Chapter 446: Must Stay Behind

“It seems Manager Lin still doubts my identity as a prince.”
Seeing Lin Dong remain indifferent, Liu Yuchang’s anger surged. If not for concern over Fu Tongshan’s presence, he would have ordered his guards to kill him on the spot.
Lin Dong still stayed silent. He had no interest in dealing with Liu Yuchang, even though it might bring him many troubles. To be honest, he wasn’t even interested in dealing with Fu Tongshan. Though Fu Tongshan was currently defending Lin’s Inn without regard for shame, it was because of the leverage he held over Fu Zizhou. Once he wanted to reclaim that leverage or came up with a way to do so, he would undoubtedly resort to violence without hesitation.
Compared to Liu Yuchang’s tendency to kill in public, Lin Dong believed Fu Tongshan was just as likely to take lives through schemes. He had no interest in either of them.
“Your Highness, please calm down. Manager Lin has practiced martial arts since childhood under reclusive masters and is not familiar with many rules,” Fu Tongshan hurriedly explained.
“Calm down?” Liu Yuchang sneered at Fu Tongshan.
“I will surely give Your Highness an explanation,” Fu Tongshan replied. His head was as big as an ox. He had never underestimated Lin Dong’s courage, especially since Lin Dong had dared to frame the sole son of the current grand tutor. But it seemed he had still underestimated this manager’s boldness.
Well, it was just an underestimation. Fu Tongshan didn’t think he knew everything. But since Lin Dong dared to provoke even Liu Yuchang, it posed quite a problem for him.
As a prince, if it were only the issue of not being eligible to be crowned king, Fu Tongshan wouldn’t be troubled. With his status, he shouldn’t struggle to control a prince with little influence. But Liu Yuchang was old enough.
Being old wasn’t necessarily an advantage. For example, the Third Prince Liu Feng was at a disadvantage in terms of age when competing for the throne. But for an older prince like Liu Yuchang who wasn’t eligible to compete, aside from face, being old was actually a good thing. An older age meant more descendants. Liu Yuchang’s grandchildren would be considered great-grandchildren in the eyes of Emperor Qianwei. With four generations living together, even the emperor couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride in such kinship. Whenever a new one appeared, the emperor would surely reward them generously and often invite them to the palace for fun.
One’s status rises with that of one’s descendants. An older prince like Liu Yuchang, if he could produce a grandson who pleased Emperor Qianwei, his status among princes might even rival those who had a chance to compete for the throne. Even if his grandchildren didn’t please the emperor, if his sons could produce one to receive rewards from time to time, that would far surpass those princes who were only in their twenties or thirties.

Adding to Liu Yuchang’s personality, if he were to give up his desire to retaliate against Lin Dong and Lin’s Inn, Fu Tongshan wasn’t without ways—through Liu Feng it could be done—but the cost would definitely be high.
The most frustrating part was that, in Fu Tongshan’s eyes, Lin Dong was merely a stepping stone for his son to temper his character. Spending so much to settle matters for such a stepping stone, especially involving a prince, naturally left him reluctant. Yet he had no choice but to do it, as Lin Dong held evidence of his son failing to pay for prostitution.
Scholars placed great emphasis on integrity. Prostitution was acceptable—it was part of the romantic life. Refusing to pay was also acceptable—it showed high integrity, a refusal to deal with brothel women or to regard money as worthless. But writing a confession letter was unacceptable, whether out of desperation to save one’s life at the cost of face or willingly admitting guilt—it was a deeply humiliating act for scholars, and an indelible stain on a gentleman’s reputation for life.
Fu Tongshan was the leader of all scholars in the land, and Fu Zizhou was clearly the next leader of the group of gentlemen. With this confession letter released, not only Fu Zizhou but even Fu Tongshan would lose face. Although it wouldn’t cause any real harm to the father and son, it would be enough to undermine their influence within the group of gentlemen.
Compared to this loss, settling matters with a prince seemed trivial.
For the first time, Fu Tongshan felt it necessary to get involved. He had always thought it was just the owner of an inn—no matter how much trouble they caused, it wouldn’t reach higher levels, and Fu Zizhou could handle the consequences. But now… it had become involved with a prince. If he continued to ignore it, bigger problems might arise.
At this point, Liu Yuchang no longer regarded Fu Tongshan as someone to be taken seriously, but killing him on the spot wasn’t feasible either. He picked up the wine glass in front of him, raised it, and said calmly, “Those who aren’t involved can leave.”
Lin Dong was still pondering the philosophy behind the wine glass, untouched by Liu Yuchang’s words.
“Owner Lin, today is the grand opening day of Lin’s Inn. Go and take care of your duties! I’ll handle it here—taking care of the prince and President Liu.” Fu Tongshan had no choice but to speak up. He truly couldn’t understand how Lin Dong had gained such courage. Planning to frame the grand tutor’s only son was one thing—after all, there were irresistible benefits at play. But ignoring a prince and even provoking his anger with no tangible benefits at all was beyond comprehension.
“It’s fine. Someone else will take care of it,” Lin Dong replied casually. It wasn’t that he wanted to stay; he had reasons to stay.

