Scallion Orange [Thanks to Lianlian Guren Gui for the monthly ticket]

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Young hero, don't rush. Let's talk this out."

Meng Shenji waved his hands so fast they nearly left afterimages, terrified that Ye Yan and the others would attack outright. As for whose side he stood on, he caught sight of Xue Beng's headless corpse out of the corner of his eye. Did that even need asking? He was, of course, the Crown Prince's most loyal subject.

Meng Shenji straightened his back and declared in a ringing voice:

"It is said that peace beneath heaven depends upon an enlightened ruler to safeguard the realm; a dynasty's enduring prosperity rests upon a worthy heir to steady its mountains and rivers. A nation has its principles, a sovereign his laws. High and low have their proper stations, and rewards and punishments must be clear.

This is a truth unchanged through the ages, and the path by which all within the four seas pledge their hearts.

Yet today, a villain lurks within our court. Prince Xue Xing holds an exalted place among the imperial kin and bears the blood of the imperial house, yet his conduct is perverse and his nature dissolute.

From childhood, he indulged in idle pleasures and neglected propriety and righteousness; in adulthood, he grew arrogant, extravagant, and lustful, knowing no restraint. He gives no thought to affairs of state or the people's welfare, caring only for music, women, hounds, and horses. He wantonly humiliates court officials and noble clans, throwing his imperial status around in the streets and using the royal family's might to oppress the common people.

His boundless extravagance drains the national treasury; his insolence and madness disgrace the imperial dignity. Overbearing in conduct and heedless of the law, he nurses private grudges and frames any commoner who dares remonstrate. He has not an inch of merit, yet his wickedness overflows; not a fraction of virtue, yet his crimes pile high as mountains.

Though honored as a prince, he gives no thought to supporting the state and bringing peace to the realm, nor to honoring his ancestors and diligently governing. Instead, he disrupts court order, corrupts public morals, chills the people's hearts, and wounds the nation's foundations. If such a vile and brutal wretch is allowed to remain in high office, he will surely become a great scourge within the court, shake the very foundations of the realm, and bring suffering upon all beneath heaven!

By contrast, Crown Prince Xue Qinghe is gifted with brilliance and wisdom, cherishes benevolence, and upholds righteousness. In youth, he studied the writings of the sages; in adulthood, he shouldered the burdens of family and nation. Reverent, filial, and devoted to his kin, he possesses the bearing of a Son of Heaven; diligent in governance and loving toward the people, he possesses an emperor's magnanimity. He judges matters clearly and acts impartially. Within our borders, he reassures civil and military officials and restores order to the court; beyond them, he secures the frontiers and steadies our mountains and rivers. Truly, court and countryside alike pledge him their hearts, and all the people look up to him in reverence.

Heaven rewards the worthy, and the realm needs an enlightened ruler!

I, Meng, cannot bear to watch such a treacherous wretch disrupt our court and sully our imperial house. Thus, I raise my voice: depose Xue Xing and forever rid the court of this scourge; enthrone the Crown Prince and bring peace to all beneath heaven!

Those who follow heaven shall prosper; those who defy the Way shall perish! All who cherish the realm and harbor loyalty and virtue should rally together in this righteous cause, support an enlightened sovereign, purge the treacherous, and restore order to the court."

Ye Yan nodded in wholehearted agreement. As expected of the Education Committee's chief-what an educated man.

"Meng Shenji, very good. You're a clever man, and as it happens, I like dealing with clever people best. Work with Bai Baoshan and the others to seal off the entire academy. For three days, people may enter, but no one may leave. Members of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect will come to contact you afterward.

Personally, I think highly of you. Don't try anything clever behind my back."

"Yes. I shall obey your command, young master."

Meng Shenji had not expected the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect to be involved as well. Adding these unfamiliar Titled Douluo before him to the Poison Douluo, who had joined the Crown Prince years ago, His Highness had quietly amassed an astonishingly powerful force.

Forget it. What do imperial family disputes have to do with me? I just need to do my part. He then left with Bai Baoshan and the others, using the academy lockdown as his excuse.

"Aw, another fight that never happened."

Ning Rongrong pursed her lips. Why were these old men all such cowards? According to the storybooks, weren't they supposed to die rather than submit?

