"His appearance is only similar in the eyebrows and eyes, what use is that? His martial spirit inherited from my Sun and Moon Empire," Jing Hongchen interrupted.
"Heavenly Soul Emperor, we had an agreement before: let Yuwen Tuo return to our country to see his gravely ill Imperial Father. Isn't that only natural? We are willing to exchange three Rank 9 Soul Tools and five Rank 8 Soul Tools for our Imperial Prince. Your Majesty's word is golden; how can you be untrustworthy?"
This was Jing Hongchen's advantage. He arrived before Xu Jiujiu and the others, and the negotiations were almost settled.
An Emperor's promise must be worth a thousand gold pieces.
"That's also true. The Sun and Moon Emperor is, after all, gravely ill, making it more urgent. And I have already received the treasures..." Emperor Xiexin feigned difficulty.
In reality, his heart was blooming with joy at this moment. Previously, Heavenly Soul was locked in a struggle with the Sun and Moon, and he was indeed being pressured step by step by Jing Hongchen. But after Star Luo joined, he immediately jumped out of the confrontation and became a third party watching the tigers fight.
Indeed, the next moment, Star Breaking Douluo spoke on his behalf, scoffing, "Inherited the martial spirit of your Sun and Moon side? I remember, your Sun and Moon Empire's three great inherited martial spirits are Sun, Moon, and Dragon. Which one did Yuwen Tuo inherit? Isn't he a fire element?"
"Isn't the fire element inherited from the power of the Sun Martial Spirit?" Jing Hongchen retorted, "In this old man's opinion, our Imperial Prince's martial spirit inheritance is incomplete because he was influenced by your Star Luo bloodline. Sun, Moon, Star Sun has always been first, Star last. He was held back by you all."
"Jing Hongchen, how dare you insult my Star Luo Imperial Family!" Star Breaking Douluo roared in rage. His entire soul power surged. Two yellow, two purple, six black, and nine massive soul rings covered half the great hall.
"Star Breaking Douluo, this old man does not fear you!" Jing Hongchen's soul rings were also two yellow, two purple, and five black. They covered the other half of the great hall. Although his rank was still two levels lower than Star Breaking Douluo, he didn't believe he would lose to Star Breaking Douluo.
After all, he was still a Rank 9 Soul Engineer. His combat power could never be judged by rank alone.
For a moment, the entire Imperial Palace Hall seemed to become a battlefield where two Titled Douluo clashed.
Great Strength Douluo Cheng Gang stepped forward, wanting to support his Star Breaking Douluo, but was stopped by Xu Jiujiu.
Sometimes, more people do not necessarily mean an advantage. With Cheng Gang's strength, if a fight truly broke out, he might end up doing more harm than good. Moreover, this was the Heavenly Soul Imperial Palace. Fighting two-on-one here would damage Star Luo's reputation.
"Alright, alright, both Crown Princes, please temporarily quell your rage. Hall Master Hongchen, Star Luo Imperial Family bloodline is also noble, please mind your words. And Crown Prince Suixing, the fire element martial spirit is indeed closer to the Sun of the Sun and Moon Empire. You are also being a bit too pedantic." Emperor Xiexin hastily tried to appease the two.
Yuwen Tuo was a bit stunned. He had thought Emperor Xiexin was siding with Star Luo just now, but now, why did he seem to want to help Sun and Moon again? Was he trying to be a fence-sitter, pleasing both sides?
Just as he was confused, Vina secretly transmitted a message to him, "Junior Brother Yuwen, you don't have to worry. Imperial Father and I have already made arrangements yesterday. Just wait for the situation to change."
Actually, just three days ago, after Vina and Yuwen Tuo finished discussing, she immediately returned to the Imperial Palace and sought out her Imperial Father. Her very first words were:
"Imperial Father, your child wishes to participate in the succession struggle. Please add your child to your list of successor candidates."
Simple, direct, and domineering.
