Chapter 111

Weng Tianxin composed himself and did not respond to the Fifth Prince's move. Just as he was considering what excuse to use to refuse, Batu spoke up on his own.

He was tall and strong, and his voice was muffled, like rolling thunder, yet one could still detect a hint of youth in it. He spoke in the Rongdi language, "You're too young, I won't hit you."

Xue Jin'an, who had the bilingual mode enabled, also loaded the Rongdi language, but his reaction was still not as fast as that of the Fifth Prince, who could understand Rongdi language from the start.

The Fifth Prince compared his height with Xue Jin'an's, tilted his head back, and loudly beeped in the Rongdi language, "I'm only a little taller than him, and I don't even look as sturdy as him."

Speaking of height, the Fifth Prince was a little depressed. He wondered what his Seventh Brother ate to grow so much in just a few months, already surpassing the Eighth Prince and the Fourth Prince.

Despite his considerable martial arts skills and mastery of internal energy, the Fifth Prince's sickly appearance made him seem thin and weak, as if he couldn't lift a finger.

The Gu worms in the Fifth Prince's body had been parasitizing him for too long, and none of the imperial physicians were skilled in this technique, so they dared not act rashly. Therefore, the Gu worms were still in his body. However, Xiao Shu was dead, and the incense powder that had been prepared to agitate the Gu worms had been destroyed. As a precaution, the imperial physicians also developed a drug to temporarily block the Gu worms. Logically speaking, after being nurtured for so long, he should be lively and energetic.

But no one knows what his mentality is, or whether he's become addicted to pretending to be weak. He still acts much the same as before, and everyone else has long been used to him doing this. If they ask again, they'll just think that the Gu worms have ruined the Fifth Prince's health.

The Fifth Prince also knew when to stop, and he had changed a lot of his previous habit of stirring up trouble. He became a low-key ghost in the study, and his presence was almost on par with that of the Eighth Prince. For a while, no one thought anything was wrong.

Batuna shook his head, indicating that he wasn't referring to the "small" in the traditional sense. He asked, "How old are you?"

"Thirteen, what's wrong?" The Fifth Prince told the prince his age in the traditional Chinese way.

“I’m fourteen, we’re about the same age, I can hit you.” Batu pointed at Xue Jin’an, “He’s too young, no way.”

Fifth Prince: "..."

Those who understood the Rongdi language: "..."

Those who hadn't understood looked at the blank expressions of the others with utter bewilderment, pondering what to ask, when they heard the Fifth Prince switch back to his mother tongue, exclaiming incredulously, "You, fourteen years old??"

The Fifth Prince's pupils dilated in shock. Looking at his figure and appearance, which was even more ancient and wicked than Dian Wei, he felt that his beliefs had been shaken.

“It’s gigantism.” Xue Jin’an scanned the person in front of him with a health app, confirmed his various data, and gave an affirmative answer.

"What is this?" The Fifth Prince had never heard of this illness before and asked curiously.

Batu also looked over.

Xue Jin'an directly recited the official entry on this disease from the database, regardless of whether the audience could understand the modern medical terminology mixed in, and finally added: "The median lifespan of gigantism patients is twenty to thirty years."

Batu was jolted awake, muttering to himself, "Do I only have seven years left to live?"

"The highest probability does not mean certainty." Xue Jin'an meticulously reported the approximate survival data for each age group.

—Speaking of which, the reason his database contains detailed information on gigantism is because Long Aotian was reading novels and complaining that the male protagonists and supporting characters in female-oriented novels were getting taller and taller, from 178 to 185 to over 190, and the height of the male protagonists was also increasing along with the inflation of the wealth of the rich families.

"Shouldn't I also upgrade my appearance? Otherwise, how can I be worthy of the 'Dragon Overlord' template?" Because he had reached the Foundation Establishment stage too early and remained in the state of an eighteen-year-old, the Dragon Overlord was so bored that he had his phone collect the height data of all the male protagonists in Dragon Overlord novels on the platform, made a statistical table, and then planned to add ten centimeters to the highest number to ensure his status as the strongest Dragon Overlord.

However, Long Aotian only experienced the two-meter height for one day before saying that it was too high and he was not used to it. This caused him to walk and do things with the feeling of early humans taming their limbs. When people asked if he had gigantism, he was too lazy to explain and changed back to his original state.

However, this was the reason given by Long Aotian himself, while the phone's calculation result was: "You are afraid of heights."

"...No way! I used to be a sword cultivator who could fly on a sword, how could I be afraid of heights because of a mere two meters of altitude! Impossible!" Long Aotian denied it outright, and used his mobile browser to search for a bunch of data about gigantism to shut up the phone.

Xue Jin'an's memories flashed by, and no one noticed the tiny point at the corner of his lips that turned up.

Batu was deeply moved by his words, and his expression looked as if he had been stabbed three times.

