Zhou Zhili and the others were rooted to the spot.
Xue Ningyuan had only met Su Yi twice, once last night and once this morning. Both times, he seemed modest and polite. He showed no signs of any unusual emotion.
Who would have thought he’d suddenly chastise Su Yi for his arrogance?
Xue Ningyuan made no attempt to hide his disdain; he was like a completely different person! 𝘦.𝘰𝘳𝑔
Cha Jin’s painted eyebrows knit together, and she felt rather displeased.?She found it hard to imagine. This was the lofty and esteemed head of one of the Imperatorial Provincial Capital’s peak clans, yet he changed his tune so quickly.
Su Yi?paid this no?heed. He just went on drinking, perfectly at ease.
However, seeing this only made Xue Ningyuan even less reserved. He sighed and shook his head. “A little while ago, His Sixth Highness and I went to visit this Su Yi. It was then that I discovered that the boy holds all others in contempt. He might be capable, but a temperament like that will inevitably lead to disaster.
“Yet you treat him as your right-hand man, Your Highness? And you think that a single arrogant young man is enough to determine victory and defeat at today’s Tea Party? How utterly absurd!”
As Xue Ningyuan said this, his expression filled with dense, blatant disdain.
“Enough!” Zhou Zhili slammed the table, his expression overcast.
Xiang Tianqiu and company couldn’t help but laugh.?His Sixth Highness is too young. A little shock, and he’s already lost his cool.
Xiang Tianqiu said leisurely, “Your Highness, Family Head Xue has already made up his mind. Tell me, do you think there’s any need to continue?”
Zhou Zhili gnashed his teeth. “This isn’t enough to make me lower my head!”
Xiang Tianqiu smiled faintly. “Brother Kang, how about you go next?”
The white-haired elder in flame-patterned Daoist robes, Kang Shanjing, nodded. His gaze swept across Chang Guoke and Qing Jin and he said flatly, “Junior Apprentice Brother Chang, Junior Apprentice Brother Qing, I’m here to pass on the sect leader’s orders. You are not permitted to interfere in worldly conflicts.”
As he spoke, he removed a golden scroll from his sleeves and said, “This is the sect leader’s handwritten degree. Read it, and?all?will become clear.”
He shook his wrist, and the scroll flew through the air.
Chang Guoke opened it, then instantly fell silent.
“Is it really the sect leader’s decree?” Qing Jin couldn’t help but ask. The look on her beautiful face changed erratically.
Chang Guoke nodded.
Zhou Zhili felt as if he’d been struck by lightning. His mind buzzed, and everything seemed to go dark.
Chang Guoke was one of his chief pillars of support. Zhou Zhili wouldn’t have guessed that a decree would take Chang Guoke out of play before he could even reveal his power!
For a moment, Zhou Zhili just stood there, completely at a loss.
There was no doubt about it; his opponents had long since understood every card in his hand, so they had countermeasures specifically designed to target them, one by one!
Zheng Tianhe also realized that this wasn’t looking good, and his expression filled with uncertainty.
Xue Ningyuan had betrayed them!
A decree had taken Chang Guoke and Qing Jin out of action!
Who wouldn’t have been stunned after taking two such blows in such rapid succession?
Cha Jin watched this play out from afar. Even she sighed. She recalled Su Yi’s earlier evaluation, and it was just as he’d said—Zhou Zhili was too inexperienced. He was no match for his more experienced opponents, and his defeat was inevitable.
It was happening right in front of them!
However, Cha Jin already remembered Su Yi’s other statement: “With me here, he’d find it hard to lose even if he wanted to.”
“If you’ve got anything else, go ahead and use it.” Zhou Zhili gnashed his teeth, his eyes shining with unconcealed rage and hatred. He seemed like he wasn’t quite in control of his emotions.
When they saw this, Xiang Tianqiu and the others couldn’t help but chuckle and shake their heads.?The sixth prince is too impetuous and short-tempered. He can’t even control his facial expressions; he’s simply too inexperienced.
We wasted our time preparing so many trump cards. Who’d have thought his performance would be so pathetic?
“Family Head Zheng, His Second?Highness told?me to deliver a message to you on his behalf,” said Xiang Tianqiu coolly.
Zheng Tianhe shook.?Is it my turn now?
He took a deep breath, then said coldly, “Please, go right ahead.”
Xiang Tianqiu said solemnly, “His Majesty once decreed that distant relatives of the imperial family are not to meddle in imperial affairs, and they are most certainly?not?to meddle in the competition for the throne. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten?”
His tone was harsh. Zheng Tianhe quivered, and his brow instantly broke into cold sweats.
Strictly speaking, he was just Zhou?Zhili’s?mother’s cousin, an uncle of sorts. He wasn’t really related to the emperor, not even distantly.
Besides, numerous imperial relatives were involved in the Great Zhou’s politics, albeit behind closed doors.?The current emperor was well aware of this, and he’d always turned a blind eye to it.
But who’d let such an obvious weakness slip through their fingers? So long as the second prince personally reported this to the emperor, Zheng Tianhe and his entire family would be in for far more than they bargained for!
As soon as he realized this, Zheng Tianhe slumped, and he felt bitter.
He certainly hadn’t anticipated that the other party would use the decree that “distant imperial relatives are forbidden to intervene in politics” as an excuse.
Xiang Tianqiu’s gaze then returned to Zhou Zhili. It now carried a hint of pity. “Your Highness, I imagine you don’t wish to implicate Family Head Zheng either?”
Zhou Zhili’s expression was already ashen. He felt an irrepressible sense of humiliation and defeat course through him.
“Your Highness, do you wish to hear what I really think?” Xiang Tianqiu asked playfully.
