Chapter 11618 — Very Well, Very Well

At least where character was concerned, Chief Secretary Han was beyond reproach.

By feeling and by reason alike, they could not simply stand by and watch Chief Secretary Han be dismissed.

The situation outside was now far more complicated and perilous than before; if Chief Secretary Han were not there to maneuver among the factions, the Han Prince's Estate would truly be finished.

"Mutiny! Every last one of you has turned traitor, haven't you!"

Han Jiechen was shaking with rage.

In that moment it also dawned on him that he had probably kicked an iron plate; but matters had come to this, and since the words were already out of his mouth, there was no swallowing them back—otherwise the authority of him, the Han Prince, would be gone, and he really would become a laughingstock.

The crowd all knelt in unison, their stance firm.

Seeing this, Wei Zhao said, "In the two years I have been in the Inner Royal Court, Chief Secretary Han is one of the few genuinely honest men I have dealt with. That the Han Prince's Estate has him to hold it up is the estate's good fortune."

"Very well, very well! So it's true after all—biting the hand that feeds you, and you don't even bother to hide it anymore!"

Han Jiechen pointed at Wei Zhao and Chief Secretary Han, grinding his teeth: "What do you plan to do next? Do you mean to hollow out this prince and make me your puppet?"

The crowd exchanged glances.

Wei Zhao could not help but laugh. "Your imagination runs rather far. Frankly speaking, if I wanted to take control of the Han Prince's Estate, I would not actually need you as a puppet."

Han Jiechen was instantly struck dumb.

The implication was that, to Wei Zhao, he held no value that required keeping him alive; with a single thought, Wei Zhao could kill him at any moment.

It was no wonder he thought in such dark directions—were he in Wei Zhao's position, meeting an ingrate like himself who repaid kindness with enmity, he reckoned he would long since have struck the killing blow.

Had it been otherwise, he would not be so terrified of Wei Zhao.

Han Jiechen trembled inwardly, but at the thought that this was his own home ground, the Han Prince's Estate, he finally steeled himself and gave a cold snort:

"Would you actually dare lay a hand on this prince? The ancestors of the Han Prince's Estate are watching from the ancestral hall. If you dare touch a single hair on this prince, today will be the day you die!"

Wei Zhao looked at him, speechless. Meanwhile, Wei Baizhan rose to his feet.

"Boy, you've got some nerve."

Before anyone could even react, Wei Baizhan had already seized Han Jiechen by the neck with one hand and hoisted him up.

"Stop!"

The assembled experts of the Han Prince's Estate were greatly alarmed at the sight and rushed forward to rescue him.

Yet Wei Baizhan merely stood there, and the tangible malevolence radiating from his whole body kept the experts of the Han Prince's Estate from getting close.

Even those who forced their way near would have the malevolence invade their minds, lose their reason in an instant, and then be sent flying by a single slap from Wei Baizhan.

Only then did the crowd come back to their senses—this was, after all, the very fiend who had slaughtered the Night Central Palace single-handedly!

In terms of conventional fighting strength, the Han Prince's Estate could not even compare to the Night Central Palace; once blades were truly drawn, they would end up just the same—butchered one-sidedly.

The crux was that Li Qinghe and the rest of the condemned sect leaders had risen to their feet as well.

The hearts of everyone in the Han Prince's Estate sank straight to the bottom.

Looking at Wei Zhao seated there in such composure, they finally shook off the illusion left by the earlier pleasantries and truly felt, in their bones, the terror of being utterly at another's mercy.

Han Jiechen finally came to his senses.

A single word from Wei Zhao could genuinely wipe out the Han Prince's Estate!

The so-called ancestors he leaned upon, the unshakable strength he had regarded as his foundation—in Wei Zhao's eyes, they were nothing but a joke.

Chief Steward Han pleaded gravely, "Brother Lin, I beg you to spare our prince. What we did before was truly wrong toward you, and I swear we will never do such a thing again."

With that, he bowed to the ground.

Wei Zhao shook his head. "Chief Steward Han, I trust your character. It's his intelligence I don't trust."

Chief Steward Han: "..."

For a moment, he genuinely did not know how to plead on Han Jiechen's behalf.

After all, just as Wei Zhao had said, this required no great moral fortitude—anyone with a bit of clear sense would know what choice to make from then on.

But with the brain Han Jiechen had, such a thing was by no means a given.

"If you've got the guts, kill me! If you've got the guts, kill me!"

Han Jiechen's reaction once again left Chief Steward Han and the others pressing their palms to their foreheads. Stuck with a master like this, they truly did not know whether to call themselves hardworking or simply ill-fated.

Wei Baizhan gave a ferocious grin and at once tightened his grip. "As you wish."

The others had no time at all to intervene.

Just then, an ancient and mighty aura suddenly swept over the entire hall, and the scene before everyone's eyes changed abruptly.

What had been a banquet hall a moment before had in an instant become solemn and still.

Everywhere the eye fell, there were rows upon rows of spirit tablets.

Chief Steward Han and the others felt their eyelids twitch wildly. "This is... the ancestral shrine?"

Han Jiechen was instantly overjoyed. "The ancestors have manifested!"

In that instant, his confidence came flooding back.

With the Han Prince's Estate's old ancestors watching over him, let alone a single Wei Zhao—bring ten more Wei Zhaos and none of them would dare touch a hair on his head!

Sure enough, beneath the pressure of that ancient aura, even someone as powerful as Wei Baizhan could not keep Han Jiechen under control and involuntarily let go.

An aged voice rang out.

"Truly useless."

Everyone turned toward the sound, and a profound old man in white robes came into view.

Comparing him against the ancestral portraits hung around the shrine, they were startled to find that this man's likeness was identical to that of the Han Prince's Estate's twenty-third-generation ancestor.

Chief Steward Han and the others hurriedly threw themselves down in obeisance: "We pay our respects to the twenty-third-generation ancestor!"

Amid their astonishment, their hearts were also filled with boundless exhilaration.

The ancestors were the greatest foundation of the seven great princely estates, yet before this, the old ancestors of the Han Prince's Estate had not appeared for a very long time.

They had even begun to suspect that something had happened to the ancestors, preventing them from manifesting.

Were it not so, the Han Prince's Estate would never have fallen to such a weak position as it held today.

But now, all the clouds of worry scattered at once.

Since the old ancestors could still manifest, then even if the sky fell, the Han Prince's Estate could rest easy!

The white-robed old man did not even glance at them; instead, he studied Wei Zhao with keen interest.

"This old man is Han Niansan. Would you be interested in becoming my grandson?"

That one sentence left everyone utterly dumbfounded.

Wei Zhao pointed at himself in bewilderment: "Me?"

Han Niansan's face was perfectly serious: "That's right, you. This old man simply finds you pleasing to the eye. So long as you agree, I will make the decision right now to make you the Han Prince."

"Huh?"

Han Jiechen was struck dumb, and he hurriedly said, "Old Ancestor, I am the Han Prince of this generation. He is not one of our Han Prince's Estate—he is merely an outsider."