Chapter 218 - 111: Fine, Fine, Fine! So You’re Messing With Me, Huh?

Chapter 218: Chapter 111: Fine, Fine, Fine! So You’re Messing With Me, Huh?

In the Imperial Study.

Candlelight flickered brightly atop the jade pillars and gilded walls, yet for some reason, the room felt dim.

An occasional breeze would drift in from outside the hall, always making the candle flames dance.

Zhao Huan leaned on the desk with both hands. He didn’t know when he had grown a few more white hairs. His face was etched with exhaustion, showing none of the spirited vigor he’d displayed earlier that day at the Imperial Clan Court while instructing the young talents.

In truth, though his face had been ruddy under the public gaze today, his advanced age was already showing through.

Now, hunched over and flipping through a book, he looked even more like a man in his twilight years.

An unknown amount of time passed.

Eunuch Li’s voice came from outside the door.

"Your Majesty, the Ninth Prince has arrived!"

"Let him in."

"Yes! This way, Ninth Prince!"

...

Zhao Yong, his face pale, entered the Imperial Study in a daze.

The moment his back foot crossed the threshold, he heard a CREAK.

He turned his head and saw that Eunuch Li had already closed the grand doors to the Imperial Study.

Zhao Yong was speechless.

The Imperial Study felt unnervingly quiet. Besides Zhao Huan’s slightly erratic breathing, the only sound he could hear was the THUMP-THUMP of his own heart.

In the entire, vast Imperial Study, it was just him and Zhao Huan.

"Yong!"

Zhao Huan waved him over with a benevolent smile. "Why are you standing? Come, sit!"

"Yes!"

Zhao Yong forced himself to steady his breathing, turned, and walked slowly toward Zhao Huan. "Thank you for granting me a seat, Father," he said respectfully.

Only after bowing did he cautiously sit down in a chair to the side.

Zhao Huan closed the book with trembling hands and looked at him with great satisfaction. "In this Martial Arts Competition, both your cultivation and your martial arts have improved significantly. You’re not the least bit inferior to your two elder brothers at their peak. You managed your subordinates well and your strategy was sound. Though it looked like a narrow victory, you actually defeated Zhao Xie by a considerable margin. Your father is most gratified!"

"Father, you praise me too much!"

Zhao Yong quickly replied, "Ultimately, luck was a factor. If your son hadn’t trained a little harder and managed to win the final match by a fluke, the Ninth Prince’s Mansion might have lost."

His voice was relatively steady, but his heart was pounding with anxiety.

Eunuch Li’s words echoed in his mind: "Why collude with the Demon Sect and turn on your own kin?"

When he’d heard that, he had forced himself to remain calm and asked Eunuch Li if he was joking. The eunuch had simply smiled and said that these were Zhao Huan’s words, that he was just a messenger, and that he didn’t know if Zhao Huan was joking or not.

He had nearly suffocated with anxiety on the way here. He never expected that upon arriving at the Imperial Study, Zhao Huan would not mention the matter at all, instead just praising him with fatherly affection.

"No, no, no!"

Zhao Huan waved his hand with a smile. "The moment Feng Tianxi was defeated, you had already devised a counter-strategy: a tactical forfeit to salvage the situation. Zhao Xie has no shortage of proud and arrogant subordinates. If they hadn’t listened to your advice, they likely would have lost several more matches. If not for that, Prince Ying’s Mansion would never have had the chance to catch up to you."

Zhao Yong was speechless.

He felt that Zhao Huan’s praise was sincere, but it made his chest feel tight and his breath short.

Zhao Huan looked at him with a kind smile. "I have many children, and every one of them is bright and eager to learn. It is a pity that the draconic aura in their blood is too strong, crushing many a good seedling. Only the eldest and the fourth withstood the pressure. Fortunately, the heavens have not been unkind to me. You and Ci are even a cut above your two elder brothers. Finally, there is someone who can shoulder great responsibility!"

"Father..."

Zhao Yong opened his mouth, unsure of what to say.

Zhao Huan smiled. "I heard that when Ci fought Feng Tianxi, he used the Imperial Extreme Scattering Hand?"

"Yes!"

Zhao Yong lowered his head, hiding the flicker of jealousy in his eyes.

Zhao Huan added with profound meaning, "People from the Imperial Clan Court came to me. They asked if I had taught him personally. I told them no."

Zhao Yong froze for a moment.

’No?’

’Impossible!’

’Don’t tell me he figured it out on his own?’

Zhao Huan didn’t dwell on the issue. "Do you want to learn it? You won the Martial Arts Competition; you can have this as your reward!"

Zhao Yong’s head shot up. He stared at Zhao Huan in disbelief. The emperor’s expression was weary, but his gaze was warm as he looked at him.

His eyes instantly reddened. With a THUD, he knelt before Zhao Huan. "Father, you think of your son so. Your son is overwhelmed with emotion. I have indeed longed to learn the Imperial Extreme Scattering Hand for a long time. But Father, you are exhausted from managing the affairs of the state. Please, prioritize your health. As for the Imperial Extreme Scattering Hand, your son believes that with enough hard work, I can comprehend it on my own."

Zhao Huan was also quite moved. "If all the soldiers and officials of the Great Yu were as self-reliant as you, why would the Great Yu not prosper?"

Zhao Yong wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes. "Your son is just heartbroken for Father. What the Great Yu needs isn’t a foolish child like me, but a wise and Heroic Lord like you, Father. Your son only wishes for Father’s health and long life, nothing more."

"Mmm..."

Zhao Huan seemed lost in thought. He gazed at the bright candles on the jade pillars, his mind wandering.

After a long moment, he asked, "Are you about to begin forging your bones?"

Zhao Yong quickly replied, "Yes!"

"What rank do you have the confidence to reach?"

"Your son has had some breakthroughs cultivating the Imperial Extreme True Qi. Thanks to the Emperor Pill that Father bestowed, reaching the second rank is within reach!"

"Excellent!"

Zhao Huan chuckled. "I remember those old fossils from the Imperial Clan Court coming to argue with me, saying you were unworthy of the Emperor Pill. I sent them all away! It’s all from my private treasury. Since when do they have the authority to meddle so much?"

Zhao Yong was both moved and ashamed. "I am unworthy of this Emperor Pill!"

In truth, he was also curious as to why Zhao Huan was being so good to him.

He recalled that when the Crown Prince had obtained an Emperor Pill, it was only after putting in immense effort to secure the new cultivation technique for Qi Nourishing Grass from the Feng and Zhu families, earning one only after achieving a monumental contribution.