ch 151 – Shameless Family; Taking a Trip Alone (4)
With these mystical beasts, who dare to touch any of the Cheng’s members? That’s like having a death wish. So even though they were extremely upset at the Cheng’s, they dare not do anything about it.
Liu Tianshan had them all figured out from the last few days of contact with them. It didn’t matter how rude they were, they still followed their orders. He pretended he didn’t hear their cussing, or see their staring. As his shi mei had said, you don’t lose a slice of flash when they cuss at you; nor would you get injured from their stares. Nothing is more important than the mystical stones.
Slowly the mystical water was sold out. Liu Tianshan turned and left. He was only here to do business.
Inside the courtyard of the Cheng’s!
“Xiao Xiao, you are reading!” Cheng Biyuan saw his daughter as he was coming in from the outside and said to her.
Cheng Xiao Xiao looked up from the journal that she was reading and put it down. Looking at her father walking inside, she said, “Dad, you looking for me?”
“Nothing specific, just wanted to chat with you. Wait for me for a second, let me go wipe down my face. It’s been so uncomfortably hot lately!”
He walked toward the kitchen as he was talking. The maid standing by the kitchen entrance had already gone in to help with getting the water.
After putting down the book in her hand, Cheng Xiao Xiao started preparing a cup of iced tea for her father.
She had only recently figured out how to make iced tea. Especially in weather like this, it’d cool your entire body with a cup of iced team. It was very popular with everyone since the first time she made it.
From the Cheng’s situation, they didn’t have any ice. But since the dimension gained the ying yang lake, Cheng Xiao Xiao had suggested for little Yuteng to create ice cubes from there. And these iced cubes were so pure they could be eaten directly.
Ever since there were these iced-cubes, Cheng Xiao Xiao finally felt like she was drinking iced water back in the 21st century. This put her in a good mood, which was why she hadn’t been going to pick on those up in the mountains.
Soon after, Cheng Biyuan had finished washing up and rejoined Cheng Xiao Xiao. Before he said a word, he took the iced tea that his daughter had poured for him and drank it all up. That wasn’t quiet enough so he had three more before he put the tea cup down.
“Dad, do you have something to talk to Xiao Xiao about?” asked Cheng Xiao Xiao with a smile.
Cheng Biyuan was now completely relaxed. He looked back at his daughter and asked, “Xiao Xiao, the associate dean and his men have been in the mountains for 6 to 7 days already, right?”
“Yeah, today is the 7th day!” nodded Cheng Xiao Xiao, a lit surprised that her father brought them up.
“Seven days!” Cheng Biyuan had a funny look on his face and said, “Xiao Xiao, I think the amount of trees they have cut down should be enough for us. Do you think we should release them about now?”
“Release them?” Cheng Xiao Xiao did not agree right away, but mumbled to herself, “Hmmm, they have less and less stuff on them. Keeping them any longer would be like feeding them, that’s not worth it. If there’s nothing more we can get from them, we should kick them out!”
“Ahem!”
After hearing her words, Cheng Biyuan turned away, embarrassed. He had heard about his daughter’s actions. He wasn’t sure what to make of her aggressive stance, but also didn’t want to interfere, so he just pretended that he didn’t know.
Now that he heard it directly from her, he felt embarrassed by her. That was way too money-grabbing!
“Dad, why are you [fake] coughing. I wasn’t doing that for myself. I have my reasons, and they happened to have what we need. So I have to somehow get it from them!” said Cheng Xiao Xiao matter of factly.
Cheng Biyuan couldn’t agree with her viewpoint, but he noticed another issue immediately and asked, “Xiao Xiao, what was your reasons? Do you need dad’s help?”
ch 152 – Shameless Family; Taking a Trip Alone (5)
“No worries, dad. I got it handled. This family needs your help elsewhere!”
“If you need anything, you must let us know. We will figure it out together!”
“Dad, don’t worry. I understand!”
“Oh yes, Xiao Xiao, Innkeeper Zhu just mentioned that he was almost done with training the servants, and that some of them are not suitable to be kept. You got any ideas?”
Cheng Biyuan thought about another issue.
“Dad, if they are not suitable, let’s not keep them. We will just let them go!” said Cheng Xiao Xiao seriously.
“You are right that we shouldn’t be keeping them!” said Cheng Biyuan, a bit troubled. “I heard from Innkeeper Zhu that some of these folks even like to take advantage of us. Keeping these folks will surely mean troubles in the future, but…..
