"No, Xu Tianyuan's cultivation is at rank twenty-nine. I've confirmed that far too many times for there to be any mistake."
Xu Tianran shook his head.
Unless... Xu Tianyuan had a Level 9 Soul Tool that could conceal his cultivation, there was no way he could have fooled his probing.
A Level 9 Soul Tool?
There were only a handful of those in the entire Sun Moon Empire. Where could a spoiled wastrel who had been useless for sixteen years have gotten one?
Xu Tianran's mind was a tangled mess.
He could rack his brains until his head split and still fail to understand.
The feeling of something slipping out of his control infuriated him.
More importantly, Ju Zi was his subordinate!
By hitting Ju Zi, Xu Tianyuan had openly slapped him in the face!
Something began to go wrong in the room.
The tables, chairs, and stools began shaking. Bowls and plates knocked against one another in a chorus of clinks and clatters.
It was a sign that the Soul Power inside Xu Tianran was slipping out of control.
He closed his eyes briefly and forcibly pushed down the emotions on the verge of erupting.
However angry he was, he had to keep his priorities straight.
"I summoned you today because of Xu Tianyuan."
Xu Tianran's voice regained its calm, but anyone could hear the fire smoldering beneath it.
"From now on, keep your eyes glued to him at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy! Monitor everything he does each day and report to me regularly."
"Especially his cultivation progress!"
Xu Tianran understood perfectly well.
It wasn't that he lacked the ability to act against Xu Tianyuan now. He simply couldn't afford to.
The Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy was not somewhere he could do whatever he pleased. Jing Hongchen had no fondness for him, and even Kong Deming had to show some deference.
Besides, Xu Tianyuan had run into trouble as soon as he entered the academy. If he struck now, the chain reaction could sweep him up as well.
The losses would outweigh the gains.
He would remember this debt.
"Yes."
Ju Zi obediently nodded in agreement.
Then she changed the subject.
"By the way, Xu Tianyuan didn't just hit me today. He insulted you, too..."
Xu Tianran's eyes instantly widened, his pupils contracting.
Insulted me?
What on earth had happened to my cowardly, incompetent sixth brother after leaving the palace? He used to do nothing but lower his head and smile apologetically whenever he saw me.
Not only could he withstand a Level 3 Soul Tool and beat Ju Zi up, but now he even dared to insult me?
Had he taken the wrong medicine?
Or had he been pretending all along?
Xu Tianran was beginning to lose his composure.
He fixed Ju Zi with an unblinking stare.
"What did he say about me?"
Ju Zi stole a glance at the middle-aged man behind him, who had remained silent the entire time, and hesitated.
"It's fine. He's one of us. Just say it."
Seeing her concern, Xu Tianran waved a hand.
Ju Zi murmured an acknowledgment. After another brief internal struggle, she finally decided to repeat his exact words without leaving out a single one.
It was the truth, after all. She was only relaying it.
"He said..."
"Your legs are crippled, and you're impotent. Someone like you, who can't even father a son, wants to become emperor? That's nothing but a daydream."
The private dining room fell silent.
So silent that they could hear the drinking game in the room next door.
And... Xu Tianran's increasingly labored breathing.
Huff!
Huff!
Huff!
Xu Tianran's eyes gradually turned blood-red. His chest heaved violently as he panted like an ox.
The next second, he slammed his palm onto the table.
Boom!
The large, round rosewood table, spacious enough to seat ten, shattered on the spot.
A tableful of expensive dishes crashed to the floor. Broth splashed everywhere, porcelain shards flew, and a cacophony of cracks and clatters filled the room.
"Xu Tianyuan!"
Xu Tianran practically roared the name. Veins bulged in his neck, and his voice had turned hoarse.
"What the hell has gotten into that brat? How dare he!"
"Fuck!"
His eyes bloodshot, Xu Tianran stared fixedly at the wreckage on the floor, his teeth grinding audibly.
Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined Xu Tianyuan would dare insult him like that.
And every sentence had struck precisely where it hurt most.
His legs.
His ability to father children.
The throne.
Three things, each a blade drawing blood.
This was no longer a slap in the face.
This was grinding his face into the dirt, then stomping on it twice for good measure.
An intolerable humiliation!
If he didn't kill Xu Tianyuan, he wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.
"Good. Good. Good."
Xu Tianran said it three times in succession. Even "twisted" could no longer describe his expression. "You think I won't dare kill you just because you've entered the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy?"
"Your Highness, please calm your anger."
Just then, a hand pressed down on Xu Tianran's shoulder.
It belonged to the middle-aged man with the crew cut.
He was thin and gaunt, with a sallow complexion and facial features so deeply etched they were almost frightening.
"Xu Tianyuan is now at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy. As an imperial prince, he must have been assigned a residence in the villa district."
"The villa district is the academy's most heavily guarded area. Your Highness must not act rashly."
Xu Tianran's chest heaved, his clenched teeth grinding.
"Sir, you heard how far he went with those insults!"
"Insults are insults. You're still alive," the crew-cut man said evenly. "Why not consider this, Your Highness... If you lead men into the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy tonight and chop Xu Tianyuan to pieces in front of all its teachers and students, what will people be saying tomorrow?"
Without waiting for Xu Tianran to answer, he continued.
"They will say you murdered your own younger brother, that you have no regard for rules, that you are cruel and heartless, and that you cannot even tolerate a useless rank twenty-nine weakling."
"Once those words spread, the illustrious reputation Your Highness has built over the years will have a layer of skin stripped from it."
"Killing him is easy. Dealing with the aftermath is the hard part."
Xu Tianran's breathing gradually steadied.
He stared at the wreckage littering the floor, his mind beginning to work again.
He's right!
He had sacrificed far too much to claim the throne.
Killing his elder brother, harming his younger brothers, killing his uncle... For over a decade, he had carefully plotted every step while maintaining the image of a wise and magnanimous man before all the court's civil and military officials.
He could crush a worthless fool like Xu Tianyuan with one hand.
But who would clean up the mess afterward?
At that thought, a trace of suspicion appeared in Xu Tianran's eyes.
"So this dear brother of mine isn't actually stupid?"
He raised his head. "Or is someone behind him, devising plans for him?"
The crew-cut man pondered for a moment.
"Either is possible."
"But I lean toward the latter."
"Ever since he was a child, Xu Tianyuan has always appeared ignorant, unskilled, cowardly, and incompetent."
"An ordinary person couldn't put on an act that convincing, much less keep it up for sixteen years!"
Xu Tianran fell into a long silence.
His hands alternately clenched and relaxed, his brow knotted tightly.
Countless images flashed rapidly through his mind.
His sixth brother as a child, huddled in a corner, stammering whenever he spoke.
His sixth brother as a boy, ordered around at will by palace maids and eunuchs.
His sixth brother over the past few years, lowering his head and wearing an ingratiating smile every time they met.
Sixteen years.
For sixteen entire years, he had never let the slightest flaw in his act show.
If it was an act, his strength of mind was terrifying.
If it wasn't, the person behind him was terrifying.
Xu Tianran liked neither possibility.
He liked the feeling of having everything firmly within his grasp.
"Who exactly is giving him advice from behind the scenes?"
Before you continue