Even Yuwen Tuo hadn't expected that after he advised Vina to contend for the throne in the morning, she would directly confront her Imperial Father that very evening.
As previously mentioned, if Vina were a boy, this struggle for succession would not have happened at all.
But even as a girl, as long as she decided to contend for the throne, no one could contend with her.
The Emperor was not a fool. How could he not see that among his children, only Vina could ensure the country's future if she inherited the throne? Moreover, the Body Sect only supported Vina alone. Even if it was just to retain the Body Sect, he had no choice but to choose Vina.
It was just a pity that Vina had always been too concerned about her Imperial Brothers before, and also felt that her being a girl inheriting the throne would cause turmoil in the court.
Therefore, Emperor Xiexin had previously agreed to Jing Hongchen's terms, allowing him to take Yuwen Tuo. He knew that Vina and the Body Sect would not permit this. One of his goals was to use this opportunity to push Vina.
Not only that, he also had a very terrifying plan that he intended to ask Yuwen Tuo to help him complete.
But all of this had to be based on the premise that Vina wanted to contend.
At this moment, he was finally satisfied. That night, he simply crossed out all other names on the list of successors.
Some princes at this moment still hadn't realized that no matter how much they caused trouble, in the eyes of His Majesty, they were merely Vina's stepping stones.
"Yuwen Tuo, now you also know my identity, right? I wonder, are you willing to call me 'Auntie'?" Princess Jiujiu knew that arguing with Jing Hongchen here was useless, so she approached Yuwen Tuo to play the emotional card.
Yuwen Tuo shook his head and chuckled, "You must have known about my existence for a long time, right? But for all these years, you never thought of coming to find me. Yet now, you're urgently trying to rush me home. Don't you think it's a bit late?"
"You're right!" Jing Hongchen immediately said, "Your Highness, those who abandoned you were from Star Luo. When that woman ran away from the Sun and Moon Empire while pregnant with you, our Emperor never gave up looking for you for a single day. Compared to those who treated you like trash, our Sun and Moon is your true home. Your Imperial Father's love for you is absolutely not fake."
"We... we did it because..." Xu Jiujiu was at a loss for how to retort.
Their most disadvantageous point was that the Sun and Moon had indeed been searching for Yuwen Tuo for over ten years without giving up. And they, despite knowing where Yuwen Tuo was, had never thought of bringing him back, simply because his mother didn't want to see him, and their imperial family considered this child a disgrace to Star Luo.
But who would have thought that this child's talent was so monstrous? An Innate Level 20, after being crippled by Shrek for six years, he could still catch up and surpass a host of so-called prodigies.
And after leaving Shrek, he was like a fish entering the sea, his strength rapidly soaring. He even managed to pick off and kill the Gluttonous Douluo.
If properly cultivated, he would definitely become a world-shaking powerhouse in the future.
It was precisely because of this that they regretted it. They had ignored him because they were concerned about their so-called imperial reputation and Xu Yueran's feelings.
"I'm sorry, Yuwen Tuo. This is our fault. If you are willing to return with us, your Auntie swears, I will do my utmost to cultivate you. Your mother said that if you are willing to acknowledge her,
she will love you dearly in the future. She begs you not to see that man. It is because of that man that you and your mother have suffered so much," Xu Jiujiu didn't argue further.
Instead, she chose to directly admit her mistake. This was the correct behavior. Arguing with Yuwen Tuo at this moment would only make him resentful.
However, she still slightly modified Xu Yueran's original words. After all, Xu Yueran's original words were a blatant threat, somewhat overly confident. But looking at Yuwen Tuo, was he someone who would be threatened?
It was still more appropriate to play the emotional card.
In reality, Yuwen Tuo didn't believe a word of Xu Jiujiu's later statements.
At this moment, Emperor Xiexin timely said, "Alas, on one side is a gravely ill father, on the other is a pitiful mother. As a child, it must be a difficult choice. Princess Jiujiu, Hall Master Hongchen, may I ask you to give this child some time to think it over?"
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