Xue Ye the Great Confines Xue Beng; Xue Qinghe Displays Fraternal Affection and Respect

Xue Qinghe nodded at Meng Shenji. Prince Xue Xing kept his eyes straight ahead and ignored Meng Shenji.

Xue Ye the Great looked at Meng Shenji with confusion and asked, "Education Committee Member Meng, did you suddenly enter the palace because of some urgent matter?"

"Your Majesty, there is indeed a matter that requires your judgment," Meng Shenji replied respectfully with a nod.

A matter requiring the Emperor's personal judgment—could it involve the imperial family?

Xue Qinghe thought to himself.

Xue Ye the Great told Meng Shenji to speak plainly. Meng Shenji truthfully reported, "Your Majesty, this matter concerns Prince Xue Beng. His Highness was beaten at the academy."

"What?! Xue Beng was beaten at the Imperial Academy? Meng Shenji, what kind of Education Committee Member are you?!"

The moment Prince Xue Xing heard that his most beloved nephew had been beaten, he immediately stepped forward to berate Meng Shenji.

Xue Ye the Great frowned slightly. It was not because he blamed Meng Shenji for failing to protect Xue Beng, but because Prince Xue Xing had overstepped his bounds.

Noticing the faint displeasure Xue Ye the Great had revealed, Xue Qinghe gave a soft cough to remind Prince Xue Xing.

Only then did Prince Xue Xing realize that he had overstepped. Panic appeared on his face as he hurriedly cupped his hands toward Xue Ye the Great and explained, "Your Majesty, I did not mean to overstep. I was merely enraged to hear that a prince had been beaten at our Imperial Academy. I beg Your Majesty's forgiveness!"

"Do not let it happen again." Xue Ye the Great waved his hand, then looked back at Meng Shenji. "Education Committee Member Meng, what trouble has Xue Beng caused at the academy this time?"

A man knew his own son best. He was nothing but a spoiled wastrel.

Given Prince Xue Beng's status, almost no one at Heaven Dou Imperial Academy would dare lay a hand on him.

Now that he had actually been beaten, either he had gone too far, or the person who beat him did not fear the Heaven Dou Imperial Family.

"Your Majesty, this matter concerns the two special admissions students recruited by Heaven Dou Imperial Academy. Prince Xue Beng was the one who provoked the conflict."

"In front of many students, he humiliated one of the special admissions students and even threatened to drive them out of the academy. That student could no longer endure it and struck Prince Xue Beng..."

Meng Shenji neither exaggerated nor concealed anything as he reported the matter exactly as it had happened to Xue Ye the Great.

The more Xue Ye the Great listened, the deeper his frown became.

Upon learning that his beloved nephew had been beaten badly enough to disfigure his face, Prince Xue Xing was furious. He wanted to berate Meng Shenji for his lax discipline, allowing two lowly commoners to injure a prince.

But seeing that Xue Ye the Great had yet to speak, he did not dare make a sound.

Hearing this, Xue Qinghe became interested in the special admissions students Meng Shenji had mentioned.

Heaven Dou Imperial Academy only accepted nobles and descendants of major powers. In Xue Qinghe's eyes, for commoner special admissions students to be valued by Meng Shenji and approved by Xue Ye the Great, the two of them had to possess extraordinary qualities.

After a moment, Xue Ye the Great looked at Meng Shenji. His gaze was dark, and a faint flame of anger smoldered in his eyes.

Seeing that Xue Ye the Great was angry, Prince Xue Xing was overjoyed.

As expected, His Majesty valued the prince more!

Those two lowly commoners dared injure my nephew Xue Beng. Once they are expelled from Heaven Dou Academy, I have a hundred ways to kill them!

Just as Prince Xue Xing thought Xue Ye the Great was about to reprimand Meng Shenji, Xue Ye the Great slowly exhaled and asked in a deep voice, "How are those two children? Were they injured?"

Huh?

Prince Xue Xing froze and looked at Xue Ye the Great in confusion.

This was not right, brother. Your son was beaten, so why were you concerned about the people who beat him instead?

Meng Shenji replied, "They were not injured. Only Prince Xue Beng and several of his friends suffered minor injuries, but they have all recovered after treatment by healing Soul Masters."

"That is good. Hmph! Xue Beng is becoming more and more outrageous. It would be one thing if he merely refused to improve himself as a prince, but he even dares to suppress the Empire's outstanding talents at will!

