Vulgar and filthy language from the marketplace—many people weren’t unfamiliar with it, but this was in the court assembly!

Even the eunuch standing beside Shen Lang was scared witless!

Only at this moment did everyone realize: this Young Master Dingfei was truly not what they’d imagined. After all, he’d entered a den of thieves like the Heavenly Teach. Just listening to the way he spoke, the Xiao clan would surely suffer!

Officials from the Ministry of Rites always emphasized the word “propriety.” If this had been an ordinary occasion, they would have long stepped forward to reprimand him. But right now, looking at Xiao Dingfei, then at the Emperor, they pondered that this was the Emperor’s lifesaver.

Didn’t dare speak, didn’t dare speak.

Every one of them buried their heads down, acting like turtles retreating into their shells.

Xiao Yuan said indignantly: “Your Majesty!”

Shen Lang’s face fluctuated at such crude words, his brow furrowing with some difficulty.

But Xiao Dingfei had long prepared his words and likewise addressed him: “Of all virtues, filial piety is foremost. As a son unable to repay his loving mother’s kindness—that is already unfilial. This minister has no choice, this knot in my heart cannot be untied. If Your Majesty insists on forcing me, you might as well bind me up under the name of Heavenly Teach rebel and throw me into prison. This minister would be done with it all, dying clean!”

Shen Lang immediately said: “How could that be allowed!”

He glanced at Xiao Yuan and sighed: “Even a wise judge has difficulty settling family disputes—I cannot judge this either. You have merit in rescuing me. Before all the people under heaven, how could I repay kindness with enmity? Wouldn’t that put me in an unrighteous position? Since you’ve returned to the capital, there’s time to resolve this knot with Duke Xiao—no need to rush. First recuperate yourself, and another day enter the palace to pay respects to the Empress Dowager. As for other matters, we’ll discuss them later. Court is dismissed.”

As his words landed, as if afraid these matters would cling to him, he flicked his sleeve and walked out from the Golden Throne Hall.

The eunuchs followed, calling out the dismissal.

Though Xiao Yuan had towering rage, it was all suppressed back down. His chest ached painfully. Having no choice, he followed the other ministers in bowing down together, calling out in unison “respectfully seeing you off.” When he rose, with a dark and gloomy face, he was about to grab Xiao Dingfei and unleash his fury, but looking up, where was anyone left in the hall?

Xiao Dingfei had long since scrambled up from the ground. Outside the hall, he inquired of the eunuchs standing at attendance with hands down: “Brothers, where’s the best brothel in the capital? When can the gold and silver His Majesty bestowed be delivered to my place?”

The ones guarding outside were just minor eunuchs—how had they ever seen such behavior?

Immediately they were frightened pale.

Though the Xiao clan was indeed powerful, having been arrogant and overbearing for many years, they’d naturally offended quite a few colleagues in the court.

Some with malicious hearts had already seen the signs.

Just after court dismissed, three to five officials surrounded him, congratulating him and cozying up to Xiao Dingfei. In no time at all, they were walking off with arms around shoulders, not even glancing at Xiao Yuan once!

It was almost imaginable that the dignified Duke Dingguo would soon become a laughingstock!

Xie Wei watched Xiao Yuan’s flustered and exasperated appearance from afar, his face bland and even. He even walked forward to console him with a few words, smiling: “Why should the Duke mind? Presumably your son hasn’t been in the capital for many years and has many misunderstandings about you. Since you conduct yourself properly, given time, Young Master Dingfei will surely realize it’s all a misunderstanding and apologize to you.”

Better not to say anything—saying this was like adding fuel to the fire!

But while Xiao Yuan dared to lose his temper at Xiao Dingfei, he absolutely didn’t dare lose it at Xie Wei. He could only say through gritted teeth: “I’m grateful for Imperial Tutor Xie’s comfort.”

Both having gone to Tongzhou to suppress the Heavenly Teach, Xiao Yuan received a scolding while Xie Wei gained real power in the Ministry of Works—effectively promoted a rank. It could be called riding high on success. When he smiled, it only made people feel like an immortal descending from the clouds of the ninth heaven.

Others also surrounded him to offer congratulations.

This made Xiao Yuan appear even more bedraggled and utterly embarrassed.

After Xie Wei finished dealing with everyone and was about to leave, a young eunuch hurriedly came to summon him to the Southern Study.

One could guess it was Shen Lang summoning him.

When Xie Wei arrived at the Southern Study and entered, he saw Shen Lang was actually playing chess with someone. Sitting across from him was a monk whose appearance wasn’t particularly gentle—he even carried a bit of fierceness. Upon seeing Xie Wei arrive, he very naturally stood up, pressed his palms together in salutation, and said with a slight smile: “Amitabha, Lord Xie, greetings.”

Xie Wei bowed slightly and also smiled: “It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen Master Yuanji. Looking at you now, you seem increasingly peaceful—it appears your Buddhist teachings have progressed further.”

