I, the villainous eldest prince, will suppress everything!

"Hey you two, how can you still sit here? It's been days! Even if you were to climb, you should have made it from Longhu Mountain to Yellow Crane Tower by now!"

"Exactly! In my opinion, the Crown Prince has no intention of seeing us at all; he's just deliberately toying with us!"

"So what if you're teasing us? We have to put up with it. Are you going to turn against the Crown Prince? Don't forget, the Crown Prince isn't just one person now. He has 100,000 iron cavalry from Liangzhou behind him. Those barbarians on the border aren't as easy to talk to as the Crown Prince!"

"Hey you two, come up with something! What time is it? You're still at odds with each other, while we should be united against a common enemy!"

Jiangxia City, Yellow Crane Tower.

Several days have passed, and the heads of the six great families have been waiting at the Yellow Crane Tower day and night, but the Crown Prince's men have not come. They are so anxious that they are pacing around like ants on a hot pan.

However, Pei Yunhe and Lu Ruanxiong didn't seem to be in a hurry at all. Instead, they sat facing each other, drinking cup after cup of tea without offering any opinions. It was unclear what the two of them meant.

It wasn't until the next morning, when the sun rose in the east and the first rays of sunlight shone into the room where the six of them were, that the two who had been silent finally spoke.

"I say, Brother Lu, you must have heard what they said. We should now be of one mind and work together against this common enemy."

Pei Yunhe spoke first, looking at Lu Ruanxiong opposite him.

"Outsiders?" Lu Ruanxiong sneered. "Who are outsiders? His Highness the Crown Prince? Pei Yunhe, you have some nerve! This Great Zhou belongs to His Highness the Crown Prince, and so does Jiangnan! How dare you call His Highness the Crown Prince an outsider, and even try to rally them together to deal with him? What is your crime?"

boom!

Pei Yunhe reached out and slammed his hand on the table: "You surnamed Lu, don't push your luck! Do you really think that just because you side with the Crown Prince, he'll treat you well? Over the years, none of our six families should criticize each other; the things we've done in secret are enough to warrant a hundred confiscations."

Lu Ruanxiong's desire to pledge allegiance to the Crown Prince is nothing short of delusional!

The only option is to stay with them.

Only when the six families are of one mind can they have the strength to fight the Crown Prince.

"No, no, no, no!"

Lu Ruanxiong said with a smile, "I, Lu Ruanxiong, am different from you. I have done something meritorious."

Pei Yunhe frowned and asked, "Meritorious service? What kind of merit?"

The others also looked at Lu Ruanxiong, expressing their confusion.

Lu Ruanxiong looked at them and said, "I, Lu Ruanxiong, deserve credit for the annihilation of Longhu Mountain. During my time on the mountain, I sent many messages to His Highness the Crown Prince down below."

Upon hearing this, Pei Yunhe realized what was happening and pointed at Lu Ruanxiong, shouting angrily, "You traitor! No wonder the Crown Prince knows so much about the situation on the mountain!"

"You're the traitor!" Lu Ruanxiong cursed. "As a citizen of the Great Zhou, how dare you secretly conspire with them to deal with the Crown Prince? What are you if not a traitor? Traitor is too mild a word; you are a traitorous villain!"

After finishing his tirade, Lu Ruanxiong drank a cup of tea and said smugly:

"I've already said it, I'm different from you. I've rendered meritorious service. His Highness, in consideration of my contributions, my Lu family can escape unscathed. Moreover, my Lu family's daughter is destined to marry the Crown Prince. From now on, my Lu family will be part of the Crown Prince's faction, unlike you traitors!"

Upon hearing this, the heads of the other powerful families were immediately thrown into a panic. Who would have thought that Lu Ruanxiong would do these things behind their backs?

Only Pei Yunhe remained composed, but there was an undisguised panic in his eyes.

After thinking for a moment, he said, "Lu Ruanxiong, don't be too happy yet. Have you ever considered the possibility that the Crown Prince is using you to wipe out Longhu Mountain, and then kill you?"

Lu Ruanxiong chuckled and said, "Divisive tactics won't work on me, Lu Ruanxiong. What kind of person is His Highness the Crown Prince? Would he really discard me after I've served my purpose?"

"Now all I need to do is wait quietly for His Highness the Crown Prince to come and wipe out your five families one by one, just like the Dragon Tiger Mountain."

"The Crown Prince cannot stay in Jiangnan for long, and I, Lu Ruanxiong, will be the master of Jiangnan from now on."

"Pei Yunhe, do you think I, Lu Ruanxiong, have taken a shortcut? After all, we wanted to be the masters of Jiangnan before, but now I have become the masters of Jiangnan without losing a single soldier."

"Hahahaha, hahahaha..."

Seeing the smile on Lu Ruanxiong's face, Pei Yunhe was so angry that he felt like his lungs were about to explode. Who would have thought that the simple-minded Lu Ruanxiong would have such thoughts?

"Brother Lu, this matter has caused quite a stir. We've been brothers for years, you must put in a good word for us."

"Yes, we swore an oath together to share both good times and bad."

"Brother Lu, you can't take all the good things for yourself and just watch us die."

"Brother Lu, please, please put in a good word for us with His Highness the Crown Prince."

The heads of other prominent families gathered around Lu Ruanxiong.

To everyone's surprise, Lu Ruanxiong showed no appreciation whatsoever, and coldly shouted with a flick of his sleeve:

"Brothers? Sharing happiness and hardship together?"

"Don't you feel ashamed to say that? I feel ashamed for you."

"Over the years, let's not talk about each other. You all have your own little schemes, and you probably all wish the other would die soon."

"Plead for me? Why should I plead for you? It would be better if you were all dead, so that I, Lu Ruanxiong, could have sole control of Jiangnan!"

Seeing that their attempts at persuasion were failing, the heads of the other powerful families flew into a rage, pointing their fingers at Lu Ruanxiong and cursing:

"Lu Ruanxiong, don't push your luck! Even if we die, we'll drag your Lu family down with us. When that happens, none of the six families will have an easy time!"

"Based on what your Lu family has done in Jiangnan over the years, you're enough to die a hundred times over!"

"Meritorious service? What kind of merit? A tiny, insignificant achievement, and you think the Crown Prince will spare the Lu family?"

"Now, you only have two choices: one, plead for us; two, we join forces to deal with the Crown Prince. The choice is yours!"

Lu Ruanxiong was not afraid at all when faced with the pressure from several people to resign.

He wasn't the eldest son of the Lu family, yet he was able to firmly hold the position of the Lu family head. He relied on his brains, but even more so on his fists. The other five family heads combined might not be able to defeat him.

Rolling up his sleeves, Lu Ruanxiong dismissed the others and then looked at Pei Yunhe, saying, "Pei Yunhe, we've known each other for a long time. How about this, you kneel down and beg me, and I'll plead for you."

Pei Yunhe remained silent, closed his eyes and pretended to sleep, which was a direct rejection of Lu Ruanxiong.

help?

Lu Ruanxiong will definitely not help them. The reason he said all this was just to see him back down and make a fool of himself.

The other family heads couldn't understand this, and they all surrounded Pei Yunhe, who was pretending to be asleep, urging him to kneel down to Lu Ruanxiong quickly.

Seeing this, Lu Ruanxiong was incredibly smug; his smile almost stretched to his ears...