When they heard Chen Changan's words, the members of the Heaven Banner were all shaken.
"We beg the Young Master to forgive us."
Forgive them?
"Tell me, why didn't you show yourselves sooner?"
"Weren't you worried I'd die at their hands?"
"Or did you actually hope they would kill me?"
"The Imperial Pavilion belongs to my father. You're loyal to him, but you think I'm not worthy of ruling over you, is that it?" Chen Changan asked coldly.
"Young Master, the Imperial Pavilion is loyal to Lord, and equally loyal to you."
"We would never harbor disloyal intentions."
"It's just..."
"The Heaven Banner is responsible for overseeing the other three banners. Without orders, we cannot act at will."
"That was a rule Lord established back then."
"So we could only show ourselves after you gave the order, Young Master."
What kind of bullshit rule was that?
"So, without orders, even if I were to die right in front of you, you still wouldn't act?"
"Isn't this rule a bit ridiculous?" Chen Changan said with a frown.
"Perhaps Lord never imagined that a situation like today's would arise."
"Actually, the same goes for the Battle Hall. Without orders, they cannot act at will either."
"Lord was concerned that the Battle Hall and the Heaven Banner were too powerful, and that without some rules, they might cause trouble."
"After all, Lord was powerful, so he didn't need to worry about his own safety."
"Though Lord has been gone for so many years, rules are rules. With him absent, we still cannot change them at will."
"When the Young Master was attacked earlier, we did hesitate over whether to intervene. It's just that... we didn't dare violate the rules Lord had established."
Good grief, they had actually hesitated. Was he supposed to thank