Upon returning to the Duke's residence, Ye Yiming headed straight to his room. He was impatient to absorb the insights he gained from cultivation.

The guards who had been protecting Ye Yiming dispersed as well. Upon entering the Duke's residence, Ye Qi immediately ran in the direction of a small courtyard. This particular courtyard was quite ordinary, with just a small pond and a pavilion.

Inside the pavilion, two elderly men with white hair were playing chess. One of them was the current Duke of Martial Kingdom, Ye Xiangtian.

Ye Xiangtian was the founding general of the Martial Kingdom and had earned numerous military merits on the battlefield alongside the founding monarch, Chi Zhan. After the establishment of Tianyang Kingdom, he was titled as the Duke of Martial Kingdom due to his martial prowess.

Despite being over seventy years old, Ye Xiangtian appeared energetic and spirited due to his cultivation. Other than his full head of white hair, one wouldn't guess his age.

The other person playing chess with Ye Xiangtian was Zhao Yongfu, the former close guard of Ye Xiangtian. Having served Ye Xiangtian through life and death on numerous occasions, Zhao Yongfu had become his trusted aide after retirement, managing the Duke's residence.

When Ye Qi arrived at the pavilion, he immediately kneeled down and paid respects, "Greetings, Your Grace Duke, and Mr. Steward Zhao."

"Hmm." Duke Xiangtian nodded first, then made a move in chess before speaking slowly, "Little Qi, has that troublemaker stirred up another mess today?"

Ye Qi replied promptly, "Indeed, Your Grace Duke. Young Master has caused quite a stir today."

Ye Qi's response caused Duke Xiangtian to chuckle and scold, "Hah, when did you learn to flatter?"

Ye Qi lifted his head with a grin, "Your Grace, I'm just speaking the truth!"

"Hehe." Ye Qi's remark even brought a smile to Zhao Yongfu's face.

Duke Xiangtian could already tell that Ye Yiming had likely caused a significant trouble this time. Otherwise, Ye Qi wouldn't have defended him in such a manner.

"Enough with the chatter. Tell me, what did that troublemaker do this time? Did he beat someone up or wreck someone's shop?" Duke Xiangtian asked straightforwardly.

Whenever Duke Xiangtian opened his mouth, it was either about fighting or destroying things. He understood his grandson's temperament quite well.

"Oh, nothing much, just said a few words that made Prime Minister Wu's third son, Wu Yaolin, spit blood and faint," Ye Qi said nonchalantly, as if Wu Yaolin, the third son of Prime Minister Wu, was no different from anyone on the street.

After hearing Ye Qi's words, both Duke Xiangtian and Zhao Yongfu were left speechless.

"Nothing much?" To have caused the Prime Minister's son to spit blood and faint wasn't a big deal? Then what would be considered significant?

Duke Xiangtian raised an eyebrow and scolded Ye Qi, "Alright, stop beating around the bush. Tell me exactly what happened."

Seeing Duke Xiangtian's impatience, Ye Qi immediately recounted the whole incident in detail. After hearing Ye Qi's account, Duke Xiangtian raised his bushy eyebrows and beard, and seeing Ye Qi hesitating, he said, "Is there anything else? Speak!"

"It's just that Young Master seemed different today," Ye Qi hesitated a bit, but seeing Duke Xiangtian's stern look, he immediately said, "It's nothing, it's just that Young Master gave me the feeling of being arrogant! Yes, extremely arrogant."

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Nonsense! He caused the Prime Minister's third son to vomit blood and faint! Isn't this arrogance? Isn't this arrogance?

"Hmph!" Duke Xiangtian snorted, looking at Ye Qi unkindly, "There must be some credit for you in this, right?"

"Hehe!" Ye Qi chuckled and scratched the back of his head. He didn't say anything and just acquiesced.

"Alright, you can go down!" Finally, Steward Zhao couldn't stand it anymore and waved his hand to send Ye Qi away.

Ye Qi was also afraid that Duke Xiangtian would blame him, so he immediately ran like the wind and disappeared in a flash.

For a long time, the quiet pavilion suddenly burst into laughter.

