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Chapter 194: Chapter 104: Zhu Li: Chew It Up, Feed Me

The Tenth Prince’s Mansion carriage had taken such a long detour for the sole purpose of attracting a crowd. With so many eyes on them, the psychological barrier to admitting defeat would be immense.

But who would have thought that Yongzi and Zhuge Xiao would be so pragmatic.

’With the remaining three from the Ninth Prince’s Mansion in peak condition, I’m afraid Zhu Li won’t be able to win many more matches!’

Zhao Yong’s expression was placid. ”Lao Shi! The next match is between Tianxi and Zhu Li. However, Tianxi hasn’t woken up yet. I’ll schedule it for dusk. Any objections?”

”No objections!”

Zhao Ci couldn’t object, as the request was well within the rules.

Quietly exploiting loopholes was one thing—the Imperial Clan Court would tolerate that. But if he started making unreasonable demands, they wouldn’t stand for it.

Zhao Yong glanced at the sky and smiled faintly. ”It’s still early. For those who don’t wish to wait, you may disperse for now. For those who wish to stay, my Ninth Prince’s Mansion will host a banquet to entertain you.”

With that, he turned and gave an order, ”Prepare a meal for our honored guests today.”

”Yes, sir!”

The Ninth Prince’s Mansion bustled with activity once more.

But there was no smile on Zhao Ci’s face. He stared quietly at Zhao Yong, his estimation of the man rising in his mind.

’This Yongzi...’

’He’s grown up!’

HSSS...

’What a pain in the ass.’

Zhu Li looked a little sheepish. ”You didn’t have to go so far for my sake. If you beat Zhu Yan so badly that they all just forfeit, it’ll be hard for us to score points.”

Zhao Ci snorted. ”People who refuse to concede will never concede, no matter how outmatched they are. Those who are willing to forfeit are just playing the points game. Don’t blame yourself. I’m your boss. You got bullied—you think I can just let my own reputation take a hit?”

Zhu Li was speechless.

’Following a boss like this... my happiness is off the charts!’

Still, she couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. ”So what’s the plan now?”

Zhao Ci gave a wry smile. ”We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Just do your best. Don’t torture yourself over things you can’t control.”

Zhu Li was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and nodded. ”Alright!”

Zhao Ci glanced at Yang Mo. ”Don’t feel pressured. Just go for it!”

”Right!”

Yang Mo nodded firmly.

The group didn’t leave, instead requesting a private room to discuss their strategy.

They had a long wait, from morning all the way to dusk.

Feng Tianxi and Zhu Yan had both regained consciousness, but the True Qi in their meridians was stagnant. They would need at least another night of rest to recover.

The Wolf King’s upper and lower jaws were broken; it clearly couldn’t fight again.

Zhu Yan naturally couldn’t use his Fire Prison either. His body was covered in bruises, and he couldn’t even wield his sword properly.

Unfortunately, they weren’t injured badly enough to meet the criteria for officially refusing a match.

They had to bite the bullet and compete.

As a result, it didn’t take long for Feng Tianxi to be half-incinerated by Zhu Li. While still dazed, he was poisoned by Yang Mo and knocked headfirst off the stage. Finally, mentally and physically exhausted, he even lost his match against Feng Kucha.

The mainstay of the Ninth Prince’s Mansion had, to everyone’s shock, lost four matches in a single day.

Zhu Yan didn’t fight Zhu Li, but his condition was even worse than Feng Tianxi’s. He was no match for Yang Mo’s poisons, and then lost again to Feng Kucha, ultimately suffering three consecutive defeats.

As for the subsequent matches...

When Zhu Li faced Zhuge Xiao, she was constrained by his Qimen Array, which completely suppressed all her Fire Skills. Though she was indignant, she followed Zhao Ci’s prior instructions and forfeited the match directly to conserve her strength.

She then capitalized on Zhao Yong’s unhealed injuries to score a narrow victory, and also managed a narrow win against their weakest member, Tan Kuang.

However, both Zhao Yong and Tan Kuang were also holding back and didn’t fight her with everything they had.

Seeing this, Zhao Ci simply had Yang Mo and Feng Kucha forfeit their remaining matches. Then he led his team away from the Ninth Prince’s Mansion to avoid them taking too much of a beating, which might affect their performance the next day.

He, for one, was taking it well.

Although today hadn’t gone as expected, it wasn’t without some good news.

At least Yang Mo was starting to show some backbone. He still had the urge to just turtle up and endure the beatings, but he had ultimately managed to restrain himself.

’One step at a time. Sooner or later, I’ll be able to help him overcome this mental block.’

As for the Heaven-Suspended Spider Silk...

’If I really can’t get it, I can only say it wasn’t meant to be.’

’Besides... even if we do lose, it doesn’t necessarily mean I can’t get the Heaven-Suspended Spider Silk.’

’I still have a Low-Grade Imperial Extreme Pill that’s of no use to me, but it would certainly be useful to the other Zhao clansmen.’

’A trade might not be out of the question.’

’It’s just that the Imperial Clan Court has forbidden the trading of such items.’

’The risk is terrifyingly high.’

...

「Night fell.」

The Ninth Prince’s Mansion grew much quieter.

Inside a private room, all five members of the Ninth Prince’s Mansion were present, but the atmosphere was terrifyingly grim.

Today, the nine combatants from the two mansions had fought a total of nineteen matches. The Ninth Prince’s Mansion had only won nine of them. Considering they were facing the Tenth Prince’s Mansion, which was supposed to be the weakest overall, this result was simply unacceptable.

After a long silence.

Zhao Yong broke the awkward silence with a smile. ”There’s no need to be so concerned. We made some strategic errors today, it’s true, but there’s no way the two strongest mansions will fall out of the top three.

Among the rewards—the Heaven-Suspended Spider Silk, the Quenching Spirit Liquid, and the Viper Soft Armor—the only one we truly need is the Quenching Spirit Liquid.

Prince Ying’s Mansion has no one pursuing Fire Element Divine Treasure Cultivation, so they won’t fight us for it.

Today’s setback won’t have any real impact on our goals.

We just need to learn from our mistakes.”

Zhuge Xiao smiled faintly, showing no sign of annoyance. ’Though the Ninth Prince’s Mansion has suffered repeated setbacks since its founding,’ he thought, ’it’s mostly just that Zhao Yong is naturally unlucky. The man himself has a grand vision, and his mental fortitude is only growing more mature.’

’I suppose I haven’t followed the wrong person, after all.’

Zhu Yan grunted. ”I was too impulsive today. It won’t happen again.”

”However, Your Highness.”

The usually taciturn Tan Kuang spoke up. ”If the Tenth Prince’s Mansion’s strategy continues to work, I’m afraid they could certainly push Prince Lie’s Mansion out of the running...”

Zhao Yong’s eyes narrowed slightly. Prince Lie’s Mansion was by no means weak, but in truth, they posed no threat to him.

This was because the mansion competition was, in itself, an extension of the war for the throne.

The Heir of King Lie and his mansion officials were all warmongers who had never shown any inclination to pick a side. In the future, they would simply join the army and become a core part of the military, posing no political threat to any of the princes.