At Wenhua Hall, on a soft couch in a corner of the main hall, Xu Kun—who averaged fewer than six hours of sleep a day—lay beneath a brocade quilt, enjoying one of the few peaceful moments he'd had each day since he had set things right, quelled the rebellion, and emerged victorious at Xuanwu Gate to inherit the throne.
Just as he dreamed of his elderly father lying on a sickbed, patting the back of his hand and saying feebly,
"The Crown Prince is unworthy. You must do your best in his place," a familiar shout shattered his already-fragile dream.
"!" Xu Kun clutched his aching head and sat up on the couch. With a stern face, he looked toward the source of the shouting and summoned a nearby attendant. Frowning, he asked, "Who's outside?"
"Your Majesty, it's the Marquis of Xiyang." The attendant handed Xu Kun a cup of cooled tea and answered cautiously.
After all, no one was in a good mood when their peaceful sleep was disturbed—especially not the man he served now, an usurping emperor who had slaughtered his elder brother's entire family to seize the throne.
"Xu Yan? Why has he come..." Xu Kun frowned and drained the tea in his cup. It took him a while to remember that, before going to sleep early that morning, he had sent Wu Ergui to assign Xu Yan a task.
Could it be that he'd pulled it off?!
It hadn't even been a whole morning! Had Xu Yan already completed the task he'd given him?
Ha! Xu Yan was pretty capable! Far more clever and competent than he'd expected!
It seemed that, if there were other troublesome matters in the future, he could confidently hand them over to Xu Yan as well.
Thinking that he now had another Super Workhorse Beast at the Soul Douluo level, Xu Kun's eyes glinted with ill intent.
Even the irritation and annoyance he'd felt at being woken just as he'd settled into a comfortable sleep had eased.
"Let him in!" Xu Kun waved a hand, signaling them to bring Xu Yan inside.
A few breaths later, Xu Yan's burly figure squeezed through the still-closed palace doors.
Before Xu Kun could speak, Xu Yan sensibly dropped to one knee and saluted. "Your subject, the Marquis of Xiyang, Xu Yan, pays his respects to Your Majesty."
"At ease. Have a seat." Xu Kun waved a hand, and an attendant nearby brought over a small stool for Xu Yan.
Once Xu Yan had sat down, Xu Kun managed a genial smile. "Xu Yan, although we aren't close kin, we're still uncle and nephew. There's no need to be so formal when we meet in private. Just call me Fourth Uncle."
At this, Xu Yan couldn't help rolling his eyes inwardly.
On the surface, he dutifully said, "Your subject wouldn't dare. The rites must not be discarded. Your Majesty is the sovereign of the realm—please don't jest," along with other such empty pleasantries.
In his heart, he muttered, The last deposed emperor was your own brother, born of the same parents, and you still sent his entire family to join the late emperor in the underworld. You slaughtered your own nephew's whole family. What chance does a distant nephew like me have?
"Enough. Let's get down to business." Xu Kun leaned against the cushion an attendant had placed behind him. A trace of admiration showed in his eyes as he asked, "Did you manage to handle the matter I assigned you?"
"Well... that's hard to say." Xu Yan raised his head and looked at Xu Kun with a complicated expression. He said slowly,
"Your Majesty, what I'm about to tell you is rather frightening. Don't get worked up, and don't be afraid!"
"?" Xu Kun froze, then held up a finger and declared solemnly, "I am the emperor of the Sun Moon Empire. What haven't I seen? I will not get worked up, and I will not be afraid!"
"Very well. In that case, I'll feel at ease."
After Xu Kun gave his solemn assurance, Xu Yan seemed to relax. He gathered his thoughts and said, "About the princess... it seems they've already started dating?!"
"?"
At those words, the whole room fell silent. Even the attendants who had been serving tea nearby froze in unison, as though they suspected their ears had failed them.
They'd actually heard such... earth-shattering words in broad daylight.
"ಠ_ಠ?"
"What do you mean, they've already started dating?" Xu Kun stared in disbelief, as if he thought he'd misheard. He glanced at the attendants around him. Seeing the same baffled expressions on their faces, he felt his heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally die.
"Wasn't I asking you to persuade one of them to change their enrollment plans? Tell me—how did you understand and carry out my decree?"
"But didn't you also say they should cultivate feelings at the academy? They're enrolling this month anyway, so I figured this counted as... exceeding expectations."
Noticing how visibly irritable Xu Kun had become, Xu Yan nervously explained, afraid of being caught in the fallout.
"Did I... say that?!" After thinking it over for a long while and reviewing everything that had happened recently, Xu Kun finally realized what had gone wrong.
He ground his back teeth together and muttered,
Wu Ergui, you bastard, you really had the nerve to say that! Even if they were going to cultivate feelings, they should wait until they're fifteen! Tianzhen is only twelve, and that boy is only eleven. At their age, are you treating the Sun-Moon Royal Family like that pack of precocious breeding beasts in the White Tiger Dai Family of the Star Luo Empire?!
Xu Yan lowered his head without a word, afraid that the irascible old emperor before him would notice him.
But... with a frame that big, it wasn't easy for Xu Kun to ignore him even if he tried.
Sure enough, a few seconds later, Xu Kun—who had already cursed Wu Ergui's entire family several times from afar—rose to his feet with the help of an attendant.
Standing beside Xu Yan, he gritted his teeth and snapped, "Tell me everything you've seen and heard since yesterday. Don't leave out a single word."
This is bad! The kids are in trouble!
After carefully recounting everything he had seen, heard, said, and done that day, Xu Yan shakily raised a hand to wipe the sweat trickling down his forehead and cautiously glanced at Xu Kun out of the corner of his eye.
To his surprise, the scene he'd imagined—Xu Kun flying into a rage after hearing his account—never came.
Xu Kun simply stood there, his face still calm and unreadable, as though... he were thinking about something.
Could the old geezer have been so angry that I killed him?
This is bad! My whole clan!
Wait, no. The emperor's part of my clan too, so it's fine!
Seeing Xu Kun standing without even blinking, Xu Yan worried he'd committed a terrible crime and couldn't help calling out softly, "Your... Majesty~"
"Hm?!" Xu Kun turned his head and looked at Xu Yan, who was drenched in sweat as though someone had just fished him out of the water. "What is it now?"
"Nothing, nothing." Xu Yan shook his head and hurriedly smiled ingratiatingly. "I was just worried you'd tire yourself out."
"Hmph." Xu Kun snorted and waved impatiently. "Get out. Just looking at that slick-tongued face of yours annoys me!"
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