“Your Highness, please!” Fu Tongshan was dizzy from Lin Dong’s antics, but he had no choice but to push his raised wine cup forward once again, trying to distract Liu Yuchang’s attention.
Liu Yuchang snorted coldly, ignoring this reckless host and downed the fine wine in his cup in one gulp.
“Your Highness, please try this dish. The meat is tender and not greasy; it tastes great,” Fu Tongshan seized the opportunity to introduce a dish made from spirit beast meat to Liu Yuchang.
Taking advantage of the situation, Liu Yuchang tasted it and nodded slightly.
From morning until now, at noon, over two hours had passed. Although the table had been changed five times, Lin Dong hadn’t spared any expense, and the quality of the food and wine hadn’t diminished in the slightest. The entire table was filled with spirit beast meat and materials. As a result, Fu Tongshan had plenty of topics to talk about. By encouraging Liu Yuchang to drink and eat, their relationship gradually improved.
However, though their relationship had eased and the tension had subsided, whenever Fu Tongshan brought up the idea of Lin’s Inn joining the guild, Liu Yuchang would only shake his head and remain silent. What troubled Fu Tongshan even more was that, through subtle hints and fragments of words from Liu Yuchang, he gradually figured out a bit about why Liu Feng had done this.
It was that meddling third party—the 56th prince.
There wasn’t much information related to this in Liu Yuchang’s words, but when Fu Tongshan casually mentioned Liu Xiu, who had risen to prominence through his extraordinary achievements, Liu Yuchang’s offhand remark about “the 56th brother” was enough to make Fu Tongshan think of many things.
Fu Tongshan knew the 9th prince’s personality very well—indeed, he had known him since he was a child. Apart from Liu Feng, this 9th prince didn’t take any other prince seriously, not even the crown prince with the first right of succession. In his eyes, his third brother was incompetent and the rightful new emperor. The crown prince was nothing but a “furry monkey”; even in the presence of Emperor Qianwei, in front of the crown prince, he still called him that. The second prince was like a pale-faced, beardless sister. The fourth prince was a coward who feared cockroaches… Aside from a few princes who followed Liu Feng just like him, those he knew weren’t considered brothers. As for those he didn’t know, they were just numbers—37, 38, 39… Just a number.
“56th brother”—that extra word clearly meant something extraordinary in Fu Tongshan’s eyes.

This 56th prince, a year ago, had an obscure mother, and his maternal uncle was at most a fifth-rank magistrate. Being underage, he was utterly neglected in the palace—neither favored by his grandparents nor respected by others. Even if he wanted to follow one of his elder brothers, none would take him seriously, let alone Liu Yuchang, the 9th prince who dismissed everyone else as unimportant.

There were only two possibilities for him to be called the 56th brother by Liu Yuchang: either Liu Feng instructed him to say so on purpose, or there was some hidden connection between Liu Feng and this 56th prince. Fu Tongshan believed the latter more. Only this explanation could justify why Liu Feng sent Liu Yuchang over.

After it became clear that one family was using its power to force all other clans to compromise, nearly all factions sent people to Qiufeng Mansion in Lingnan Commandery, some even going in person to try to win them over. The fifth prince supported by Fu Tongshan went there himself, hoping to persuade Liu Xiu to side with them. Gaining Liu Xiu’s support would greatly strengthen either side.

Yet, they were all arrogantly rejected. All factions assumed that this 56th prince, having been bullied for years, had grown extremely confident once in power and wanted to join the struggle for the throne, so no one took him seriously.

Fu Tongshan concluded that this 56th prince possessed extraordinary abilities and remarkable courage, but lacked stability and self-awareness. While his achievements were significant, given Emperor Qianwei’s current health, it would take only a year or two for him to build much power. Moreover, this 56th prince shouldn’t put himself in such a vulnerable position.

Now, Fu Tongshan began to reconsider this conclusion. If the 56th prince truly had a secret deal with Liu Feng or even followed him directly, then his lack of stability and self-awareness would need to be addressed.

Whether through cooperation or following, joining forces with Liu Feng, who had the best chance of ascending the throne, could easily force other princes to give up their claims. In a cooperative arrangement, Liu Xiu would need to do everything possible to bring other princes’ forces under his control. If Emperor Qianwei could live a few more years, there was still a chance. If he followed Liu Feng, things would be even easier—Liu Feng might exclude him from the power center, but he would still receive due recognition.

Similarly, Liu Feng joining forces with Liu Xiu also brought significant benefits. Even if Liu Xiu only cooperated with him, competing against a large number of powerful princes would be far more difficult than competing against a prince with outstanding achievements but weak foundations.
Fu Tongshan’s headache stemmed from the fact that if this were indeed the case, his bet on the Fifth Prince would end in disaster.
Of course, it wasn’t impossible that Liu Feng deliberately let Liu Yuchang mislead him, but that also meant Liu Feng likely had some major plan to implement, which was another source of concern.
Meanwhile, Fu Tongshan, preoccupied, chatted casually with Liu Yuchang while drinking. On the other hand, as time passed, Fu Tongshan became increasingly distracted, seemingly trying to extract information rather than repeatedly bringing up the Lin’s Inn topic. Lin Dong, who had remained silent and focused on his wine glass, suddenly raised his gaze and looked at Ma Chun, who was also silent and focused on his glass.
Ma Chun shuddered, gritted his teeth, and stood up.