This matter could end here.

Whether it was the Ministry of War officials, the Capital Guard commanders, or even the border army officer standing beside Xie Yanlai—all looked shocked.

“What are you doing? This can be finished now!” He reached out to pull at Xie Yanlai, unable to help complaining in a low voice, “When you should speak, you don’t speak. When you shouldn’t speak, you do.”

Earlier, when these Ministry of War officials hadn’t arrived, he didn’t speak. If he had spoken then, the fighting would have been stopped long ago.

Now that the Ministry of War officials had stepped forward to settle this matter, why were you saying it couldn’t work?

Xie Yanlai shook off his arm. “How can this be finished? The fight isn’t over yet. No victor has been decided.”

What! The officer’s eyes widened. Still want to fight!

“Young Master!” he shouted.

In his surprise, he forgot the official title and called out the informal nickname they used in private.

Principal Official Zhu heard it and scoffed, “Captain Xie is impressive indeed—Young Master at home, and Young Master in the border army too.”

The officer’s face flushed red. By position, he wasn’t lower than Xie Yanlai, and his seniority was even higher. Xie Yanlai was the commanding officer in charge of entering the capital this time, but calling him Young Master was really inappropriate. Instead, it made Xie Yanlai appear arrogant and domineering in the military.

“Lord Zhu, you misunderstand,” he hastily explained. “It’s not that Captain Xie is a ‘master’ in the military. This is just—our nickname for him. We’re all rough men in the military, not so particular about such things. Captain Xie, he is very—”

Principal Official Zhu smiled. “Military officer, you’re being too modest. I think you’re quite particular. Otherwise, why don’t you call me ‘Young Master’?”

The officer was left speechless. In a verbal sparring match with a civil official, how could he be a match?

Xie Yanlai pushed him aside forcefully.

“Go on, go on. Young Master is Young Master in the military—so what?” He raised his eyebrows and said, “Young Master is impressive, so everyone respects me as master. That’s how it is in our military—impressive people are ‘masters.’ Not like some people who are called ‘my lord’ merely because they have an official hat on their heads.”

Principal Official Zhu’s expression turned angry. “Who are you talking about?”

The officer quickly reached out to restrain Xie Yanlai, stopping him from speaking further. How infuriating this Young Master’s words could be—they had learned that long ago.

Other clerks also hurried to restrain Principal Official Zhu. A son of the Xie family, what was strange about arrogance? Xie Yanfang spoke pleasantly in court, but no one considered him a good person either.

The officials restrained Principal Official Zhu, but the officer couldn’t restrain Xie Yanlai.

Xie Yanlai shook him off and descended the steps.

“I’m telling you all,” he said, no longer staring at Principal Official Zhu but looking at the surrounding Capital Guard soldiers, “Young Master is arrogant because I’m impressive. The soldiers I lead are also impressive. Being impressive, we’re qualified to be picky and choosy. We should be arrogant!”

These words instantly caused the Capital Guard soldiers who had quieted down to become clamorous. This time, even when several clerks shouted loudly, they couldn’t quiet them down.

“Xie Yanlai! What exactly do you want to do!” an official roared angrily.

The servant kneeling on the ground blocked Xie Yanlai. “Ninth Young Master, you can’t cause more trouble!”

Several more people squeezed in from outside—some young masters calling out “Ninth Brother” and “Ninth Elder Brother” to Xie Yanlai, and one chubby young master shouting “Ninth Uncle” as he rushed over.

“Stop making trouble,” the chubby young master reached out to grab Xie Yanlai, his face flushed red—whether from excitement or anger, no one could tell. His voice changed pitch as he shouted, “Don’t forget your current status—”

He had just touched Xie Yanlai’s arm when Xie Yanlai grabbed his hand, lifted his foot, and kicked him to the ground on his knees. The rest of his words turned into a wail.

“When is it your turn to manage me?” Xie Yanlai planted his foot on him.

The other young masters instantly retreated, their expressions both angry and fearful.

“Xie Yanlai—” Xie Xiao, pinned to the ground, gritted his teeth and said in a low voice, “This is outside—”

At home, behind closed doors, brothers could fight however they wanted, but outside they were still a harmonious family.

This was outside, in full view of everyone.

“Don’t you care about face?”

Xie Yanlai bent down, pressed his hand on his face, and asked in a low voice, “Do you know why you’re alive?”