Weng Tianxin's heart skipped a beat. He only understood half of what the Seventh Prince said, but he spoke with such seriousness that he subconsciously attributed the unfamiliar terms to the fact that he was not a doctor and therefore could not understand them.

However, whether he believes it or not is not important now; whatever the Seventh Prince says, whether it is true or false, must be false.

"I truly admire the Seventh Prince's talent. At such a young age, Your Highness has already mastered the principles of 'the art of war, winning hearts and minds is the best strategy, while conquering cities is the worst. Psychological warfare is superior to physical warfare.' It is truly a brilliant strategy that achieves victory without bloodshed."

Weng Tianxin's words immediately labeled Xue Jin'an's remarks as a malicious scheme.

Batu Na indeed showed an angry expression, "You are so despicable!"

"Sun Tzu said: 'Warfare is based on deception.' Since you are not as skilled as others, why bother barking? If every bettor is like this, then you might as well admit defeat and admit that you can't accept defeat." Whether it's directly confronting someone or being sarcastic, the Fifth Prince has never lost in this area.

He chuckled and said, "If you're scared, then so be it. We just won't compete."

Batu was still only fourteen years old, and his youthful arrogance made him blush with anger after being mocked by the Fifth Prince. Ignoring how ugly Weng Tianxin's expression was, he immediately agreed, "Let's compete!"

However, he wasn't stupid; he was still shrewd enough to set a rule: "No more psychological warfare. True warriors should fight with real swords and spears."

"Do you dare?" he challenged the Seventh Prince in the same manner.

Xue Jin'an was indifferent. He glanced at the Fifth Prince next to him and saw that the smile on his lips had deepened by five pixels. He was obviously deliberately trying to provoke Batu Na into falling into the trap.

Xue Jin'an overturned the Fifth Prince's judgment that he had kept a low profile and behaved himself. He was still eager to watch the excitement, but he just found the excitement in the Imperial Study too small to arouse his interest. Now, he has taken the initiative to step forward and promote the life-and-death duel between Xue Jin'an and Batu.

Yes, life and death—after the Fifth Prince's tireless verbal provocations, the dull-witted Batuna became a mobile, erupting castle, unilaterally deciding to go all out in the battle and make Xue Jin'an accept defeat wholeheartedly.

Xue Jin'an calmly withdrew his gaze from the Fifth Prince, deciding that after beating Batu, he would find an opportunity to beat up the Fifth Prince as well.

There wasn't any particular reason, he just felt that Xue Jin'an was 94% in need of a beating. Xue Jin'an was a good coder, and he didn't mind giving him a hand.

However, before Xue Jin'an could nod, Weng Tianxin's voice forcefully interrupted, and he politely declined the proposal.

"Your Majesty, fists and feet have no eyes. Batu is reckless and impulsive. If you are not careful... that would be terrible. Why don't you wait a few more years and then challenge Batu to a duel?"

Weng Tianxin did not want to involve the Seventh Prince for the time being.

Of course, he didn't really think that the Seventh Prince's small stature could actually defeat Batu.

When he was seven or eight years old, he was already almost as tall as an adult. It was because of his extraordinary physical characteristics that he stood out and was recommended by his father to the Khan to be adopted as his son. This allowed him to escape the fate of being a slave and become a prince of the Rongdi people.

Even though Batu is still a boy in terms of age, he is a true warrior bestowed upon the Rongdi by Tengri, possessing unprecedented strength.

Tengri is the Eternal Heaven, the only true god worshipped by the Rong and Di peoples.

Batu's nine-foot height would intimidate even an adult standing in front of him, let alone the Seventh Prince, a seven or eight-year-old child. His entire body width might not even be as thick as Batu's legs.

One force can destroy everything. So what if the Seventh Prince is skilled with a sword? He has no chance to fight back!

Weng Tianxin had complete confidence in Batu, but he wasn't stupid either. The Fifth Prince must have something to rely on if he insisted on pushing the Seventh Prince forward.

After much thought, Weng Tianxin concluded that it must be related to the emperor.

The seventh prince was the emperor's most beloved child. Regardless of whether such children truly had the right to be favored, they were often willful and arrogant, and would not be punished for their mistakes, thus becoming even more lawless.

Thinking about it this way, it makes sense why those ministers would show such awe towards the Seventh Prince.

Moreover, as far as he knew, the Seventh Prince's birth mother was the Emperor's most beloved concubine, who had recently been posthumously honored as Empress. He was now the only legitimate prince.

The struggle for the throne among princes in the Central Plains has always been fierce. History is full of stories of brothers fighting each other and fathers and sons turning against each other. Throughout history, very few crown princes have survived to the time of succession. It is conceivable that in the absence of a crown prince, the legitimate prince who is closest to the position of crown prince must also be feared.

The Fifth Prince deliberately pushed the Seventh Prince forward. If the Seventh Prince is injured or unfortunately killed, the Rongdi will take the blame, and the Rongdi's test of Daqi will completely fail.

