"Yo, isn't this Big Brother?"
"How come even you are late today? Could it be you were intentionally waiting here for your Fourth Brother?"
"Speaking of which, Big Brother, don't you usually keep away from women? How did you break that rule today and bring a female companion?"
Xue Beng's gaze instantly locked onto Ye Lingling.
He walked forward.
Completely ignoring the person standing to the side...
...the masked Golden Crown.
"Which family are you from? How come I've never seen you before?"
"And wearing a veil, too. What's with the mystery?"
"Let this Prince see what you look like on behalf of Big Brother."
Xue Beng's eyes were filled with lewdness.
He played the role of a profligate son to perfection.
The first impression he left was that of a complete lecher.
It was as if the word 'profligate' was etched into his very bones.
Thud!
In the next second, without a word, Golden Crown kicked him to the ground.
To think he dared to do this right in front of the man himself.
Flirting with his woman.
He was asking for death!
"Fourth Highness!"
Seeing their leader get hit, several lackeys rushed forward.
They helped Xue Beng up.
Xue Beng clutched his side.
He stumbled as he stood up from the ground.
He glared fiercely at Golden Crown.
Before he could even speak...
...one of his lackeys began shouting curses: "Impudent! Where did this commoner come from, daring to lay a hand on our Highness Xue Beng!"
"Whose backing do you think you have?"
Immediately after, another minor lackey bowed and said, "Highness Xue Beng, do you need us to give this peasant a good lesson?"
Faced with his lackeys stepping up...
...Xue Beng wasn't stupid.
This masked fellow dared to strike without any regard for his status as a Prince.
The power behind him certainly couldn't be underestimated.
But he also feared he was overthinking it.
So he looked at Xue Qinghe: "Big Brother, is this guy your new guard?"
"He is not my guard..."
Xue Qinghe gave a dark smile, intentionally trailing off.
Hearing that this guy wasn't the Crown Prince's guard...
...Xue Beng's arrogance instantly flared up.
"Tch, not even a guard. Seems like he's just a nobody."
"Kid, do you know who you just hit?"
"I am the Fourth Prince of the Tiandou Empire, Xue Beng. Kneel down right now—"
Slap!
Golden Crown didn't wait for him to finish.
He sent a palm flying across his face.
Xue Beng spun seven hundred and twenty degrees on the spot before finally coming to a halt.
Just as he regained his senses...
...he saw countless fist shadows striking towards him.
"Fourth Prince, is it? Kneel down, is it?"
"Daring to flirt with my girl, are you?"
"What I hate most is trash like you."
Golden Crown spoke while he pummeled him.
Xue Beng was truly about to break from the beating.
He cried out in pain: "Are you all dead? Hurry up and save this Prince!"
Seeing this, the other lackeys...
...quickly rushed forward to help.
But within seconds, these men were each taken down by a single punch from Golden Crown, all collapsing to the ground.
Seeing how powerful this person was...
Xue Beng hurriedly called out to his 'Good Big Brother' Xue Qinghe for help.
"Big Brother, save me!"
"I'm being beaten by this commoner, quickly send people to seize him!"
Xue Qinghe remained unruffled, as if he didn't see Xue Beng being beaten at all.
Instead, he began introducing Golden Crown.
"Fourth Brother, as a member of the Imperial Family, how can you be so rude?"
"This is my good friend Xing Daorong. His grandfather is the Empire's Guardian Douluo, Xing Tian!"
"I specially invited him here today to watch the competition."
"And this young lady is not my companion, but Young Friend Xing's girlfriend."
When he found out...
...that the person before him was Xing Daorong, the grandson of the mysterious Titled Douluo powerhouse Xing Tian who had joined the Tiandou Empire a few years ago...
...and that he had recklessly flirted with his girlfriend...
...two words appeared in Xue Beng's mind.
Finished!
And sure enough...
