Wang Cheng’s mouth had only ever softened when facing his own brother. Toward everyone else, even his father never received a kind word from him, let alone this niece.

The two had always looked unfavorably upon each other. If she weren’t Wang Yan’s daughter, how could he tolerate her being so presumptuous in Jingzhou?

What Wang Cheng decided to do, no one could stop. So he cracked the whip, striking Wang Siniang’s hand and also hitting the horse’s neck.

His horse neighed and reared up on its hind legs before bolting. The driver sitting on the cart shaft was caught off guard, leaning backward and nearly falling from the cart. But Wang Cheng, standing on the shaft, only swayed slightly before standing firm. Seeing Wang Siniang’s horse also startled and backing away, with her spinning in circles on horseback, he laughed heartily with great delight: “You want to stop me? First go learn some martial skills from your lord!”

Wang Cheng’s guards quickly spurred their horses to give chase. By the time Wang Siniang finally calmed her mount, Wang Cheng had long since disappeared.

She angrily cracked her whip, lashing the air several times before finally calling over an attendant and instructing: “Go after Uncle. Tell him to restrain his temper for once, preserve himself, and keep his temperament in check—he mustn’t be too harsh.”

The attendant’s scalp tingled, but under Wang Siniang’s gaze, he still nodded and silently departed.

Wang Cheng, receiving Wang Siniang’s mockery and warning, didn’t take it seriously at all. That’s right—he didn’t consider it advice but rather Wang Siniang’s ridicule.

Because there were refugees causing trouble on the road (this was also one reason Wang Cheng was unwilling to support the Prince of Langya—he had said he would pacify the refugee rebellion, but after Wang Dun dispatched troops, the rebellious refugees actually increased, already spreading from the Poyang area to affect Jingzhou), Wang Cheng had to change routes, passing through Yuzhang.

What a coincidence—Wang Dun was also in Yuzhang.

Wang Dun was clearly the Inspector of Guangzhou, yet he was staying in the Yuzhang Commandery governor’s residence. Wang Cheng couldn’t stand his disregard for court edicts, privately leading troops away from Guangzhou, and ignoring the chaos in the Central Plains. Upon entering the city, he went straight to the governor’s residence and, looking at Wang Dun’s face, began his mockery.

“Chuzhong truly puts the realm first. While the Central Plains suffers and the people are in misery, you争夺天下. Big brother said you had great talent. In my view, you don’t just have great talent—you’re absolutely peerless in the world. Talent unmatched, greed unmatched, falseness unmatched. You’re truly the greatest hypocrite of our time.”

Wang Dun was furious and immediately counterattacked: “Don’t judge a gentleman’s heart with a petty man’s thinking. Can’t you see Zhao Hanzhang’s ambitions? A young ruler with a powerful minister—it’s just repeating the past.”

He suppressed his anger and told Wang Cheng: “Among the imperial clan now, only the Prince of Langya is older and has great ambitions. Supporting him can break this decades-long pattern of weak rulers and strong ministers.”

Wang Cheng scoffed: “The realm’s territory is lost, the people reduced to animals, the state on the verge of collapse, and you’re still thinking about supporting the Prince of Langya to fight internally with Zhao Hanzhang?”

Wang Dun’s face remained calm as he said confidently: “To resist foreign aggression, we must first stabilize internal affairs. As long as we quell internal rebellion and the entire nation is united, mere Xiongnu—what are they to fear?”

Wang Cheng flew into a rage and berated him: “If the Xiongnu aren’t to be feared, why did you flee?”

Wang Dun’s emotions also became agitated: “Gou Xi was addicted to pleasures, and the Emperor harbored thoughts of independence. The court officials each had their own agendas. Forget adding one more person like me—when hearts are divided, adding ten more like me would be useless.”

He continued: “Could Guangzhou’s officials and soldiers in battle have stopped Liu Cong from attacking Yun City, or prevented Gou Xi’s great defeat? This all stems from weak rulers and strong ministers. If the Prince of Langya controlled the court, with everyone united, this calamity could be eliminated.”

