Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The palace servant stood by the side. He felt like weeping but was unable to cry.
Although these were Xing Lou’s directions, he did not dare allow the nation’s grand tutor to sit in an obscure corner. That would be suicidal.
Xuan Wei who was standing by the side, saw that the palace servant had tried several times to speak but hesitated. He coldly said, “This is the grand tutor’s wish. You should just obey.”
The palace servant had no choice but to obey. He immediately ordered someone to remove all the original table settings and replace them with uniformly gold-plated utensils. Even the tablecloth was changed for a dark one embroidered with a silver thread.
The original unassuming table in a corner suddenly seemed much more attractive.
The members of the fallen aristocracy who had fled the table from fear of being implicated by the Lei family, now stared in anguish at Xing Lou, who was seated at their table.
If they had known that the grand tutor would be so amiable, they would not have budged an inch even if the Lei family had beaten them up.
But now…
No one dared to go even one step nearer the table.
Much earlier, the Emperor had been afraid that the population’s ardent admiration for Xing Lou would dampen the latter’s spirits and hence had strictly forbidden anyone to approach Xing Lou without his permission.
As a result, only Ji Fengyan and Xing Lou now sat at the large round table.
Lei Yuanxu stood frozen by the side. As he slowly turned his head to look at Xing Lou’s back, his face felt both hot and cold.
Xing Lou had not noticed him at all. However, his earlier actions looked as if… he had been trying to blow his own trumpet. His face was really burning now.
Lei Qin frowned at Lei Yuanxu’s embarrassment. Feeling helpless, she could only go forward and speak to Xing Lou’s back. “Grand tutor, please forgive my younger brother for having dampened the grand tutor’s mood with his ignorance.”
Xing Lou sat motionlessly in the chair, not even turning his head. It was as if he had not heard Lei Qin’s apology.
Lei Qin did not dare to act impulsively. She could only lead Lei Yuanxu to bow and stand at their original spot.
Xing Lou’s slow voice only spoke a moment later.
“The Lei family’s customs are not what they used to be.”
Lei Qin’s heart started to pound and cold sweat suddenly seeped from her brow.
“You actually want the life of an honorable terminator as the penalty for the death of a common criminal. The Lei family’s lives are truly… valuable.” Xing Lou’s voice held a trace of coldness. Although it was completely without inflection, it fell like a thunderclap on their listening ears.
Lei Yuanxu was so frightened his knees buckled and he knelt on the floor with a plop. Large beads of sweat seeped from his back, soaking his shirt in an instant.
Lei Qin’s expression also suddenly changed and fear struck her heart.
Although the grand tutor seldom interfered with national affairs, he certainly paid close attention to one matter!
The terminators!
Although the terminators took their orders from the Emperor, the Emperor and the grand tutor had deliberated over the many rules and regulations that governed the terminators before finalizing them.
It could be said that the terminators was one of the few matters worthy of the grand tutor’s attention.
Now Xing Lou had heard what Lei Yuanxu had said earlier!
Everyone knew that as the terminator, obtaining Ji Fengyan’s life in payment for a Lei family member’s life was nonsense. Apart from whether the person was really guilty, even if he was innocent, his life would still not be as valuable as that of the terminator!
In that instant, Lei Qin suddenly understood that Xing Lou was sitting there because he was unhappy with Lei Yuanxu’s words. This was a deliberate move to show them the importance of the terminator.
Lei Yuanxu knelt on the floor and spoke in a trembling voice, “Grand… grand tutor… I know I am at fault… I… I didn’t mean to…”