Chapter 82 - Changing Alliance

It did not take long before the people who had been present were spreading the words about Jiang Yao and Jiang Luo's disagreement, which had ended in a one-sided beating of the Fourth Demon Prince.

Many saw this as a sign that Jiang Yao had intentions of fighting for the throne, but what puzzled them most was the words Jiang Yao had told his brother.

It was clear that he was protecting someone, but no matter how much they tried to pry into this, no one seemed to know who exactly this person was.

Many thought that perhaps Jiang Yao had found a lover, and started looking for the most attractive female and male companions they could find to have them become a gift they could present to Jiang Yao. If he took a liking to someone they had prepared, would their future days not be smooth sailing then?

Unfortunately, no one was allowed into the Jiang Yao's palace. He did not accept any of the people prepared for him; he did not even as much as look at them or even agree to meet them. What a joke! He had finally found someone he cherished, his Xiaoxiao, whom he would never intentionally hurt, and he had no doubt that taking in these people would make him sad.

But no one was willing to give up just like this. They all wanted to get into the good books of Jiang Yao, some tried bribing the servants to learn his schedule, others just prepared jewelry and gifts that they sent to him time and time again.

Jiang Yao was not so stuck up that he did not accept the gifts, but he never replied to the people. He still had absolutely no interest in the throne, but he knew that if he wanted Luo Xiao to live in peace, then he could not continue being as aloof as he had been before.

It was natural that his original behavior was going to make Jiang Luo think that he could walk all over him.

After sighing, Jiang Yao leaned back against the chair and pondered. He was not troubled by the many people wanting to curry favor with him, nor was he worried about the payback from his fourth brother. What worried him was his relationship with Luo Xiao.

He had long since realized his feelings for this youngster, but never would he have thought that his every little act and pout would stir his emotions the way they did.

He could never tell Luo Xiao what he truly felt. In fact, it was hard for him to let Luo Xiao roam free and happy as he pleased, befriending lots of different people and have a life that did not revolve around him despite letting it happen.

He understood that Luo Xiao did not want to be a canary in a birdcage, but an eagle that could soar in the sky by his side.

And to provide him with a stage where he could fly as he pleased, Jiang Yao had to fight against Jiang Luo.

Although he had promised Luo Xiao that the one who would deal with him in the end would be the little lover for the sake of avenging his father and village, he could still get some interest and weaken him slightly beforehand.

The news about the fight between Jiang Yao and Jiang Luo was spreading like a wildfire. Many officials who had previously stayed neutral were swayed towards Jiang Yao, and even some who had been supporting Jiang Luo changed their alliance.

While Jiang Yao watched everything unfold with a mindset of wanting to watch the world burn from the sidelines, Jiang Luo was frustrated, anxious, and angry.

He had spent countless hours, resources and effort to convince all these officials to support him. He was not the strongest amongst the brothers, so supporting him could prove to be difficult, but he was the most shrewd one, and thus his efforts were slowly paid off.

Unfortunately, after just one clash with Jiang Yao, he could feel how fragile his foundations really were.

Jiang Yao was the being that he hated the most. He was talented. He was revered. He had everything that one could want. He even seemed unconcerned with the throne, hence Jiang Luo had not done anything to him yet.

Who would have thought that his actions of 'inviting' Luo Xiao to his side had caused this aloof immortal to respond with such anger that he had problems withstanding it.

Not only had his wealth been severely affected from the destruction that Jiang Yao had caused. His information network was severely damaged, and it would take a long time to make it return to how it was before, as each member had to be trained. And last, but definitely not least, he had caused many of his supporters to turn their back at him.

All of this was simply unacceptable! But he knew he was not the opponent of Jiang Yao in a head on confrontation. Even his supporter was barely able to fight him.

Right! Jiang Luo suddenly smiled eerily. He might not be the opponent of Jiang Yao, but that did not mean that no one was.

He was not expecting his father to step up and cause problems for Jiang Yao, as his father was immensely carefree and completely uninterested in his children’s fight for the throne. In fact, he encouraged them to fight amongst one another.

Returning to his mansion, Jiang Luo vented his anger on the servants before his deathsworn guards fetched a doctor.

"Your injuries are not light," the doctor said with trembling hands as he looked at the banged up face of Jiang Luo. Jiang Yao had truly used a heavy hand.

"Just give me some medication so that the swelling will fall soon," Jiang Luo said through gritted teeth. He understood his body's condition himself.

He had cuts and bruises all over his body, but the worst injury was his internal organs that had almost ruptured from the fight earlier, causing him to vomit blood.

