"Those families have long since tied their own interests to either the Sixth Prince or the Crown Prince. If the Sixth Prince and the Crown Prince were to lose power, then they... would all suffer along with them. So, even if there's only the slightest possibility, they will never allow that to happen!"
"The Emperor has gotten a bit old. He's not as confident as he was in his youth. More importantly, he clearly doesn't have as much faith in us brothers as he does in our father. Heh, he's afraid he can't control us," Xu Luo said with a smile.
The muscles on Xu Su's face twitched a few times. He looked at Xu Luo. "It seems you understand everything perfectly. If that's the case, why did you still go and provoke them?"
Xu Luo smiled. "Brother, if we don't do this, not only will my sworn brother have no chance at all, but he'll also very likely be completely screwed over by the Sixth Prince and his faction!"
GASP.
Xu Su couldn't help but gasp, staring at Xu Luo in horror as he stammered, "You... you actually want to..."
"And why not?" Xu Luo leaned back, narrowed his eyes, and said softly, "Rather than let someone who can't stand the sight of us take power, rather than let the Xu Family face a future full of crises, why... don't we support someone close to us to take the throne?"
"But from what I know, Huangfu Chongzhi has no interest in this whatsoever," Xu Su said, worried. "Besides, this concerns the internal stability of the Royal Family. If outsiders were to learn that we have such intentions... I'm afraid the Emperor would be the first to move against our family."
"He may not be interested, but that depends on the situation. Besides, if he doesn't want to do it, his children can!"
Xu Luo said this as if it were a matter of course. "Our family will have to pick a side sooner or later. Father is a staunch supporter of the Emperor, but we can't be. In fact, when Father was young, wasn't he also on the current Emperor's side?"
Xu Su thought for a moment, then said, "You do have a point, but this kind of thing must never be leaked. Otherwise, no matter how powerful we are individually, we wouldn't be able to withstand the combined pressure of all those other families."
Xu Luo smiled. "Right now, we don't need to do anything at all. It's impossible for the Sixth Prince and the Crown Prince to coexist!"
Just then, a report suddenly came from outside: the Sixth Prince had brought a large contingent of Palace Guards and surrounded the National Guardian General's Mansion.
Xu Luo and Xu Su exchanged a look. Xu Luo smiled and said, "See? The Sixth Prince couldn't hold back for long."
"It's fine. I'll go with him. Let's see what he dares to do to me!" Xu Su stood up, the aura of a battle-hardened veteran erupting from him in an instant. A chilling, murderous intent radiated from him, so intense that no one dared to look him in the eye!
"Are you kidding?" Xu Luo shook his head with a cold sneer. "Why should you go with him? He's just some punk with Royal Family blood. We hit him, so what? Let's go. We'll go out and meet the Sixth Prince."
Xu Su shook his head helplessly. 'This little brother of mine is truly lawless. It seems his plan to enthrone Huangfu Chongzhi isn't something he just came up with.'
'It's really hard to say if this is a good or a bad thing. If we succeed, everyone will be overjoyed. But if we fail, we might be doomed beyond redemption!'
'The Xu Family has stood tall in Cangqiong for a thousand years without falling, becoming a titan among the military. This has a great deal to do with our long-standing neutrality.'
'Although Xiaoluo said Father also picked a side back then, the situation was different. At that time, no one could compete with the current Emperor. Plus, Xu Ji and Huangfu Haoran grew up together. Even if he hadn't picked a side, everyone would have assumed Xu Ji was with Huangfu Haoran...'
As Xu Su thought this, he looked at his younger brother's calm and composed face, and his own heart gradually settled.
'Who cares! We'll deal with whatever comes our way!' Xu Su calmed his mind and stopped overthinking.
At this moment, many people on Vermilion Bird Avenue were alarmed.
After all, this was the residential area for the Empire's High-Rank Military Generals. For the Sixth Prince to suddenly surround the National Guardian General's Mansion with Palace Guards was baffling to everyone.
"The Sixth Prince has always been low-key. What is he doing today?"
"Could it be that His Majesty is displeased with the Xu Family? Is he going to sanction them?"
"I heard the Xu Family's eldest son just beat up the son of the Prince of Ying City today. That supposed genius from the sects is seriously injured. Could it be because of that?"
"That can't be, right? Doesn't the Xu Family's eldest son only lose his cool and resort to violence when their second son is being bullied? Nowadays, no one dares to provoke the Xu Family's second young master, so how could he clash with the son of the Prince of Ying City?"
"I heard it was over a girl..."
"Even heroes have a weakness for beautiful women. It seems even the Xu Family's eldest young master is no exception..."
The entrances to the various great family mansions on both sides of Vermilion Bird Avenue were crowded with people. They all looked toward the National Guardian General's Mansion, their discussions filled with concern for the Xu Family.
They were all part of the Military Merit Group. If the Xu Family were to fall, they wouldn't gain any benefit from it.
The Sixth Prince stood at the entrance of the National Guardian General's Mansion with an icy expression, looking up at the imperially bestowed plaque. A cold sneer involuntarily touched the corners of his mouth.
'This plaque... it's about time it was taken down!'
'From this day forward, the Xu Family will begin its path to ruin!'
'Once I topple the Xu Family, the biggest stumbling block on my path to the throne will be gone!'
As the Sixth Prince thought this, he saw the long-shut main gates of the Xu residence slowly swing open.
Two young men walked out from within. The one in front was none other than Xu Luo, with a solemn-faced Xu Su following behind him.
"My, my, what wind has blown the Sixth Prince to my Xu Family's doorstep? Why didn't you send word ahead of time? HAHAHA, I failed to greet you from afar. I hope the Sixth Prince won't mind!"
