While Yang Zhao was berating Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng, a furious shout suddenly rang out: "Xiang Chu, Nan Sheng, your time has come!"
The voice wasn't loud, but it reached every person's ears with perfect clarity.
Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng, who had been wearing expressions of shame and fury, changed drastically upon hearing those words and panicked in alarm.
Yang Zhao's face immediately took on a strange expression. He glanced sideways at Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng, then let out a cold, mocking laugh. "What does this mean? Why has Ninth Brother come running over?"
Nan Sheng kept his mouth shut, not daring to speak.
Xiang Chu braced himself and said, "Yang Kai seems to have chased us all the way here…"
"Nonsense!" Yang Zhao snarled through gritted teeth. "Of course I know he's chased you here. Why did he do it? Is there something else you've been hiding from me?"
When recounting the battle with Yang Kai earlier, Xiang Chu had deliberately left out the matter of the Lingxiao Pavilion people, afraid Yang Zhao would overthink it.
But now, with Yang Kai already杀到 their residence's gates, Xiang Chu understood that nothing could be hidden any longer.
"Speak. What exactly did you do to provoke him into such a fury?" Yang Zhao took a deep breath, struggling to keep his tone level.
"It was the people from Lingxiao Pavilion… Brother Nan injured one of their disciples."
"Lingxiao Pavilion? The sect where Ninth Brother came from?" Yang Zhao's brow furrowed. He pressed further, "Surely it's more complicated than that?"
"Second Young Master, restrain yourself…" Xiang Chu's expression twisted with helplessness, and with no other choice, he laid out the entire sequence of events.
When Yang Zhao heard everything, he nodded lightly. "Opposing each other, using every means at your disposal — what you did wasn't exactly wrong."
Xiang Chu was delighted upon hearing this, thinking Yang Zhao didn't intend to hold them accountable. But his smile had barely bloomed before Yang Zhao's face turned cold once more, and he looked at Xiang Chu with an icy stare: "If you had the ability to bear Ninth Brother's retaliation, doing these things would only make me clap with joy! But do you have that ability? When you lack the ability yet still do something this foolish, all I can say is, you two stupid pigs let hatred cloud your judgment!"
Xiang Chu immediately fell silent, terrified.
Nan Sheng raised his head and said, "Setting aside whether we were right or wrong, Yang Kai is currently causing a ruckus outside the residence. If the Second Young Master does nothing, I'm afraid the world will look down on you."
"Are you trying to provoke me?" Yang Zhao laughed. "Nan Sheng, you underestimate me, Yang Zhao, far too much. No wonder you and Xiang Chu both suffered such a devastating loss at the hands of my little brother."
Nan Sheng trembled with fear. In a shaking voice he said, "Nan had no such intention. Second Young Master, please forgive me."
Yang Zhao cast him a cold glance and said, "But what you said isn't wrong. Ninth Brother daring to cause trouble outside my residence in broad daylight — I truly cannot ignore it."
Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng were overjoyed upon hearing this, and hastily said, "Thank you, Second Young Master!"
"No need." Yang Zhao slowly shook his head, his expression calm and detached. "This time I will protect you, because you are still my allies! But after today, you will each return to your clans. Battle City no longer needs you, and the Yang family's succession war doesn't need you either!"
With a cold snort, he turned, picked up his clothes, and strode out.
Behind him, Nan Sheng and Xiang Chu were deathly pale, their souls seemingly departed. They hadn't expected that because of this matter, Yang Zhao would actually be considering driving them away.
Their respective Xiang and Nan families had considerable power. This time, for the succession war, they had attached themselves to Yang Zhao's banner early on. For so long, through wind and rain, they had weathered every hardship and fought alongside Yang Zhao.
For the sake of the succession war, both families had付出 enormously — manpower, resources, financial support, and more.
Yet with the succession war reaching its final stages, they were about to be cast aside, and by their own patron no less.
If word spread, the two great families would certainly become laughingstocks. That they had付出 so much and received nothing in return was secondary — the real blow was the inevitable damage to their family honor.
Having offended Yang Kai and now stripped of Yang Zhao's protection and favor, any future attempt to forge ties with the Yang family seemed utterly unrealistic.
Other powers in the world might also distance themselves from the Xiang and Nan families because of this, and their families' development would surely become exceedingly difficult.
It was also entirely possible that, because of this, the two of them would be stripped of their positions as clan heirs.
At the thought of this, Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng broke out in cold sweat, their entire bodies trembling.
Then, their eyes filled with hatred and venom, and they couldn't help but gnash their teeth, fists clenched tight.
If not for Yang Kai… if not for this one man, Yang Kai… how could they have fallen to such a state?
"Young Masters…" A sweet, delicate voice suddenly drifted from beside them. The dazed Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng looked up to see Ye Xinrou smiling prettily, holding a blanket against her chest with one hand while her bare shoulders were exposed, gleaming with a lustrous, porcelain-like allure.
Under normal circumstances, Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng would have committed this beautiful sight to memory. But right now, they had absolutely no mood for it.