“Long live the Emperor!” Luo Yunchang bowed, while Zhuo Fan remained still, “Speak!”
Fatty’s fat face twitched helpless, “Brother, this is the imperial edict. Looking on with such contempt would have you labeled a traitor and your head chopped!”
“Whatever, only we are here anyway. With Mr Fang not looking to be a man indulging in gossip, if you won’t tell it, no one will. Moreover, it won’t matter even if you did. For the Emperor to issue me an imperial edict, that only means he needs me. How could he kill me over such trifles?” Zhuo Fan shrugged.
The fatty was lost for words, [Zhuo Fan is indeed a man who can see through anyone.] The emperor wouldn’t do anything even if this guy lay in bed when receiving the edict.
But where would the imperial family’s dignity be then?
The fatty looked bitterly at Fang Qiubai, “Master, how is this guy any good?”
“Ha-ha-ha, extraordinary people need to be handled extraordinarily. So you don’t need to mind this empty courtesy!” Fang Qiubai caressed his beard.
Sighing, the fatty could only nod.
Luo Yunchang rushed to her feet and pouted at Zhuo Fan’s side. He noticed with amusement this new side of the always serious young miss, “Young miss, with your temper, you can’t be so frivolous around such an important event as receiving the imperial edict.”
“Humph, what frivolous? What would be the point in kneeling if you don’t? And you’ll be dealing with anything that arises anyway!” Luo Yunchang snorted and stuck out her chin.
Zhuo Fan laughed and praised, “That’s our young miss alright!”
This was the Luo clan Zhuo Fan wanted, the best clan in the world. They had to aim for the heavens themselves as well. How could that come to fruition if they’d buckle just from some yellow paper from some emperor?
The fatty was almost crying, [Zhuo Fan is ruining the Luo clan!]
When he came here three years ago, the Luo clan was filled with respect and saw the imperial family with reverence. But now, they were tough and stubborn, with even the ever cautious young miss acting like this. They didn’t yet make the part to face the seven houses but they already started to show the same defect as them.
[Just how the Clan Head was, so too did the clan act. And just how their steward behaves now, that’s what the clans will turn into.]
The fatty shook his head, dispensing with the courtesy as well, “Nevermind then, it’s a verbal order anyway. I’ll be straight with you. The Emperor intends to have you participate in the Esoteric Debate and take the Regent Estate down a peg!”
“The Esoteric Debate?”
Zhuo Fan raised an eyebrow. He looked at Luo Yunchang, finding her just as clueless as he was!
The fatty raised his bloated head and showed a cocky grin.
[He-he-he, you were so cocky before, so feisty, when you are in fact nothing but boors! It’s now my turn to show off!] The fatty laughed and preened, “Esoteric Debate is held once a century, a gathering of the most elite clans. With the Luo clan not being even a third rate clan, a mere cannon fodder for all these years, it is perfectly normal for you to be ignorant!”
“Is that so? Then why is the Emperor inviting our small clan? Please report to His Majesty, third prince, that after hearing your words, Zhuo Fan feels sorely lacking and ashamed to participate in this grand summit. Tell him to find someone more worthy of his attention.” Zhuo Fan flicked the nonexistent dust of his clothes.
The fatty caught Zhuo Fan’s arm in panic, “Don’t, brother! Imperial father will kill me if I go back like this! It is my fault for trying to show off. Right, I will definitely frame Luo clan’s first rule on my wall to remind myself every day you will be the only one to show off. Please find it in your heart to forgive this foolish brother of yours… “
The fatty was begging Zhuo Fan in tears, his swag gone like the wind. Luo Yunchang giggled and Fang Qiubai shook his head.
“Fine, do continue!” Zhuo Fan was only playing around with the third prince. He knew when to quit.
The fatty sighed and no longer dared messed around, “Brother, to tell the truth, the Esoteric Debate is really not some place where elite clans gathered, but where houses bet on their honor to avail themselves. It is a slaughterhouse. A clan can rise to the top in one step, or fall to their ruins in another. Many first rate clans would find themselves worse than even third rate clans! Brother, you must be vigilant if you still want to go!”
“Oh, why do you say that?” Zhuo Fan frowned in doubt.
With a sigh, the fatty’s green and beady eyes shined with a deep gaze, “This goes back to the founding of the empire, of the time when the seven houses were in constant conflict with each other. There was no open war between the seven houses, but none was willing to back down to anyone. To settle the disputes among them, Tianyu’s founding emperor signed an agreement with them. Anyone below thirty years of age was going to compete in order to settle whose house would become the head of the seven houses. These youths would also one day represent their houses in the future. Their power predicted their houses’ power under their rule!
“The seven houses thus no longer took arms and their ranks divided. This was the inception of the Esoteric Debate. Gradually, more and more outstanding clans who wished for greatness joined. They were chosen by the seven houses and imperial family to participate. This is how the current Esoteric Debate came to be.
