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"Heh, Young Master Zhu, are you planning to throw the Zhu family's name around?" Xu Zhenglin was growing annoyed with Zhu Daoqing, but he also felt pressured. He glanced at me, genuinely feeling that he might not be able to take on the Zhu family. They headed the six ministries, but more importantly, Zhu Junyu had close ties to Prince Evervictorious's household. If this really escalated, a simple request to retrieve records might become a scandal that shook the entire court!
Prince Evervictorious was not a pampered prince like Prince Muru or Prince Qingxu. He held real power; a move from him could change the political landscape and make the court tremble. Serving in the Court Deliberation Office, Xu Zhenglin had learned from the recent bitter clash between the Divine Firmament Bureau and the Equipment Directorate that neither the bureau nor Prince Evervictorious was to be trifled with. That was why Zhu Daoqing's outburst left him feeling troubled.
"That's hard to say, High God Xu. If you hadn't struck first, would we have ended up in this awkward situation? You know my brother isn't the sort to let others do whatever they please to him. If you hadn't attacked, why would he have fought back? Let me make this clear: we can pay compensation, but either we keep pushing this matter upward and take the records request all the way to the top, or we stop here, each get what we came for, and call it settled!" With all pretense of civility gone, Zhu Daoqing cut an imposing figure, utterly unafraid of a full second-rank official.
With Zhu Daoqing taking the hard line, someone naturally had to play peacemaker. Liu Rong quickly said, "High God Xu, we're all well-acquainted friends. Why should our own people fight each other? How