Early in the morning, Qin Lianshan brought his son and daughter to head towards the River Square. Today was the day of the martial arts student exam. Qin Xiu appeared extremely excited.
Although Qin Lianshan had tried hard to remain calm and steady, deep in his heart, he was excited. He inadvertently expressed his excitement in his actions. Naturally, this did not escape Qin Wushuang’s notice.
These were his loved ones!
Through each step he had taken in his life, they had given him their care, protection, hopes, and blessings!
Inwardly, Qin Wushuang had decided. He must produce some results in this Martial Arts Student Examto make his father and sister happy.
Should one desired to sing, one would amaze the world with his first song.
This time, Qin Wushuang planned to show off his power to strengthen the position of the typically weak Qin family. He wanted to wash away their shame and bring back some reputation.
A lot of people had already gathered at the entrance of the square. The rules said that families were not allowed to enter.
Martial art students had formed a long line before the entrance. As Qin Wushuang glanced around, he discovered a lot of familiar faces.
“Lianshan, your son has also come to the show?" Shopkeeper Niu, who also came from Eastwood Town, said with a mocking tone as he walked over, swaying his giant belly.
This time, he had brought his second son, that bucktoothed Niu Dou, for the martial arts exam.
In these past few years, Qin Wushuang had developed delicate facial features. When that Niu Dou saw that Qin Wushuang was much better looking than him, he pointed his fist at him in frustration and said mockingly: “Qin Wushuang, are you here to compete for stage one or stage two of the martial art students’ levels?”
Qin Wushuang did not want to waste his time with this idiot. He ignored Niu Dou’s existence and chatted with his sister, smiling.
“Hmph, dude, you’d better not fall into my hands!” Niu Dou cursed because he did not get the reaction that he’d wanted.
“Haha…” Qin Wushuang did not bother to twitch his mouth because he did not want to waste his spit on this kind of person.
He took his sister and walked forward. Qin Lianshan also did not show courtesy to Shopkeeper Niu. He half-heartedly spoke some words and left. To vicious tyrants that wanted his a.s.sets and his Humble Cla.s.s seat, any sort of courtesy would be false.
Suddenly, Qin Wushuang stopped his footsteps. Because ahead of him, Zhang Maorui and a few other n.o.bly dressed people were pointing around. Their eyes from time to time looked at the Qin family.
The aristocrats also had rules which dictated their clothing, different levels of aristocrats dressed differently. The style of the clothing was similar, however, the dress patterns and the color of the belts had a clear distinction.
As he looked over, among Zhang Maorui and his people, there were three Patriarchs of the Prominent Cla.s.s and one of them was a Patriarch of the Wealthy Cla.s.s. Obviously, he was the Patriarch of the Wealthy Xu family—Xu Sanli.
Qin Lianshan knew that with his current ident.i.ty, it would be asking for contempt if he greeted them. He wasn"t planning to show false courtesy and decided to walk away.
“Qin Lianshan!”
Zhang Maorui shouted out before Qin Lianshan had taken more than a few steps.
Qin Lianshan stopped and asked slowly: “What can I do for you?”
“As a mere Patriarch of a Humble Cla.s.s family, when you see all these Old Masters, you dared to walk away without showing your courtesy? Do you have manners? Especially this Old Master Xu, don’t you know who he is?" Zhang Maorui used his powerful connection to intimidate him. It would be embarra.s.sing to mention that his son was killed. However, he would never miss a chance to humiliate the Qin family.
The Xu family was one of the three Wealthy Cla.s.s families in River County. Of course, they had powerful forces in River County! Qin Lianshan naturally knew him. Wasn’t he the vicious wolf that had hatched the scheme to steal his family’s a.s.sets?
Initially, these Wealthy and Prominent cla.s.ses would never have set their eyes on a little Humble Cla.s.s seat. However, even if they did not need it, their families might.
In a world where power represented everything, didn’t everyone wish to gather the powerful around them? Besides, in these people"s eyes, the a.s.sets of the Qin family was certainly a juicy piece of meat!
Before his children, many pairs of eyes stared at Qin Lianshan. He felt extremely humiliated when they questioned him.
In the Bai Yue country, the truth was you did not have to care about these courtesies before the same level aristocrats in a non-professional setting. However, if you were in a lower cla.s.s and the other party brought it up, you would suffer.
Now, just as he was planning to swallow the humiliation and show his courtesy to avoid aggravating the situation, Qin Wushuang suddenly stopped him and smiled: "Old Master Zhang, I see that you are looking quite exquisite. Did you have a nightmare last night?"
“Boy, what are you talking about?” Zhang Maorui eyes abruptly stared at him.
"I am saying that as a human being, you should leave some room! If you did a lot of evil deeds in the day, you would always have nightmares. Old Masters, in our Bai Yue country, no such law requires the lower cla.s.s to bow before the higher-cla.s.s aristocrats, right?" Qin Wushuang responded evenly.
Zhang Maorui’s pupils quickly narrowed. He was feeling uncertain and his thoughts immediately connected Qin Wushuang’s words with the cause of the death of his lackey. Could it be…?
