Chapter 28

The Fourth Prince’s sudden interjection, like a bolt of lightning on a clear day, completely shattered the tense, grim atmosphere.

The Emperor’s brow darkened as he snapped, "If you don't want to listen, get out!"

"I—I dare not, Father!" The Fourth Prince shrank back, his face pale. Ultimately, considering that he was technically a victim in all this, the Emperor spared him a cold look and said nothing more.

Xue Jin'an stared at the Fourth Prince with deep, hollow eyes. He had to admit that human adages often held profound truth—for instance, the idea that fools have foolish luck.

The Fourth Prince’s unexpected outburst had effectively neutralized the cold, oppressive silence of the room. It had severely undermined the impact of Concubine Zhen’s defensive counterattack and, more importantly, bought her time to think.

Code-based life forms could surpass humans in many ways through constant algorithmic upgrades, but they lacked the capacity for true thought. Everything a code-based life form did was inscribed in its programming; its behavior could never deviate from the data recorded in its database. Human thought, however, was boundless. It could soar wildly, conceiving of things that had never been seen or existed, and in a finite moment, it could traverse the vastness of the universe.

Even just three seconds of thinking time was enough for a human.

Concubine Zhen sighed, a look of helplessness and sorrow crossing her face. She gripped her jade prayer beads again, half-closing her eyes and turning the beads between her fingers. Her aura became as calm as if she had been so angered by the Fourth Prince's lack of decorum that she had attained immediate enlightenment.

In reality, Xue Jin'an felt that Concubine Zhen was quite satisfied.

She was indeed satisfied. While her sigh of helplessness was half-acted, the Third Prince’s sympathy was genuine. Poor, simple-minded Fourth; he was useless in both literature and martial arts, and now he was in the Emperor's bad graces. His future was doomed. But for her, this was a good thing. Though he was a good-for-nothing with a sharp tongue, he was still a prince. If she could pull him into her camp, his mere presence could help intimidate the Second Prince.

The Third Prince, who had been watching the entire spectacle from up close and nearly gotten caught in the crossfire, uncharacteristically didn't lose his temper. Instead, he patted the Fourth Prince on the shoulder in a gesture of comfort.

He had intended to say something to win him over, but he noticed the Fourth Prince shudder violently. The Fourth Prince looked even more panicked than when he had been scolded by the Emperor. Before his brain could even react, his body instinctively shrank behind the Third Prince’s broad frame—he looked exactly like a mouse encountering a cat.

The Fourth Prince was so startled that his diaphragm spasmed. A hiccup bubbled up to his throat, but he quickly clamped his hand over his mouth to seal it back in. He just gave a little twitch, leaving the Third Prince with his eyebrows raised high.

*Is it really necessary to be this terrified?*

The Third Prince looked up and met Xue Jin'an’s gaze. Xue’s eyes were fixed squarely on him—eyes so dark they seemed to swallow all light, unnervingly pure.

He stared without blinking, like a black hole, looking for all the world like a vengeful spirit from a folktale, glaring with unclosed eyes to claim a life.

Xue Jin'an was actually examining the Fourth Prince’s skull. He had already mentally mapped out the path to lift the cranium. He decided that when he repaired the Fourth Prince’s battery, he would fix his CPU as well.

Having finished drafting the cutting lines for the skull, Xue Jin'an didn't care whether the Fourth Prince dodged or not. As he withdrew his gaze, he locked eyes with the Third Prince.

The Third Prince, completely unaware that his own words had become a self-fulfilling prophecy—that Xue Jin'an was genuinely considering how to take the Fourth Prince’s life—paused, lost in thought. He muttered to himself, "The Seventh Brother has quite large eyes. He doesn't even blink while staring like that; aren't his eyes tired or dry?"

Xue Jin'an, who had read his lips, thought: *...The Third Prince’s CPU has just been added to the repair package.*

"How does Noble Consort see this?" Concubine Zhen regained her composure, realizing she had been too impatient. The Emperor was always sharp; he must have noticed something. It was better to speak less and err less, so she dragged the other party into the mess.

