Chapter 11595 — Even If I Wanted to Defy Them

Wang Lai pressed him further.

Zhou Wei gestured at the ranks of silver-armored men. "The thing is, even if I wanted to defy the orders, they would not listen to me."

When it came down to it, all of them were just low-level men carrying out orders.

In a matter like this they might get a cut of the benefits, but that cut was nowhere near enough to make them risk their necks.

With no way out, Wang Lai could only turn to Xiang Zigui for help. "Elder, have you any method? If we cannot see this game through today, I truly will have lost everything."

To swallow up Wei Zhao's Rule Design Institute, it was not only the Night Central Palace's strength he had mobilized—he had sunk a good deal of his own private fortune into it as well.

He truly could not afford to lose this round.

Xiang Zigui held up three fingers.

Meaning he wanted a thirty percent share of the profits.

Wang Lai hesitated a moment, then ground his teeth and agreed. "Fine. Make your move, and quickly."

True, this way, setting aside the other payoffs and investments, he himself would be left with at most thirty percent—but that still beat losing even the shirt off his back.

"Breaking this deadlock is actually not hard."

Xiang Zigui turned his upward-slanting eyes on Xu Anshan and said in his strange, rasping voice, "Born of the innate emperor, undone by the innate emperor. Take him, and the trouble resolves itself."

Even as he spoke he raised his hand and waved it, and his broad sleeve billowed out to cover earth and sky, so that the whole heaven went dark.

"A Universe in the Sleeve!"

Zhao Feng and the others all changed color at once and moved to retreat, but it was already too late.

In an instant Xu Anshan transformed into a colossal emperor ten thousand zhang tall, striving to thrust through the universe and burst it open.

Yet however many zhang he grew, the sleeve above his head was always ten thousand zhang taller still. All of it was in vain.

The next second the sky cleared again, as though it had all been an illusion.

Yet every one of Wei Zhao's direct line—Xu Anshan included—had vanished utterly, leaving only Zhao Feng behind, unconscious and unmoving.

Clearly, Xiang Zigui knew exactly where the lines were.

Though the King of Zhao was in seclusion healing his wounds, if his precious daughter were truly harmed, then given the King of Zhao's temper he might well burst from his seclusion and fight to the bitter death.

Leaving Zhao Feng behind would spare them no end of trouble.

Wang Lai was overjoyed at the sight. "Worthy of Elder Xiang! When the elder makes his move, it is truly out of the ordinary!"

Xiang Zigui was an old monster he had invited specially. His level of strength was so high that, across the whole of the Inner Royal Court today, he was all but invincible—even the King of Qin might not necessarily be his match.

The reason Zhao Feng had been left alive was not that they could not afford to offend the Prince of Zhao—it was simply that they did not wish to stir up unnecessary complications.

After all, these people came from the legendary Inner Royal Court.

One move, and the problem was neatly solved. His thirty percent cut had been well worth paying.

At that very moment, Zhou Wei's face lit up as well: "President Wang, the order just issued by the bureau has been cancelled—they want us to proceed with the plan as scheduled!"

Wang Lai laughed heartily. "So the born emperor really is something. The man's gone, and his imperial power is gone with him. Tsk tsk, truly badass."

Now there was no one left who could stand in his way.

The Rule Design Institute had fallen completely into his hands.

Xiang Zikui shot him a glance. "Don't forget the thirty percent."

Wang Lai nodded again and again. "Rest assured, Senior, not a bit of it will be missing."

By now he had fully grasped the other man's value. With an old monster like this backing him, he could walk sideways through the Inner Royal Court, and no matter how much fortune he spent, he would earn it back many times over.

Xiang Zikui turned to Xiang Feng and said, "Your ancestor will go back now and refine them. Good grandson, make your preparations—tomorrow night you can light the wedding candles."

Xiang Feng beamed with delight. "Thank you, Ancestor!"

In the space of a single afternoon, he had watched the Rule Design Institute fall into his pocket with not a ripple of trouble along the way. Wang Lai finally let out a breath of relief.

He had to admit it: the deterrent force of that old monster Xiang Zikui was truly formidable.

Otherwise, even at this stage, those other forces eyeing him hungrily would never have stayed so well-behaved and let him devour such a huge piece of fat meat clean to the bone.

Back at the Night Central Palace.

Before Wang Lai could even begin to celebrate properly, a foot met his face head-on, and he flew into a rage on the spot.

Once he saw who it was, Wang Lai choked back the urge to strike and cursed, "Ren Xuande, are you out of your fucking mind!"

"You're the one who's out of his mind."

Ren Xuande rebuked him in a low, stern voice: "Bypassing the council's vote and openly moving against Wei Zhao's assets—who gave you the right?"

A fellow president of the Night Central Palace, he would not even have known what had happened today had Qi Zhuiyun not torn into him with a furious dressing-down.

He had once met Wei Zhao, just once, and he had rather thought well of the man.

All the more so given that Qi Zhuiyun's face was riding on this too.

And now? Wang Lai had acted on his own authority, using the Night Central Palace's name to swallow Wei Zhao's Rule Design Institute outright, and stirred up such a commotion while doing it—where was he supposed to put his own face?

With centuries of friendship between him and Qi Zhuiyun, if this matter was not resolved properly, they would likely end up cutting all ties.

If not for the Prince of Qi's tacit consent, Qi Zhuiyun would be throwing a fit in the Qi Princely Mansion right now—by this hour he might well have come knocking to pick a fight.

Wang Lai scoffed, covering his face. "Old Ren, what's got you so worked up? So I swallowed a Rule Design Institute—hardly worth a fuss. I could handle a little thing like that on my own. Did it really need a vote from the Council? That's making a mountain out of a molehill."

Ren Xuande looked at him coldly. "Do you know what you've done?"

Wang Lai was unconcerned. "What have I done? Swallowed a dead man's assets, that's all. What are you so nervous for?"

Ren Xuande gave a cold snort, and a divination slip materialized out of thin air before him.

The lowest of the low—great misfortune.

"This is our Night Central Palace's fate slip. Before today it read great fortune. Because of what you've done, it has turned to great misfortune. How do you plan to explain this to the Council?"

Wang Lai visibly froze for a moment.

Ren Xuande was not only one of the Night Central Palace's behind-the-scenes bosses; he held another identity as well.

He was the Inner Royal Court's foremost master of fate calculation.

Unlike the charlatan fortune-tellers fleecing coins at roadside stalls, his readings not only connected to the hidden threads of cause and effect but also fused in all manner of arcane mysteries, including the piercing of the future.

In the accuracy of his calculations, no one in the Inner Royal Court could surpass him.

Staring at the lowest-of-the-low slip and its great misfortune before Ren Xuande, even Wang Lai could not help but feel his heart pound.

But soon enough Wang Lai recovered and sneered, "Explain? What's there to explain? Can you guarantee your fate slips are always accurate?"

Ren Xuande laughed in spite of his anger. "So you're going to play the rogue with me, is that it?"

No matter how extraordinary a master of fate calculation might be, in the end it was still fortune-telling—how could it possibly always be right?