Chapter 20 (1/2)

Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

“Servants! Bring the young master home…” Gao Zhanyuan bellowed and ordered. He wanted the servants to bring Gao Peng home before he went alone to seek justice from the emperor. The Ren family had a death exemption jade tablet. If that was the reason that allowed them to act as they wanted, that would put everyone at risk.

“No…” After he had calmed down, Gao Peng raised a hand suddenly. With his shattered teeth still in his mouth, he mumbled, “I will find the emperor in this state. Although this incident cannot make the emperor do anything to Ren Jie, the emperor has been concerned about the Ren family’s powerful influence for a long time. This incident will show him how arrogant the Rens are even when Ren Tianxing is not around. Even if he doesn’t punish Ren Jie, he will definitely give us some benefits to appease us. Now that matters have escalated to this stage, I must make full use of it. As for Ren Jie, I will not need to rely on the hands of others. I will teach him a lesson by myself.”

He would seek revenge for the humiliation that he suffered today.

Although Gao Zhanyuan was the family head of the Gao family, he could still clearly remember the words his father said when he passed the family head position over to him eight years ago.

“Some of your peers are more outstanding than you. Many are as skillful as you. The reason why you are chosen to be the family head is that you have an outstanding son.” Hence, he was clear that he merely acted as a transition. The person that Father truly favored was Gao Peng. In reality, in the past three years, Gao Peng had been gradually taking over the matters within the Gao family.

Therefore, Gao Zhanyuan did not comment on what Gao Peng said. He accompanied Gao Peng onto the spiritual leopard carriage and entered the imperial palace immediately. As the Gao family head’s spiritual beast carriage entered the imperial palace, the main doors to the palace closed slowly.

There was a Five Clans Hall within the imperial palace. It was constructed in commemoration of the five aristocratic family clans after they had collectively helped to build the Clear Jade Dynasty. Its magnificence was not inferior to any other halls within the imperial palace. Every year, it would only be open during the imperial feast when the emperor invited the other four aristocratic family heads. It had a special significance as it was the location where the family heads of the five largest family clans took the oath.

Li Haiyuan, the emperor of the Clear Jade Dynasty, had been awaiting the others’ arrival for quite some time. Most of the time, the officials would have to wait for the arrival of the emperor. It was only when the family heads of the other four biggest family clans were invited for a feast in the Five Clans Hall would things change.

Of course, the emperor was still mighty and authoritative as ever as he seated high above the other seats. He had not reached the age of fifty and was at the prime of his life. Under his leadership, the map of the Clear Jade Dynasty had expanded by more than two folds. As the most prestigious emperor of the country, he was more authoritative than anyone else.

The first to enter was Wen Yong, who had brought Wen Zihao along with him. They took a seat immediately after paying their respects to the emperor. The next to enter was the Fang Tianen, the Fang family head, who had brought a disciple from the family clan along with him.

F*ck! Look at how gigantic this place is! Ren Jie thought to himself. The Five Clans Hall was much larger than the Ren family conference hall. Ren Jie looked at the emperor, whose seat towered above others. His mighty and majestic presence seemed to intertwine with the imperial palace and his seat. No wonder ordinary people would be terrified and feel an urge to kneel and greet him.

If the previous Ren Jie was to enter the place, he would definitely be heavily influenced by the emperor’s presence. However, Ren Jie had even felt the aura of the mysterious saints discussing Dao. As compared to that, the presence of the emperor was way less impactful.

“Ren Jie, family head of the Ren family, here to pay my respect to the emperor.” In his memory, that was not the first time he met the emperor. Therefore, he had simplified many formalities. Moreover, as the family head of the Ren family, he was not expected to observe the highest level of formalities. That made his greetings to the emperor much easier. However, the previous Ren Jie would always be overly nervous whenever he saw the emperor. He was suppressed by the aura and the presence of the emperor. That resulted in him not having an impression of the emperor in his memory. He did not even dare to lift his head to look at the emperor. This time around, when Ren Jie entered the hall, the first thing that he did was to take a good look at the emperor. Afterward, he led Gao Ren and Tie Ta for the greetings.

Tie Ta was very naive. He felt as though he was a villager entering the city for the first time. Everything seemed strange to him. As for Gao Ren, when he saw the emperor sitting above, his eyes darted around before following Ren Jie and greeting the emperor casually in an indifferent manner. Afterward, his sight shifted towards the food placed on their seat.

“Save the greetings. Ren family head, I recalled it was the three elders in the Ren family who accompanied you to the imperial feast the previous year. You should be coming of age only next year. Why are the elders not here this year?” After the emperor exempted their greetings, he did not grant them a seat immediately. Instead, he questioned Ren Jie out of curiosity.

F*ck. He’s pretending to be ignorant even though he knows everything. Although the incident happened a while ago outside the imperial palace, Ren Jie did not believe that the emperor did not know about that. If he was unaware of the happenings right under his eyes, he should not be the emperor anymore.

It seemed like a casual inquiry and an act out of concern. However, there were so many more things to be carefully deliberated about within that question.

He wanted to find out about the internal circumstances within the Ren family. Furthermore, his question would leak out and might even accentuate the conflict between him and the family clan elders. Or, he might be waiting for the Gaos to arrive…

“I’m not young anymore. When my father was my age, he had already led troops to war. Thus, I thought that I should not bring the elders with me for everything that I do. That’ll make people think that I’m still an immature child. Coincidentally, my friend and my most loyal personal guard wanted to see what the imperial feast looks like. Therefore, I brought them here this year.” Obviously, Ren Jie could not admit to everything. Nonetheless, he revealed a part of what happened. Although Ren Jie had never studied psychology on Earth, he learned some lessons from movies and television shows that he watched. Lies were the most easily exposed when something went wrong. That was why telling the truth was the best option.

Of course, telling the truth could be tricky as well. How you said it and which part of it you said could result in different effects. Nevertheless, Ren Jie said nothing but the truth.

Wen Yong was already seated. He had just lifted his teacup and took a sip of tea. When he heard Ren Jie’s words, he had almost spurted the tea out. Fang Tianen gave Ren Jie a weirded out gaze as well.

Your father was indeed impressive. That’s an undeniable fact. The Ren family was powerful at the start of the Clear Jade Dynasty, yet it has sunk to the bottom of the ranks for the recent centuries. It was only when Ren Tianxing appeared that the Ren family rose to the peak in less than twenty years. But that was your father. How could you compare yourself to him?

“Your Majesty,” Ren Jie called as he bowed sincerely, “I want to learn from my father. I want to expand the boundaries and territories of the country. If there is a chance, please allow me to lead troops to battle for the country.”

You? Battle for the country? Even if you are willing to risk your life, I do not want to risk embarrassing the country.