Noble Consort Rong studied the Emperor’s expression, fiddling with her fingernails. "In that case, why not send that maid to the Ministry of Justice for a thorough interrogation? The truth will naturally reveal itself."

"No," Xue Jin'an rejected her outright. He added, "It was your palace where the flaw occurred. If you like, you can send everyone around you in for questioning. You'll find plenty more, and it will just happen to clear up the inner palace."

In the original story, none of these consorts had clean hands.

All the concubines couldn't help but glance at him. Noble Consort Rong’s face darkened for a moment, her eyes cold as blades, as if she wished to cut Xue Jin'an in two right there. Turning back to the Emperor, she forced a smile. "The Seventh Prince is truly eloquent; I am no match for him."

Her eyes welled with faint, unshed tears.

Xue Jin'an had seen this trick before; he had just learned it.

Xue Jin'an couldn't manage the "I have so much to say but I’ll say nothing" look, nor could he cry on command for the Emperor. Instead, he simply lowered his eyes and pressed his lips together, hiding the expression in his eyes and keeping his face as blank as possible.

"Fulu is the only memento my mother left me. He was supposed to grow up with me." Xue Jin'an mimicked the tone the Fourth Prince had used to apologize to the Emperor earlier, playing it at 0.5x speed. He made his speech slow and labored, as if overwhelmed by emotion.

For a child who had been speaking in a flat, indifferent tone to suddenly show such emotional fluctuation was striking—much like a cold person suddenly smiling, or someone who always smiled suddenly breaking down in tears. Breaking the routine always moved people.

The Emperor’s expression shifted slightly. He thought: *This voice...*

"As expected, just as Bingzhu said, he is a nostalgic and good-hearted child." The Empress Dowager looked at Xue Jin'an with pity and personally excused him from the matter. "Enough, why trouble a child? Wherever the incident occurred, that is where we shall investigate."

The assassin who held the Sixth Prince captive came from Minghua Palace, and the dead Cuiyun was from Yihe Palace. Where else was there to investigate? Naturally, it had to start with Noble Consort Rong and Concubine Zhen.

"Yes." Regardless of what they were thinking, now that the Empress Dowager had spoken, they had no choice but to bow their heads and accept it.

Xue Jin'an mused. The way Concubine Zhen and Cuiyun had focused on the blood-dragon wood beads was suspicious. The original text had specifically described the blood-dragon wood, so it must be a clue. And today, that assassin wearing a "skin" suit had been targeting him... The purpose behind the attacker's actions, no matter how one thought about it, had to be related to Chu Wenjing’s attempt to reopen the case of the Precious Consort.

Whatever. It didn't matter. He only needed to know who he was supposed to take revenge on, and the fastest way was to lure the snake out of its hole.

"Whoever wants to target me, and whoever wants to get something from me," Xue Jin'an stood up. He stroked the blood-dragon wood beads on his wrist, his face expressionless. "I am in Qifeng Courtyard. Come ahead."

As for what to do if the snake wouldn't come out, Xue Jin'an reasoned that was fine too. He wouldn't need to choose anymore; he would just take revenge on everyone. Eventually, he would exhaust the possibilities and find the right one.

"This son withdraws." Xue Jin'an, who had been sitting as still as a statue earlier, performed a perfectly rigorous and precise bow as taught in his etiquette manuals.

The Emperor was pleasantly surprised. Just as he reached out to tell him to rise, Xue Jin'an straightened up on his own and walked away without looking back.

He just walked off like that.

The other princes: "!" Not only had he battled the consorts with his tongue and issued a challenge to the mastermind, but he had also ignored the Emperor. *What a... what an amazing Seventh Brother!*

The Emperor rubbed his forehead, sighing: "..." *Forget it. At least his etiquette was standard, as if copied directly from a book. That’s not bad at all.*

The Emperor consoled himself, then gave a look to Li Hechun and whispered two sentences in his ear. Li Hechun’s face turned strange for a moment before he bowed and exited. One could only imagine how he was suffering internally.

