Chapter 220, Esoteric Debate

“Long live the Emperor!” Luo Yunchang bowed, while Zhuo Fan remained still, “Speak!”

Fatty’s fat face twitched helpless, “Brother, this is the imperial edict. Looking on with such contempt would have you labeled a traitor and your head chopped!”

“Whatever, only we are here anyway. With Mr Fang not looking to be a man indulging in gossip, if you won’t tell it, no one will. Moreover, it won’t matter even if you did. For the Emperor to issue me an imperial edict, that only means he needs me. How could he kill me over such trifles?” Zhuo Fan shrugged.

The fatty was lost for words, [Zhuo Fan is indeed a man who can see through anyone.] The emperor wouldn’t do anything even if this guy lay in bed when receiving the edict.

But where would the imperial family’s dignity be then?

The fatty looked bitterly at Fang Qiubai, “Master, how is this guy any good?”

“Ha-ha-ha, extraordinary people need to be handled extraordinarily. So you don’t need to mind this empty courtesy!” Fang Qiubai caressed his beard.

Sighing, the fatty could only nod.

Luo Yunchang rushed to her feet and pouted at Zhuo Fan’s side. He noticed with amusement this new side of the always serious young miss, “Young miss, with your temper, you can’t be so frivolous around such an important event as receiving the imperial edict.”

“Humph, what frivolous? What would be the point in kneeling if you don’t? And you’ll be dealing with anything that arises anyway!” Luo Yunchang snorted and stuck out her chin.

Zhuo Fan laughed and praised, “That’s our young miss alright!”

This was the Luo clan Zhuo Fan wanted, the best clan in the world. They had to aim for the heavens themselves as well. How could that come to fruition if they’d buckle just from some yellow paper from some emperor?

The fatty was almost crying, [Zhuo Fan is ruining the Luo clan!]

When he came here three years ago, the Luo clan was filled with respect and saw the imperial family with reverence. But now, they were tough and stubborn, with even the ever cautious young miss acting like this. They didn’t yet make the part to face the seven houses but they already started to show the same defect as them.

[Just how the Clan Head was, so too did the clan act. And just how their steward behaves now, that’s what the clans will turn into.]

The fatty shook his head, dispensing with the courtesy as well, “Nevermind then, it’s a verbal order anyway. I’ll be straight with you. The Emperor intends to have you participate in the Esoteric Debate and take the Regent Estate down a peg!”

“The Esoteric Debate?”

Zhuo Fan raised an eyebrow. He looked at Luo Yunchang, finding her just as clueless as he was!

The fatty raised his bloated head and showed a cocky grin.

[He-he-he, you were so cocky before, so feisty, when you are in fact nothing but boors! It’s now my turn to show off!] The fatty laughed and preened, “Esoteric Debate is held once a century, a gathering of the most elite clans. With the Luo clan not being even a third rate clan, a mere cannon fodder for all these years, it is perfectly normal for you to be ignorant!”

“Is that so? Then why is the Emperor inviting our small clan? Please report to His Majesty, third prince, that after hearing your words, Zhuo Fan feels sorely lacking and ashamed to participate in this grand summit. Tell him to find someone more worthy of his attention.” Zhuo Fan flicked the nonexistent dust of his clothes.

The fatty caught Zhuo Fan’s arm in panic, “Don’t, brother! Imperial father will kill me if I go back like this! It is my fault for trying to show off. Right, I will definitely frame Luo clan’s first rule on my wall to remind myself every day you will be the only one to show off. Please find it in your heart to forgive this foolish brother of yours… “

The fatty was begging Zhuo Fan in tears, his swag gone like the wind. Luo Yunchang giggled and Fang Qiubai shook his head.

“Fine, do continue!” Zhuo Fan was only playing around with the third prince. He knew when to quit.

The fatty sighed and no longer dared messed around, “Brother, to tell the truth, the Esoteric Debate is really not some place where elite clans gathered, but where houses bet on their honor to avail themselves. It is a slaughterhouse. A clan can rise to the top in one step, or fall to their ruins in another. Many first rate clans would find themselves worse than even third rate clans! Brother, you must be vigilant if you still want to go!”

“Oh, why do you say that?” Zhuo Fan frowned in doubt.

With a sigh, the fatty’s green and beady eyes shined with a deep gaze, “This goes back to the founding of the empire, of the time when the seven houses were in constant conflict with each other. There was no open war between the seven houses, but none was willing to back down to anyone. To settle the disputes among them, Tianyu’s founding emperor signed an agreement with them. Anyone below thirty years of age was going to compete in order to settle whose house would become the head of the seven houses. These youths would also one day represent their houses in the future