“But, we are so shorthanded. Now that we are expanding our family house, that will become an issue. Innkeeper Zhu suggested that we bring in some more from the outside!”
Upon hearing this, Cheng Xiao Xiao shook her head and said, “Dad, let’s hold off on that for now. I will make a trip out in a bit, let’s wait for me to come back before making that decision!”
“A trip out? Where will you be going, Xiao Xiao?” paused Cheng Biyuan.
“Don’t worry, dad. I just want to walk around the county for a bit!”
“Xiao Xiao, you want to go pick our servants by yourself?” Cheng Biyuan guessed it right away and continued saying, “No! I can’t let you go out there by yourself. Let me handle this, I will go and bring some helper hands back!”1
“No, dad, I will go!”
Cheng Xiao Xiao smiled, “I need to test out something, so just let me handle this one!”
“What are you testing out?” frowned Cheng Biyuan lightly. “Can’t you test them all out at all? You must go outside for that?”
“Dad, what are you worried about? Never mind about mystical beasts, I also have Yuteng. I don’t think there’s anyone here that can trap me for the time being!”
“It’s not that I don’t trust you, I just worry about any unforeseeable circumstances!” Seeing how determined his daughter was, Cheng Biyuan had no choice but to say, “Okay, fine, if you want to go out, use caution at all times. And come back as soon as you can, delegate down whatever you can. We have plenty of helpers right now and we can afford to owe people favors!”2
“Dad, I understand!”
Cheng Xiao Xiao had been planning on a trip for a while now, ever since she wanted to find out if she could collect human beings into the dimension. She must have it figured out, she just hasn’t had the opportunities yet.
Right now, her immediately action item was to kick out those who were no longer of use to her.
As a gesture of appreciation for those who had chopped down over ten thousand trees for them, Cheng Xiao Xiao decided to be generous for once and give each of them one bottle of mystical water each.
After everybody had received the mystical water from the Cheng’s disciples, their looks all varied. They couldn’t decide whether to throw away the water and make a point, or thank them and carefully set aside the precious mystical water.
After logging in the mountains for 7 days, and the only payment they received at them end was just one bottle of mystical water. They didn’t know whether they should be angry or not, so one by one they turned around and left!
All the students had left quickly, leaving the last two individuals staying behind shamelessly. Surprised, Cheng Xiao Xiao looked at the and asked, “Old men, why are you guys still here? Let me get one thing straight, you can’t stay here even if you have more mystical stones. You should leave quickly!”
“Ahem, ahem…”
___
Notes:
1. If Gong Zixuan could travel around with her little maid, why couldn’t Cheng Xiao Xiao? Since when was that an issue?
2. Why are they owing any favors? Aren’t these all paying employees? =.=
ch 153 – Shameless Family; Taking a Trip Alone (6)
The old associate dean was embarrassed, being kicked out so blatantly. It was definitely humiliating, but he also know that facing the little monster Cheng Xiao Xiao, there was no point to get angry. The only way to stick around was to be shameless.
Under the astonishing gazes from everybody else, he could not take more humiliation, so he said righteously, “Maiden Cheng, I know you guys trade. We will buy your mystical water and farm animls in the future. We will even buy your mystical beasts!”
“Wow, said the wealthy School of Divine Condor. You are quite arrogant, unfortunately, it’s not as rosy as you think!”
When she got here, her face turned cold suddenly and said, “Old man, I don’t care who you buy from in the future, but you aren’t buying anything from us. I suggest you to leave right away before more humiliation!”
“WHAT?” said the associate dean while suppressing his anger.
“Why what?” Cheng Xiao Xiao stared squarely at him and enunciated every single word, “No reason, I simple don’t like you guys. You rub me the wrong way, so we are not selling you anything!”
“YOU!!”
“Cheng Xiao Xiao, that was imprudent of you!” shouted Mu QIngtong, who have had enough. He had been holding all his anger in for days and finally exploded!
“Stop shouting! You want to be taught a lesson?!” Cheng Xiao Xiao glanced over at him and with a wave of her wrist, the fly swatter aimed straight at him!”
“DON’T…!”
The associate dean shouted it, but it was already too late. The instantly enlarged fly swatter smacked Mu Qingtong directly into the ground with no chance of evading it, much like someone swatting a fly.
“Bleah…..”
Mu Qingtong felt on the ground and spit out a mouthful of blood. Collapsing on the ground, he was unable to get up again.