"Transmit my decree. From this day onward, Fourth Prince Xue Beng's stipend shall be halved, and he shall be confined to his residence for three months. Without my decree, no one is permitted to let him leave his estate."

After letting out a cold snort, Xue Ye the Great gave the order to the attendant beside him.

Prince Xue Xing's expression changed slightly when he heard this. He hurriedly stepped forward to plead for Xue Beng.

"Your Majesty, Xue Beng is your son, a prince! He was beaten by a commoner, yet rather than punish those two commoners, you are punishing Xue Beng. Where is the imperial family's dignity?"

"Why not lessen Xue Beng's punishment to a verbal warning and have those two commoners apologize to him instead?"

At the mention of the imperial family's dignity, Xue Ye the Great fell silent as well.

No matter how disappointing Xue Beng was, he was still his son and a prince of Heaven Dou.

For him to be beaten while the ones who beat him received no punishment would indeed damage the imperial family's dignity.

Xue Qinghe observed Xue Ye the Great's expression. There was conflict and hesitation in it as he considered Prince Xue Xing's words.

Then, Xue Qinghe looked toward Meng Shenji. Meng Shenji also seemed somewhat worried. Was he concerned that Xue Ye the Great would punish those two special admissions students for the sake of the imperial family's dignity?

Seeing this, Xue Qinghe stepped forward as well and cupped his hands toward Xue Ye the Great.

"Father Emperor, Xue Beng is ultimately a prince of Heaven Dou. Cutting his stipend and confining him does seem somewhat severe. He has already paid for his words, so why not follow Imperial Uncle Xue Xing's suggestion? Give him a verbal warning and confine him for half a month instead."

"As for the two special admissions students who struck him, they have also suffered a grievance. Why not let me go and soothe them?"

"First, it would demonstrate the benevolence of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family. Second, we could recruit them in advance and bring them under the Heaven Dou Imperial Family's command. Once they mature, they could serve the Heaven Dou Imperial Family."

Xue Qinghe's words were flawless. Not only did he spare Xue Beng from an overly harsh punishment and display fraternal affection and respect, he also created an opportunity for himself to meet the special admissions students.

After hearing him out, Xue Ye the Great nodded slightly, finding Xue Qinghe's reasoning sound.

If Meng Chen was unwilling to serve the Heaven Dou Imperial Family, it would not hurt to give him a warning later on the grounds that the imperial family's dignity had been damaged.

Xue Ye the Great said, "Mm. Then I will leave this matter to you."

"Yes, Father Emperor," Xue Qinghe answered.

Seeing Xue Ye the Great brush aside the matter of Xue Beng being beaten so lightly, Prince Xue Xing could not say much despite his dissatisfaction.

Watching Xue Qinghe and Meng Shenji leave, Prince Xue Xing unconsciously clenched his fists.

This could not end here!

In the corridor, Xue Qinghe walked alongside Meng Shenji.

"Education Committee Member Meng, hasn't Heaven Dou Academy always accepted only nobles? Why did it suddenly recruit two commoners? Have their Soul Master talents truly reached the point where you were willing to make an exception?"

Xue Qinghe began probing for information about Meng Chen and the others.

Meng Shenji nodded. "Your Highness, you do not know this, but those two special admissions students possess exceptional talent. Especially the child named Meng Chen—he is unprecedented. In all my years of life, this is the first time I have seen such an astonishing Soul Master talent."

"Oh? Please tell me in detail, Education Committee Member Meng." Xue Qinghe was immediately intrigued.

"That child possesses innately full Soul Power, and his martial soul is a mutated plant martial soul of exceptional quality. He is six or seven years younger than Yu Tianheng, yet he is already a rank thirty-nine Soul Elder."

"What shocked me most was that his soul ring configuration far surpassed that of ordinary people. His first two rings were already thousand-year soul rings, while his third soul ring had reached ten thousand years."

Meng Shenji sighed with emotion.

For Heaven Dou Academy to recruit such a peerless genius was Heaven Dou's fortune!

Only two years remained until the tournament. Who knew how far Meng Chen would grow in those two years?

With a monster like Meng Chen in this All-Continent Elite Soul Master Tournament, Heaven Dou Imperial Academy had an excellent chance of winning the championship!