Dai Huabin's Red Temper

After Liu Lin finished the last bite of grilled fish and burned the fish bones to ash with his martial soul, he stood up, brushed the crumbs from his hands, and walked toward the two assassins.

He had been in too much of a hurry just now and had forgotten to loot the bodies.

He walked up beside the two unconscious assassins and crouched down.

First, he used Soul Power to shatter every meridian in their bodies. Then he took rope from his storage ring and had Huo Yuhao tie them up.

The two unconscious men were jolted awake by the pain. Seeing this, Liu Lin gave each of them another blow and sent them back to dreamland.

Huo Yuhao took the rope and nodded, tying the two of them together.

After that, Liu Lin searched the two of them with practiced ease.

The tall assassin had a low-grade storage Soul Tool tucked inside his clothes. Liu Lin threw those Gold Soul Coins, pouch and all, into the storage Soul Tool.

The short assassin had a voice-transmission Soul Tool at his waist. Liu Lin picked it up and turned it over in his hand.

Once he injected a thread of Soul Power, the Soul Tool activated automatically. There was only one contact mark stored inside.

He put the voice-transmission Soul Tool away, then searched the two men several more times. Only after confirming that he had not missed any clues did he stand up.

The night clothes on the two men were coarse in quality, and their weapons were the most common standard-issue Soul Tools. There was no direct evidence that could be traced back to the employer. Professional assassins. Clean work.

After tying the two men together, Huo Yuhao looked a little dazed. His gaze was still fixed on the two Soul Kings, one embedded in the broken tree and the other collapsed on the ground.

The scene from just now kept replaying in his mind. One four-ringed Soul Master had fought two five-ringed Soul Masters, and in less than the time it took to drink a cup of tea, both Soul Kings had been wiped out.

"Big Brother Liu is so strong. If Wang Dong and Big Brother Liu had fought with Soul Power yesterday, he wouldn't have been able to get out of bed today, right?"

Looking at the scene before him, Huo Yuhao could not help remembering Wang Dong and Liu Lin's fight yesterday. Big Brother Liu had been treating Wang Dong like a practice dummy.

Liu Lin patted him on the shoulder. "Let's go. If we don't head back now, the academy gates will be closed."

Feeling the warmth from his shoulder, Huo Yuhao finally came back to himself. He nodded, then walked in the direction of the academy.

After returning to the academy, Liu Lin told Huo Yuhao to go back to the dormitory first.

Huo Yuhao nodded. When he reached the entrance of the dormitory building, he suddenly stopped and turned around to look at Liu Lin.

In those deep-blue eyes was a seriousness Liu Lin had never seen before.

"Big Brother Liu, I'll remember what happened today."

Liu Lin waved at him and watched his skinny figure disappear into the corridor. Then he turned and walked toward the academy gates.

He called a carriage and took the two Soul Kings back to the Imperial Palace.

When the driver saw the two people tied up, he trembled in fright.

Only after Liu Lin explained things to him did the driver calm down and take him to the Imperial Palace.

Star Luo Imperial Palace, Imperial Study. Xu Jiawei set down the vermilion brush in his hand and listened as Liu Lin recounted everything that had happened tonight from beginning to end.

Someone had hired killers. Their target was Huo Yuhao. Two Soul King-level assassins had infiltrated Star Luo City and made their move by the creek on the back mountain behind his academy.

He placed the voice-transmission Soul Tool and Gold Soul Coins found on the two assassins onto the imperial desk, then added his own judgment.

The calluses in the web of the tall assassin's thumb and forefinger were marks commonly seen in the army. These two were very likely stragglers who had retired from the border, temporarily hired at a high price.

Stragglers cared about money, not people. They were the hardest kind of assassin to investigate. But to hire two Soul King-level stragglers in Star Luo City in such a short time was by no means easy.

That meant the person behind this not only had money, but also had certain connections in the army.

Xu Jiawei's expression grew darker and darker. As an emperor, he could not possibly be stupid. After thinking it over for a moment, he knew who it was.

It was true that Huo Yuhao was Dai Hao's illegitimate son from outside the household, and it was also true that he was not treated well in the mansion.

But this illegitimate son was someone Xu Jiawei had personally issued a decree to look after back then, and Dai Hao had also replied in writing, promising to treat him equally.

Now, the boy was in Star Luo City, right under the nose of the royal academy, and had nearly been murdered by hired killers sent by his own family.

This matter was no longer just a private affair of the White Tiger Duke Mansion. This was a slap to the imperial family's face.

Xu Jiawei was silent for a long time. Then he ordered Eunuch Liu at his side to immediately summon the White Tiger Duchess and Dai Huabin to the palace.

That night, the carriage from the White Tiger Duke Mansion stopped outside the palace gates.

The White Tiger Duchess was dressed in formal attire she had hastily changed into, her face forcibly maintaining a dignified expression.

But the fingers tightly clutching her handkerchief betrayed the unease in her heart.

