The scene was a chaotic mess; those troublemaking students could do nothing but run.
The gate general was startled as well—he hadn’t expected Prince Nolan to order a beating when the situation favored him. Did the Ninth Royal Uncle no longer care about his reputation? Was he unafraid of censure from the imperial censors, or even the Emperor’s wrath?
To be honest, Prince Nolan truly didn’t fear censure from the imperial censors, and even less the Emperor’s blame. As for reputation?
Even the Zhan clan and Jixia Academy wouldn’t dare demand Prince Nolan take responsibility for Master Wenyuan’s death—so what were these students worth?
No matter how fiercely they made trouble, all it would take was a few high scholars speaking up, and the voices opposing him would instantly fade away.
Prince Nolan stood there like a proud emperor, watching coldly, unmoved by the students’ pleas or their miserable state. A few timid students tried to escape, but the city guards had already cut off their retreat.
The general’s thinking was simple: since Prince Nolan had given the order, the bigger the uproar, the better. Ideally, a few students would die, stirring public resentment against Prince Nolan and forcing him to confess to appease the masses.
Unfortunately, he had underestimated Prince Nolan. Nolan had deliberately ordered the guards to wrap their blades, intending not to shed blood. The guards understood perfectly—they struck with precision, never intending to kill these weak scholars, only to cripple them at most.
A group of feeble scholars stood no chance against hardened soldiers. In less than fifteen minutes, hundreds of troublemaking students were all lying on the ground, groaning and glaring at Prince Nolan, their eyes full of resentment and hatred for reality itself.
"Have the court physicians examine them and confirm that none will die." Serena stepped down from the carriage, surveyed the scene, and gave her order.
"Yes." No one questioned Serena’s order—they immediately went to carry it out.
The court physicians stepped forward with their medicine chests, but the scholars put on a show of backbone: "Pretending to be kind! We refuse charity—don’t think you can buy us off like this."
"You’re overthinking it. We have no interest in winning over a bunch of useless scholars like you. The doctors are just here to show everyone that we didn’t intend to kill you—you’re all still alive and kicking. If you die later, that’s on you for giving up on life. Judging by how strong your voice is, you probably don’t even need a checkup." The guards had long been fed up with the scholars’ whining and, after kicking one aside, walked away.
The scholar, furious and humiliated, suddenly burst into tears.
"Crying like a baby? What kind of man are you?" Instead of sympathy, his sobbing drew only laughter from the crowd.
Officials always showed up after the chaos ended. Seeing that the situation had settled, the gate general led a hundred men over in grand fashion. The scholars immediately started shouting their grievances.
The gate general was secretly delighted, but kept a humble face. He approached Prince Nolan, knelt with a thud, and said, "This officer arrived late to protect Your Highness. Please punish me."
The general was only making a show of asking for punishment, but Prince Nolan had no intention of letting him off. Nolan seized the opportunity and said, "As the gate commander, you arrived late when trouble broke out at the city gates. Where does that leave the safety of the Capital? It’s only because this prince had his own guards; if commoners faced this, they’d be doomed. You neglected your duties and failed to put the Capital’s safety first—what use do I have for a man like you?"
As soon as Prince Nolan finished speaking, he drew a sword from a guard behind him and, before the general could react, swung it and took the man’s head.
"Nolan—"
Thud, thud... The gate general's head rolled several times before stopping, his mouth slightly open, a hint of smugness still on his face—he died without ever understanding how.
The soldiers he brought were stunned by the sight, collapsing to the ground in terror, frantically kowtowing: "Spare us, Your Highness! Spare us!"
The scholars were just as shocked, mouths agape in disbelief, frozen on the spot for a long time.
Their greatest confidence was that Prince Nolan wouldn’t dare kill them in public—after all, the law doesn’t punish the masses. But seeing Nolan take the head of a third-rank general with a word, they realized just how naïve they’d been.
"Smack..." Prince Nolan tossed his bloodied sword to the ground without so much as a glance at the soldiers.
Thud, thud, thud... Inside the city, the sound of synchronized marching echoed again—clearly, the army had arrived. Everyone turned to look and saw rows of Imperial Guards rushing toward the gate, led by the newly-promoted Lord Fuller.
"Fuller’s really moving up in the world." Serena’s eyes flickered when she saw Felix Fuller, but she quickly stood calmly. Prince Nolan glanced sideways at Serena and said, "He’s the Emperor’s confidant."
Serena smiled ambiguously. She found Felix Fuller increasingly hard to read—whether he was truly loyal to the Emperor was still an open question.
The scholars had learned their lesson; when they saw the Imperial Guards, they didn’t dare speak, only stared hopefully at Lord Fuller, wishing he’d help them seek justice—but disappointment was inevitable.
Felix Fuller dismounted from afar and approached Prince Nolan, dropping to one knee. "This official arrived late to protect Your Highness. Please forgive me."
"Lord Fuller, what fault is there? The city gates aren’t your responsibility. Where’s the Commander of the Nine Gates?" Prince Nolan’s words pulled the Commander into the fray. Serena knew Nolan was serious about seizing control of the Capital’s military.
Felix Fuller was a clever man. After greeting Serena with a smile, he replied to Prince Nolan in all seriousness, "The Commander is ill and recuperating at home."
"Falling ill at just the right time," Prince Nolan mocked, giving Felix a look. "Since Lord Fuller is here, I’ll leave things to you."
"Thank you for your trust, Your Highness. I will not disappoint you." Felix Fuller accepted solemnly, his words assuring Nolan that he would handle things well and keep Nolan out of trouble.
"No wonder the Emperor trusts Lord Fuller—he truly is capable," Prince Nolan praised, then changed the subject: "Since Lord Fuller is so competent, I won’t trouble anyone else. When you return to the palace, please apologize to His Majesty for me: I’m unwell and can’t attend court today. I’ll come another day to make my apologies."
With that, he turned and walked toward the carriage, leaving Felix Fuller standing there, baffled as he watched Nolan’s retreating figure.
"Isn’t that just a blatant lie? Unwell? How am I supposed to explain this to the Emperor? What did I ever do to deserve this—getting dragged into the brothers’ power struggle?" Felix Fuller muttered, thoroughly exasperated.
"My lord, what did you say?" A guard behind him caught the sound but hadn’t understood, so he boldly asked...
It was wise to stay on Lord Fuller’s good side!