Luo Fai turned to Luo Chen, pointing a shaking finger.
"Teach your daughter right now! This is not right!"
"Enough!" Luo Chen’s voice cut through the hall.
The room fell silent.
He looked at Luo Lan. His eyes were heavy, but happy.
"If this is her wish," he said slowly, "then she may do so."
"Really?!" Luo Phen finally exploded, rising from his seat. "After everything? After the secret well you gave him, you’re just going to let them go?!"
This ti, Luo Fai and Luo Bo moved as well, standing with him.
"Then I will leave too," Luo Chen said. "You can take the Luo clan for yourselves if you want. But be prepared to face the Han clan and the Flaming Cloud Sect on your own."
The threat made all three of them stiffen.
This.
This was why killing Luo Chen had never been an option.
Even if they managed to borrow outside help to bring him down, other powers would seize the chance imdiately and wipe them out to claim the first seat.
They needed Luo Chen as a shield against outsiders.
They just didn’t want him as the one holding power.
Amid the tension, Luo Lan noticed sothing.
"Where is Elder Luo Mianyu?" Luo Lan asked, surprised not to see her.
She was one of her father’s supporters and the person closest to her, almost like a mother figure.
"Hm?" Wu Han glanced around.
Only three elders were present.
From Wu Han’s stolen mories, he knew the clan should have three elders, but the woman seated there was not the one he had t before.
"Luo Mianyu... The old lady who kindly helped ? Where is she now?" Wu Han frowned.
"She was supposed to be one of the elders, wasn’t she?"
"Hmp..."
Luo Chen had finally cald down, but at Wu Han’s question, turmoil rose in his heart.
This was sothing he had not expected he to notice, let alone ask about.
"Luo Bo," he said after a pause, shifting the burden. "You explain it."
He turned toward the man who now occupied Luo Mianyu’s forr seat.
"She... decided to take early retirent," Luo Bo replied. He had not even prepared a lie and was forced to improvise on the spot.
"What?" Wu Han grinned. "Is that really the reason?"
His gaze did not turn to Luo Chen. Nor did it linger on Luo Bo.
Instead, it landed on Luo Phen.
Luo Phen’s face stiffened. He knew imdiately what Wu Han was about to bring up.
"I want you to destroy Luo Lan’s cultivation."
That had been the request.
In exchange for ten thousand spirit stones.
But the paynt had never arrived at his room.
Which ant sothing had happened to her.
And Wu Han knew exactly who was behind it.
"Ahem!" Luo Phen cleared his throat. "This is an internal matter of the clan. If I speak carelessly about such things, there may be consequences."
Wu Han caught the aning hidden behind those words.
The agreent.
As if I cared.
But for now, he let them go.
Watching these crooks scramble to patch together their collapsing sches was almost amusing.
I can still squeeze more value out of these elders, he thought.
No need to reveal it now. Too much chaos would ruin the plan.
He could already imagine Luo Chen’s reaction if he learned the truth.
That Luo Mianyu had once asked soone to destroy his precious daughter’s cultivation.
Wu Han glanced left, then right.
Both sides were stuck, neither able to advance nor retreat.
He let out a quiet sigh.
I guess I pushed them too hard.
Fine. I’ll give them a hand.
"I understand this ca out of nowhere," Wu Han said. "It’s not easy to make a decision like this on the spot."
As he spoke, he left them a way out.
Like a hunter opening a path so the prey could run.
"Yes. Yes, you’re right," Luo Phen said quickly, seizing the excuse Wu Han had just given him. "This matter... we can discuss it later."
Even if his supporters clearly weren’t satisfied.
"What do you an, consider?" Luo Fai snapped. "There’s nothing to consider!"
"Yes," Luo Bo added imdiately. "I agree."
Both elders were frozen by fear, caught in Luo Phen’s hesitation.
They knew it.
If the Third Prince heard about this, their heads would roll.
He was a man of violent temper, obsessed with conquering strong won and turning them into cultivation cauldrons. If he traveled all the way here only to return empty-handed, it wouldn’t be Luo Lan paying the price.
It would be them.
"You two, quiet," Luo Phen snapped. "This matter... Clan Leader Luo Chen will handle it later."
He turned toward Luo Chen.
"I agree," Luo Chen said after a pause. "We will set the terms and the date later. Until then, both of you will wait."
His gaze lingered on Luo Lan.
She still hadn’t let go of Wu Han’s hand. Not even once.
Luo Chen took a slow breath.
For the first ti, he chose to place his faith in this man. And in doing so, he chose to let go of his daughter.
"Ugh..." Luo Phen frowned. Seeing Luo Chen push the marriage toward a delay, he knew he needed sothing in return.
"Wu Han," he said carefully, "I need to speak with you. And your master. In private."
"Perhaps," he added, "we can reach so kind of conclusion without provoking the imperial family."
Luo Phen might have put on the face of soone in control.
But Luo Lan could see it clearly.
The panic. The fear.
And beneath it all, desperation.
Sothing was going on between Luo Phen and Wu Han.
She could see it.
"Fine," Wu Han said at last. "We’ll talk tomorrow."
"But I hope you’re prepared, First Elder."
There was no respect left in those words.
Luo Phen felt it the mont they left Wu Han’s mouth.
A threat.
From a boy not even a quarter of his age.
And yet, for reasons he could not explain, it shook him to the core.
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