Unruly Phoenix Xiaoyao

Chapter 86: His Majesty Ning's empty pockets

Half of Prince Zhi's side courtyard had been swallowed up by the flames. Prince Zhi himself stood in the streets, looking at Xie Laifu as if he was a dead man. Xie Laifu kowtowed for his life as he spoke of how His Majesty had captured him on the road. Once again, the imperial clansmen were startled by his words. His Majesty came personally to set the fires and kill us?

"Heh," Xie Laifu's words halted at Lou Zigui's cold laugh, and he saw Lou Zigui looking at him. While Prince Zhi looked like he wanted to kill the steward and feed him to the dogs, Supreme Commander Lou had a much calmer gaze. "Do you really need to drag His Majesty into everything?" he asked.

Supreme Commander Lou's speech was short, but it was enough to leave a profound message in the clansmen's minds. What did it mean to drag His Majesty into everything? Clearly, Lou Zigui was telling them that this was all the Grand Preceptor's idea. Everything that His Majesty did was according to the Grand Preceptor's instructions. Xie Laifu wished he could cut his own head off this instant to show that his words were the truth!

"Tell me," Lou Zigui asked, "Why did His Majesty want to knock over the courtyard wall?"

"........" said the imperial clansmen. You still need to ask? Obviously, he was planning to murder us.

Second Steward Xie wanted to tell the truth, but his words stopped at the tip of his tongue. His Majesty had come for the sake of saving a dog--no, a wolf. That wolf was too fat, so it'd gotten stuck in a hole at the bottom of the wall. If I say this, Second Steward Xie thought as he looked at the princes standing around him. Will anyone believe me?

"Take action when the other party doesn't expect it,"[1. Take action when the other party doesn't expect it (出其不意) - chuqibuyi, Lou Zigui is quoting from Sun Zi's here.] Lou Zigui turned towards Prince Zhi, whose face looked even more swollen than before. If it was twice as swollen in the start, now it was double that size. Anyone who saw him would have to stop and stare.

Prince Zhi opened his mouth and spat out some bloody saliva before his gaze on Xie Laifu turned even more fierce. His group had just reached the base of the wall when it toppled inwards. What did that mean? It meant that someone had been keeping watch on them! All of the clansmen that Prince Zhi had invited over to talk strategy had good brains of their own. What Prince Zhi realized, they realized as well. Grand Preceptor Xie not only wanted Prince Zhi's life, but all of theirs as well!

Lou Zigui said, "This one has reminded Prince Zhi in the past to be careful."

Prince Zhi stared at Supreme Commander Lou.

"This one urges prince to release this servant. It'll be all for the better," Lou Zigui recommended.

Prince Zhi's swollen face twisted into an ugly expression as he growled, "You think this prince is afraid of that Xie Wenyuan?"

Lou Zigui laughed. "That wasn't what I meant. It's just that prince has no men on your hands at present, only guards."

Now the imperial clansmen's faces were blanching as well. A powerful dragon couldn't crush a snake in its own haunts. If they wanted to fight Xie Wenyuan in the capital city, there was no way that they'd win.

"Before beating a dog, you have to look at its owner," Supreme Commander Lou said. "Especially since this servant belongs to the Grand Preceptor. Even if prince tore his corpse into 10,000 pieces, what of it?" The implied meaning was that there was no point for Prince Zhi to take out his temper on a servant when he couldn't even presume to touch the Grand Preceptor. If news of that spread, wouldn't he simply be a laughingstock?

Prince Zhi's smile was cold. "If this prince doesn't even dare to kick a dog raised by that Xie Wenyuan, wouldn't I be even more of a laughingstock?"