Even now, his internal organs were still injured. It would take a week for him to return to his peak condition, and that was only because he was a cultivator. Any normal person, or someone with lower cultivation base, would long since have died.

But although the internal injuries were the worst, what worried Jiang Luo was the injuries on his face. He could not leave the house as long as he had these bruises and cuts, alongside massive swellings, on his face. He couldn’t afford to become the joke of the city.

The doctor dared not say anything else and quickly found the things that the Fourth Demon Prince had requested. He then applied a generous amount on his face before he excused himself.

Laying on the reclining chair with closed eyes, Jiang Luo was fuming with anger inside, but had nowhere to vent it. It was his own fault for being weaker than Jiang Yao!

"It seems that the future Emperor is injured," an alluring and melodious voice suddenly came drifting out from behind a curtain in the room, and Jiang Luo instantly sat up and straightened his back.

"Milady!" he called out respectfully as he looked at the curtain being slowly lifted by a slender and exquisite hand, revealing an alluring and stunning woman, far more beautiful than Hong Yan, who slowly swayed her hips as she walked towards Jiang Luo.

"It is quite a shame that you were unable to avoid a beating, but what did you do that caused Jiang Yao to see you as an eyesore?

"Jiang Yao has never liked you, but he would never go as far as to beat you in public, not to mention the wreck he's made with your information network and sources of income."

Seeing the stunning face revealing a slight smile which could attract any man in the world, Jiang Luo was not feeling assured. Although he feared Jiang Yao, he feared this woman even more.

"Jiang Yao has a weakness!" he quickly said, to protect himself and show that he had been doing something good.

"A small cultivator, not even Moon Ranked yet. From what I have gathered he is his lover. I wanted to invite him to my castle to discuss his terms for betraying Jiang Yao, but he refused. I was not willing to let go so my men tried to use force, unfortunately none of them ever returned back to tell me exactly what happened."

"I see," the smile on the alluring woman's lips grew increasingly brilliant as her eyes were filled with sparkles.

Truth was that her fist choice of cooperation was Jiang Yao, not Jiang Luo.

Unfortunately he had no interest in the throne while Jiang Luo was overly concerned with it. Using Jiang Yao would have been impossible, but using Jiang Luo was immensely easy.

After considering for some time, the woman could only sigh. Even if he had a weakness, it was not plausible to work together with Jiang Yao, as he was like a double-edged sword. He could turn on them at any moment.

The woman sighed and shook her head. The fourth demon prince was their comrade in arms, and he was the one they had to place on the throne. They could control him.

"Tell me more about this lover," she said curiously, and Jiang Luo slowly told her everything he knew and everything he had understood through the time he had been gathering information.

"A Heavenly Soul? Are you sure it is merely a Heavenly Soul? From what I hear he could be an Astral Soul."

"He was just a Heavenly Soul when he was tested at the academy. They did nothing to hide the results, and it was even witnessed by quite a few people from the academy."

"I see." the woman nodded her head. A Heavenly Soul was not bad, but compared to an Astral Soul there was still quite a distance.

However, the progress of this kid, alongside the value that was placed upon him, was he truly just a normal Heavenly Soul?

Maybe he had consumed some sort of treasure that made his cultivation base soar. The woman decided that this had to be the reason. Cheating the Academy was simply far too difficult for him to achieve.

"You have done a good job figuring out the weakness of Jiang Yao," the woman said as she looked at Jiang Luo. "However, you made a big mistake," she continued. "When you found out about this weakness you did not inform us, but moved on your own, resulting in our efforts being put back a few years.

"I understand your difficulty with waiting, but this is not a simple thing. I can imagine that Jiang Yao has left some of his shadow guards to protect this little lover. Do you really think your normal men would be able to go against them?

"Also, now that your act has been made, there is no way to avoid the war that will occur between the two of you.

"I would have been able to easily grab the kid and retreat, but not anymore, because now he knows we are aiming for him."

The more the woman spoke, the more annoyed she became. She wanted to put Jiang Luo on the throne but she had never actually wanted to cross swords with Jiang Yao.

She had always felt him mysterious and unable to look through him. At least he had never wanted to participate in the war for the throne, but now, because of the stupid jealousy of the Fourth Demon Prince, the war between Jiang Yao and Jiang Luo was unavoidable.

"We have no choice now, we need to deal with Jiang Yao," the woman sighed again as she shook her head in annoyance.

But while the woman was annoyed, Jiang Luo was ecstatic. Previously they had never wanted to move against Jiang Yao no matter how much he begged, but now they would. This was the best reward he could have gotten from getting beaten like that.