IMAO Chapter 76

Upon hearing Horace’s words, Ji Rong paused for a moment, then replied, “Okay.”

“Daryl.”

Upon hearing his name, Daryl, who was kneeling on the ground, trembled. His curiosity about who had made the call instantly vanished, replaced by a chill running down his spine at being addressed by the Iron-Blooded Emperor Horace.

His lips quivered as he slowly raised his head and swallowed before stuttering, “Y-your subject is here.”

Daryl barely dared to breathe as he frantically tried to recall if he had done anything inappropriate recently. Being suddenly called out by His Majesty made him genuinely terrified!

While the Thornflower family was one of Hoyt’s remaining noble houses and appeared incredibly powerful from the outside, managing to stand firm even under the Iron-Blooded Emperor’s reign…

Daryl knew that Horace had left the Thornflower family alone only because he was wise enough to remain obedient and still proved useful to the young monarch. Otherwise, they were just another family that could be erased from history with a single word from their young ruler.

Thinking of this, Daryl couldn’t help but show a bitter expression. Which of the remaining noble families wasn’t in the same position?

“Your Majesty, I really have no objection to the reforms, the nobility…”

Daryl explained nervously. With His Majesty implementing reforms, the abolition of the nobility system was inevitable, and their noble families would unavoidably lose their privileges. Calls for a constitutional monarchy in the country weren’t new. The Hoyt royal family had been considering it since the previous two rulers, and Horace’s father, King Jianan, had even begun implementing it…

However, that king’s abilities fell short compared to their current young ruler’s. The noble families involved in that car accident had already become meaningless names in Hoyt’s history. Now that His Majesty was implementing reforms, the nobles were as quiet as mice. Everything His Majesty said was right.

“Who is Will?” Horace interrupted Daryl’s nervous explanation, raising an eyebrow.

“Huh?” Daryl was dumbfounded, clearly thrown off by Horace’s question.

Horace’s light snort snapped Daryl back to reality. His mind went blank as a chill shot through him. There was only one Will in the Thornflower family, and that person was his grandson…

This was bad.

Although he didn’t know what happened, he knew what kind of trouble his grandson was. He must have offended someone, and that was someone who could contact His Majesty at that!

Now he just wanted to beat his grandson to death. No, he should never have given birth to that brat’s father in the first place!

“He-he’s your subject’s grand-grandson…” Daryl stumbled through his response, his legs weak, wishing he could just die.

“Oh,” Horace glanced at Daryl. “Your grandson is quite good at finding loopholes.”

“What exactly did this kid do?” Daryl asked, anxious and angry, suddenly speaking more smoothly.

His voice faltered, obviously afraid Horace would think he was trying to help his grandson. He quickly explained, “Your Majesty, I’m just worried about what inappropriate things this brat might have done. I absolutely have no intention of covering for him…”

“It’s nothing. He’s with my son right now, at the police station, trying to press charges against my son for intentional harm.” Horace looked at Daryl with interest. “So, what do you think we should do?”

Hearing Horace’s words, Daryl was completely stunned. When did His Majesty have a son… Wasn’t he still unmarried, without a partner? No, no, no, the key point was that His Majesty’s son had hit his grandson…

“Your Majesty, my grandson is worthless. If your son hit him, it must be because the brat deserved it!” Daryl said urgently. “I’ll make this bastard apologize right away! You…”

Daryl was so angry that his mind was muddled. He almost asked His Majesty to hand over the communicator so he could yell at that good-for-nothing directly.

Fortunately, before the words left his mouth, his mind forced him to calm down.

He glanced sheepishly at the communicator in Horace’s hand, then quickly averted his gaze and pulled out his own device.

“It’s been resolved,” Horace picked up the communicator and said to Ji Rong.

“That fast?” Ji Rong was stunned, glancing at the shameless fellow sitting there with complete composure.

The man looked at Ji Rong and, rather than stopping him, crossed his legs and said smugly, “It’s useless whoever you contact. What I’m doing is legal. Keep trying if you want. I won’t stop you. Let’s see who dares to stand up for you!”

