Upon hearing this, a furious blush appeared on the white-robed young lady's snow-white face. She spoke with utter disgust, "You shameless bastard! Who's your dear Dieyi? And who wants to get close to you?"
Jiang Lan was completely unbothered, still smiling faintly. "If Dieyi is unwilling, then so be it. I was just thinking that since we're old friends reuniting, I had a gift for you."
"I still treasure the memory of Dieyi's drunken display from all those years ago at Xiaoxiang Garden."
Beside them, Zhao Tianhe's expression instantly darkened, becoming quite grim.
In the Imperial Capital Jingyang City, Jiang Lan was used to running roughshod over everyone, disregarding even the Royal Family and Relatives.
Years ago, Zhao Dieyi had nearly been ruined by him.
Back then at Xiaoxiang Garden, if Zhao Dieyi's brother hadn't arrived in time to rescue her, her virtue would have been destroyed at his hands.
"You..."
Zhao Dieyi could never have imagined that Jiang Lan would dare to bring up such a thing.
Especially under these circumstances.
Her fair and elegant face was filled with fury. Her delicate body trembled with rage, and she wished she could draw her Long Sword and subject him to death by a thousand cuts.
"Dieyi, don't be rash," Zhao Tianhe advised, taking a deep breath.
It was only because he had found a clue to resolving the Absolute Yin Cold Vein that he had asked Zhao Dieyi to return from the Chi Yao Sect.
If she were to be targeted by Jiang Lan again because of this, it would be disastrous.
These days, the Prime Minister's power was even greater than before.
If there was no turn for the better in the imperial court, it probably wouldn't be long before the Great Xia dynasty had to change its name to Jiang.
Zhao Dieyi shot Jiang Lan a venomous glare, forcefully suppressing the rage in her heart.
Her martial sisters would be utterly shocked if they knew that she, who was always so gentle, graceful, and composed, could become this enraged.
"Elder Zhao, why did you stop my men?"
"It seems you know this assassin. Could it be that you, Elder Zhao, ordered him to assassinate me?"
Jiang Lan sat back down in the pavilion, picked up his teacup, and took a leisurely sip.
Su Qinghan had also come to her senses by now. Forcing herself to calm down, she looked at Lin Fan, her gaze a mixture of shock and complex emotions.
In fact, she had already guessed his identity the moment the young lady in white called out "Young Master Lin."
She simply hadn't been able to believe it.
'First, he reveals immense strength, and now he's acquainted with a renowned Great Scholar...'
'Have I ever truly known Lin Fan? Has he been hiding his true abilities all these years?'
Lin Fan knew his disguise was useless now. With Zhao Tianhe's arrival, his identity was sure to be exposed.
His face and build rippled and changed, returning to his original appearance. Though blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, he possessed an extraordinary bearing as he faced Su Qinghan directly. "Qinghan..."
Su Qinghan, however, would not look at him, keeping her gaze lowered.
"So, this must be your live-in husband, Miss Su?"
"First you, and now him, both trying to assassinate me. You two are truly audacious." Jiang Lan smiled faintly.
A helpless expression crossed Zhao Tianhe's aged face. "Young Master Lin has shown great kindness to me, to the Zhao Mansion, and to Dieyi as well," he said. "Seeing him in peril, I could not simply stand by."
"I am not sure how Young Master Lin has offended you, Young Master Lan, but I wonder if you could spare him this once, as a favor to an old man like me?"
A dignified Great Scholar, an existence with power comparable to a Seventh Realm Cultivator, a figure regarded as a titan by the scholars of the world, was now speaking in such a deferential tone.
Even he felt a certain sense of tragedy in it.
Zhao Dieyi pressed her red lips together tightly, her heart aching with a similar pain.
'Jiang Lan was clearly just an ignorant, hedonistic, good-for-nothing heir.'
'And yet her grandfather, a man revered by scholars across the land, had to act so subserviently in front of him.'