Impossible! He immediately discarded this a.s.sumption. He knew about the limits of the Qin family’s power far too well.
Xu Sanli, that old master, glanced at Qin Lianshan and spoke lightly: “This is Qin Lianshan, right? I want to advise you that the most important part of being a human is to know when to retreat and when to walk forward. You need to have resolve when it"s time for you to let go. You should look after yourself during this "Family Cla.s.s Evaluation!"
If you had heard what Xu Sanli had said, these naked threatening words did not sound as vicious as Zhang Maorui’s. However, these words still revealed his bad intentions.
Qin Wushuang smiled leisurely: “Everyone, I don"t know how many powerhouses are eyeing my family"s Humble Cla.s.s seat. But please rest a.s.sured, my father and I will promise you that we will surely give you this Humble Cla.s.s seat."
Not just Xu Sanli and Zhang Maorui, even Qin Lianshan and Qin Xiu who stood behind him were shocked.
“Wushuang, what are you saying?”As she hurriedly grabbed her brother, Qin Xiu stopped him from talking further nonsense.
Qin Wushuang calmly cupped his hands in a salute: “This is a promise. Old Masters. Let us meet again.”
“Yes, a wise man knows when to submit to circ.u.mstances! Lianshan, your son is much more flexible than you." n.o.body knew if Xu Sanyi was complimenting Qin Wushuang or humiliating Qin Lianshan.
After she had dragged Qin Wushuang away a dozen steps, Qin Xiu let go of his hands angrily. With sadness and frustration in her voice, she said: “Wushuang, Big Sister has always loved you. But today, you dared to speak those offensive words! Are you still a child of the Qin family?"
Qin Xiu had always had a kind personality. Although Qin Xiu did not have the talent to train in martial arts, she was very sensitive whenever it came to family matters. Her extreme frustration and sadness was quite evident. The rims of her eyes became quite red as she held back her tears.
Qin Lianshan did not speak. He looked at Qin Wushuang and waited for him to explain.
"Father, Big Sister. I turned sixteen this year. Officially, I am an adult and am a man. I want to ask the two of you, since I was born, when did I ever do something that betrayed the family?"
Both father and daughter looked at each other in dismay. When they carefully thought about it, Qin Wushuang had always trained like a madman in martial arts since he was a child. Why did he train so hard? It was obviously because he wanted to carry the future of the family!
They never believed he would betray the family. But, a moment ago, he did say those cowardly words!
“I have my reason for speaking those words. Father, Sister, please believe me. No matter what, I will never allow the Qin family to take another step back!”
Qin Wushuang did indeed speak those words to those animals, Xu Sanli and Zhang Maorui. At that moment, he had already hatched an idea. If they so desperately desired the Humble Cla.s.s seat, then he would give it to them.
Of course, it would not come without a price. They will pay for it with their Wealthy and Prominent Cla.s.s seats!
Yes, Qin Wushuang had already decided—
He would use Zhang Maorui and Xu Sanli as stepping stones to allow the Qin family to rise up once again!
From the distance, Zhang Maorui looked at the backs of the Qin family and smiled apologetically: “Old Master Xu, this son of the Qin family does not have a clear conscience. His words are not very trustworthy.”
A leisurely expression still on his face, Xu Sanli spoke: "It doesn"t matter if his words are true. It will be their blessing if they are willing to let go of the meat I desire. If they are not ready to let it go, then they will have failed to appreciate my kindness.”
This Xu Sanli was the number one bully in River County. Since he’d set his eyes on this piece of fat meat, then the Qin family could only wait to be eaten.
Zhang Maorui’s relative had previously wanted to borrow his power to go after that Humble Cla.s.s seat.
However, his relative would not have any hopes of facing up against the Xu family.
Zhang Maorui’s heart raced whenever he thought of the Qin family"s three or four thousand acres of fertile land. He’d been eyeing those rich lands for a long time.
Apart from the Venerated Da Xi family, the Xu family were the next powerhouse in line that led the aristocrats.
The Venerated Da Xi family could not be touched. Their power was above River County"s feudal authorities, they would obviously never concern themselves with these matters.
Since the Xu family had made their intentions clear, which other powerhouses would be able to compete against them in River County?
When he thought about his family, he felt somewhat uncomfortable that his son had died because of him. In the end, the Xu family were going to swallow this fat meat, while his son had died for nothing.
However, he, Zhang Maorui, was only a Patriarch of the Prominent-Cla.s.s. There were at least eight Prominent-Cla.s.s families. Although on paper, they were only one level below the Wealthy Cla.s.s. There was, in fact, a huge gap in power.
To put it bluntly, any warrior sent by the Xu family would be enough to destroy his whole family!
Zhang Maorui had no choice even if he did not want to accept it. He felt awful and ashamed. He was not able to eat the lamb, but instead, his whole body had been doused in the smell of the urine. (This is a Chinese idiom, meaning you did things for them, but you got nothing)
Naturally, he was nursing a bellyful of anger, but he could only blame it on the Qin family. He bit his teeth and cursed deep in his heart: "Qin Lianshan, Qin Lianshan, even if I cannot get your land, I will certainly kill your son and rape your daughter!"