Yuanji was very modest: “Before you, I dare not speak of Buddhist teachings.”

These two—one was the current Imperial Preceptor, the other was the Emperor’s tutor.

Back when Shen Lang was able to smoothly ascend the throne, he’d relied on these two’s full support, so they were quite familiar with each other.

Shen Lang didn’t need to say much.

He tossed a chess piece from his hand back into the box and only said: “Just now I was discussing with the Master about that Wan Xiuzi from the Heavenly Teach. This scoundrel lost to the Master in a debate on Buddhist teachings back in the day but wouldn’t give up his treacherous heart. Now he’s bringing calamity to the world—truly a great threat to my heart. This Young Master Dingfei who returned this time—what does Master think?”

Xie Wei counter-asked: “What does Your Majesty think?”

Shen Lang said: “I truly haven’t seen Dingfei for twenty years—how could I completely remember his appearance? Moreover, twenty years have passed in a flash. Childhood appearances don’t count—people change as they grow. Only when I mentioned childhood matters with him in the hall, I also tested him. He still remembered some amusing incidents. I deliberately made up things that didn’t happen, and he had no impression or didn’t dare confirm whether they existed or not—this actually made it seem more genuine. Only I truly dare not believe that the Dingfei from back then has become like this…”

His eyes flickered, actually somewhat inscrutable.

Xie Wei said: “If what Young Master Dingfei said in the hall is true, the Heavenly Teach raised him intending to use him as a puppet—they couldn’t possibly have taught him literary and martial strategies. Even if he had the talent of Zhongyong in the past, to learn nothing later and become useless is ordinary. Compared to whether this person’s identity is genuine, Your Majesty is probably more worried this is a scheme set by the Heavenly Teach, right?”

Shen Lang then sighed: “The one who knows me is Master!”

He stood up, pacing with hands behind his back in the Southern Study: “If the Heavenly Teach truly wants to make him a puppet, how do we know his coming to the capital now isn’t the Heavenly Teach’s scheme? Wan Xiuzi is full of cunning schemes—he cannot be underestimated. Only…”

Xie Wei continued: “Only this person is after all Your Majesty’s lifesaver from the past, and there are the countless voices of all the people under heaven. Your Majesty finds it very difficult.”

Shen Lang said: “The thorny aspect lies precisely here.”

Hearing this, Xie Wei laughed: “Why should Your Majesty worry?”

Both Shen Lang and Monk Yuanji looked toward him.

Xie Wei said: “Since Your Majesty remembers the old friendship and there are the countless voices of all under heaven, showing Young Master Dingfei double kindness and virtue is the natural principle. Allowing him to speak wildly in the Golden Throne Hall sufficiently demonstrates the depth of your grace. If this matter is a Heavenly Teach scheme, it will reveal flaws sooner or later. Rather than releasing Young Master Dingfei, better to keep him under your nose to watch. If he truly has no more connection with the Heavenly Teach, Your Majesty naturally need not be in a dilemma. If he’s still entangled with the Heavenly Teach, Your Majesty will have already treated him generously. At that time, killing him would be his own doing—who under heaven could criticize?”

Shen Lang pondered for a long while and said: “Thus, it can be considered that I’ve done all I righteously could. By the way, I heard you were ambushed on your way back to the capital?”

Xie Wei nodded: “All the assassins were death warriors. It seemed they came for Young Master Dingfei.”

Shen Lang asked: “Was anyone left alive?”

Xie Wei said plainly: “In the end, one was left alive, only I saw he was a death warrior and knew no words could be gotten from him, so I ordered someone to kill him.”

“Ah, like that…” Shen Lang seemed somewhat not to have expected this. He lowered his eyes to ponder for a moment, as if feeling some regret. “That’s really quite a pity.”

Only he had no intention of pursuing the matter at all.

Xie Wei said: “It was this minister being too rash.”

Shen Lang quickly waved his hand, saying: “No matter, it’s just a death warrior. Presumably it was the Heavenly Teach’s side with their treacherous hearts refusing to die, wanting to kill Young Master Dingfei to silence him. Thinking he was with the Heavenly Teach for so long, he must know quite a bit about the Heavenly Teach’s internal affairs. Now that he’s just returned to the capital it’s not quite suitable, but later you can have him speak more about it. I’ll have to trouble Master Xie to take pains over this.”

Xie Wei bowed: “This minister should naturally atone for my errors through merit.”

Shen Lang smiled: “Master Xie’s words are too serious.”

Only then were the proper matters finished. He invited Xie Wei to sit down for a game of chess before ordering the attending palace eunuch to personally escort Xie Wei out of the palace.

After Xie Wei left the Southern Study, Monk Yuanji looked at the black and white pieces locked in fierce combat on the chessboard, a thoughtful look in his eyes, and said: “If a death warrior was captured alive and brought back to the capital, it wouldn’t necessarily be impossible to pry open his mouth—after all, who isn’t afraid of death? Especially one who’s walked before the gates of the King of Hell once. That Xie Ju’an captured him yet directly killed him—this really doesn’t fit with his steady and cautious nature.”

