The young lady accidentally fell while dancing and broke a blue-and-white porcelain vase.

　　At that time, the Empress of the Western Palace, Helen Parker, claimed it was an antique from her maiden family and insisted the young lady pay for it. How could the young lady afford it? That vase was said to be worth ten thousand taels of silver.

　　Moreover, several other noble consorts nearby pretended to speak up on her behalf with false kindness.

　　In the end, Madam Parker put on a magnanimous act and said the young lady had to continue dancing barefoot on the shards.

　　You should know just how sharp those shards were.

　　They were truly bullying her—there were multiple cuts on the soles of the young lady’s feet.

　　When we returned, she sternly instructed me to keep this from you.” Emily Carter looked furious, tears welling up in her eyes and finally falling, but she quickly added, “Your Highness, please don’t be angry, or the young lady will punish me.”

　　“It’s all right now, Sister Lily, you go out first, I want to be alone for a while.” This time, Evan Bennett didn’t get angry again; instead, he just clenched his fists.

　　He knew this was fundamentally a plot targeting his mother.

　　That blue-and-white porcelain vase was casually placed on the dining table to hold fruit and desserts. It couldn’t possibly be that precious. Real antiques would definitely be displayed on expensive stands for people to admire.

　　Just because his mother danced so well, sometimes even the King would suddenly stand up and join her in the pool for a dance.

　　Because of this, those empresses and noble consorts were so jealous they nearly went mad. Fortunately, her son Evan Bennett was considered a good-for-nothing; no matter how much the King liked her dancing, he would never elevate her status.

　　Otherwise, Evan Bennett figured he would have been wiped out from the world long ago.

　　“Why, where did it all go wrong?” Evan Bennett cried out in pain in his heart.

　　No matter what, even if it’s just luck, he had to give it a try.

　　Evan Bennett clenched his fists.

　　At eight in the morning, the royal family members brought their eligible descendants to the royal and noble-exclusive Temple of Heaven.

　　Of course, temples like this for worship and sowing rituals existed in every county city of Yan. But the royal family’s temple was the most prestigious, the largest, and naturally, the most impressive.

　　The Temple of Heaven was circular, getting smaller as it went up. The very top was a domed arch, already a hundred meters high.

　　On it were carved two giant dragons representing royal majesty, because vassal kingdoms could only carve two dragons. This was an ironclad rule—no one dared break it. Otherwise, they would face devastating retaliation from the Great Zhou Empire.

　　County kingdoms could only have the right to a single dragon emblem. After all, the glory of Great Zhou was not to be trampled by anyone.

　　“Turtle, you’re here again?” As soon as Evan Bennett arrived at the royal family’s exclusive plaza, a mocking voice rang out harshly.

Chapter 2: The Grand Ceremony

　　Moreover, it was a veiled insult, calling Evan Bennett a turtle. The speaker was the Seventh Prince, Hannah Bennett. His birth mother was the Empress of the Western Palace, Helen Parker, who had punished Grace Carter by making her stand on porcelain shards.

　　“Seventh Brother, talking to this loser is a waste of breath,” the Ninth Prince, Frank Bennett, sneered with disdain.

　　Frank Bennett was a staunch follower of Hannah Bennett, because Frank Bennett’s mother was the noble consort Jane Foster, also from the Western Palace faction.

　　The Empress outranked the noble consorts, and each Empress had several allies. There were quite a few such alliances in the harem.

　　Thus, major power groups formed. The harem was, in fact, a brutal battlefield without smoke. If one wasn’t shrewd enough, they wouldn’t even know how they died.

　　“So what, you can come but I can’t? Is there a rule in the palace?” Evan Bennett sneered, meeting the eyes of his two brothers, the Seventh and Ninth Princes, without backing down.

　　“See that, Seventh Prince? He’s still not convinced?” At this moment, a sarcastic voice chimed in.

　　This person was short and thin, the son of ‘Marquis Tiger Might’ Jack Bennett, who ranked among the top six of Yan’s eighteen marquises—Ethan Bennett. Naturally, this guy was also a core member of the Seventh Prince’s faction. Relying on his father’s status, he didn’t even regard Evan Bennett, the Eighth Prince, as worth his attention.

　　“Is that so, turtle? Your wings have grown hard, and your skin’s itching, is that it?” The Seventh Prince looked at him with contempt, cracking his knuckles with a loud snap in a show of intimidation.

　　Evan Bennett’s fists were sweating from how hard he clenched them—he was holding back!

　　“All right, enough, Father and the others are coming.” At this moment, the Second Prince, Colin Bennett, said with a stern face.

　　Of course, Colin Bennett wasn’t trying to help Evan Bennett. With the Crown Prince absent today, he was the leader among the princes and naturally had to act the part.

　　“Hmph, I’ll let you off today for Second Brother’s sake. Otherwise, I wouldn’t stop until you cried for your mother.” The Seventh Prince waved his fist in the air in a show of intimidation.

　　Then, the King of Yan, accompanied by the palace empresses and noble consorts, arrived in the royal dragon chariot drawn by eight fifth-rank golden-winged flying horses, descending from the sky in a blaze of multicolored clouds. Instantly, the glow of the clouds lit up half the sky, as awe-inspiring as the descent of gods or Buddhas.

　　In a flash, everyone stood up and greeted them with enthusiastic applause.

　　“Your Majesty, all those eligible for the Martial Embryo inheritance are present. They are the Seventh Prince, Eighth Prince, Eleventh Prince, Sixth Princess, Young Marquis Ethan Bennett…” The Grand Preceptor Ryan Cooper bowed slightly and reported.

　　“The Eighth Prince?” Eric Bennett glanced at Evan Bennett, then frowned and waved his hand, “Begin.”

　　It seemed the King of Yan was quite dissatisfied with his own good-for-nothing son.