Xu Tianran: Right? No... Right?

Just as Xu Tianran was about to further strengthen his relationship with the three of them, an excited cry suddenly came from a nearby path.

The four turned to look and saw a little girl of around three or four years old. Under the nervous watch of several palace maids, she held a pinwheel and skipped toward them.

"This is my younger sister, Xu Tianzhen." Xu Tianran briefly introduced his youngest sister.

Because Xu Pingye's body was no longer capable of allowing him to have children, Xu Tianzhen was not only the sole Princess among his many sons, but also very likely Xu Pingye's last child.

Therefore, compared to the other Princes, Xu Tianzhen was exceptionally doted on by the emperor. Xu Pingye often kept her by his side to play, and at such a young age, she had developed a bold personality.

Seeing the four people seated in the pavilion, Xu Tianzhen waved her little pinwheel as she ran up to them. Then she plopped herself down on Xu Tianran's lap and gave him an excited smile.

"Brother, Brother!" Xu Tianzhen paid no attention to anything else. Sitting in Xu Tianran's arms, she excitedly waved her arms and shouted at him.

"Mhm, mhm, mhm, I'm here." Although Xu Tianran felt somewhat helpless that Xu Tianzhen had appeared at such an inopportune moment and disrupted his rhythm, he could hardly blame her.

After all, at Xu Tianzhen's age, she understood nothing. She had merely excitedly come over because she saw him, not because she deliberately wanted to disrupt his plans.

Unlike the scheming adult Xu Tianran, Xu Tianzhen was simply a child without worries. After acting coquettishly in Xu Tianran's arms for a while, she immediately turned her attention to Chen Ming and the other two.

Xu Tianzhen carefully stuffed the pinwheel into Xu Tianran's hand, then eagerly trotted over to the three of them. She first inspected the strange older sister, Meng Hongchen, then glanced over the equally strange-looking older brother, Xiao Hongchen.

Then, like a rabbit, she bounced over to Chen Ming. Her little hand poked at his muscles, seemingly testing whether that body full of muscles was real.

Since Xu Tianzhen was actually only a year younger than Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen, the siblings' attention was quickly drawn to her.

Before long, Xu Tianzhen dragged the two off to play. Only Chen Ming, whom Xu Tianzhen had treated as an uncle, and Xu Tianran were left awkwardly sitting in the pavilion, watching the three play nearby.

Xu Tianran had wanted to say something, but as he watched Xu Tianzhen, Xiao Hongchen, and Meng Hongchen happily playing together, then looked at the little pinwheel in his hand, he ultimately silently gave up on the idea of scheming against children.

After all, Xu Tianran was already twenty-three. If he had not remained unmarried because he had been striving for the position of Crown Prince, then given his age and the average childbearing age on Douluo Continent, his children should have been roughly Chen Ming's age by now.

Although he had not felt that anything was wrong earlier because he had been staring at Chen Ming, now that he saw Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen playing with Xu Tianzhen, Xu Tianran felt that his earlier attempt to discuss plans with children had been rather foolish.

After all, what could children know? What could children promise?

He could not treat a child who had awakened his Martial Soul less than a year ago as an adult just because he looked mature, could he?

Moreover, Chen Ming came from the Dragon Elephant Sect, a place where everyone was either muscle or fat, not some noble family skilled in intrigue. His family traditions also meant that he was unlikely to have been trained in such matters.

Even if he was extraordinarily gifted, how clever could he possibly be?

But idleness was boring, and sitting was still sitting. Isolated from the others, Xu Tianran began idly chatting with Chen Ming about the Fourth Prince, taking the opportunity to draw them closer.

From Xu Tianran's casual conversation, Chen Ming extracted a great deal of useful information.

For instance, although the Fourth Prince himself had decent talent, he was not particularly devoted to cultivation.

Furthermore, the Sun Martial Soul could not, like the Purple Blazing Heaven Dragon Martial Soul, use the power of destruction to wear away the medicinal residue in one's body. Since he was inferior in both talent and effort, the gap in Soul Power between them should have been quite obvious.

However, the Fourth Prince's maternal family seemed to be connected to a certain reclusive sect and could use some special method to increase his cultivation.

Relying on this unknown method, the Fourth Prince's cultivation had always closely trailed behind Xu Tianran's, never falling too far behind. At times, he even made Xu Tianran feel pressured.

Yet this method seemed to carry some unknown side effects. At the very least, whenever Xu Tianran saw the Fourth Prince's strength break through, he could vaguely sense the Fourth Prince's already low intelligence declining even further, while his emotions became more violent and uncontrolled.

When the Fourth Prince had been younger, he had merely been a fellow whose pride made him incapable of using his brain properly. But now, his poor judgment was no longer simply the result of being spoiled.

According to Xu Tianran, the Fourth Prince had only broken through to Rank 65 half a month ago. The ambition in his heart seemed to have swelled even further. Perhaps for that reason, his intelligence and emotions had begun spiraling further out of control.

After they chatted idly for a while, the guard who had previously shown Xu Tianran respect outside the palace ran all the way into the pavilion. He gathered Chen Ming, Xu Tianran, and the playing Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen together, then announced the emperor's verbal decree.

The decree was simple: both sides bore responsibility for the Fourth Prince being beaten, and both sides had to be punished.

Chen Ming had assaulted a member of the Imperial Family and had to be punished. He was confined for three months and could not take the Soul Engineer rank certification examination during that time. The Fourth Prince was confined within the Imperial Palace for three months and could not interact with outsiders during that period.

Furthermore, because the Fourth Prince had damaged the dignity of the Imperial Family, behaved improperly before the emperor, and roared within the palace, he was stripped of his title as King Lu and additionally confined for half a year. He also had to provide sufficient compensation to the Dragon Elephant Sect and the Hongchen Family for insulting them within three months.

Listen to that. This was called both sides bearing responsibility. This was called both sides being punished.

Xu Tianran could not quite understand how they could claim that both sides bore responsibility, much less how they could hand down a judgment like this.

One side was confined for three months and barred from taking the Soul Engineer rank certification examination. The other was confined for half a year, stripped of his royal title, and required to offer substantial compensation.

This...

Xu Tianran felt that if the Imperial Family did not need to save face, and someone who beat a Prince in public did not need to receive at least some punishment, then Chen Ming probably would not even have received three months of confinement.

Upon hearing the punishment, Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen, both under seven years old, became somewhat angry. They did not understand why Chen Ming, who was clearly the victim and had done nothing, still had to receive a punishment like confinement.

But Chen Ming could clearly sense how perfunctory this punishment toward him was. He could also faintly sense the emperor's disgust toward the Fourth Prince and his wariness toward the family behind him.

And if the Fourth Prince's family truly had ties to the Holy Spirit Cult, then these three months of confinement were less a punishment than a way of giving everyone an out.

Of course, Chen Ming still remembered this matter. Hopefully, he would not be given a reason to settle today's score later.