But Shen Lang let out a long breath.

He lifted his hand and lightly swept—the chess pieces on the board were all knocked to the ground.

He laughed coldly: “If Master Xie didn’t kill this death warrior, how would we know whether bringing him back to the capital and interrogating him would reveal the mastermind to be the Heavenly Teach or someone else? If he hadn’t stopped the assassins, the one who might have died was my ‘lifesaver.’ If he’d captured the assassins and brought them back, the one revealed might have been Duke Dingguo Xiao Yuan. Between two difficulties, taking the middle path—better to kill this death warrior cleanly. After all, if the Heavenly Teach truly had such formidable death warriors, why wouldn’t they have used them earlier? Kill all the officials, large and small, clean. Either kill in one strike, or don’t make a move at all. Though Xiao Yuan is my uncle, he really causes trouble, doing things uncleanly and still needs Master Xie to clean up after him! If this time he hadn’t encountered Master, if what he did behind the scenes was exposed, wouldn’t it make all under heaven suspect what happened back then?!”

Between his words, there was already a murderous aura.

Monk Yuanji then knew the Emperor had already developed killing intent toward the Xiao clan. Xiao Dingfei might truly become a good chess piece.

Only…

He was more curious about another point: for instance, those two people under Xie Wei’s command, Dao and Qin, were a bit too formidable. The Duke sent a squad of death warriors, yet they couldn’t gain any advantage.

Xiao Dingfei only felt that his past life had never had such a glorious moment. Fair-weather friends, drinking and eating companions—the whole table was full of court officials and scions of aristocratic families. Raising cups together, they all called each other brothers.

Never mind what these people’s intentions were—drinking together, eating together, they were all buddies!

He completely performed the dandy airs he’d cultivated over many years to perfection. All sorts of bawdy jokes and amusing words came readily from his mouth, winning roaring applause from the whole hall from time to time.

After finishing the drinking session, he lay down in the warm private room and actually slept until dusk in one go.

The steward sent by the Duke’s manor to fetch him had long been half-dead with anger downstairs.

But he was in no hurry. After waking up, he lazily and unsteadily descended the stairs with uneven steps. Seeing the group waiting below, he didn’t even deign to glance at them. He jumped onto the waiting carriage outside by himself, but suddenly seemed to remember something and stood still on the carriage shaft.

The steward couldn’t help but urge him through gritted teeth.

Unexpectedly, he actually said: “First go to the Jiang Shilang manor. I heard Second Miss Jiang is exceptionally beautiful—even better than that bullshit Xiao Shu. When arriving in the capital, one must first pay respects to the local boss. I must personally go pay a visit.”

The steward was immediately dumbfounded.

The Duke Dingguo manor intended to bring Xiao Dingfei back to see what he was really like. The whole household, high and low, had practically waited for him all day. At this juncture, he actually said he wanted to go to the Jiang manor?

The steward was originally a confidant of the current Duke’s wife Lady Lu. Naturally, when he heard a “Young Master Dingfei” had suddenly emerged, he knew it wasn’t good.

There was only one position of heir.

Originally, Young Master Xiao Ye was a sure thing. But with the addition of Xiao Dingfei, who was also the Emperor’s lifesaver, heaven knows what kind of struggle would erupt in the Duke’s manor.

Following Lady Lu and loyal to Xiao Ye, the steward naturally found Xiao Dingfei displeasing everywhere he looked.

He immediately wanted to refuse.

But on second thought—if he was so ignorant of propriety, wasn’t that just perfect? If this kind of reputation spread, wanting to seize the Duke manor’s heir position would be a pipe dream!

So the steward’s eyeballs rolled around, and he actually didn’t object. He truly ordered the coachman to drive the carriage to take him to the Jiang manor, presented the calling card, and straightforwardly said he wanted to pay a visit to Second Miss Jiang.

This really frightened Jiang Boyou.

Immediately followed by fury.

During this morning’s court assembly at the Golden Throne Hall, he’d seen clearly—how could he not know what kind of absurd scoundrel this newly returned Young Master Dingfei was? Coming to the Jiang manor was one thing, but he didn’t even pay respects to him, the head of the household, and directly said he wanted to see his daughter!

Outrageous!

In his study, Jiang Boyou was so angry he directly slapped the tea table and stood up, loudly saying: “Absurd! What kind of propriety is this! Quickly have someone chase him out! How can I let him ruin my daughter’s reputation?!”

Chang Zhuo, who was attending in the room, trembled fearfully, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

But he stood rooted in place as if his feet had grown roots.

Seeing him standing there without moving for ages, Jiang Boyou angrily said: “Why haven’t you gone yet?”

Chang Zhuo smiled bitterly: “Second, Second Miss happened to pass by and overheard. She’s already gone to meet him.”

“…”

Jiang Boyou was completely stunned.