“Yet, no matter how many clans joined, it was still the seven houses that came on top. The others would simply be fighting for the chance to be their vassals. It slowly turned into a bizarre situation. For the sake of their reputation, the seven houses weren’t into this debate to the death, while the vassal clans fought to the bitter end for their masters. The survivors would thus be looked kindly upon by the houses, and also receive their support. While the rest would become mountain of bones for the other to rise on!”
The fatty’s tone contained mockery, pity, but most of all anger.
The seven houses’ existence robbed the rest of the clans their chance at greatness, reducing them to mere expendable pawns. The Esoteric Debate held each century left Tianyu stagnant, its power never reaching new heights.
While the seven houses’ power kept on growing.
To him, the seven houses were Tianyu’s cancer!
Zhuo Fan sensed his hatred and nodded, “Then what does the Emperor expect of me? Defeat Regent Estate?”
“Uh, that’s hardly feasible for a fresh clan like yours. You’re just too weak!” The fatty smiled wryly and dismissed his words, “Regent Estate dares call itself the head of the seven houses and harbors the ambition to swallow the other houses because it never once lost in the Esoteric Debates. Imperial father wishes for you to harass Regent Estate and throw them off their game. Regardless of which other house takes the head title, it would give Regent Estate a severe blow to their prestige!”
Zhuo Fan’s brow trembled and shot the fatty a look, “Harass? You want me to lower myself in doing such a trifling matter?”
“Ha-ha-ha, brother, I know you’re great. But you do not understand them. Even interfering would be a tough problem for many other people.”
Chuckling, fatty gave him a yellow ribbon of silk, “This was the roster for the last Esoteric Debate. See for yourself.”
Zhuo Fan looked at the names of the seven houses’ disciples in shock. Especially since there were so many familiar names.
The fatty pointed out each one, “The seventh name, from Drifting Flowers Edifice, must be quite familiar to you. Grandmother Chu Bijun is renowned among the seven houses. But despite her bravery, she was too weak. Drifting Flowers Edifice was dead last among the houses in the last Esoteric Debate. As if to point out it would in fact become the weakest in this last century among the houses.”
Zhuo Fan nodded. Watching the names, many issues started making sense. It showed the precise power of every house lord, extrapolated into the probable power each clan had in the near future.
“The 6th name, Merry Woods!” Zhuo Fan’s eyes skipped it the moment he saw it!
[Humph, nothing notable about a claptrap spouting opportunist pre-copernican obscurantist with no backbone to speak of!]
“Fifth name, Sword Marquise Abode, led by Jian Suifeng…”
Zhuo Fan’s eyes twitched and frowned. Since Sword Marquise Abode came in fifth, then its power was also in fifth among the houses.
The next name had him widen his eyes, “Fourth, Veiled Dragon Pavilion with Long Jiu and the other elders. Third, Hell Valley, with You Guiqi participating as well. Second, Pill King Hall’s group led by Vicious Pill King. And first, of course, was Regent Estate..”
Zhuo Fan’s heart sank.
All his allies were dead last while the top ranks were held by Regent Estate’s loyal dogs. They were not only weaker than the head, but weaker than everyone else.
Picking up on his thoughts, the fatty laughed and patted his shoulder, “Ha-ha-ha, there’s no need to fret, brother. Thanks to your evil ways, these houses’ power is no longer what it used to!”
“What do you mean?” Zhuo Fan’s eyes shined. He knew he wrecked Hell Valley, but what of Pill King Hall?
Fatty chuckled, “The ranking of the last Esoteric Debate is like this because of some amazing figures that appeared at the time. Hell Valley’s third spot was all thanks to 5th elder. Diamondback Ape’s power pushed back Veiled Dragon Pavilion’s third elder in accordance with You Guiqi’s master plan. Without these two, Hell Valley would be far weaker than Veiled Dragon Pavilion!
“Then there’s Pill King Hall in second place. They had Vicious Pill King to thank for that. His poison was so deadly no one dared approach him. Without him, they wouldn’t have gotten ahead of even Merry Woods…”
The fatty trailed off, but Zhuo Fan got the picture. Hell Valley and Pill King Hall’s powers were mostly sapped, since their pillars were cruelly and mercilessly killed, or ruined, by Zhuo Fan himself.
So of course the two no longer were what they used to.
Fatty grinned, “There were many illustrious names in the last Esoteric Debate. You Guiqi, this mastermind, was publicly acclaimed as the first genius among the twenty Profound Heaven experts of the seven houses joining the debate. Then there was Vicious Pill King, the alchemist of the millennium. Uncle Jiu also showed great prowess as well, known for his Purple Lightning Gold Eye…”
Zhuo Fan nodded, secretly rejoicing.
It was great that his first Profound Heaven expert kill was You Guiqi, avoiding many future headaches.
With You Guiqi alive, plotting from the shadows, his head would’ve hurt like hell by now. But wasting You Guiqi was the same as cutting Hell Valley’s power in half.
Thinking clearly now, his trip to Blue Expanse City was downright ingenious. [As for Vicious Pill King, he-he, I sure scored big…]