To soothe her, Ye Yan took her hand and rode with her on the Vermilion Bird's back. That prompted the Ice Empress behind him to complain that he was a lolicon who no longer played with her now that he had Ning Rongrong.

Scumbag!

And to think I let him enjoy my lap pillow for so long on the way here. If I'd known, I should have smothered him back then.

Hearing the older woman's slander, Ye Yan extended his Fox Tail to soothe her. Hiss, so cold! Only when he looked back did he discover an ice-crystal scorpion tail radiating frosty air coiled around his large tail in a spiral.

Mmm~

Did this count as tail sex?

Meanwhile, the Snow Empress, whose arm was linked with hers, felt a little puzzled. When had Bing'er become so intimate with him?

Didn't the Ice Jade Scorpion Clan only do this while mating? Could Bing'er simply find it amusing?

Yes, that had to be it.

As a pure elemental being who had been single for nearly seven hundred thousand years, the Snow Empress had absolutely no idea just how powerful Ye Yan's charm was. She merely found him especially pleasing to the eye.

Little did she know that her sister had already fallen for him. Though the Ice Empress still loved her, she now supported a one-husband, one-wife arrangement-the kind where she wanted both a wife named Xue'er and a husband named Yan'er.

Ling Yuan carried the whole party toward the prince's estate in a grand procession. And what was Xue Xing doing at that moment?

Oh~

He was admiring the Catwoman he had just purchased at auction, a top-quality specimen the slave traders had scoured the countryside to obtain.

Just as Xue Xing was drooling with desire and preparing to make his move, blood-red feathers descended from the sky, bursting into roaring flames the instant they touched the ground.

An attack!

Xue Xing immediately summoned his swan martial soul and flew high into the air, only to discover that his entire estate had become a sea of fire. Instinctively, he looked toward the rear courtyard, where the wife he had married in his youth lived.

"No! Yue'er!"

His eyes bloodshot, Xue Xing looked up at Ye Yan in the sky and cursed them for having no bottom line, for failing to understand even the principle of sparing an enemy's family.

"Xue Xing, are you a child too? If I cut down the weeds without pulling out their roots, am I supposed to wait for the spring breeze to bring them back?

And look at you. At your age, instead of enjoying retirement, you insisted on scrambling for power and profit. You even dared to bet on Xue Beng and oppose the Crown Prince. I'd say you really don't know how many eyes the Horse King has!"

Ye Yan could not even be bothered to look him in the eye. How had an idiot like this survived until now? Plot armor?

"You! You milk-mouthed brat! How dare you insult me so!"

Xue Xing howled with rage. In all these years, this was the first time anyone had dared abuse him like this. He could also tell that the person before him had no intention of letting him live. What else was there to say?

Did they really think I was made of clay? Even if I died, I'd tear a chunk of flesh from them!

"Seventh Soul Skill: Martial Soul Avatar!"

A massive white swan enveloped Xue Xing. With a beat of his wings, he became a Cone-shaped Great Luck and hurtled toward Ye Yan at incredible speed.

An ant trying to shake a mighty tree.

Ye Yan did not indulge him either. He swung the emerald-green longsword in his hand. Second Soul Skill: Ice Ruins Shatter the Cosmos Tribulation!

The biting sword light sliced through the swan in an instant, plunging straight into the earth as though it had met no resistance whatsoever and carving an unfathomably deep arc-shaped rift.

When they looked back into the sky, the soul power had dispersed, and Xue Xing at its center had vanished too. No, more precisely, he was invisible to the naked eye. That sword energy had annihilated his body, leaving him to exist only as molecules.

"Wow! Xu Xiaoyan, you're amazing! You took out that Soul Saint uncle with one swish."

Ning Rongrong stared at him with shining eyes. How could her little man be so commanding? A Soul Saint-level expert was not even as much of an obstacle as a speed bump to him.

Hehe. ₍ᐢ⸝⸝›̫‹⸝⸝ᐢ₎

Keep talking if you've got such a sweet tongue, Rongrong. I love hearing it~

Mm, next it was time to find Little Angel. I'd come in such a hurry that I hadn't discussed this with her yet, but no need to panic. We were all in Heaven Dou City, so Snake Lance and Pufferfish must have noticed a commotion this big long ago.

There was still time, still time. It was only a teeny little rebellion to seize the throne. No need for much preparation. The whole world was one giant amateur troupe anyway.