Xu Luo beamed at the Sixth Prince, completely ignoring the large group of Palace Guards by his side.
The muscles on the Sixth Prince's face twitched violently. He cursed inwardly: 'I refuse to believe you don't know why I'm here! Wouldn't sending word in advance just give you time to prepare? And you still dare to feign ignorance now? How arrogant!'
With that thought, the Sixth Prince said in an icy voice, "Xu Luo, this Prince is here on official business. There is a matter I must question your elder brother about. It does not concern you."
"Heh, why so serious? I remember you weren't like this before." Xu Luo looked at the Sixth Prince with a grin. "As I recall, when I became sworn brothers with the Eldest Prince, you seemed to want to become sworn brothers with my older brother..."
The corner of the Sixth Prince's mouth twitched. This had indeed happened. Back when Xu Luo, Huangfu Chongzhi, Xu Jie, Liu Feng, and Suiyan became sworn brothers, the Sixth Prince had heard about it and gotten the idea to become sworn brothers with Xu Su to win over the Xu Family.
However, Xu Ji had stopped it. At the time, Xu Luo couldn't cultivate, and Huangfu Chongzhi was of low status, so their brotherhood had no bearing on the grand scheme of things.
But if the Sixth Prince became sworn brothers with Xu Su, how would outsiders view the Xu Family? And what would the Emperor think?
Because of this incident, the Sixth Prince began to resent the Xu Family, and he also understood that they would never support him.
Now that Xu Luo had brought it up in public, the Sixth Prince was furious inside, but his face remained a mask of indifference. He said coolly, "I was young and ignorant then. So many years have passed; why bring it up now?"
"I thought you were here to reminisce with my brother. Just a casual mention, don't take it seriously, haha."
Xu Luo chuckled, then glanced at the throng of Palace Guards beside the Sixth Prince in feigned surprise. "Hm? Sixth Prince, it's fine for you to come, but why bring so many people? Is the Imperial Capital that unsafe now? Do you need so many people for protection just to go out? Or is it that the Sixth Prince also feels... that the Imperial Capital isn't safe at the moment?"
Xu Luo spoke with a grin, but the Sixth Prince's face darkened. He glanced at the wide-open central gates of the Xu residence and cursed inwardly: 'Still trying to trap me at a time like this? The central gates are wide open... Isn't that a courtesy reserved for welcoming the Crown Prince? Are you using it to welcome me to stir up trouble between me and the Crown Prince?'
Although his relationship with the Crown Prince was already beyond the point where anyone needed to stir up troubleāthey were like fire and water in privateāon the surface, they still had to maintain an appearance of harmony. Otherwise, someone would surely accuse him of disrespecting his superiors.
"Xu Luo, cut the crap. I'm here today because your older brother publicly and severely injured a member of the Royal Family," the Sixth Prince said, not wanting to get any more tangled up with Xu Luo. Otherwise, it would be easy to get led into a trap by this scoundrel.
Glancing at Xu Su, who had remained silent all this time, the Sixth Prince said coldly, "Xu Su, come with me!"
A smirk played on Xu Luo's lips as he looked at the Sixth Prince and raised a hand. On the other side, the troop of Palace Guards immediately acted as if facing a great enemy, aiming all their weapons at Xu Luo.
The atmosphere on the scene instantly grew tense.
"What are you doing?" A cold glint flashed in Xu Luo's eyes. He then said to the Sixth Prince coolly, "What crime has my brother committed? Also, are these Palace Guards planning to attack the National Guardian General's Mansion?"
The Sixth Prince glanced left and right and ordered in a low voice, "Put your weapons away!"
The group of Palace Guards glanced cautiously at Xu Luo before retracting their weapons, but their expressions remained extremely tense.
Xu Luo's fearsome reputation had grown too great over the past two years. He had battled in the South and crushed the Yan Army; annihilated the Hongcheng Wei Family; suppressed Prime Minister Wei, the most powerful official in the court, and thrown the Wei Family into chaos; and in the battle for his northern fief, his name had once again shaken the world... His fame had long since spread throughout the Imperial Capital.
Who would dare to look down on that once-frail youth now? The "Civil Servant's Rice Bowl" had long become a joke. Who would dare call him that anymore?
"Xu Su, I don't want to waste words on you. You know what you've done. For the sake of our past acquaintance, I hope you will cooperate," the Sixth Prince said coldly. "Moreover, the Emperor already knows about this. I came here on his orders."
With that, the Sixth Prince looked at Xu Su. "You are the eldest son of the Grand General of National Revitalization. You wouldn't be thinking of defying an imperial edict, would you?"
"Did His Majesty order you to lead a large contingent of Palace Guards to surround the National Guardian General's Mansion?" Xu Luo's voice suddenly rose as he bellowed, "You've got some nerve! My father and brother risk their lives on the front lines, fighting and bleeding for the Empire, yet some insignificant descendant of the Prince of Ying City dares to repeatedly harass my friend in the Imperial Capital! Is my brother wrong for standing up for his little brother's friend? Don't even talk about just injuring himāeven if he'd been beaten to death, he would have deserved it!"
As he spoke, a disdainful sneer appeared in Xu Luo's eyes as he looked at the Sixth Prince. "As a Prince, you don't even bother to distinguish right from wrong, yet you bring men to surround the residence of a meritorious minister of the Empire. What are your intentions?"
The Sixth Prince's face flushed red with anger from Xu Luo's tirade. Just as he was about to speak, Xu Luo cut him off.
"Today, we two Xu brothers are standing right here. Huangfu Chongxiao, don't think you can hide the sky with one hand just because you're a Prince. You... just try and make a move!"