What nonsense was that? Xie Xiao’s chubby face and small eyes were pressed by Xie Yanlai’s hand until they were almost a slit. The young man’s face so close became blurred, only those eyes revealing coldness and pity.

Pity?

Who pitied whom?

“Xie Yanlai, you—” Xie Xiao shouted.

Xie Yanlai interrupted him. “I’ll tell you—you’re alive just so I can beat you.” Having said this, he raised his hand and delivered a slap.

Xie Xiao let out a miserable cry.

The people around were also startled. Not only were the Xie family young masters frightened, but the officials and officers also widened their eyes. This Xie Yanlai was truly arrogant and domineering both inside and outside his family!

To actually beat his own family member like this!

Xie Yanlai kicked Xie Xiao aside, rolled up his sleeves, and casually pulled the long blade from the officer’s waist.

The officer was shocked back to his senses. “Young—Xie! What are you going to do!”

Xie Yanlai paid him no attention. The long blade twirled in his hand, flashing with cold light. The Xie family young masters couldn’t help but retreat again, and the officials also moved away.

“Xie Yanlai!” Principal Official Zhu shouted. “This is a military camp. What do you intend to do?”

“In a military camp, naturally I’ll do what soldiers do,” Xie Yanlai said. “Come on, I, Xie Yanlai, will fight you—”

Xie Yanlai turned the long blade and aimed it at the densely packed Capital Guard soldiers before him.

“Let you pampered soldiers see that we’re invincible under heaven, we’re this impressive, we’re this arrogant!”

The Capital Guard soldiers were first stunned, then furious. What pampered soldiers? Who were the pampered soldiers!

This man surnamed Xie was the one who looked like a spoiled dandy!

“Fight then fight!”

“Brothers, let him know that we don’t eat idle food in the capital!”

If earlier this place was like boiling water, now it had turned into a quagmire. Principal Official Zhu and the other officials were instantly submerged and powerless to struggle.

Once again, soldiers galloped through the capital, throwing the capital into chaos.

“They really are fighting outside the capital—”

……

……

Deep within the Imperial Palace, it was quiet and solemn.

The Imperial Guards stood silently. Eunuchs and palace maids walked with dignity and silence. The clacking of footsteps was particularly noticeable here, drawing gazes, but upon seeing who was walking quickly, everyone immediately looked straight ahead, eyes not wandering.

“Xiao Man!”

A’Le stood outside the hall looking around. Seeing the girl walking quickly, she hurriedly waved.

“Hurry up! Why are you so slow? Run quickly.”

Xiao Man immediately slowed her pace. A’Le simply ran over herself to meet her, giggling, “Sister, I misspoke. I should be the one running quickly to meet you.”

Xiao Man hummed and said, “It’s him. He got into a fight with people at the Capital Guard camp.”

Before her words fell, A’Le whooshed toward the hall, leaving Xiao Man behind in the blink of an eye.

Xiao Man was both annoyed and amused. When she entered the hall, A’Le had already finished relaying the message.

“Miss,” she sighed helplessly again. “This A’Jiu—after all this time without seeing him, he’s still the same. No improvement at all.”

Chu Zhao didn’t know the person who came was Xie Yanlai.

Zhong Changrong hadn’t written a letter. Now learning it was Xie Yanlai, Chu Zhao understood why Uncle Zhong hadn’t written in advance to tell her.

There was no need—a messenger might not run faster than Xie Yanlai.

Sure enough, not only did Xie Yanlai run fast, he caused trouble fast too. He hadn’t even entered the capital proper yet, and he’d already livened up the capital.

“They say it was because he was picky about food and drink and had a verbal conflict with the Capital Guard’s kitchen staff. One thing led to another and they started fighting,” Xiao Man relayed the information that Little Rabbit and the others had gathered.

A’Le curled her lip, not surprised at all. “He is very picky. I knew sooner or later he’d get beaten. I wanted to beat him so many times myself.” She then asked Chu Zhao, “Miss, didn’t you want to beat him too?”

Chu Zhao laughed heartily. “Yes, all because we couldn’t beat him—no choice.”

“This time, he should be able to be beaten,” Xiao Man said.

Both A’Le and Chu Zhao looked at her.

A’Le furrowed her brow. “Really?”