Duke Xiangtian laughed heartily and loudly said, "Hahaha! Refreshing! Truly refreshing! This time, that Wu Hui old man must have eaten a big loss." His voice was not weak like an old man's at all, but rather very loud, spreading out and causing everyone in the Duke's residence to look sideways, speculating one after another about what had happened to make Duke Xiangtian so happy.

Duke Xiangtian laughed for a long time before Steward Zhao slowly asked, "General, how do you see this matter?"

Although Ye Xiangtian had been titled Duke of Martial Kingdom long ago and officials in court called him "Duke of Martial Kingdom," even the current emperor called Ye Xiangtian "Duke," only Steward Zhao still called him "General." But Duke Xiangtian did not dislike this title at all; instead, he liked it very much. Because in his own words, he was a general who marched and fought in battles!

Duke Xiangtian touched his beard and said casually, "Huh, what can we do? The little squabbles among the younger generation should be resolved by the younger generation themselves. Why should we worry about it? Come on, continue!"

After speaking, Duke Xiangtian picked up a chess piece and put it down.

Steward Zhao opened his mouth to say something, but seeing Duke Xiangtian's serious appearance in playing chess, he finally didn't say anything else.

...

Prime Minister's Mansion, Jingcheng, Wu's Family.

Unlike Duke Ye Xiangtian, the current Prime Minister Wu looked at his grandson lying pale on the bed, and the anger in his heart could be imagined.

But no matter how angry Prime Minister Wu was in his heart, his face still didn't change at all, still as serious as usual. People couldn't tell what his mood was like at the moment. It's really worthy of being the current Prime Minister!

"Grandfather, you must speak up for Yaolin! Yaolin has never suffered any hardship since he was a child, but now he has been beaten to the point of spitting blood. How can this be tolerated?" It was a woman in her forties who spoke. This woman was Wu Yaolin's mother, the wife of Prime Minister Wu. At the moment, her eyes were red and swollen, and her makeup was messed up by tears. Even when she spoke, she had a crying voice and didn't have the image of a lady in normal days.

Originally, when she looked at her grandson still in a coma, when she was making trouble like this by herself, Prime Minister Wu finally didn't hold on to that calm look.

"Huh, crying and crying, just crying. If you didn't spoil Yaolin usually, he wouldn't have been in this state." Seeing his father-in-law finally getting angry, the woman was frightened, and the crying voice immediately stopped, and she lowered her head without saying anything more.

Prime Minister Wu saw the greater anger in his heart, but Prime Minister Wu didn't say anything to the woman again, but he was a firmer idea than ever, pity the Old Fu husband of him was didn't so was troop he Alexandrian you this the a black me fooling it the people I'll a hoot.

Poor Duke Xiangtian ended up taking the blame. It's no wonder Prime Minister Wu thinks this way, especially since Ye Yiming's reputation as a wastrel and a libertine is well-known. Prime Minister Wu couldn't believe that his grandson's current condition was caused solely by Ye Yiming.

Instead, Prime Minister Wu began to suspect Duke Xiangtian's involvement. In his view, all of this was orchestrated by Duke Xiangtian through Ye Yiming.

If Duke Xiangtian were to find out, he would surely be at a loss whether to laugh or cry. However, even if Duke Xiangtian did know, he would certainly disdain explaining anything to Prime Minister Wu. Even if Prime Minister Wu were convinced that Duke Xiangtian had directed it, what could he, Prime Minister Wu, do? At most, he could badmouth Duke Xiangtian in front of the Emperor, who would probably respond with a few indifferent remarks.

Of course, Prime Minister Wu anticipated this scenario. After thinking for a moment, he suddenly smiled faintly and instructed at the door, "Someone! Summon the head of the He family and General Li to the mansion, and tell them I have important matters to discuss."

"Yes!" came the immediate response, and two household servants outside the door immediately withdrew.

Half an hour later, the head of the He family and General Li arrived at the Prime Minister's mansion. It was only after another two hours had passed that they each departed.

After the head of the He family and General Li had left, Prime Minister Wu spent another half an hour in his study, writing a memorial. Once he finished writing, Prime Minister Wu stepped out of his study, stared in the direction of the Duke's residence for a while, then smiled coldly, shook his sleeve fiercely, and turned away.

The sky darkened! The gloomy clouds obscured the sunlight! A gust of wind blew! A storm was brewing!