Watching Xue Jin'an’s back disappear through the door, the princes recovered from their shock. They realized this was a good opportunity and followed suit, bowing and taking their leave. The Emperor didn't even lift his eyes; he just waved his hand.

The princes wanted to find Xue Jin'an. The others mostly wanted to observe this rare species—how he managed to choke the Emperor to death with his words without ever being scolded.

Only the Third Prince was different. He simply thought that the Seventh Brother was a ruthless man who didn't even fear the Emperor, making him worth winning over. That way, if he ever skipped class, the Seventh Brother could take the fall.

However, they failed to find him, but instead ran into the Fifth Prince, who had just finished re-treating his wounds.

"Looking for Xue Jin'an?" The Fifth Prince looked at them with a strange expression. "Sure, go ahead. As long as you're willing to sacrifice a part of your body—say, Second Brother's head, or Third Brother's leg—not only will you find Xue Jin'an, but you'll also get his free, bare-handed snapping service."

"Ha! He's got some nerve, wanting to hit me? I'll go have a go at him myself!" The Third Prince flexed his arms, eager to challenge him to a duel.

"Hit you?" The Fifth Prince shook his head, a strange, meaningful smile on his face. "The Seventh Brother is the King of Hell. He isn't here to play with your life; he's here to claim it."

*

Xue Jin'an, whose reputation had been ruined despite his complete innocence, was stopped in the courtyard by a young eunuch who said someone wanted to see him.

Xue Jin'an judged that the eunuch wasn't lying, so he followed him through several twists and turns until they reached the martial arts field. Lu Bingzhu and Li Hechun were standing in the sand, talking.

The two saw him. Li Hechun whispered two words; judging by his lip movements, they were: "Go easy."

"?" Xue Jin'an projected a question mark. Inside his high-definition camera view, Lu Bingzhu’s figure suddenly blurred.

*Anti-fall mode activated.* Xue Jin'an instinctively retreated, his hand gripping the hilt of his lotus sword. Data of 1s and 0s scrolled rapidly across his vision as he calculated the probability of winning a fight against this man.

*Probability: 0.* In that case, he would just have to trade one for one. He wouldn't let himself come out at a loss.

Xue Jin'an drew his sword, turned his speed to three times the limit, and hurled the long sword at Li Hechun with all his might, like a javelin.

Li Hechun, whose eyesight was excellent, realized he was being targeted. Terrified, he jumped into the air and scrambled to run away.

However, the speed of the sword was astonishing, cutting through the air like a white chain. There was no time to dodge. Fortunately, Lu Bingzhu unleashed his internal energy at the first possible moment, deflecting the sword.

"Whoa!" Li Hechun, shaken, fell to the ground. He gasped for air before saying in disbelief, "Seventh Prince, this servant has no grudge against you. Why are you trying to kill me?"

Xue Jin'an pointed at Lu Bingzhu. "I can't beat him."

"So you hit me instead?!" Li Hechun felt aggrieved.

Xue Jin'an looked at him and said righteously, "You are together. I have to take someone down, and you are easier to hit."

Li Hechun was left speechless.

"You don't practice when told, and now that you've been treated like clay, you have only yourself to blame." Lu Bingzhu gave a short laugh, then pointed at Xue Jin'an. "A person's reactions in a moment of danger are the most authentic. He doesn't have a shred of internal energy."

Xue Jin'an didn't understand for a moment and asked, "What were you testing me for?"

There was nothing to hide. Li Hechun deliberated before saying, "During the morning court a few days ago, the Emperor encountered a master using internal energy to transmit sound. The person seemed to have ventriloquism skills, and the voice was that of a child, somewhat similar to yours, Seventh Prince. Given all that happened today, this servant took the liberty of asking Master to test your true strength."