Although, well, she did want this brat to be taught a lesson, but actually hearing he was going to be beaten, for some reason she felt a bit unhappy?

“That brat is slippery,” A’Le emphasized. “Not just anyone can beat him.”

“No matter how slippery he is, in full view of everyone, in a military sparring match, what tricks can he pull?” Xiao Man said, relaying the news Little Rabbit brought again. “Besides, he’s fighting dozens of people alone.”

One person fighting dozens?

Chu Zhao sat up straight. Was this a fight? Wasn’t this a gang beating?

……

……

“Charge him—”

A roar erupted from the crowd.

A soldier built like a mountain charged toward Xie Yanlai. His pillar-like legs pounded on the ground—boom, boom, boom. The soldiers standing around, and even the common people watching from afar, felt themselves trembling.

All eyes followed the burly soldier and focused on another figure in the field.

The young man was tall and thin, with bundled sleeves. Compared to the burly soldier, he was like a slender willow by the river. But in the next moment, the slender willow also charged forward.

He was also going to charge him?

Wasn’t that like an egg hitting a rock?

Thinking of the scene of an egg hitting a rock, the surrounding masses of Capital Guard soldiers let out shouts. The angry roars of the few dozen border army soldiers were swallowed up.

The sparring ground wasn’t very large. In the blink of an eye, the two collided. A heavy, muffled sound arose. However, the egg didn’t shatter. Xie Yanlai seemed to be knocked flying, but he swayed like a willow branch. His body turned from the front and moved to the burly soldier’s side, both hands striking hard at the soldier’s ribs.

The soldier was just burly—he wasn’t actually made of stone. Hit in his weak spot, he let out a muffled groan and swung his fist fiercely at Xie Yanlai.

The heavy blow bent Xie Yanlai’s form, and he let out a muffled groan, but he still wasn’t sent flying or knocked down. Instead, borrowing the force of this blow, he spun behind the burly soldier and kicked up with flying feet.

The burly soldier staggered. He tried to steady himself and turn around, but Xie Yanlai gave him no chance. His flying kicks came in rapid succession like shadows, from the back to the legs. When his ankle was struck, the burly soldier could no longer steady himself and fell forward with a thud.

When the mountain fell, the earth shook.

Clamor also arose around them. Compared to the earlier provocative ruckus, this time it was frustrated sighs. The frustrated groans lacked momentum and were instantly drowned out by the border army’s cheers.

“Good!”

“Young Master is impressive!”

Amid the clamor, Xie Yanlai straightened up. Looking at the burly soldier on the ground, he raised his eyebrows and smiled. Then he surveyed his surroundings, especially the Capital Guard soldiers surrounding him on three sides.

“Next one!” he said lazily. “Come again.”

The border army was few in number, only occupying one side. Hearing Xie Yanlai shout “come again,” their excited clamor paused slightly.

“Master Niu, how many is this for Young Master?” a soldier asked in a low voice.

Officer Niu’s face was flushed red—whether from excitement or something else. He said, “The tenth. The next one will be the eleventh.”

Another soldier said urgently, “We can’t keep fighting! No matter how impressive Young Master is, he can’t take on this kind of wheel battle.”

You don’t need to tell us that! Officer Niu thought. The young man had his back to them, so his face couldn’t be seen clearly. His form stood ramrod straight, but when he stood up, his hand pressed his waist, and the small movement of clenching his fist to resist pain didn’t escape Officer Niu’s gaze.

“Master Niu, we know Young Master wants to intimidate these guys, but he can’t keep winning forever,” a soldier said in a low voice. “Once he’s defeated, he’ll still be mocked. Better to quit while ahead—”

Officer Niu looked at the young man standing in the field—upright yet languid. As he spoke, another person stepped forward from the watching Capital Guard soldiers.

“I’ll compete with you—”

When this soldier rushed out, Xie Yanlai said not a word more. He lifted his foot and charged forward. Before the onlookers could react, the two were fighting, kicking up flying dust.

The atmosphere around them immediately became clamorous again.

Their voices were also drowned out. Several people saw Officer Niu’s mouth move.

“Old Niu, what did you say?” several people shouted loudly, only able to hear their own voices.

Officer Niu could also only hear himself shout, “He’s already fought eleven! Even if he loses or is defeated, who would go mock him!”

He stood with hands on his hips, watching the two trading blows in the field.

“Who would dare mock him!”