to a breakdown.

And when Dai Yutian had privately approached him to discuss this matter yesterday, he had been so excited he could barely contain himself!

Facing Dai Yutian's question, Dai Yichen put on a thoughtful expression, though inwardly he was trying to guess Dai Yutian's intentions.

Several minutes later, Dai Yichen finally said, "Father Emperor, the reason the Star Luo Empire possesses such powerful national strength today, and why the royal family's power can crush the Heaven Dou Imperial Family, is all thanks to the competition rules handed down by our ancestors."

Dai Yichen first spoke of the benefits before continuing, "However, in my view, these competition rules lack humanity. They are also unfair to princes like us who began cultivating later.

"Father Emperor, look at it. Eldest Brother began cultivating years before the rest of us and is already a Soul Elder. Meanwhile, my Second Brother and Third Brother are respectively a Soul Grandmaster and a Soul Master—the gap is simply too great. In three years, Eldest Brother and Second Brother will begin their match. Unless something unexpected happens, Second Brother will definitely lose!

"And the consequence of losing is having one's cultivation crippled, or even dying on the spot. Isn't that a little too inhumane?"

Dai Yutian frowned, his tone cold. "Oh? Yichen, you were born into the royal family. Over the years, you have often gone alone to the Royal Library to study. You should understand that people are not born equal, and this is even more true in the royal family. The victors advance; the losers are eliminated!"

"Since you were born later, you should cultivate even harder. This is also meant to put pressure on you!"

Dai Yichen cursed inwardly. What did he mean, cultivate even harder?

Easy for him to say!

If someone was born before you, and after seeing you work yourself to the bone, they started working themselves to the bone too, then even if your talent was just a little better than theirs, how easy would it be to catch up? He was talking like it cost him nothing!

From what he understood, the royal competition had originally been fought between pairs of princes and Zhu Family women capable of performing a Martial Soul Fusion Skill.

But because of his appearance, things had changed slightly. Zhu Zhuqing would not be paired with Dai Mubai. When the time came, would Dai Mubai have to face Dai Weisi and Zhu Zhuyun alone, or would he simply lose his qualification to compete?

Even in the face of Dai Yutian's coldness, Dai Yichen did not back down in the slightest. "Father Emperor, there's a problem with what you said. Look at Second Brother—is he not cultivating diligently? But can he defeat Eldest Brother? Clearly not, unless Eldest Brother becomes complacent!"

Dai Yutian appeared cold on the surface, but he greatly admired this attitude of his youngest son. As the Star Luo Emperor, he too had fought his way out of a sea of blood. Of course, he knew how cruel this competition was.

It was not as though he had never considered abolishing it, but he feared it would trigger internal unrest.

Now that the Clear Sky Sect had sealed itself away and there was no outside support, with Spirit Hall and the Heaven Dou Empire watching from beyond their borders, the Star Luo Empire appeared glorious on the surface. Yet only he knew that every major decision he made was like walking a tightrope—one misstep could bring utter ruin!

But Dai Yichen's awakening yesterday had allowed him to see a glimmer of hope. He had enough insight to recognize that.

"So? What is your opinion? As a prince, you should understand that reforms throughout history have generally been accompanied by bloodshed. Our royal family's greatest reliance right now is the Hell White Tiger. As for crippling the cultivation of other losers or executing them, you should also know that this can greatly reduce the chance of internal unrest!"

It had to be admitted that Dai Yutian did have a point. One could see as much from Qian Renxue's choice to infiltrate the Heaven Dou Empire rather than the Star Luo Empire.

Although Qian Renxue could disguise her appearance and Martial Soul, she could not disguise her soul skills. The moment she used them, she would be exposed. Moreover, because of the Star Luo Empire's unique "two-person" arrangement, she could not pull it off there.

The Heaven Dou Empire, on the other hand, was much easier to infiltrate.

At this point, Dai Yichen had formed a few guesses about why Dai Yutian had called him here.

"Father Emperor saw my talent, so you want me to try changing things?" Dai Yichen asked tentatively.

Dai Yutian shook his head. "No. It is not that I want to—it is that you want to! You don't want Zhu Zhuqing to die or make him sad either, do you?"

Dai Yichen: ???