Brotherly Friendship, Filial Respect

Xiao Fan had originally expected the Crown Prince to support Ji Xuanyuan's participation in this round of nominations. That would greatly increase the chances of stopping the Fourth Prince's men from taking first place, thereby preventing him from being granted a kingship.

Yet the Fourth Prince was clearly more calculating than Xiao Fan had imagined. If the Crown Prince was clever, using Ji Xuanyuan to retreat in order to advance would be the best choice.

That was because the Crown Prince's status was inherently different from that of the other princes. He was the heir apparent; calling him a half-finished emperor would not be an exaggeration. Appropriately stepping back from the forefront to work behind the scenes would better demonstrate the breadth of his vision.

But neither could he simply watch as the Fourth Prince smoothly received a kingship. That left him caught between two fires.

Ji Xuanyuan's appearance allowed the Crown Prince to kill two birds with one stone: retreat in order to advance himself, then push Ji Xuanyuan out to block the Fourth Prince.

What was more, if anything went wrong at the Nine Provinces Martial Tournament, he could also wash his hands of it and bear none of the risk.

Xiao Fan could not be certain of the Crown Prince's thoughts, but he deeply agreed with the conjecture concerning the Fourth Prince...

Anyone who could sit securely in the Eastern Palace must have weighed every possibility ten thousand times before acting.

Just then, the hall doors opened, and the old eunuch came out with tiny, quick steps.

"Your Fourth and Fifth Highnesses have arrived so early. The wind is strong outside; please, go in and wait."

The Fourth Prince cupped his hands toward the old eunuch in salute, exceedingly humble, without the slightest air of a prince.

"His Majesty has summoned us. As his sons, we naturally ought to arrive early and wait. Besides, His Highness the Crown Prince has not yet arrived. How would we dare enter the hall before him? Would that not be overstepping our station?"

As he spoke, the Fourth Prince pulled a banknote from his sleeve pouch and slipped it into the old eunuch's hand. "Eunuch Liu, you have worked hard. Please report to Father Emperor that we will enter the hall together once His Highness the Crown Prince arrives."

"Oh my! Your Highness, are you not shortening this old servant's life?! This old servant will go report at once. Please wait a moment, Your Highness!"

Chuckling, the old eunuch tucked the banknote into his sleeve and retreated.

"Fourth Brother! That's wonderful! I never thought you held Crown Prince Brother in such high regard. We're all family—how nice it is to be like this!"

The Fourth Prince's lips curled slightly, his smile bright as sunshine. "Fifth Brother, I cannot agree with that. Your Fourth Brother has always held the Crown Prince in high regard."

Clearly, Ji Xuanyuan had not heard the killing intent hidden in the Fourth Prince's words at all. He was even happily thinking that his Fourth Brother's relationship with the Crown Prince had improved.

But Xiao Fan, standing nearby, caught the unspoken meaning... With one short sentence, the Fourth Prince had placed the Crown Prince over a fire to roast!

With a mere movement of his lips, the Fourth Prince had already filled the air with murderous traps.

Xiao Fan narrowed his eyes as he watched the Fourth Prince's hearty smile, a chill crawling down his spine.

He had asked the old eunuch to tell the Emperor that they would wait for the Crown Prince and enter the hall together... Those words were simply heart-piercing.

On the surface, he was showing respect for the Crown Prince and claiming he did not dare place himself ahead of him... Yet in truth, he wanted the Crown Prince to violate the Emperor's taboo!

Every word, spoken and unspoken, hinted at one thing... the Crown Prince's ambition to ascend the throne!

What place was this? Purple Zenith Hall!

Who had the final say here? The Emperor, and the Emperor alone!

Since when was it the Crown Prince's turn to put on airs? Since when did entering the hall require them to look to the Crown Prince's mood?

For the Crown Prince, this was truly a case of sitting peacefully at home while disaster fell from the sky.

Beneath that delicately handsome face, fair as a woman's, lurked the heart of serpents, scorpions, tigers, and leopards... This was the fourth son of Great Liang's imperial family, Ji Xuanyin!

The two brothers stood shoulder to shoulder, chatting and laughing, but to Xiao Fan, the scene before him was nothing less than a fierce tiger beside a white rabbit...

Could such a deeply scheming prince truly risk so much to hire killers and abduct his own younger brother?

Originally, Xiao Fan had not known the Fourth Prince well and felt it was not impossible. After all, Ji Xuanyuan was close to the Crown Prince, so it was only natural that he might be caught up in their struggle.