...after giving Xue Beng a brutal beating, Golden Crown followed up by using the Bone-Dislocating Hand on him.
"Ah! Ah..."
"Help!"
"Young hero, I was wrong, Grandpa..."
Xue Beng's screams and pleas for mercy were wretched to hear.
His lackeys...
...seeing their master beaten into such a sorry state...
...all lay on the ground motionless, playing dead.
They didn't even dare to breathe loudly.
Fearing that if they made too much noise, that demon god would set his sights on them.
After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea...
...Xue Qinghe finally spoke up to dissuade him.
"Brother Xing, for my sake, please let my Fourth Brother go."
"Don't worry, once we're back, I will definitely give him a good lesson to vent your anger."
Golden Crown stopped as requested.
To this...
...Xue Beng, who had been beaten into a pig's head and had every bone in his body reset...
...only wanted to say one thing to his 'Good Big Brother' in his heart.
"Let me say thank you, because of you..."
"I've become a pig's head..." Golden Crown glanced at Xue Beng: "Fine, for the Crown Prince's sake, I'll let this grandson go."
He then pointed at Xue Beng to threaten him: "Next time, if I see you being arrogant and overbearing again, I'll cripple those two things between your legs!"
"Thank you, Big Brother, for pleading for me. Your Fourth Brother thanks you here."
Although Xue Beng thanked Xue Qinghe on the surface...
...in reality, he was thinking:
"Truly hypocritical."
"I was already beaten into a pig's head before you spoke up to stop him."
"Don't think I didn't see you secretly clapping while I was being thrashed."
"Just you wait, I will definitely return today's humiliation many times over!"
Xue Beng said coldly in his heart.
In fact, he particularly wanted to replace Xue Qinghe.
But considering how ruthless the other was...
...his Second and Third Brothers had already met their ends at Xue Qinghe's hands.
So Xue Beng had no choice but to hide his thoughts.
Xue Qinghe continued: "Alright, go apply some ointment. Brother Xing and I will head in first."
"Fourth Brother, remember to come over too. Don't make Imperial Father wait too long."
With that...
...Qian Renxue, disguised as Xue Qinghe, led Golden Crown and Ye Lingling...
...towards the arena.
After Golden Crown's group left...
...Xue Beng's lackeys seemed to come back to life, immediately standing up from the ground.
They crowded around Xue Beng.
Asking all sorts of concerned questions.
Xue Beng irritably told everyone to get lost, his eyes fixed on Golden Crown's back.
"Xing Daorong, is it? Just you wait!"
"When I ascend the throne, I will definitely crush you under my feet!"
...Inside the arena.
Golden Crown and his group had all taken their seats.
Xue Qinghe was explaining the reason for being late to the Old Emperor, Xue Ye.
It was simple.
He directly pinned all the blame on Xue Beng.
Slap!
"That rebellious son!"
"Good for nothing!"
After hearing Xue Qinghe's account of what happened outside...
...Xue Ye was beyond furious.
He began scolding Xue Beng.
But even in his anger, he only cursed a few lines before stopping, then gave a simple apology to Golden Crown.
And that was the end of it.
There was no other way.
His offspring were now down to only Xue Qinghe and Xue Beng.
If he dealt with Xue Beng too harshly...
...then only Xue Qinghe would be left by his side.
And these past few years...
...the actions of his eldest son were all seen by him.
To consolidate his position and win over factions...
...he had ruthlessly eliminated the Second and Third Princes, as well as the youngest sister, Snow Jade.
This caused his influence in the court to grow larger and larger.
Though even now he couldn't understand what Xue Qinghe's motive was for killing Snow Jade...
...such methods were exactly to his liking.
At the same time, it was also what he feared most.
He feared that once only Xue Qinghe was left...
...if one day this eldest son decided to move against him...
...the entire court would be his people by then.
Then he, the Emperor, would be isolated and without help.
Keeping Xue Beng around could still draw some of the fire...
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