The associate dean could not have looked any worse than he was right now. Cheng Xiao Xiao, standing on one side, didn’t even care about him. Looking coldly at Mu Qingtong, she said, “Remember, do not show up in front of me every again. Otherwise, I will smack you every time I see you, let’s see how many times you can take it. Now GET!”
“……” Mu QIngtong struggled as best he could trying to get up, his eyes stared at Cheng Xiao Xiao with a deadly gaze.
Cheng Xiao Xiao was unaffected by his look. She lifted the corners of her mouth some and put on a condescending smile.
“Very well!” said the associate dean sternly. Picking up Mu Qingtong from the ground and disappeared in no time.
“We will see!” were words that came from afar. The coldness in them suggested that the associate dean truly meant business.
Cheng Biyuan’s look dropped a little, Mrs. Cheng looked worried. Only Cheng Xiao Xiao looked as though nothig was out of the ordinary.
She didn’t care. She knew very well that from this point forward, they would never be friendly with those from the School of Divine Condor.
In addition, the old man associate dean might thought he was being stealth, but with the help of little fairy Yuteng, Cheng Xiao Xiao was well aware of every action of his. She merely didn’t point them out blatantly was all.
Just when Cheng Xiao Xiao was about to make a trip out of the house, another group of visitors had arrived.
Looking at all the visitors in their official garbs, everybody at the Cheng’s were dumbfounded. They didn’t think they had any interactions with these individuals, so why were they here?
These group of individuals were from the royals!
The royals! This word reminded Cheng Xiao Xiao of another saying – My way or the highway. The royals have always been the legal bandits, they have free reins to everything!
ch 154 – Shameless Family; Taking a Trip Alone (7)
“I am the royal commandant and I am here under the emperor’s order. Please pardon our visit!” The middle aged man cupped his hands and greeted Cheng Biyuan politely.
Cheng Biyuan hurried to greet him back, after all, the other party was here under the emperor’s order, “You are too polite. May I ask what is your purpose of visit, Mr. Commandant?”
“Master Cheng, have you forgotten me already?” said the middle-aged man with a smiile.
Cheng Xiao Xiao was quite surprised upon hearing that. What did her father have to do with a royal commandant? She was familiar with the title royal commandant. It was the equivalent of an imperial guard, they were very close to the emperor. One could say it’s the emperor’s most trusted troop.
Nonetheless, Cheng Biyuan smiled bitterly, “Brother Zhou! Pardon me, brother Zhou!”
“No, three years ago you left without bidding me farewell. I felt for sure you have already forgotten all about me!” Zhou Jinjiang seemed a little bit displeased and his tone a little bit stiff.1
“I am sorry, brother Zhou, back then….”
“Hrm, if I wasn’t so busy with my missions, I would have looked for you way before now. Well, I didn’t think you guys would have caused such a ruckus. That had certainly saved me the hassle of seeking you out!”
Zhou Jinjiang casted him a look then turned and looked at the Cheng’s brother and sister and said, “Xiao Xiao, Zheng Yuan, you two didn’t forget about your Uncle Zhou in the last three years now, did you?”
“Uncle Zhou?” said Cheng Xiao Xiao. She truly didn’t remember him. She wasn’t the original owner after all.
Cheng Zheng Yuan obediently called him, “How have you been, Uncle Zhou?”
“Good, good. Zheng Bin and Lan Lan have all grown up too!” Zhou Jinjiang smiled at the two children in front of him.
Cheng Zheng Bin seemed to recall a little bit about him and called out, “Uncle Zhou, Zheng Bin remembers you. You’ve bought me a wooden sword as a gift!”
“Ho ho, Zheng Bin has such good memory!” smiled Zhou Jinjiang happily.
He was the closest brother that Cheng Biyuan had in his circle of friends as they were both from Emperor City and have known each other for the longest. Even though they have only seen each other a few times, they were brothers that never let the fact that Cheng Biyuan was banished got in between them.
As he had said earlier, the major events that happened to Cheng Biyuan leading to his banishment, he certainly left without bidding farewell. And they have had no contacts in the last three years.
Until they have just met each other again, Cheng Biyuan was, indeed, a little uncertain. After all, they didn’t knew each other through their positions. Cheng Biyuan was aware that Zhou Jinjiang worked for the royals, but he was taken aback by his sudden appearance in full official garb along with a troop of guards, which was why he didn’t greet him right away.
