Tsk. She hadn't expected him to actually realize he was being insulted.
So the Prince Lian wasn't completely brainless after all. He had, perhaps, a single functioning thread of thought.
Yun Shu, ever composed, smoothly put on an expression of wide-eyed innocence.
"This princess would never say such a thing. Why would the Prince Lian falsely accuse me so?"
"You—!"
"Enough."
The Eldest Prince of Bei Xiang cast a deep look at Yun Shu, then withdrew his gaze and cut off the Prince of Lian just before he could spit out his next words.
He knew all too well the true measure of this so-called heir of Lian: all muscle, little brain, quick to temper, yet absurdly self-important.
If not for his particular status—and the fact that Bei Xiang intended to use him to probe the boundaries of Tian Sheng—the Prince of Lian would never have been chosen for this diplomatic mission. Not in a hundred years.
And yet this little princess of Tian Sheng was far more clever than anticipated. Her words were sharp, her demeanor impenetrable. If this argument dragged on, the only ones who would lose face were they, the envoys of Bei Xiang. The Eldest Prince had no choice but to step in.
"I've long heard of the Third Prince of Tian Sheng. When I learned he would receive us during this visit, I made special preparations and studied quite extensively before our journey."
He smiled faintly, glancing toward Yun Shu.
"But today I've found that even the Fifth Princess is equally extraordinary. It seems the Tian Sheng imperial family truly overflows with talent. A most enviable sight."
The Third Prince: "???"
Was this Eldest Prince insane?
That so-called 'studying' of his had clearly led to nothing!
What a blatant attempt to stir discord—though frankly, if used on any of the other princes, it might have succeeded. But he?
He was Tian Sheng's most well-known useless royal. Every citizen in the capital knew that Third Prince was a good-for-nothing hedonist. There was simply no way to drive a wedge with that.
Unbothered, the Third Prince actually chuckled and turned to him with a bright, amused look.
"You'd truly heard of me before? What exactly were the stories in your lands? How did they speak so highly of me?"
The Eldest Prince: "...?"
What was wrong with this Third Prince?
Nothing was going as expected! He stood silent for a moment, completely at a loss for how to deal with a prince who was both shamelessly incompetent and also entirely self-aware.
Eventually, he forced a faint smile and muttered, "Weren't we just saying the guest residence was nearby? Where is it?"
The Third Prince: "?"
Ah, so now that he'd failed to bait him, he couldn't even be bothered to pretend anymore?
How ruthless. What a heartless dog of a man.
With the confrontation momentarily resolved, the Bei Xiang envoy group quieted down for the rest of the journey. At last, the tension seemed to dissipate.
The Minister of Rites breathed a long sigh of relief, silently hoping these wild brutes from Bei Xiang would remain as docile and well-behaved for the rest of their stay.
Little did he know, elsewhere in the capital, a certain troublemaker of the royal household had returned to the palace and stayed up through the night... personally revising several articles scheduled for the next issue of the Capital Weekly.
And so, the next morning, after the Bei Xiang delegation had rested at the guest residence and decided to tour the city to observe Tian Sheng's current state, they stepped out into streets abuzz with discussion.
Everywhere they turned, the locals were gossiping—about the latest issue of Capital Weekly.
"Hey, did you hear that piece? The one titled The World Falls Silent to Hear the Cracking Voice of the Prince of Lian? What does 'cracking voice' even mean?"
"You must've only heard the headline and then walked away, right? The actual article makes it pretty clear, ha…"
"You there, just came from the teahouse, haven't you? Did you hear the newest issue? Someone told me there's a piece called Shocking! Prince of Lian Questions If All Tian Sheng Men Are Dead! Is that true?"
"It's true. I heard it. I also heard what Marquis Wu'an and the Fifth Princess said in response. And now… now I feel…"
"Feel what?"
"I can't explain it. But I've decided I won't stop my wife from working at Tian Waitian anymore. If I still tried to stop her now… it'd be downright embarrassing!"
Since it cost money to sit in the teahouse and hear someone read from Capital Weekly, many commoners only caught snippets as they passed by, and then began asking around out of curiosity.
The result: fragmented, half-formed stories rippling across the capital—loud, confusing, and unrelenting.
Eldest Prince Bei Xiang and the Prince Lian stood amid the chaos, unable to make heads or tails of what was being said. But one thing was abundantly clear.
"That Capital Weekly dares to slander this prince so brazenly? Outrageous!"
The Prince Lian seethed.
"Eldest Prince, we cannot allow this offense to stand! We must immediately submit a formal petition requesting an audience with the Emperor of Tian Sheng! We shall demand he punish those insolent fools who dared write such filth about this prince—and about our noble Bei Xiang!"
"No need to rush."
The Eldest Prince remained calm.
From what he'd heard, these articles seemed focused entirely on the Prince Lian.
That meant it had nothing to do with him.
"We don't even know the exact contents of these articles. If we present a grievance before the Emperor now, we won't even know what we're accusing them of."
His tone was measured, reasonable.
"It would be wiser to visit that teahouse ourselves. Listen to what's actually being said, and then determine our next course."
"There's no need. I already know it's slander!"
The Prince Lian was clearly unwilling to spend money to hear people insult him.
One hand gripped the hilt of his sword, the other clenched a small ceramic jar he had been toying with. He hadn't even paid for it yet—and in his fury, the jar shattered to powder in his palm.
"The Emperor of Tian Sheng used to value our annual tribute of one thousand warhorses like treasure. You know this. But now that we refuse to send them, he doesn't dare push back. To save face, he merely proposed a symbolic demand for ten times that number in retired horses."
He sneered.
"And look around. Now even women must work to feed their households. Their situation is clearly desperate. Yet they still cling to hollow pretenses and pretty words to mask their decline.
It is obvious—Tian Sheng is no longer what it once was. They fear us. We hold the power now.
In times like these, even without a solid reason, if we demanded the Tian Sheng Emperor execute a few lowborn writers for slandering Bei Xiang, do you think he would refuse?"
"The Emperor of Tian Sheng is not a fool," the Eldest Prince said mildly. "Even if all you said were true, he would not make it so obvious."
Better to proceed with caution.
Whether for strategy, schadenfreude, or the hope that Tian Sheng would push the Prince Lian to even greater outbursts and missteps, the Eldest Prince had already made up his mind.
He would visit that teahouse.
Before the Prince Lian could object again, the Eldest Prince turned on his heel and began walking toward it, hands clasped behind his back.
The Prince Lian scowled but did not dare defy him openly.
Instead, he turned his fury on a trembling, innocent stall owner nearby. With a violent sweep of his hand, he overturned the entire stall selling ceramic jars. Every piece shattered upon the street in an instant.