Chapter 189 - 104: A Real Man Must Be Able to Grow and Shrink

Chapter 189: Chapter 104: A Real Man Must Be Able to Grow and Shrink

The carriage from the Tenth Prince’s Mansion had taken such a long detour precisely to draw a crowd. Under the public’s watchful gaze, the psychological barrier to admitting defeat should have been insurmountable.

But they hadn’t expected this.

They hadn’t expected Yongzi and Zhuge Xiao to be so adaptable.

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

Zhao Yong’s expression was calm. "Lao Shi! The next match is Tianxi against Zhu Li. However, Tianxi isn’t awake yet, so I’ll reschedule it for dusk. Is that a problem?"

"No problem!"

Zhao Ci had no way to object, as the request was perfectly reasonable and within the rules.

Exploiting loopholes by having his team concede was something the Imperial Clan Court would tolerate. However, if he tried to force the issue on something like this, they would not stand for it.

Zhao Yong glanced at the sky and smiled faintly. "It’s still early. If you all 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."

He then turned and gave an order. "Prepare a meal for our honored guests."

"Yes, sir!"

A lively atmosphere returned to the Ninth Prince’s Mansion.

Zhao Ci, however, was not smiling. He stared quietly at Zhao Yong, his estimation of the man rising in his mind.

’This Yongzi...’

’He’s matured!’

’He’s become a real pain to deal with.’

Zhu Li looked a little apologetic. "You didn’t have to go so far for my sake. You beat Zhu Yan so badly that now they’re just forfeiting, which makes it harder for us to score points."

Zhao Ci scoffed. "People who refuse to concede will never give up, no matter how strong you are. Those who are willing to concede are just point-grubbers anyway. Don’t blame yourself. I’m your boss. You were bullied, so how could I not stand up for you? Do I have no pride?"

Zhu Li was speechless.

’Working for a boss like this... I feel so incredibly fortunate!’

But she was still a little disappointed. "So what’s our plan now?"

Zhao Ci shrugged. "We’ll play it by ear. Just do your best. Don’t torture yourself over things beyond your control."

Zhu Li was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and nodded. "Okay!"

Zhao Ci glanced over at Yang Mo. "Don’t get bogged down by pressure. Just go out there and fight."

"Right!"

Yang Mo nodded firmly.

The group didn’t leave. Instead, they requested a private room to discuss their strategy.

They waited all the way from morning until dusk.

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

The Wolf King’s upper and lower jaws were both broken, rendering it unable to fight.

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

Yet, their injuries weren’t severe enough to meet the criteria for refusing a challenge.

They had no choice but to bite the bullet and fight.

As a result, it wasn’t long before Feng Tianxi was half-incinerated by Zhu Li. While still groggy, he was poisoned by Yang Mo and forced off the stage. Utterly exhausted, both mentally and physically, he even lost to Feng Kucha in the end.

The mainstay of the Ninth Prince’s Mansion had actually lost four consecutive matches in a single day.

Zhu Yan didn’t face Zhu Li, but he was in even worse shape than Feng Tianxi. He was completely unable to stop Yang Mo from using his poisons, and he went on to lose three consecutive matches to Feng Kucha as well.

As for the later matches...

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

She then exploited Zhao Yong’s unhealed injuries to claim a narrow victory. Against the weakest opponent, Tan Kuang, she also won by a slim margin.

However, both Zhao Yong and Tan Kuang were holding back, clearly not intending to fight to the bitter end with her.

Seeing this, Zhao Ci had Yang Mo and Feng Kucha forfeit their remaining matches. The three of them then left the Ninth Prince’s Mansion to avoid taking a worse beating that might affect the next day’s duels.

He was taking it all in stride, though.

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

At the very least, Yang Mo had started to show some backbone. He still had the impulse to just turtle up and endure a beating, but he had managed to restrain himself.

’One step at a time,’ Zhao Ci thought. ’Sooner or later, I can help him overcome this mental block.’

As for the Heaven-Suspended Spider Silk...

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

...

「By nightfall.」

The Ninth Prince’s Mansion had grown much quieter.

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

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. This was against the Tenth Prince’s Mansion, supposedly the weakest of them all. The result was simply unacceptable.

After a long silence, Zhao Yong finally broke the awkward silence with a smile. "There’s no need to worry. 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."

"Of 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."

"No one in Prince Ying’s Mansion practices Fire Element Divine Treasure Cultivation, so they won’t compete with us for it."

"Today’s losses won’t have any real impact on us."

"We just need to learn from our mistakes."

Zhuge Xiao gave a faint smile, showing no sign of frustration. Although the Ninth Prince’s Mansion had suffered repeated setbacks since its establishment, he felt it was mostly due to Zhao Yong’s natural bad luck. The man himself had a grand vision and his resolve was only growing more mature.

’It seems 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 tactics continue to work, I’m afraid they will definitely 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 they posed no real threat to him.

This competition between mansions was, in essence, 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 take sides in politics. They would only join the military in the future, becoming a core part of its command structure, and would have no impact on the princes’ struggle.

Zhao Ci, on the other hand...

’That man’s ambition is a little too big.’

He had also heard that a major reason the Imperial Clan Court was offering such prizes was that the Emperor, his father, had taken the Heaven-Suspended Spider Silk from his personal treasury and insisted on adding it to the Merit Library for this competition.

’It was self-evident who that was intended for.’