Cole stood nearby with a grim expression. This Will fellow was determined to take the legal route. Even if this young man found a powerful noble to help, as long as Will didn’t admit fault, even if it reached the Emperor, Will would still be in the right. After all, the Thornflower family must have their own principles to have survived until today.

Otherwise, with so many noble families falling, how could the Thornflower family still exist…

If they really went the legal route, he knew the law was merciless. Even their Emperor had once said that even the Emperor must obey the law.

Ansley’s eyes were red. He looked silently at Jiang Yuan and Ji Rong, feeling full of guilt. It was all because of him. If only he didn’t go out…

“My dad says it’s been resolved,” Ji Rong said, pointing to his communicator.

It hadn’t even been a minute since the call connected and his dad asked him to wait, and it was already resolved? If his Omega father could resolve this, that would be great, since going through the Federation’s process would be troublesome and might affect the upcoming matches.

“Resolved?” Will snorted as if he’d heard a joke. “Fine, let’s see how you resolve this!”

“I want to see which noble dares to help you!”

The police station fell silent. Suddenly, a communicator rang.

Will looked at the caller ID on his device, his expression changing dramatically as he jumped up from his chair in fright.

No, no, grandfather couldn’t be calling because of these people. It must be a coincidence.

Will reassured himself as he answered the call respectfully, “Gr-grandfather, why are you calling?”

As soon as the call connected, Daryl’s thunderous shout came through the communicator, loud enough for everyone in the police station to hear.

“You little bastard, get on your knees!”

“What?” Will was dumbfounded, saying in disbelief, “Grandfather, what did I do? I’m at the police station, not at home… This matter…”

As he spoke, Will glanced at Ji Rong, completely bewildered that this person’s father could somehow reach his grandfather.

Will tried to explain, but Daryl cut him off.

“Kneel down!”

Thud!

At that thunderous command, Will’s legs gave way and he dropped straight to his knees. When the old man said kneel, even if his father were here, he’d have to kneel. Dignity was the least of his concerns now.

Will’s sudden kneeling left everyone dumbstruck, all staring at Ji Rong in disbelief.

What was going on?

Cole was a little confused. In his memory, Lord Daryl, the head of the Thornflower family, was an extremely powerful noble who could even meet with the Emperor! Yet here he was, not only scolding his grandson but making him kneel through a communicator! He was clearly furious!

What kind of person was this Federation foreigner’s father, to make a noble elder scold his own grandson like this, completely disregarding his noble dignity?

While he was lost in confusion, they heard Daryl’s voice from the communicator, trembling with rage as he nearly roared, “You little bastard, you think playing with an Omega in heat isn’t against the law? How dare you say such things?!”

“Grandfather… let me explain, they’re lying, trust me, I…” Will was sweating profusely as he tried to explain.

“Shut your mouth! You worthless thing, you think I don’t know what you’re like?” Daryl raged.

Will wanted to cry. He couldn’t understand who this foreign kid had contacted. He swore that if it weren’t for the communicator between them, his grandfather would surely beat him to death!

“Give the communicator to the police!”

“To… to the police?” Will asked incredulously, not knowing what his grandfather Daryl was planning.

“What, do I need to come to the police station myself?”

“No, no… I’ll give it right away!” Will broke into a cold sweat. Though he didn’t understand his grandfather’s intentions, he immediately handed the communicator to the middle-aged police officer next to him.

The police officer took the communicator nervously. Lord Daryl was someone who could enter the palace and meet the Emperor. Even though noble power wasn’t as extreme now, he wasn’t someone an ordinary person like himself could meet.

He anxiously accepted the communicator and heard the old man’s voice, somewhat calmer now. “No need to investigate this matter. It must be my worthless grandson trying to do something terrible. It’s my fault for not disciplining him properly. Please proceed with legal procedures and lock him up!”

Though the communicator was in the police officer’s hands, everyone could still hear the voice.

“Please pass the communicator to that…” Daryl spoke vaguely, mainly because he didn’t know how to address Ji Rong, the Emperor’s son.