When Zhou Zhili didn’t respond, he sighed. “Your Highness, with your temperament, you’re in no way suited to vie for imperial power. You’re certainly not fit to contend with His Second Highness. I sincerely encourage you to step back and return to the Jade Capital. Give up on the struggle and live out your days as an imperial prince in freedom and happiness. Wouldn’t that be better?”
The muscles of Zhou Zhili’s face?twitched?violently. He suddenly slammed his fist into the table, shattering it, his eyes bloodshot. When he spoke, he paused for emphasis between each word. “And what if I don’t back down?”
“Are you really blind to your current situation? Or is it just as Family Head Xue says? Do you really think Su Yi can turn the tides?” laughed Xiang Tianqiu.
“Why can’t he?” spat Zhou Zhili through gnashed teeth.
In truth, this relentless series of one shock after another left him dejected and defeated. He was already on his last breath.
It was to the point that he suspected that even if Su Yi took the stage, he couldn’t change anything.
“In that case, allow me to completely dispel that particular misconception!” Xiang Tianqiu then turned to the handsome, borderline beautiful, middle-aged man with the feather fan.
He said with a hearty laugh. “Everyone, allow me to introduce you. This is Yue Changyuan. He’s a deacon of the Jade Capital’s Su Family. People call him ‘the Jade-Faced Saber Monarch.”
“Brother Yue isn’t simple in the least. He’s a Grandmaster at the peak of the second level, and thirteen years ago, he came in second in the spring imperial military examinations and received a personal audience with his Majesty!”
When they heard that, the entire crowd was stunned.
The Jade Capital’s Su Family!
They were a vast and mighty clan that stood at the pinnacle of the Great Zhou. Their authority was enough to influence the entire nation.
Although Yue Changyuan wasn’t a Su Clansmen, he was a Su Family Deacon, and he had an extremely illustrious record. Who’d dare look down on him?
Moments earlier, Zhou Zhili’s chest was full of rage, humiliation, and defeat, but when he heard this, he was stunned.?Why is the Jade Capital’s Su Family getting mixed up in this?
Wait! The Su Family??Zhou Zhili instantly realized something, and he turned to look at Su Yi. At the same time, practically all the influential figures in attendance connected the dots as well.
Soon, all eyes were upon Su Yi. Everyone looked flabbergasted.
Even Cha Jin was stunned.?The young lord is surnamed Su. Don’t tell me….
The venue instantly fell into an unnatural silence.
A while passed before Su Yi finally reacted. Still leaning back into his chair, he subtly turned his head and looked at the handsome man with the feather fan calmly. “Are you here for me?”
Yue Changyuan sat there, waving his fan and sighing. “Third Young Master, if the second prince hadn’t personally sent someone to the Su Family to inquire about you, we wouldn’t have dared believe you’d changed so much in barely over a year.”
Third Young Master!?
With the sole exception of Xiang Tianqiu, the crowd almost dared not believe their ears. All of them were rooted to the spot.
Zhou Zhili felt the urge to slap himself across the face. He knew full well that Su Yi was surnamed Su, so why had he never even considered the possibility that Su Yi might have connections with the Jade Capital’s Su Family?
Zheng Tianhe, Mu Zhongting, Chang Guoke, and the others looked flabbergasted as well.
It was simply unbelievable!
Who would have thought that a member of the Jade Capital’s Su Family would sink to becoming the cast-off disciple of Blueriver Sword Manor, much less a live-in son-in-law in some backwater little city?
“This….” Despite himself, Yu Baiting’s expression changed dramatically.?The third young master of the Su Family? That kid actually has such a lofty and illustrious background?
Even Cha Jin was dumbfounded.?And here she’d thought she understood Su Yi better than anyone. Now, she suddenly realized that what she knew was just the tip of the iceberg.
When he took in the crowd’s astonishment, Xiang Tianqiu suddenly shook his head and laughed. “Everyone, it’s true that Su Yi is the third young master of the Jade Capital’s Su Family, but he’s also the most hated member of the family. He’s nothing but a pitiful little worm!”
A pitiful little worm??The crowd only felt increasingly befuddled.
“I won’t lie to you; we all see our Third Master as a source of great shame and humiliation. We’ve always kept his existence under wraps, to the point that practically no one in the outside world knows anything about him.”
Yue Changyuan sighed. “Even I find it difficult to speak of this, but I’ve said so much already. I don’t mind saying just a bit more.”
Everyone pricked up their ears.
Su Yi just watched him calmly. His face didn’t so much as ripple with emotion.
He didn’t even consider stopping Yue Changyuan; he was actually curious to see, after all these years, how exactly the Su Family thought of him.
Yue Changyuan leaned leisurely back into his chair, waved his leather chair, and sighed with lament. “Let’s put it like this. Back in the Su Family, the name Su Yi is a taboo. No one is willing to discuss him. It’s the point that the vast majority of the family would much prefer that we didn’t have a clansman such as him.”
The crowd’s expressions shifted, turning a bit strange.
Yu Baiting’s heart shook upon hearing of Su Yi’s background, but he gradually calmed down. Now, when he looked at Su Yi, his gaze was inquisitive.?So it turns out… He’s the family reject….
“His Excellency, the family head, curses him as an unfilial and unworthy descendant. It is only out of consideration for their shared blood that he’s even allowed the boy to live.” Yue Changyuan sighed. “Why? I’m afraid the answer to that question touches upon the Su Family’s private affairs. I shall not disclose that information here.
“All you need to know is that yes, Su Yi is indeed a member of the Su Family, but even if he dies, not one member of the Su Family will care in the least!”
As he made this final declaration, Yue Changyuan’s voice filled with cold, cruel indifference.
Yu Baiting and the others completely relaxed. The way they looked at Su Yi changed; their gazes now carried pity intermingled with hints of disdain.
So, he’s nothing but a pitiful little worm the Su Family threw away!