Wang Cheng: “The Prince of Langya? Hah! He has ambition but lacks true vision. Once he holds power, I fear he’ll have long forgotten the Central Plains and northern territories.”

“Impossible. What emperor doesn’t want to unify the realm and achieve eternal glory?” Wang Dun said confidently: “As long as we’re unified internally and everyone is of one mind, I can guarantee he will launch a northern expedition.”

Wang Dun was confident that if given the nation’s full resources, he could definitely recover the lost territories. “Liu Yuan and his ilk—cruel and without virtue. The Han people in the Central Plains long to return. When the time comes, with me commanding abroad, elder brother managing internally, and His Majesty fully supporting us, we will certainly recover all lost territories.”

Wang Cheng snorted coldly: “Women remarry, people’s hearts change easily. How do you know that by then your heart won’t change, Maohong’s heart won’t change, and the Prince of Langya’s heart won’t change?”

“Zhao Hanzhang has the capacity now to recover lost territories. The difference between recovery today and recovery later is that now fewer people will die.” Wang Cheng sneered: “Or is it that you’re unwilling to let Zhao Hanzhang claim this unprecedented achievement, so you obstruct her at every turn?”

“Ah, no—how could it be ‘letting her’? With your current prestige and abilities, how are you qualified to be mentioned in the same breath as Zhao Hanzhang?” Wang Cheng spat directly at him. “They call you the Wang clan’s qilin child—you can’t even compare to a young woman, so you resort to underhanded methods in private.”

Wang Dun was infuriated by his words, his mind throbbing. In terms of verbal sparring, Wang Yan held five parts of the realm’s skill, Wang Cheng held four parts, and the remaining one part was divided among everyone else.

So Wang Dun truly couldn’t out-argue him.

Unable to win verbally, with anger surging in his chest and nowhere to vent, his eyes reddened. Unable to restrain himself any longer, he directly reached out and grabbed Wang Cheng’s throat…

Wang Cheng’s throat was seized. For a moment unable to speak, he could only stare wide-eyed while forcefully trying to pry away Wang Dun’s hand.

Wang Cheng was tall and powerfully built with great strength. In his desperation, he actually managed to pry open Wang Dun’s fingers. After a long moment, he finally managed to make a sound: “Chu…zhong…”

Chuzhong was Wang Dun’s courtesy name. The sound entering his ears restored some of his rationality. Under Wang Cheng’s forceful prying, he slowly released his fingers.

Wang Cheng took the opportunity to break free from his grasp, retreating several steps. He bent over, gasping for breath, then coughed violently.

His eyes were bloodshot. He only glanced once at Wang Dun, who was staring dazedly at his own hands, then turned and headed outside.

Wang Cheng covered his throat and stumbled out. Seeing his guards, he immediately said: “Wang Dun wants to kill me!”

As the words fell, Wang Dun also rushed out. His face was full of regret as he stepped forward and grabbed Wang Cheng: “Brother, this was my fault. I lost control. Come inside—I’ll pour you tea and apologize.”

Wang Cheng shook off his hand and snorted coldly: “You want me to go in, so I go in? Just now you nearly strangled me to death!”

Wang Dun felt ashamed and continued to pull at his sleeve: “It was my mistake. I became agitated and lost control. Come inside—I’ll apologize to you.”

Wang Cheng raised his chin high: “You want me to come in, so I come in? Just now you nearly choked me to death!”

Wang Dun gritted his teeth: “I’ll kneel and apologize to you.”

Only then did Wang Cheng hum and haw before following him back inside, waving at his guards.

His guards didn’t take it to heart either, thinking it was just the two cousins having a quarrel.

Wang Dun pulled Wang Cheng back into the room and invited him to sit in the seat of honor. He turned to pour tea but instead walked to the side and grabbed the sword hanging on the wall.

He drew it in one motion and turned to strike at Wang Cheng.

Wang Cheng’s eyes widened as he dodged while shouting: “Wang Dun, have you gone mad?”

Wang Dun’s expression was somber, his earlier hesitation now vanished, only coldness remaining in his eyes. “Different paths cannot work together. I never wanted to kill brother, but since you won’t join with me, I can only wrong you. For the great cause, anyone can die.”