"Don't give me that empty drivel!"
Xue Ye abruptly hurled the memorials on his imperial desk to the floor. They scattered before Xue Xing, the topmost page bearing a stark line of writing-
"Prince Xue Xing secretly ordered Shadow to lead three hundred Soul Masters in an ambush on Skywater Academy's relocation convoy." The writing was clear, the evidence as solid as a mountain.
"You have some nerve! You dared mobilize the imperial family's private troops behind my back, and even colluded with members of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan to provoke a behemoth like Spirit Hall!"
Xue Xing's body went cold in an instant, as though he had plunged into an ice cellar. He had never imagined the evidence would arrive so quickly, so directly. He hastily raised his head and tried to defend himself:
"Imperial Brother, I did it for the Heaven Dou Empire! Skywater Academy controls the finest ice- and water-attribute Soul Master resources within our borders. If Spirit Hall absorbs them, its power will only grow, and it will inevitably threaten the empire's safety in the future. I only wanted to stop them before that happened!"
"For Heaven Dou?"
Xue Ye gave a cold laugh, his tone brimming with disappointment and anger.
"Your idea of 'for Heaven Dou' was to send three hundred imperial elites I spent decades painstakingly training straight into the tiger's jaws? There were two Soul Douluos and five Soul Saints among them! They were the backbone of our defenses, meant to protect the empire and resist invasions from the Star Luo Empire. And because of one absurd notion, one rash impulse of yours, they're all gone!"
Xue Qinghe stepped forward at just the right moment and held the scroll in his hand before Xue Xing. His voice was steady, yet carried