The police officer handed the communicator to Ji Rong, and then they heard Daryl say, “Thank you for this. Well done hitting him. If you hadn’t, this worthless boy might have committed a big mistake. It’s my fault for not raising him properly. I’m truly sorry for the trouble, please don’t mind.”

Everyone was stunned. This great Hoyt noble not only made his grandson kneel publicly but also dropped the case, forced his grandson to admit guilt, asked the police to arrest him, and even apologized himself!

Everyone found it absurd!

Which powerful figure in Hoyt did this foreign kid’s father contact? Was it even possible? Daryl’s tone was polite at best, almost pleading at worst!

Even for powerful Marshal Hans or the noble Prince Hosea, Daryl, this established noble, wouldn’t be so submissive! But someone more influential… who could it be?

It couldn’t be the Emperor, could it?

Cole, who had come to mediate for Ansley and his father, couldn’t help but shudder, and was completely shocked.

“Shall we proceed according to legal procedures? Would that be an acceptable solution?” Daryl asked cautiously over the communication line.

Ji Rong: …

He didn’t actually want to do anything in particular. He just thought going through Federation procedures would cause trouble for the Federation, so he wanted to see if his father in Hoyt could help. He was just trying his luck. If mediation worked out, that would be fine.

But…

His dad was way too impressive.

Since the Thornflower family was after all Hoyt’s noble family, he couldn’t push too hard. Although his dad was impressive, it would definitely cause some trouble. He didn’t want to create problems for the father he’d just reconnected with, so after some thought, he said, “Let’s go through legal channels then.”

When Daryl heard Ji Rong agree, his face lit up with joy. “That’s great, I’ll have the police throw that guy straight into jail!”

Will was completely dumbfounded. They were indeed following legal procedures, but it was entirely different from what he’d expected.

His grandfather didn’t even want him to explain, and he forced him to admit he was in the wrong, and that the others were acting righteously. Though that was the truth, still…

He didn’t want to be locked up!

Wuwuwu.

After the communication ended and Will was taken away by the police, everyone turned to look at Ji Rong.

Even Jiang Yuan, who had been quiet all along, gave Ji Rong a surprised look and asked, “The dad you just recognized?”

Ji Rong nodded and said, “I was just giving it a try. Seems like my dad is quite powerful…”

Cole, who hadn’t left yet, twitched his lips. This wasn’t just powerful. From Lord Daryl’s voice earlier, he must have been scared to death. His eyes fell on Ji Rong as he pondered what kind of background could achieve this.

He Chuan rushed over, taking two steps at a time into the police station. Seeing Ji Rong and Jiang Yuan, he comforted them. “Don’t panic, I’ve already told the Marshal! The Foreign Affairs Department will handle this.”

“What’s left to handle?” A police officer smacked his lips and said, “Everything’s already been resolved.”

“Resolved?” He Chuan was stunned. “Oh, Foreign Affairs moved really fast. Then I’ll just take them back.”

Cole couldn’t help saying, “What does this have to do with your Foreign Affairs…”

He Chuan looked at Ji Rong and Jiang Yuan, noting they weren’t restrained at all. He paused, “So what’s going on now?”

“It’s nothing.” Ji Rong spread his hands.

He Chuan was completely lost: “Nothing wrong?”

Ji Rong winked at He Chuan and said, “That guy confessed everything. He’s been locked up, and Jiang Yuan and I were recognized as having acted righteously!”

“What exactly happened?” He Chuan looked confused. How did that scoundrel suddenly change his statement? He’d looked up the Thornflower family on his way here. They were one of Hoyt’s oldest noble families, with extraordinary influence and power. When he told Foreign Affairs, even the Minister said it would be difficult to handle.

In less than ten minutes, this Thornflower noble suddenly confessed and stopped making false accusations?

“I mentioned it to my dad,” seeing He Chuan’s shocked expression and knowing he’d misunderstood it as Ji Chong, Ji Rong added, “The one I just recognized, and then this happened…”

He Chuan: ???

He Chuan: !!!

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