Dai Huabin followed behind her, the expression on his face shifting from confusion to panic. He had been dragged out of bed in the middle of the night, shoved into a carriage, and jolted all the way to the Imperial Palace, with no idea what had happened.

Only when he entered the Imperial Study and saw Liu Lin standing beside Xu Jiawei, as well as the voice-transmission Soul Tool on the imperial desk, did his face instantly turn deathly pale.

The moment Liu Lin saw Dai Huabin's bloodless face, he knew it had to be him.

Xu Jiawei also saw his expression. He threw the voice-transmission Soul Tool in front of the two of them, his voice cold as ice.

"You truly have quite the nerve, buying murder in Star Luo City. Do you think I don't matter?"

Dai Huabin's legs instantly went weak. He dropped to his knees with a thud, his lips trembling as he stammered out an incoherent defense.

He had only wanted to find someone to teach Huo Yuhao a lesson. He had not meant to kill anyone. He really had not meant to kill anyone.

And when the White Tiger Duchess saw this scene, her face turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

This son of hers was truly stupid beyond saving. If he had denied it to the death, His Majesty would have had no way to deal with them. After all, there was no solid evidence, only suspicion.

But now her son had confessed without even being pressed. What was she supposed to do?

Her stupid son was going to ruin her.

Immediately afterward, the White Tiger Duchess also knelt down, her voice trembling as she pleaded with His Majesty for mercy.

She said Huabin was young and ignorant, that it was only a momentary quarrel between brothers, and begged His Majesty to show leniency.

Xu Jiawei looked coldly at the mother and son kneeling on the ground and asked her in return, "Hiring a killer to murder someone is called a momentary quarrel between brothers?"

He paused, his voice sinking a little further.

"Dai Hao is guarding the border for the nation on the front lines, while his wife is hiring killers in the rear to murder his son."

"If word of this gets out, will the White Tiger Duke Mansion still have any face left? Will the Star Luo Empire's army still have any morale left?"

The White Tiger Duchess trembled all over and finally realized the severity of the matter. Dai Huabin knelt collapsed on the ground, his face ashen.

Xu Jiawei did not announce the punishment on the spot. He had the White Tiger Duchess and Dai Huabin kneel outside the hall, then kept Liu Lin behind alone.

The two of them were silent in the Imperial Study for a long time. Xu Jiawei looked at Liu Lin before him and said, "Do you know why I didn't directly kill Dai Huabin?"

Liu Lin shook his head and did not answer. He felt that no answer would be good, so he might as well let Xu Jiawei say it himself.

"If Dai Huabin were killed, what would Dai Hao think?" Only after asking Liu Lin this question did Xu Jiawei explain to him.

Although Dai Hao was away from the mansion year-round, Dai Huabin was still his biological son.

If the imperial family killed his legitimate son for the sake of an illegitimate son, Dai Hao might not rebel, but would he still be able to guard the border as single-mindedly as he did now?

And how would those generals in the army who were loyal to the White Tiger Duke view the imperial family?

In the end, a large part of the current Star Luo imperial family was being propped up by Dai Hao.

Liu Lin fell silent. He knew Xu Jiawei was right.

In Dai Hao's eyes, Huo Yuhao was ultimately only the son of an outside woman. No matter how guilty Dai Hao felt, it was impossible for him to give up his legitimate son for Huo Yuhao.

Moreover, Dai Hao held heavy military power and guarded the border. The army's morale could not be thrown into chaos.

The best way to handle this matter was not to kill Dai Huabin, but to nail him completely to the pillar of shame, ensuring he could never turn things around for the rest of his life, while also making Dai Hao owe the imperial family an enormous favor.

Early the next morning, the edict of punishment was delivered to the White Tiger Duke Mansion. Dai Huabin was found guilty of hiring killers to murder his illegitimate younger brother. In consideration of his young age, he was spared the death penalty.

However, his right to inherit the title of White Tiger Duke was stripped, and he was confined to a side courtyard of the White Tiger Duke Mansion, where people would be assigned to instruct his character.

The White Tiger Duchess had failed in discipline and indulged her son's violence. Her honorary title was stripped, her stipend was docked for three years, and she was ordered to remain behind closed doors and reflect on her mistakes for one year.

Dai Hao was ordered to send someone back from the border to strictly discipline the household, and there was to be no further mistreatment of illegitimate children.

The information was strictly contained between the imperial palace and the White Tiger Duke Mansion.

Xu Jiawei did not make the matter public. To the outside world, he only said that Dai Huabin had withdrawn from school due to illness, and that the White Tiger Duchess was unwell and needed to recuperate in quiet.

But Dai Hao, who was with the army, received Xu Jiawei's secret letter on the very day the edict was issued.

Xu Jiawei told Dai Hao, "I covered this matter for you not because Dai Huabin did not deserve death, but because you are risking your life for the empire on the front lines."

But you owe Huo Yuhao justice.

At the same time, he told him that the youth had nearly died at the hands of his own family, yet had never uttered a single word of resentment toward the imperial family. He deserved a better fate.