Xue Xing's Apology

But what Xue Xing had not expected was that he had been wrong about all of it. Although Dugu Bo bore the title of poison, he was still a man of his word. He had not yet stooped to secretly dealing a killing blow after agreeing to someone else's request.

Xue Beng's fatal injury had been inflicted by the Pufferfish Douluo Jin Hao sent.

When the Pufferfish Douluo first arrived, he discovered that Xue Xing and a group of guards were stationed both inside and outside Xue Beng's room. Though these people were nothing more than chickens and dogs in Pufferfish's eyes, easily dealt with.

But the Pufferfish Douluo also remembered that Jin Hao had sent him here to handle things cleanly. If he barged in and killed Xue Beng by force, it would draw scrutiny from Xue Xing and the Heaven Dou Imperial Family. Xue Xing might even bring up Xue Beng's attempted molestation of Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling, something that had already been settled beyond doubt.

Thus, Pufferfish waited for an opportunity. He had originally thought he would need to wait several days, but to his surprise, not long after he began waiting, Xue Ye's imperial decree arrived. Everyone present, including Xue Xing, went to the front courtyard to receive the decree. In those few minutes, Pufferfish entered Xue Beng's room and left that fatal injury within Xue Beng's body.

The entire deed took less than ten seconds, so no one noticed anything.

Meanwhile, Jin Hao had already returned to the Prince's Residence. Upon returning, he found that Pufferfish had also come back, so he asked:

"How did it go?"

Pufferfish nodded, indicating that everything had been handled.

Hearing that, Jin Hao was satisfied. All four princes of the Heaven Dou Empire had now died at Spirit Hall's hands. Only he, the imposter, remained. Jin Hao refused to believe there would still be anyone who could compete with him for the position of heir apparent.

Then Jin Hao began cultivating. All he needed to do now was pretend he knew nothing and act like someone devoted to cultivation after his Martial Soul had just mutated.

On the other side, upon hearing the Healing Spirit Master's screams from outside, Xue Xing knew the man had died. He had something even more important to do now: enter the Imperial Palace and plead guilty.

Although Xue Xing and Xue Ye had tacitly agreed to treat Xue Beng as the heir to Xue Xing's throne, and Xue Xing had loved his nephew as though he were his own son, Xue Beng was ultimately still Xue Ye's son. Now that Xue Beng was dead, punishment would be unavoidable when Xue Xing saw Xue Ye.

Within the Imperial Palace, in the Imperial Study, Xue Ye was writing a letter to Ning Fengzhi of the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile School. Its purpose was naturally Xue Qinghe's safety. He wanted Xue Qinghe to take Ning Fengzhi as his master, have the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile School serve as Xue Qinghe's backing, and have the school's two Title Douluo protect Xue Qinghe as he grew up safely.

As he wrote, Xue Ye thought of his son, who had gained fortune from disaster. It was as if Heaven had seen the Empire growing weaker by the day and sent him as a great safeguard to turn the tide.

Then he thought of his other unfilial son, who had actually done such a thing and caused the Imperial Family to offend both a Title Douluo and a top-tier Spirit Master family.

Fortunately, Xue Xing understood how to make sacrifices and had calmed the Title Douluo's anger. The Imperial Family would only need to pay some price to appease the Ye Family.

Just as Xue Ye was about to finish the letter, a figure barged in without any announcement.

Hearing the commotion, Xue Ye immediately looked up and saw the hurried Xue Xing. His anger flared even further, and he shouted at Xue Xing:

"Did I not order you confined to your home? Why did you come here without being announced? You are becoming more and more unruly!"

Xue Xing immediately dropped to his knees and said:

"Your Majesty, this subject has come to plead guilty. Xue Beng, he..."

Before Xue Xing could finish, Xue Ye spoke from above:

"My decree already stated that once Xue Beng recovered, he was to go to your fief and never return. I have also stated your punishment, so do not say anything more to me."

Hearing this, Xue Xing understood that Xue Ye had misunderstood him, believing that he had come to protest the decree.

So Xue Xing said:

"Your Majesty, this subject has not come to plead guilty over what Xue Beng did. Just now, Xue Beng died. There was a fatal tear in his internal organs, and he died from massive internal bleeding. It was discovered too late, and he could not be saved."

"This subject failed to guard the prince properly and has come to plead guilty!"

As those words fell, the Imperial Study sank into silence.

Xue Ye, who had initially been impatient, now became shocked and unable to accept it.

Though Xue Ye did not particularly like Xue Beng, he was still his son. Was he just dead like that?

"Xue Xing, what are you saying? You are lying to make me lessen Xue Beng's punishment, aren't you?"

"Not long ago, word came that Xue Beng merely needed rest and would recover in at most two months. How could you now say that he is dead?"

Xue Xing replied:

"Your Majesty, every word this subject has said is true. Xue Beng has indeed passed away."

Then Xue Xing told him everything, from Xue Beng vomiting blood, to the discovery of the tear, to Xue Beng bleeding from all seven orifices and dying.

Finally, Xue Xing also told Xue Ye his suspicion that Dugu Bo had done it.

After hearing such a detailed report and seeing Xue Xing's expression, Xue Ye understood that Xue Beng truly was dead. Another one of his sons was gone.

Moreover, based on Xue Xing's report, Xue Ye also believed that Dugu Yan was the murderer, while Dugu Bo had deliberately acted during the detoxification to ensure Xue Beng's death. Otherwise, that fatal injury would not have gone undiscovered.

That was what Xue Ye believed, but he did not dare do anything to Dugu Bo. Instead, he still had to speak to Dugu Bo politely. Otherwise, should he provoke Dugu Bo and Dugu Bo turned against the Heaven Dou Empire, the loss would outweigh the gain.

After all, he could afford to lose a Title Douluo friend, but he could not afford to gain a Title Douluo enemy.

Thus, Xue Ye said to Xue Xing:

"You did well to make that Healing Spirit Master take the blame. Xue Beng is dead, but it has nothing at all to do with Dugu Jian and his granddaughter. It was entirely caused by that Healing Spirit Master failing to discover it."

"The prince died under your watch, which is a grave crime. But fortunately, you acted correctly and prevented the Imperial Family from becoming enemies with a Title Douluo, so I will not punish you further. Return and remain confined for half a year. If you dare step even one foot out of your manor during those six months without my decree, an even harsher punishment awaits you. Do you understand?"

Hearing this, Xue Xing nodded. Though during his half-year confinement, the noble officials he had painstakingly gathered would all scatter, for Xue Xing now, it did not matter if they scattered. Xue Beng was dead anyway, so there was no use keeping them. If he kept them, someone might report him for plotting rebellion, and that would be troublesome.

Then Xue Xing left the Imperial Study directly and returned home to remain confined.