Weng Tianxin successfully convinced himself through a logical loop, so when he spoke, he directly pointed out that the Seventh Prince would be injured.

He thought smugly that since the emperor doted on the seventh prince so much, he would certainly not let him be in danger.

However, he was unaware that the father-son relationship between the emperor and the seventh prince was one-sided and made of inferior, toxic plastic.

The emperor watched as the fifth prince pushed the seventh prince out and provoked the enemy to build up his anger so that he could use his full strength in the fight. Instead of being angry, the emperor was actually looking forward to it.

The emperor thought to himself: Bao Ning is a genius sent from heaven. He is just missing a worthy opponent to practice against. This is a good opportunity for me to see what he can do next.

As for Xue Jin'an being seriously injured by the enraged Batu, the emperor would only be disappointed. This supposedly gifted talent was a lie and not worth mentioning.

However, Weng Tianxin refused and offered another suggestion: "Since there is no one among the princes who can fight, why not choose an opponent from the royal family?"

"I've heard that His Highness Prince An's son is skilled in both literature and martial arts. I wonder if he'd be willing to fight?" Weng Tianxin directly dragged Prince An into the conversation.

Prince An, who was sitting peacefully drinking tea, was suddenly attacked face-to-face: "..."

“My son is ill,” Prince An said with great confidence.

Prince An's son wasn't sick; he was just badly beaten by the Third Prince at the last palace banquet. Although he was almost fully recovered, he still felt uncomfortable all over and didn't want to go out.

Weng Tianxin was getting annoyed when no one answered his roll call several times. He went on to provoke them, saying, "I never thought that such a great Qi would have no brave young men to fight. Fine, fine."

He waved his hand, as if to say that it was over.

"Sigh," the Fifth Prince sighed softly, looking aggrieved, "You don't want me to lead the charge, and you don't want my seventh brother to come either. It's really a headache."

The Fifth Prince was practically saying outright, "You're really hard to please."

"You all talk too much nonsense." The Third Prince finally lost his patience. He stood up with a cold face, and a whip appeared in his hand. It slowly drooped down, and the slightly bristling scales gleamed with a cold, menacing light.

Xue Jin'an knew about this; it was one of the weapons of the Third Prince that appeared in the original text, the Thirteen-Section Serpent Whip, made entirely of fine steel, with "scales" on the whip body that resembled a snake. Once it wrapped around someone's body, it would inevitably cause blood and flesh to splatter everywhere.

This was not the Third Prince's usual weapon. He was impulsive and preferred hand-to-hand combat, so he only used this whip occasionally.

This whip was originally supposed to be a gift from a prince when the third prince left the palace to establish his own residence. As for who gave it to him, the original text doesn't mention it. In any case, this whip shouldn't have appeared at this time.

Xue Jin'an watched as the little eunuch carrying the tray quietly and quickly retreated with his head down. Then he turned around and met the eyes of the eldest prince.

His standard smile remained unchanged, but his eyes seemed to deepen with the flickering candlelight.

As expected, it was the eldest prince. Xue Jin'an was not surprised by this answer.

Consort De often rides horses and always has a whip in her hand, so it's not surprising that the eldest prince would know about such things. In addition, his making this in advance also serves as an apology to the third prince.

"Snap!" The Third Prince swung his arm, and the long whip suddenly shot out, coiling precisely around Batu's neck like a snake.

The latter was also quite skilled. He immediately raised his hand to block, took two steps back, and the whip wrapped around his arm. The Third Prince pulled hard, the iron whip tightened, and the iron scales twisted like blades. Instantly, deep marks were left on the animal skin bracers on Batu's arm.

Batu was not afraid at all. He twisted his arm around the iron whip, focused his energy in his dantian, and took two quick steps back with his lower limbs, then pulled hard.

He intended to disarm the Third Prince, but the Third Prince used the momentum to leap out and retrieve the whip. He landed unsteadily due to his footing, but quickly recovered and lashed out at his neck with the whip again.

The Third Prince and Batu Na exchanged several blows in the blink of an eye.

"Seventh Brother, it seems we have nothing to do." The Fifth Prince shrugged and was about to return to his seat to continue watching the show.

"Are you disappointed?" Xue Jin'an raised his hand and grabbed his neck like he was catching a cat, aiming at the direction of the Rongdi envoy.

Weng Tianxin's eyelids suddenly twitched, and he had a feeling that something bad was about to happen.

"Wait, what are you going to do?" The Fifth Prince had a bad feeling.

"Your wish will be granted," Xue Jin'an said, and threw the Fifth Prince away.

"..." Xue Jin'an, you damned devil!

The Fifth Prince swallowed the insults in his throat and fiercely pulled a dagger from his sleeve.

Weng Tianxin rolled away from the vicious knife in a disheveled state.

Later, all the treaties between various countries and the Great Qi included a clause prohibiting princes from throwing weapons at their envoys.