Side Story Team Formation Beanie Arrives
Noah’s handling of those six boys was immediately reported to Nolan and Serena. Serena just shook her head and said, “Like father, like son.”
Noah had completely copied Nolan’s approach, letting Holden Cui and the other five choose for themselves. If anything went wrong, Holden Cui and the others couldn’t blame Noah for it.
After all, Noah never forced them—this was entirely their own decision. He even gave advance warning. If Holden Cui and the rest still failed to take precautions, then clearly the fathers were just incompetent.
By doing this, Noah gave Holden Cui and the others plenty of respect. As the imperial heir, Noah could have simply ordered Holden Cui and the five to go—even if they died, their families wouldn’t dare say a word against Noah, only blame their own sons for incompetence.
Serena was quite optimistic about her son, but Nolan wasn’t so satisfied: “Noah’s methods are a bit too gentle.”
It’s fine for him to treat his own son this way, but Noah has no reason to be so polite with his ministers.
If a ruler orders his ministers to die, they cannot refuse. To die for the emperor is a great honor—there’s no room for complaints.
And most importantly, if Noah wants something done, he only needs to say the word. Reasons or explanations?
Does an emperor need to explain himself to his ministers?
“This must change. Otherwise, sooner or later someone will try to step over Noah and boss him around. And by ‘someone,’ Nolan means Liam Fuller.”
Liam Fuller is even more slippery and cunning than his father, Felix. Nolan doesn’t like his character at all, but as emperor, he needs sharp-eyed people like this to handle matters he can’t address directly.
“Trust Noah—he can handle his own ministers.” Holden Cui and the other five aren’t ordinary ministers; Serena thinks Noah’s approach is just right for them.
Their parents all had personal ties with Noah—when he was young, he called them ‘uncle’ all the way. Now, suddenly stepping over them, emotionally and logically, it doesn’t sit right…
While Nolan and Serena discussed Noah’s behavior, the six parents who received their sons’ letters each had their own worries.
Dominic Zhai, Warren Yu, and Colin Si all supported sending their sons, treating it as a chance to gain experience. But…
They weren’t acting alone—each had a delicate wife at home. Lady Zhai was the first to object, not only crying until her eyes were swollen but also kicking Dominic Zhai straight into the study, telling him to go keep his concubine company…
Lady Yu was even fiercer—she bluntly declared that if Warren Yu dared let her son go, she’d divorce him and take their son back to her family.
Lady Si didn’t cry or make a scene, but that wasn’t a good sign. She quietly packed up, took her younger son and daughter, and moved back to her parents’ home. She announced that whenever Leo Si returned, she and the children would come back too. If…
If Leo Si didn’t come back, or came back missing an arm or leg, she and the children would never return—and let Colin Si spend the rest of his life alone.
The three men felt miserable. They were clearly doing it for their sons’ sake, so why were their wives so unreasonable? So the three got together for a drink to commiserate, only to realize, after sharing their woes, that none of them was any better off than the others.
The three fathers had no solution, so they went to find Holden Cui, Felix Fuller, and Shane Wang’s father to brainstorm. But their households were just as chaotic—only the situation was reversed.
In those three families, the fathers were the ones who objected—especially Holden Cui and Shane Wang’s father. They felt their sons knew nothing about martial arts and would only be courting death. No matter what, they refused to let their carefully groomed heirs go risk their lives.
Felix Fuller’s worry was different—Liam Fuller is his only son, and the Fuller family has had a single direct heir for nine generations. If Liam didn’t come back from the Imperial Mausoleum, Felix would die of grief…
No, no, absolutely not.
But then, their wives objected. They argued that since the Crown Prince himself was going, the Emperor and Empress would certainly arrange for protection. With the Crown Prince there, the trip couldn’t be that dangerous.
If someone as precious as the Crown Prince dared to take the risk, how could their own sons not go? Besides, if Max Zhai and the others went but their own son didn’t, how could he ever hold his head up among his friends?
Most importantly, Lady Cui and Lady Wang felt their sons spent all their time reading and never exercised. This was the perfect chance to show them why physical training mattered.
If the Crown Prince didn’t mind bringing along a burden, what were they so worried about?
With husbands and wives at odds, it was truly a mess. All six families were thrown into chaos by those six letters.
“Is your wife free? Have her come to my place tomorrow.” Dominic Zhai reacted first, immediately grabbing Shane Wang’s father to arrange for Lady Wang to visit his house and ‘brainwash’ his wife—convince her to agree.