The eldest son is fierce

Gong Yinghan was very unhappy with Ran Xiuyu's attitude. It felt like everyone else was an idiot, and he was the only wise man.

As soon as these words were spoken, the noise in the hall immediately subsided, and everyone looked at Ran Xiuyu, who was sitting in the main seat. We chose you to lead us to become bigger and stronger, not to lead us to surrender!

What national righteousness, what ordinary people, what etiquette and law—all of these must be based on one premise: ensuring that our interests are not harmed.

As long as it doesn't harm our interests, what's wrong with giving those ants a little something?

But what did you, Ran Xiuyu, do? From the moment Tang Yi began attacking the capital, you were either trying to smooth things over or making all sorts of surrender rhetoric.

Damn it, is Tang Yi your father or your mother?! Why are you taking such good care of him?

In short, at this moment, both Gong Yinghan and powerful officials were quite dissatisfied with Ran Xiuyu. They suddenly realized that following Ran Xiuyu's line of thinking had brought them no benefits at all!

If Tang Yi successfully establishes a new emperor, and a new emperor brings a new court, will these meritorious officials still have any standing?

Ran Xiuyu originally wanted to say he would help Tang Yi gain a foothold, but seeing the unfriendly looks from everyone, he swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

If he flatters Tang Yi a couple more times, he'll probably get ganged up on; his old bones can't take it.

"cough……"

Ran Xiuyu put down his teacup, pondered for a moment, and said, "I know you are dissatisfied, but I still advise you... A wise man submits to circumstances."

"Let's stabilize Tang Yi first. As for your demands, we can discuss them later."

Upon hearing this, everyone in the hall looked angry, but Ran Xiuyu didn't give them a chance to speak, raising his hand to silence them.

He looked up and smiled as he swept his gaze across the room. His voice remained calm, but it carried an undeniable authority: "Making a scene? You've already missed your best opportunity."

“When Tang Yi first entered the capital, you joined His Majesty in making trouble, and you had a 70% chance of winning. However, because you were dissatisfied with the emperor killing the prime minister and others as a sacrifice, you left the young emperor to face Tang Yi alone, which caused you to miss the best opportunity.”

"The battle at Tangyi Imperial Palace demonstrated the military's might and allowed them to gain a foothold in the capital."

The group of people in the hall who were about to explode with anger froze upon hearing this. Ran Xiuyu's words were like slaps to their faces.

They naturally knew that Tang Yi had arrived in the capital. However, at that time, the emperor killed the high-ranking prime minister and the minister of war in order to let Zhuge Wanwan lead troops to resist the army of Da Yan. This made them very dissatisfied. They thought that since the emperor did not treat them like human beings, then he could play with Tang Yi by himself!

When you can't win anymore and have to swallow your pride and beg us, then we'll do you a favor and give you some charity.

Who the hell could have imagined that Tang Yi would actually take down the palace? The palace had 30,000 Imperial Guards and 10,000 Crimson Flame Army soldiers, plus the emperor's own personal guards, which was nearly 50,000 troops. And Tang Yi just blatantly took it down!

They were originally waiting for the young emperor to turn around and beg them for help, but they didn't expect the young emperor to be so weak. He was killed by Tang Yi in one move, ruining their subsequent plans.

Ran Xiuyu glanced at everyone in the hall, calmly took a sip of tea, and said, "The young emperor is dead, and the pseudo-emperor Xiao Hu has taken the throne. You still have one more chance."

"Although the false emperor's ascension to the throne was illegitimate, he is easier to cooperate with than the young emperor. As long as we join forces, we can still fight Tang Yi to a standstill. As long as we kill Tang Yi, Xiao Hu, being an illegitimate ruler, can easily pull him off the throne."

"Unfortunately, you think he is not qualified to cooperate with you. Instead, you secretly formed the current alliance, and then sat on the sidelines to watch the tigers fight. Once Tang Yi and An Jinglou are both exhausted, you will take action to eliminate An Jinglou and Tang Yi, killing two birds with one stone."