At this time, Mrs. Cheng also approached them and bowed at Zhou Jinjiang, “Cheng Yuqin greets Uncle Zhou. It’s been a while, Uncle Zhou!”
“Little sister, I never thought I’d run into you guys here!” said Zhou Jinjiang with a light sigh.
Mrs. Cheng’s eyes reddened and she nodded, “Thank you, Uncle Zhou for coming to visit us!”
“You guys… “ Zhou Jinjiang had an idea of what had transpired with the Cheng’s. But as an outsider, it was difficult for him to meddle in their business. But he has always known that life had been rough for the family of this brother that he was fond of. He had wanted to help back in the days, it just that Cheng Biyuan didn’t want to accept his help.
This time when he heard caught wind about the Cheng’s family, he specifically obtained the permission from the emperor to be the lead person of this mission so he has a legit reason to leave Emperor City to come look for them.2
“Okay, now that there are no more outsiders around, I would like to ask about the real situation about your family!” asked Zhou Jinjian with a solemn look. “All the rumors that I have been hearing outside, are they all true?”
“Brother Zhou, you mean the royal family has…..”
___
Random translator notes:
1. Oh, what a crock of *. Three years he didn’t go looking for them and HE was the one offended? C’mon!
2. And brought it to the royal family’s attention??
ch 155 - Shameless Family; Taking a Trip Alone (8)
“Don’t get any crazy ideas!” Zhou Jinjiang seemed to have an idea about what Cheng Biyuan was about to ask, “Don’t you worry, his majesty merely wanted to know whether the Cheng’s truly has a beast tamer. This is very important and you must be honest to me. Biyuan, you know it as well as I do how important are beast tamers to Dafeng!”
“I understand!” Cheng Biyuan felt better after he heard that. His look lingered on his eldest daughter and he smiled, “Brother Zhou, if it was any one else, I wouldn’t’ breathe a word. But I don’t need to beat around the bush with you, the real master beast tamer is Xiao Xiao. She can definitely command tens and thousands of beasts!”
“It’s Xiao Xiao?”
Zhou Jinjiang was more than a little bit surprised, he never expected the beast tamer to be the eldest and most timid Cheng Xiao Xiao.
In his mind, Cheng Xiao Xiao was the most timid of them all. Every time he seen her in the past, she just sat there quietly, never talked much.
By now Cheng Xiao Xiao had a pretty good idea what was the old Cheng Xiao Xiao like previously. Zhou Jinjiang’s expression has given his thoughts away. Smiling tenderly, she said, “Uncle Zhou, do you not believe it? Would you like me to summon them to play with you?”
“Play with me?” Zhou Jinjiang didn’t understand what she meant by that.
Cheng Xiao Xiao smiled mysteriously, a wave of her arm and a fiery bird appeared. This was a new species that appeared after the dimension had levelled up. After cultivated by little Yuteng, it was no longer just a regular bird, it has gained the ability to battle.
In addition to being able to fly, it was also able to breathe fire. This was the ability of the fiery bird.
“This is a mystical beast!”
Zhou Jinjiang’s eyes widened with both surprises and excitement on his face. He now believed in the words of the Cheng’s. The once little brat had truly became a beast tamer.
“Good, good, good. Awesome, awesome. This is great!” exclaimed Zhou Jinjiang ecstatically. He was happy both for Cheng Biyuan and also for the fact that there’s now a beast tamer in Dafeng.
Everybody at the Cheng’s smiled and Cheng Xiao Xiao was quite fond of this Uncle Zhou as well. After little Yuteng had peeked into his heart, she had discovered that he was genuinely nice toward her family.
“Uncle Zhou, this is a fiery bird. It could carry it’s own in flight and also assist you in battle. I am gifting it to you as a pet, please do accept it. Otherwise, my feelings will be hurt!”
“For me?”
Zhou Jinjiang was very surprised. But he was quite fond of the fiery bird in front of him. Under order, the fiery bird walked toward him and nuzzled him gently with its head. One could tell it was trying to please him.
“HAHAHA! Okay, Xiao Xiao, Uncle Zhou thank you. I will accept your gift!”
“I am glad Uncle Zhou is happy with his gift!” Cheng Xiao Xiao gave a sweet smile.
Cheng Biyuan was equally happy. Smiling, he said, “Brother Zhou, it’s okay. Xiao Xiao had plenty of mystical beasts. It’s rare that she was willing to give them away as gift, if you don’t accept it, it will be your loss!”
“Dad! I am not that frugal!”
