Xu Tianran

Uneasy, Jing Hongchen did not linger. He led Bao Liang and the other two straight to the imperial palace.

Jing Hongchen did not say a word along the way.

That was highly unusual.

Normally, even when they were on the road, the old man would lecture the three children seven or eight times.

But now he simply stared ahead, walking faster and faster, until even Meng Hongchen had to jog to keep up.

Bao Liang and the other two exchanged glances, each reading the same thought in the others' eyes-

Grandpa Jing was genuinely afraid.

Before long, they reached the palace gates without stopping.

There, they saw two people they had not expected, yet had expected all the same.

Crown Prince Xu Tianran, and Ju Zi, who stood behind him pushing his wheelchair.

Xu Tianran wore a prince's everyday robes in a deep, dark hue. He had handsome features and a perfectly measured, gentle smile on his lips. If one ignored his eyes, he truly looked like a wise heir who honored the worthy and treated his inferiors with courtesy.

The girl pushing his wheelchair had long orange hair, an upright posture, and clean, sharp features. She stood quietly half a step behind him.

Bao Liang's gaze lingered on the wheelchair for a moment.

His heart skipped a beat.

That's not right.

According to the original story, Xu Tianran's legs should still have been perfectly fine at this point-the assassination attempt that broke both his legs and stripped him of his dignity as a man should not have happened so soon.

Yet there he was, sitting in a wheelchair, wearing such a gentle, harmless smile.

Something's wrong. Twelve parts wrong out of ten.

Bao Liang did not dare dwell on it. He lowered his eyes and followed the others in paying his respects.

"Minister Jing, thank you for your efforts on the journey." Xu Tianran spoke first, his voice gentle. "I heard you took the children to the Star Dou Great Forest for Soul Hunting. You were gone for more than a week, and I was rather worried."

"Thank you for your concern, Your Highness." Jing Hongchen bowed, adopting an exceedingly humble posture. "The children have reached the right age. They must go out and test themselves sooner or later.

"But they are, after all, my only two blood relatives. If I did not watch over them the whole way, I would be terribly worried."

"Of course. A parent's heart is a pitiful thing." Xu Tianran nodded with a smile, his gaze falling first on Xiao Hongchen. "Young Master Xiao, you've grown taller again. Has your cultivation progressed?"

"Your Highness, I would not dare neglect it," Xiao Hongchen replied, bowing his head with impeccable propriety and not a word to spare.

Xu Tianran's gaze shifted to Meng Hongchen's face. "Miss Meng has grown even more beautiful as well."

"Th-thank you, Your Highness." Meng Hongchen returned the greeting in a small voice and shrank back behind Bao Liang.

Finally, Xu Tianran's gaze settled on Bao Liang.

It was a gentle gaze, gentle as a spring breeze, yet it sent a chill down the back of Bao Liang's neck.

"You are Bao Liang?"

"Yes, Your Highness. I am Bao Liang." He stood with his hands at his sides, neither servile nor overbearing.

"Good child." Xu Tianran smiled. "Innate Full Soul Power. It has been a long time since our Sun Moon Empire produced a promising talent as rare as you.

"Cultivate diligently and serve the empire in the future. I have high hopes for you."

His tone was kind, as warm as an ordinary elder's greeting.

But Bao Liang could tell that every word was weighing his worth.

"Thank you, Your Highness."

After the three children finished paying their respects, none of them spoke again.

After all, before someone like this, the more one spoke, the more mistakes one made; the less one spoke, the fewer mistakes one made. Say nothing, and one made no mistakes.

After the pleasantries, Xu Tianran abruptly changed the subject, bringing it up as though it had just occurred to him. "By the way, Minister Jing."

"At your service."

"When this child awakened his Martial Soul, why did I receive no report from the Martial Soul Awakening Hall or even Mingde Hall?" Xu Tianran sounded somewhat surprised. "If Yiheng hadn't reported it this time, I still wouldn't know that our Sun Moon Empire had a young hero with Innate Full Soul Power hidden away in the Hongchen residence."

He did not speak loudly. His tone could even be called easygoing.

But to Jing Hongchen's ears, that "easygoing" tone was no less than a thunderclap.

What had to come had finally come.

"Your Highness." Jing Hongchen bowed deeply. "The fault is mine."

"Oh?" Xu Tianran raised an eyebrow slightly. "I would like to hear the details."

"Although I was not present when the child awakened his Martial Soul," Jing Hongchen said at an unhurried pace, "the awakening master said that while his talent was indeed rare, the risk of his Martial Soul running out of control was equally alarming. On the day of his awakening, he blasted down the courtyard wall twice.

"I took pity on the child, and since he was also my grandchildren's childhood playmate, I was anxious and thought only of suppressing the matter for the time being. I intended to protect him for a few years and decide what to do once his Martial Soul was more stable.

"In my haste, I forgot that a matter of such importance had to be reported to Your Highness.

"I was muddleheaded. Please punish me, Your Highness."

His words were sincere and heartfelt, wrapping the charge of "concealment and failure to report" in the guise of "fierce devotion to protecting the young."

Xu Tianran listened quietly to the end without speaking immediately.

He merely looked at Jing Hongchen, his smile undiminished. "Your words are truly heartfelt, Minister Jing.

"But tell me, Minister Jing-which official at court does not know that you are my man? A child you protect is a child I protect.

"Keeping such a promising talent from me-doesn't that make me, the crown prince, lose face?"