But now, having witnessed the Fourth Prince's methods and scheming firsthand, he had completely changed his mind.

The ambush at Golden Glow Mountain was unlikely to have been the Fourth Prince's doing!

Just as Xiao Fan sank into thought, an icy gaze swept over him... sending an inexplicable shudder through his body...

Following that gaze, he found the woman in green, Yao Yuxiang, staring at him!

The woman wore a bamboo hat with a white veil covering her face, concealing her features. Yet her eyes and brows seemed capable of freezing a person solid.

"Miss Yao, your aura is restrained, and I cannot sense your cultivation. Could you be at the eighth rank, the Iron Bone Realm?" Xiao Fan took the initiative to strike up a conversation.

The reason he guessed she was at the eighth martial rank was naturally because participants in the Nine Provinces Martial Tournament could not exceed the eighth rank in cultivation.

To his surprise, Yao Yuxiang slowly withdrew her gaze and merely gave a soft "Mm," saying nothing more.

This girl... If you didn't want to talk, why were you glaring at me just now? Could it be because I'm handsome? Xiao Fan grumbled inwardly in helplessness.

What was more, Xiao Fan noticed a rather familiar ring on the slender, graceful index finger of her right hand...

With a martial artist's extraordinary eyesight, Xiao Fan made out some of the ring's details!

It was emerald green throughout, set with a jade stone engraved with the character "Mao"...

Xiao Fan instantly understood, recalling why the object looked so familiar...

Xun Huan's dark-gold ring!

Though its color and material differed from the one on Yao Yuxiang's hand, its shape was remarkably similar, and both embedded stones bore engraved characters.

Xun Huan's ring bore the character "Zi," while hers bore "Mao"...

Zi... Mao... Could it be... the Twelve Earthly Branches?! Connecting the clues, Xiao Fan discovered a certain link between the two rings...

Such rings... could there be twelve of them? Each held by one of twelve people? Could a mysterious organization be hidden behind them?

The more Xiao Fan thought about it, the more his scalp prickled. Xun Huan was a remnant of the former dynasty, a suspected second-rank sorcerer.

If a mysterious organization lay behind those rings, then that organization was surely no ordinary one!

At that thought, Xiao Fan began to wonder—when Yao Yuxiang had looked his way just now, had she discovered the ring on him?

That seemed unlikely... the ring was inside the Essence-Storing Pouch. By all rights, she should not have been able to see it...

Still, he could not afford to let down his guard. After all, Xiao Fan had no idea whether some kind of spell restriction had been planted within that ring.

Looks like I need to find a way to investigate that woman's identity... and make a trip to the Bureau of Celestial Observation while I'm at it, to see if I can find any information related to Xun Huan... Xiao Fan was just thinking this when—

"The Crown Prince has arrived!"

A eunuch's announcement rang out from below the stairs. The Crown Prince had arrived!

The Fourth Prince and the eldest young master turned around almost at the same time and bowed to the Crown Prince, speaking in unison...

"Your Highness, Crown Prince." The Fourth Prince's smile was perfectly measured and impeccably proper, without the slightest flaw to be found.

"Crown Prince Brother!" Ji Xuanyuan's smile was all simple-minded foolishness, utterly carefree...

The Crown Prince, clad in an orange-red, round-collared, narrow-sleeved dragon robe, strode up the stairs with an imposing bearing. A brilliant smile spread across his face as he opened his arms and embraced both his younger brothers.

At first glance, one truly might have thought the three brothers shared deep affection, with the elder brother kind and the younger brothers respectful.

"Fourth Brother, Fifth Brother, why aren't you going in? Why are you both standing at the door?" the Crown Prince asked in a concerned tone.

Ji Xuanyuan laughed heartily. "We were waiting for you, Crown Prince Brother!"

Then the Fourth Prince quietly added, "Eunuch Liu came by earlier and told us to enter... but with Your Highness not yet here, how could we presume to overstep? Eunuch Liu acted improperly, so I sent him back. Would you say this younger brother did the right thing?"

The moment those words left his mouth, the Crown Prince's face stiffened. The corner of his smiling lips gave an almost imperceptible twitch. "Fourth Brother is overly cautious. We are brothers of the same blood—what overstepping could there be?"

After saying that, the Crown Prince and the Fourth Prince exchanged a glance, then slung their arms around each other's shoulders and burst into laughter. What brotherly rift could there possibly be?

Xiao Fan silently marveled. Those two's acting skills... even he, an award-winning actor, had to bow in defeat!