“I don’t know if you are frugal or not, I only know that you charge others mystical stones to eat our food!”
“HAHAHA…..”
The conversation between the Cheng’s father and daughter made Zhou Jinjiang laughed wholeheartedly, “I have heard about that too. About how you are using those jerks from the School of Divine Condor as labors for days and even made them pay for their meals with mystical stones. Everybody had heard about that on the outside already. HAHAHA….”
“HOHOHO….”
Everybody started laughing. The laughter surprised the guards waiting outside the courtyard. Of course, those who had heard the conversation was not so surprised.
ch 156 – Shameless Family; Taking a Trip Alone (9)
Those who were in the knows were envious that Zhou Jinjiang was given a mystical beasts just for making this trip. That was so lucky of him!
Cheng Xiao Xiao rolled her eyes at the laughter. She didn’t feel that what she had done was wrong, so she didn’t care if others were laughing at her or not.
Mrs. Cheng looked a bit helpless. She had worried about it in the past, now that the words had spread, there was not much she could do to stop others from talking about it. All she could do was to cast an unhappy glance in her daughter’s direction.
Putting away the mystical beast in his mystical pouch, Zhou Jinjiang put on a more serious face and said, “Biyuan, the main purpose of my mission was to come and confirm whether there is really a beast tamer at the Cheng’s. Now that that has been confirmed, I will relate the emperor’s message!”
“Yes, brother Zhou, please do share!” nodded Cheng Biyuan.
“The emperor first thought the beast tamer must be you or Zheng Yuan or Zheng Bin. We never expected Xiao Xaio to be the true beast tamer!”1
As he was saying this, Zhou Jinjiang looked over at Cheng Xiao Xiao quickly before he continued, “The emperor’s intention was that once we have confirmed that the Cheng’s indeed has a beast tamer, he will grant your family the entire Qing’an Province. From this point forward the entire Qing’an Province will become your personal property. It will be a city of its own, and you will no longer need to make contributions to the emperor. Everything will belong to you and your family.”
“Giving us the entire city?” Cheng Biyuan was dumbfounded. He was too surprised!
Zhou Jinjiang nodded and continued to talk, “He will also grant you the title of a Count, with the name Zhongyuan. So you will be Count Zhongyuan, and the city that you will build can be named Zhongyuan City!”
“Ugh… that is a very grand award!” Now Cheng Biyuan was completely shocked.
“Too grand?” Zhou Jinjiang smiled and shook his head, “No, not really. Since there is a beast tamer in your family. From this point forward, your family’s mystical beasts will be protecting Dafeng. If Dafeng is attacked by any other country, you must lend your assistance. That’s the emperor’s only condition!”
“Dad, that’s not a problem. Let’s accept the deal!”
Replied Cheng Xiao Xiao directly. It wasn’t like they can turn it down, so might as well reap the benefits. Why would they not?
Cheng Biyuan wasn’t sure how he should react to his daugther’s reaction. He shook his head helplessly. It wasn’t like he didn’t understand the workings behind it all.
Zhou Jinjiang laughed and, smiling at Cheng Xiao Xiao, said, “Xiao Xiao is all grown up!”
“Hehe, Uncle Zhou, we can use your help figuring out how we can run this Zhongyuan City. We don’t have the capacity to worry about that right now. Look, our new home is still being buit!”
“Oh, you little brat…..”
Zhou Jinjiang stayed at the Cheng’s for three days. Three days later, he departed Willow bringing with him mystical water as well as a batch of mystical animals and food to return to Emperor City.
At the same time, he made the promises that he would see if he could put in a transfer request with the emperor so he could leave his post in Emperor City and transfer to Qing’an Province to help Cheng Biyuan in the construction of the new city.
After their departure, words of the gift from the emperor spread all over… about how Cheng Biyuan went from a normal peasant to a count, and how the entire Qing’an Province because his personal property.
All of a sudden, the news were boiling in Dafeng!
Especially those who were concerned, reacted all sorts of ways. This gift from the royals were no doubt an announcement to the entire world that there were, indeed, a beast tamer at the Cheng’s, without a doubt!
The news had deterred those from the School of Divine Condor. They were also backed by the royals, but now that the emperor had gifted the Cheng’s, if they continue to seek troubles with them, they worried the royals wouldn’t sit by quietly.