Watching this scene, Su Qinghan finally gained a clear understanding of Jiang Lan's power—no, of the power wielded by the Prime Minister's Mansion.
She sighed inwardly, suddenly realizing how ridiculous and foolish she had been moments ago, to have actually entertained the notion of threatening Jiang Lan.
"Elder Zhao, you exaggerate. You are, after all, a Sacrificial Priest of the Confucius Temple. No matter how brazen I am, I wouldn't dare let you speak so humbly."
"For some unknown reason, this assassin barged in tonight. Not only did he injure my guards, he also tried to kill me. I was forced to have my men intervene, purely in self-defense."
"And yet you, Elder Zhao, think a few words are enough to make me release a man who just tried to kill me. Isn't that asking a bit much?" Jiang Lan chuckled, but as he finished, the smile on his face grew cold.
A Great Scholar like Zhao Tianhe, who had an entire family to consider, was naturally different from a common Loose Cultivator.
The more attachments one has, the more worries one bears. He had to weigh every word and action with extreme care.
Otherwise, he might bring untold disaster upon the Zhao Mansion...
Had he been facing a Seventh Realm Loose Cultivator, Jiang Lan would not have been so cavalier.
If such a person decided to kill him at all costs, there would be no saving the situation.
As for Zhao Tianhe intervening on Lin Fan's behalf, it made little difference to Jiang Lan.
With the forces currently at his disposal, he knew he couldn't kill Lin Fan while he still had the Eternal Damnation Sword. The outcome would be the same whether Zhao Tianhe appeared or not.
His original plan had been to force Lin Fan to use his greatest trump card, the Eternal Damnation Sword. Killing him later would be much easier.
In the original story, the Eternal Damnation Sword could tear through space to escape, but the range of each jump was limited.
With Lin Fan's current strength, he could escape three thousand li at most.
A range of three thousand li might sound vast, but for Jiang Lan, tracking him down was as simple as giving an order.
Unable to use the Eternal Damnation Sword again so soon, Lin Fan would naturally have lost his greatest advantage.
"Young Master Lan, what will it take for you to let Young Master Lin go?" Zhao Tianhe's brow furrowed slightly. He suppressed his simmering anger and tried to ask as calmly as possible.
He, a renowned Great Scholar of his generation, had already stooped to this level.
Any other junior would be terrified and scrambling to agree.
Jiang Lan's gaze swept over Zhao Dieyi's lithe and graceful figure. "Simple, really," he said with a smirk. "How about it, Elder Zhao? Let your dear Dieyi keep me company for a while?"
'People love to compromise.'
'Zhao Tianhe will definitely refuse this condition.'
'So he'll have no choice but to consider the second one...'
'Either way, I won't lose.'
"Don't even think about it..."
Zhao Dieyi's flawless, fair face was flushed crimson with rage. Her delicate body trembled, and her eyes looked as if they were about to shoot fire.
If looks could kill, she would have killed Jiang Lan countless times over.
She, who was always so gentle and refined, had lost her composure multiple times in front of Jiang Lan today—something that would have been unimaginable in the past.
Zhao Tianhe's expression darkened as well. "That's impossible," he said flatly.
Zhao Dieyi was a prodigy the likes of which the Zhao Family hadn't seen in centuries, possessing outstanding cultivation talent from a young age.
After joining the Jasper Pool Sect several years ago, her cultivation had advanced at a startling pace. It was hoped that she would one day match his own strength and become a Seventh Realm, Dharma Realm Cultivator.
Jiang Lan sounded slightly regretful. "If that's the case, then you should step aside, Elder Zhao. I absolutely must kill this man today."
Zhao Tianhe's expression was grim. Unwilling to give up, he pressed, "Young Master Lan, why must you be so relentless? If you insist on killing Young Master Lin, then don't blame an old man like me for intervening."
Jiang Lan smiled faintly. "So, Elder Zhao, you're determined to make an enemy of my Prime Minister's Mansion? The Confucius Temple has been thriving in recent years, producing many promising young scholars. My father is quite pleased..."