Chapter 095 - Family Night Talk (2)

Xu Yinhe exhaled slowly. His tone gained a solemn weight, calm but carrying the authority of a man who did not need anger to inspire fear.

“Changtian, do you know what the chance you are asking for represents?”

Xu Yuan’s heart tightened. He was quiet for two seconds, then said, “I know.”

Inside the study of the Chancellor's Manor, wisps of sandalwood incense drifted through the air.

Time passed bit by bit.

Xu Yinhe tapped his fingers lightly on the memorial before him. After a long silence, he sighed. “Changtian, Xinyao once asked me for this same chance. But your father cannot give it.”

Cannot give it. Not will not. Was the Chancellor's Manor powerful? One only had to look at the rumors circulating through the streets and the court, sayings like, “If the Chancellor does not nod, no decree leaves the Golden Throne Hall.”

Beyond that, there was the Calm Sky Merchant Association, rich enough to rival a nation. There were the Calm Sky Martial Halls, spread throughout the prefectures and counties of the Great Flame Empire. And there were the Black Scale Guards, whose name inspired even more dread than the imperial court’s own Secret Investigations Bureau.

All of these proved how the Chancellor's Manor stood at the height of its power. But even so, the lesson from more than ten years ago remained vivid in memory.

Times had changed, and the Chancellor's Manor was no longer what it had once been, yet every step it took was still like walking on thin ice.

And so, Xu Yinhe rejected his third son’s request, just as he had once rejected his adopted daughter Xu Xinyao.

The room sank into silence, but the refusal did not exceed Xu Yuan’s expectations. Destroying the Sword Sect was no child’s game. It was not something as simple as picking up a teacup from the desk and setting it down again.

After a thousand years of accumulation, the sects of the Great Flame Empire had already become an unshakable behemoth.

One wrong link in the chain could very well mean losing the entire game.

“Father...”

“Changtian.” Xu Changge suddenly spoke at that moment.

Xu Yuan looked over.

Xu Changge gently shook his head at him.

Seeing this, Xu Yuan merely smiled at his eldest brother. He realized that his father and eldest brother seemed to have misunderstood something. He was not Xu Xinyao, and he would never be as idealistic as that fourth sister of his.

The Chancellor's Manor’s goal of destroying the Sword Sect and Ran Qingmo’s duty to protect the Sword Sect seemed impossible to reconcile.

But there was clearly plenty of room to maneuver. Ran Qingmo only wanted to protect the Sword Sect. As for what method she used to protect it, she did not necessarily care.

After smiling, Xu Yuan gathered his thoughts and continued, “Father, the opportunity I am asking for will not affect your plan. Also, I am not asking you to leave the Sword Sect a path to survival. I am asking you to give them another choice.”

Xu Changge’s eyes flickered for a moment. He roughly understood what Xu Yuan meant. With a soft sigh, he said nothing more. He did not think highly of this third brother’s idea.

Xu Yinhe’s voice was still deep, calm, and unhurried. “You want to use that girl Ran to make the Sword Sect cooperate with me?”

“Mhm. More or less.”

“A fanciful idea,” Xu Yinhe judged.

Xu Yuan did not get discouraged. “I know you must have tried before, Father. But back then, I imagine you did not have Ran Qingmo as a bridge, did you?”

The sects were not one solid piece of iron. If they were, then no matter how powerful the Chancellor's Manor was, it would not be enough to fight them.

But in the plot of his previous life, after the Sword Sect was destroyed, quite a few sects had chosen to switch sides and join the Chancellor. And since those sects could switch sides, why couldn’t the Sword Sect?

“Heh.” Listening to his third son’s words, Xu Yinhe let out a low chuckle. After a few breaths of silence, he suddenly asked with a hint of meaning, “So when you told your brother earlier that you wanted to go out, it was because you wanted to do this?”

“That is part of the reason.” Xu Yuan did not deny it. But after a pause, he added in a clear voice, “Besides that, I also wish to see this vast world.”

Hearing this, Xu Yinhe suddenly sighed. “I did not agree to your younger sister’s request back then, but I did allow her to go out and travel. Changtian, do you know why?”

Xu Yuan briefly searched through the relevant memories in his mind.

After Xu Xinyao left the capital, she traveled while making friends, doing good deeds, and punishing evil. Three years had passed. Although she was not as famous as their eldest brother, Xu Changge, whose name resounded like thunder, she had now gained some reputation throughout the Great Flame Empire.

And once she had a reputation, the things she did naturally spread as well.

Just like in Xu Yuan’s memories from his previous life, this fourth sister of his moved between the various powers within the Great Flame Empire, using her own methods to mediate their conflicts.

It was ridiculous, yet worthy of respect.

After thinking for a moment, Xu Yuan said softly, “It is like when you submitted memorials asking to reorganize the sects. Xu Xinyao is your adopted daughter. What she does outside can, to a certain extent, represent the attitude of the Chancellor's Manor. By mediating like this, she can numb those sects and noble clans to some extent.”

Hearing this, Xu Changge lightly shook his head beside him, his meaning unclear.

And in the next moment, Xu Yinhe softly corrected him. “That is the result your sister caused, not the reason.”

Xu Yuan was somewhat puzzled. “Mhm? Then why...”

“Because that was the choice she made for herself.”

Xu Yuan fell silent. Standing before the study’s latticed window and gazing out over the imperial capital, Xu Yinhe’s voice was gentle and earnest.

“Changtian, the four of you siblings may all choose your own lives. Whatever you choose, your father will do his best to help. In the past, you chose to drown yourself in worldly desires. Those things, your father could give you. But with the choice you are making now, it will be very difficult for your father to help you further. Are you certain you want to choose this path?”

Xu Yuan froze for a moment. His emotions were complicated, but he broke into a grin. “Of course.”

“Heh.” Xu Yinhe laughed softly, but then his tone suddenly changed. “Changtian, can you tell your father what caused such a great change in you?”

The moment those words came out, Xu Yuan had just opened his mouth, before he could speak, Xu Changge glanced at him almost imperceptibly.

And under that single glance, the space around Xu Yuan seemed to solidify in an instant. A vast pressure came crashing down on him like an avalanche.

Feeling the discomfort, Xu Yuan turned his head without even thinking and glared at Xu Changge, cursing, “Xu Changge, are you sick in the head?”

Xu Changge stared at Xu Yuan for two seconds. Gradually, a trace of awkwardness appeared on his handsome face. Then, as if nothing had happened, he raised a hand and patted away nonexistent dust from his azure robe.

The pressure vanished.

His breathing returned to normal. Xu Yuan gave a light snort and withdrew his gaze. After drawing in a deep breath, his heartbeat was steady as ever.

“Father, there is no special reason, really. After obtaining the Innate Dao Physique, I simply came to understand a few things.”

“What did you come to understand?” Xu Yinhe murmured.

Xu Yuan looked through the latticed window toward the full moon hanging high in the dark night. “Only mediocre people torment themselves over the judgment of mediocre people. Bullying the weak just to satisfy one’s own self-esteem is honestly a very laughable thing. With my current physique and abilities, I am already qualified to do some of the things I want to do.”

Beneath the moonlit night, silence lasted for a long while.

A smile hung at the corner of Xu Yinhe’s lips. “Since that is so, then go and do it. Once this matter is over, your brother will give you the soul ring. That is the limit of what your father can do to help you.”