___
Random translator notes:
1. Of course, why would it be the only girl? GRRR
ch 157 – Shameless Family; Taking a Trip Alone (10)
Everybody understood the status of a beast tamer in a country. Even the dead of the School of Divine Condor must be respectful, let alone the little peons. If they were to take any actions, they didn’t even need to wait for the Cheng’s to fight back, there were plenty of others who would jump out and defend them.
Knowing this, they had no choice but to retrieve their claws. Those who were still lingering at the Ning’s finally all left with the associate dean.
There would be no more meaning for them to stay around. They dare not take any actions against the Cheng’s; and if they wanted to do business with the Cheng’s, they have already made it abundantly clear that they would not be dealing with anyone from the School of Divine Condor. So what was the point of continuing to linger around?
In just one day, all different powers within Dafeng had heard about the news. The Long’s and Xue’s of Emperor City were preparing their return trips to Qing’an Province. This time they would make sure they secure their business deals in three-month time, come hell or high water!
The Cheng’s!
Old master Cheng once again went to his favorite son, then, without a word, slapped him across his face multiple times. The just now recovering Cheng Bihua’s face swollen up like that of a pig all over again. Angrily, old master Cheng shouted at him, “Bastard! Damn you!”
The innocent Cheng Bihua, who was turned into a punching bag, screamed and shouted. He cried and cursed Cheng Biyuan and his family loudly as those these were somehow all their fault.
Cheng Bihua, who had adamantly refused to believe in all the rumors, had finally started to wonder about whatever good luck that had happened upon Cheng Biyuan and his family. How could this had happened?
He pulled his hair out but still couldn’t figure out how it was possible that Cheng Biyuan and his family, who were almost annihilated by him just a few months ago, were able to turn everything around so dramatically.
In the meeting room of the Cheng’s!
The few elders gathered again to discuss the events that had been happening at Willow Village. Master Cheng’s face was darkened, “What are all your thoughts? What do we do with that evil creature?”
“……”
The entire parlor was silent and nobody responded to his question. The first elder sitting in the upper seat still have his eyes closed, as though he was asleep.
“The news have been confirmed, we must take care of this!” Master Cheng glanced over at everyone and said with unreconciled emotions.
“Ahem ahem….” Third elder fake coughed. With everyone else looking on, he started slowly, “Cheng Biyuan belongs in our bloodline after all. No matter what happens, what’s his also belong to the Cheng’s!”
He stopped after that and said no more.
His meaning was clear, no matter what Cheng Biyuan over at Willow possessed, these all counted toward the Cheng’s properties. In other words, they have the right to control any properties belonging to Cheng Biyuan and his family.
The Eleventh Elder, sitting far in the back, had his eyes half opened and full of sarcasm. All these folks seemed to have forgotten that they have already crossed Cheng Biyuan and his entire family off of the family tree, and now…
Whatever belonged to Cheng Biyuan also belonged to them? That was quite ironic, do these people enjoy going back on their own words?
The parlor went quiet again!
That was not the respond that Master Cheng was looking for. His face darkened some more.
Fourth elder glanced over at First Elder, pondered for a second, and said, “If nobody else disagree, we will just send someone to Cheng Biyuan at Willow and communicate our thoughts to him!”
“Who’s going to go?” Master Cheng responded to his words. Looking at him coldly, he said, “You?”
“Me? I was not that close to Cheng Biyuan. If we are looking for a suitable candidate, I say….”
The Fourth Elder smiled with a shred of embarrassment and turned to look behind him, “I think Eleventh Elder would be a better candidate. He was the closest to Cheng Biyuan. He will be best for this assignment!”
ch 158 – Shameless Family; Taking a Trip Alone (11)
Eleventh Elder sitting at the very end looked as though he hadn’t hear a word. He didn’t even stir, let alone expressing any opionions.
In addition to Fourth Elder, all the other elders also turned to look at Eleventh Elder. Everybody knew very well that of everyone present right there, Eleventh Elder was the closest with Cheng Biyuan.
As for them, they had only made matters worse in the past. None of them were able to put aside their self-esteem to go look for Cheng Biyuan now. So naturally want to accept the assignment.
Everybody was unhappy with Eleventh Elder’s reaction, especially Master Cheng, who was already in a foul mood, his face darkened even more and said, “Eleventh Elder, you seem to have some free time lately. We would like to trouble you go make a trip to Willow and tell that evil creature to know his place!”
“Master, pray tell what reason should I use?” asked Eleventh Elder expressionlessly as he slowly looked up.
Master Cheng paused for a second and said unhappily, “What do you mean?”