Ran Xiuyu chuckled and said mockingly, "Not long ago, when I told you to send troops to help Tang Yi, many of you didn't say anything on the surface, but you were actually quite disdainful in your hearts, weren't you?"

"I always felt that Tang Yi couldn't possibly take down Dark Capital Tower, couldn't possibly take down the capital... but in less than a day, Dark Capital Tower was destroyed."

"So, you realized you were in a hurry."

Upon hearing this, everyone's faces turned ashen, glaring at Ran Xiuyu with gritted teeth. We don't want to hear your lectures right now, so why are you spouting so much nonsense?

We just want to fight for our own interests, okay?

"What should I do? I only have two words to say."

Ran Xiuyu leaned back in his armchair and held up two fingers, saying, "One is surrender, the other is negotiation. If a problem can be solved on the table, there's no need to resort to violence."

"The Dark Capital Tower is in ruins. How many cannonballs could your mansion withstand?"

After saying this, Ran Xiuyu stood up, turned around and walked towards the inner courtyard: "I'm sleepy, I'm going to bed. If you don't listen to my advice, then do whatever you want!"

The group of people looked at Ran Xiuyu's back with grim expressions, but no one dared to call out to him. Ran Xiuyu's attitude was very clear: do whatever you want, but don't try to drag me into it.

Even after Ran Xiuyu's figure disappeared, the hall remained deathly silent. After a long while, the Minister of Works kicked over a chair and angrily said, "So what if we don't care? We can't do anything to Tang Yi without you, can we?"

"Gong Yinghan, let's stick to the plan. We'll have our own fun!"

As soon as Ran Xiuyu said this, everyone in the hall echoed his sentiments.

"That's right, now it's our turn to have some fun with Tang Yi. I refuse to believe that this kid has three heads and six arms and can't be killed no matter what we do!"

"Yes, let's join forces and wipe him out!"

"Exactly, with so many of us, why are we afraid of just one Tang Yi?"

"..."

Seeing that everyone had expressed their opinions, Gong Yinghan nodded, then picked up his knife and turned to leave the Ran family's living room.

The Minister of Works looked up and glanced at the back of the Ran residence. Thinking of Ran Xiuyu's attitude, his face turned extremely ugly. He refused to believe that they couldn't do anything without Ran Xiuyu.

The Minister of Works bowed respectfully towards the backyard and said, "Since Elder Ran is unwilling to participate, then we will take our leave. But we ask Elder Ran to consider our long-standing relationship and, even if you don't help us, please don't help Tang Yi."

Everyone looked toward the back gate, but after a while, there was still no movement from the backyard.

Without any further action, everyone understood Ran Xiuyu's attitude: he wouldn't help them, nor would he help Tang Yi for the time being, which was already the best outcome for them.

As for what happens in private... ha, even they don't have humanity, so how can you expect Ran Xiuyu to have it?

"Understood, thank you for your kindness, Elder Ran."

The Minister of Works bowed again, then turned and left, saying, "Let's go."

Everyone bowed and turned to leave the Ran residence.

Soon, the once crowded Ran residence became deserted.

Ran Xiuyu, who had left earlier, appeared in front of the archway with his hands behind his back. Looking in the direction of the gate, his previous composure and calmness were gone, replaced by a cold and stern expression.

"What did Her Majesty the Empress say?" Ran Xiuyu straightened his sleeves and asked indifferently.

"Her Majesty the Empress said that everything should be done according to Elder Ran's plan."

An old eunuch with a hunched back, carrying a whisk, came out and said with a smile, "But I still don't understand, shouldn't these nobles and important officials unite? Why did Elder Ran kick them out?"

Ran Xiuyu sneered and said, "They're just a bunch of greedy good-for-nothings. Their only purpose is to attract Tang Yi's hatred."

"If we're going to do something, we should do it thoroughly. We should kill Tang Yi and get rid of these parasites at the same time."

"Otherwise, Nanjing will still lack sovereignty and will still be unable to centralize power."