"I acknowledge my guilt." Jing Hongchen bowed his head even lower. "From now on, I will report every matter in my household to Your Highness, no matter how great or small."

"Mm." Xu Tianran nodded, then asked with apparent casualness, "Speaking of which, what exactly is the child's Martial Soul like? How talented is he? How has his cultivation been progressing lately?"

Three questions in succession, every one striking at a vital point.

Jing Hongchen sneered inwardly, but his expression grew even more deferential. "Your Highness, the child's Martial Soul is a special elemental Martial Soul, 'Explosion.' He follows the Power Attack path, and its power is considerable. The only problem is that it is volatile and prone to running out of control.

"As for his talent-" He paused, weighing his words. "It is comparable to my Xiao'er's. Both are promising talents even among those with Innate Full Soul Power.

"But this tendency to run out of control is truly dangerous. Until recently, he was still recuperating at the residence.

"We went to the Star Dou Great Forest for Soul Hunting this time to use a spiritual-type Soul Ring to suppress his Martial Soul. His condition has finally improved somewhat."

With a few deft words, he placed Bao Liang's talent on roughly the same level as Xiao Hongchen's.

The Innate Full Soul Power was real, and the Martial Soul running out of control was real too-but one was Ultimate Flame, while the other had been described as an ordinary Power Attack System Martial Soul.

Half truth and half lie were the hardest to investigate.

"Since he is unwell..." Xu Tianran pondered for a moment, then suddenly smiled. "How about this? If the Hongchen Clan lacks any treasures or materials to calm the mind and settle the soul, do not hesitate to ask the imperial family.

"Better still-" He leaned forward slightly. "Minister Jing, you may come directly to me.

"There are quite a few treasures in my private stores as well."

"I am overwhelmed!" Jing Hongchen hurriedly bowed. "Thank you for your great kindness, Your Highness! Fortunately, the child's condition has improved since we obtained the two Soul Rings, and the Hongchen Clan still has resources to spare. I would not dare trouble the imperial family or draw upon Your Highness's stores.

"Your Highness has shown such consideration. On the child's behalf, I bow in gratitude for this heavenly favor."

As he spoke, he turned and shot Bao Liang a glare.

Bao Liang understood at once. He immediately stepped forward and gave a proper, formal bow. "Bao Liang thanks Your Highness the Crown Prince for your grace!"

"Good child." Xu Tianran smiled and accepted half the bow.

With the pleasantries concluded, the necessary probing had been done, and the necessary positions declared.

Jing Hongchen seized the opportunity to excuse himself. "Your Highness, now that I have returned, I must immediately enter the palace and report to Teacher Kong. I fear I cannot keep Your Highness company for long, so I shall take my leave for now."

"Go." Xu Tianran waved a hand, his smile as gentle as ever. "Give Elder Kong my regards."

Jing Hongchen bowed once more. "I shall not fail to convey Your Highness's regards.

"The Hongchen Family wishes forever to be Your Highness's blade."

Before leaving, he declared his loyalty once again.

Only when Jing Hongchen and the three children disappeared at the end of the corridor leading to the Imperial Worship Hall did the smile on Xu Tianran's face gradually turn cold.

In an instant, his expression grew dark enough to drip water.

"Jing Hongchen, you truly have some nerve."

His slender fingers rested on the armrest of his wheelchair, slowly rubbing it as his voice turned cold as well. "He hid it from me before, and now he even dares to deceive me to my face."

Ju Zi stood quietly behind him, holding the wheelchair, and did not respond.

"Ju Zi." Xu Tianran turned his head. "Tell me, does our Duke Hongchen harbor other loyalties?"

Ju Zi fell silent for only a moment. "Your Highness, although Duke Hongchen has concealed things from you, I believe he is utterly loyal."

"Oh?" Xu Tianran narrowed his eyes. "Let's hear it."

"Just now, at the palace gates," Ju Zi said slowly, "the horses were startled when the ceremonial procession passed. Bao Liang and Xiao Hongchen stepped in front of Meng Hongchen almost simultaneously, without drawing attention to themselves.

"And all along the way afterward, Meng Hongchen practically clung to Bao Liang's side, never leaving him for a step."

She paused. "So I believe Bao Liang's talent is by no means as simple as Innate Full Soul Power. I imagine Your Highness could see that as well.

"But just as the intelligence we gathered earlier indicated, Duke Hongchen's greatest concern likely lies with his granddaughter."

"The three children have known one another since they were young and have spent all these years together day and night at the residence. They have long been inseparable.

"Duke Hongchen has probably been raising Bao Liang as his future grandson-in-law for some time."

"Once a child like that catches the imperial family's eye, whether he stays or is taken away would no longer be up to Duke Hongchen.

"So he would rather risk the charge of deception and keep it hidden for now. It is not that he harbors other loyalties, but that he does not dare gamble."

After listening, Xu Tianran tapped his fingertips twice on the armrest and felt that her words made some sense.

A protective old man clutching a prospective grandson-in-law in the palm of his hand did fit Jing Hongchen's usual style.

But sensible as it was, the resentment in his heart would not subside.

Concealment was concealment, and deception was deception.

Yet at court now, there was Mingde Hall, the Worship Hall, the faction he himself was weaving together, and those restless members of the imperial clan. With a great war about to begin, which of them could do without Duke Hongchen? Which could do without Mingde Hall?

Forget it.

"I'll let them off for now." Xu Tianran withdrew his gaze and looked toward the Worship Hall, his eyes unfathomably deep. "Once I ascend the throne, I will settle the accounts in full."