“Master, for as far as I can remember, we have crossed Cheng Biyuan and his family off the family tree three years ago. When have we added them back onto the family tree?”
A simple question made everybody present looked uneasy!
They knew full well that anyone that was not in the family tree were not considered part of the Cheng’s, regardless of their bloodline, they would not be recognized as a part of the Cheng’s.
For those belonging to this universe, the family tree was of utmost importance. A person without the backing of a family would be looked down upon. Being banished from one’s family was the ultimate punishment. It was equivalent to branding them as a criminal for the rest of their lives. They would never been able to be respected again.
The words from Eleventh Elders no doubt was to remind them that their past behaviors toward Cheng Biyuan had relinquished any rights of their to ask for anything from him.
However, knowing what Cheng Biyuan was awarded, how could they give up? Especially since their reputation and status have been in the decline in the past two years. What the Cheng’s needed the most right now are status and profits, how could they possibly give this up?
How could they?
“We can discuss about the family tree at a later time. No matter what, Biyuan was of the direct blood line. Nobody could change that!”
“We are a family. What’s in the past is in the past. We can’t dwell on that. We don’t want the Cheng’s to become the laughing stock!”
“Cheng Biyuan was the genius nurtured by us all. Our family had spent a lot of time and resources on him. He can’t just turn his back from us now!”
“When he got married back in the days, we’ve spent most of our family equity, he can’t not forget that!”
“Biyuan was one of our promising disciples, we have all poured a lot of effort over him. We can’t let some small disagreement got in our way. That’s no reason to break up a family!”
“I have always said that Cheng Biyuan was destined for great things. Had he never left Emperor City, this might have never happened. He should understand this more than anyone else!”
“……”
The elders had spoken what was on their minds one after another. Aggressively, Master Chen said, “At the end of the day, everything that he owned was given to him by us. He has no rights to object to any of our decisions now!”
Listening to all these people, Eleventh Elder did not seem to have much of a reaction. It was as though he was expecting those words from them.
Nonetheless, his look made everybody uneasy, it especially bothered Master Cheng, how looked at him sternly, “Eleventh Elder, everybody’s thoughts were clear. We will have to trouble you to make a trip to that evil creature and let him know to not think the his small accomplishment does not mean he could turn his back on his family. He would never have his accomplishments today without the Cheng’s!”
ch 159 – Shameless Family; Taking a Trip Alone (12)
“I am sorry, I can’t do this. Master should assign this to someone else!” replied Eleventh Elder nonchalantly.
“What?!”
Master Cheng’s face changed color and the others looked on incredulously. Within the Cheng’s, Master Cheng outranked any elders. Normally, the elders must listen to the master as it was their role to assist the master of the house in handling family business.
When the master assign a task to an elder, they must follow the orders, unless over half of the elders object, that would be the only way to override the master’s order.
But now all elders supported the decision to have Eleventh Elder take on this assignment and he openly declined. This was no doubt a challenge to the master’s authority. Master Cheng was enraged.
The protest from Eleventh Elder even moved First Elder. He slowly opened his eyes and a beam of bright light went straight toward Eleventh Elder.
Master Cheng scolded angrily, “Eleventh Elder, if you disobey my order, I can banish you from the Circle of Elders!”
“Sure, go ahead. As long as it pleases you, you can banish me from the family even!” Eleventh Elder stood up calmly and started walking toward the door, “If this family is all about profits and not caring about your family, I don’t care to be a part of it!”
“You stand right there, Eleventh Elder! Don’t you dare!”
Master Cheng jumped up abruptly and shouted angrily at his back. Eleventh Elder never looked back and disappeared from the parlor shortly!
“HOW DARE HIM!”
When his authority failed, Master Cheng shouted like a mad man. The other elders all turned away and pretended that they didn’t see anything.
Of course, they were all surprised at by the actions of Eleventh Elder. He didn’t care about being banished from the family?
Has he gone insane?
“Look at you! You are not behaving like the master of the house right now!” Looking at the angry man, First Elder scolded him lightly in discontent.
Master Cheng still couldn’t control his angry. Angrily, he said, “First Elder, just look at the behavior of Eleventh Elder. He ignored all our family rules. We must not take this lightly!”
“You want to punish him? Then just banish him from the family!”
“WHAT?”
“HUH?”
Everybody there was shocked. They looked at First Elder with disbelief. Certainly they must have heard wrong!
“What? You don’t want to?” The voice of First Elder slowly float into their ears, confirming what they thought they have heard. But it was still incomprehensible to banish someone of the martial king level for such a minor infraction!
Yes, incomprehensible!
At this moment, nobody could figure out why First Elder gave this order!
The First Elder ignored everybody’s reaction and told the Master directly, “Send the words down. Eleventh Elder blatantly disregarded a direct order from the Circle of Elders and is banished from the family. The entire branch of his family must be completely moved out of Emperor City within three days!”
After saying that, with a flash of his silhouette, First Elder disappeared in front of everybody.
The remaining elders exchanged looks with each other; they were neither happy about the decision nor did they wish ill will upon Eleventh Elder. Everybody was baffled by the sudden decision of First Elder.
When the order of this decision was passed down, the Cheng’s was plunged into chaos!
Eleventh Elder didn’t seem to be too overly surprised. He remained silent from all questionings and had no desire to explain anything as though he has resorted to his fate!
Finally, he told his own family to pack and leave as quickly as possible!
ch 160 – Shameless Family; Taking a Trip Alone (13)
After their departure, First Elder personally inquired about Eleventh Elder’s whereabout!
The information he obtained did not make him happy; quite contrarily, he looked angry. Obviously things did not go as he had planned.
Finally, First Elder passed down another order, “Keep an eye out on him, and let him experience some hardship. Hrm!”
Other than the Cheng’s, the two at the city of Yin also had very different reaction. When Gu Gaoyi’s wife Yan Qingqing heard about the treatment of her son at the Cheng’s, she was so angry she started shouting about them loudly, cursing just about every member of the Cheng’s family!
Gu Gaoyi found that hard to believe. In his memory, Cheng Biyuan was someone who valued friendships and relationships. Knowing how he treated his son upset him a lot!
“Gu Gaoyi, I am going to make it clear right here right now. There’s no way this unruly brat of the Cheng’s is marrying to our family. You go immediately to Willow Village to cancel this engagement. I will never accept such an untalented and unkind brat as my daughter-in-law!”
Gu Gaoyi did not respond to his wife’s words. When he told her about the award from the royals, her arrogance diminished by quite a bit.
After a long while, the unreconciled Yan Qingqing said through gritted teeth, “I don’t care! You must ask for justice for our son. My son was not to be insulted by that unruly brat!”
“Stop calling her an ‘unruly brat’, her status is higher than yours now. Hrm!”
“What you hrm’ing me for? If you are so great then why don’t you go get yourself the title of a count too? You couldn’t, could you? Then you have no grounds to say that to me!”
“You! You are unreasonable!”
Gu Gaoyi, who was in a foul mood, got up and left!
Now that he was gone, even if Yan Qingqing wanted to continue with her tantrum, she no longer has an audience. She still felt unjust and continued to mumble to herself, “That damn brat Cheng Xiao Xiao, you think you could be so arrogant because of your dad? Hrm, just wait till you married into this family. I’ll let you know what it meant by obeying your husband. How dare you treated my son that way? Have you no respect for me at all?”
After Cheng Xiao Xiao had settled all the family matters on hand, she decided to go walk around the towns nearby and see if she could find anyone who would be of use to her family.
“Xiao Xiao, you are going out?”
Mrs. Cheng was plenty surprised when she found out. She didn’t think her daughter would be leaving the house at this hour.
Cheng Xiao Xiao nodded at her mother, “Yes, mom. I am going to take a trip outside. I will be back in a few days!”
“No! You are a girl, what do you mean to take a trip? I don’t feel comfortable with that. If you have anything matters that need taking care of, have your dad do it for you, or one of your shi xiongs. Anyone, but you can’t go by yourself because you are a girl!”
Mrs. Cheng didn’t even give it a thought but objected vehemently. After her daughter’s explanation, she continued to say, “Xiao Xiao, you have never left the house before. You have no idea how dangerous it is outside. All the cultivators, they will blow up over a verbal altercation and kill others. Others have bad intention and they will target girls like you. No matter what you have to take care of, listen to your mother, you can’t go out!”
“Mom, it will be alright, okay?” said Cheng Xiao Xiao while holding her mother’s hand and smiling, “Mom, am I the type that let others take advantage of me? No commoners are my match. On top of that, mom, you know that I have a lot of mystical beasts with me. I can just scare a bunch of people to death. Even if they are dumb and want to fight them. Okay, they maybe able to take on one. But what about two? Three? Eight? Ten? What about several dozens or even several hundreds?”