Chapter Seventeen: Quarrel in the Palace

  Outside the palace gate, when Qin Xiao Tian and others came out of the palace gate, Qin Xiao Tian and Zhang Hua Ming both stiffened for a moment, because they had not expected that outside the palace gate there were actually two groups of people waiting, led by Qin Li of the Qin family and Zhang Xiao Tian of the Zhang family.

  Qin Xiao Tian and Zhang Hua Ming exchanged a glance, both of their eyes revealing a hint of helplessness and sarcastic smile.

  "We will be attending General Qin and Chancellor Zhang." The five of them bowed to Qin Li and Zhang Xiao Tian.

  Qin Li and Zhang Xiao Tian saw this scene, the two old men also looked at each other, from their smiles it can be seen that the two are bitter at this moment, clearly their own grandson but treated like a stranger.

  "Rebellious son, how dare you speak to your grandfather like that!" Qin Wang and Zhang Wu Bing, the two current heads of the family, scolded in unison.

  "Rebellious son? Haha!" Qin Xiao Tian and Zhang Hua Ming shared a cold laugh, but the next moment, they both froze for a second, exchanged a glance, and then burst into loud laughter.

  "Rebellious son, what a great name! It's rare that Father still remembers I'm your son!" Qin Xiao Tian sneered.

  "Ah! The rebellious son, how familiar this term is!" Zhang Huaming didn't know why, but a surge of anger suddenly welled up in his heart, perhaps it was the original owner's anger. It quietly changed his own personality as well.

  "You still have the face to mention 'disobedient son' in front of me? Let me tell you, Qin family head, I am myself and you are yourself. Don't try to intimidate me with your authority as the head of the Qin family, or else I won't be sure what crazy thing I'll do." Qin Xiao Tian said with a face full of hatred towards Qin Wang.

  Zhang Huaming also connected after Qin Xiao Tian's words fell: "Master Zhang, after the trial ends in the afternoon, I will go to the Zhang Mansion to pick up my mother. I don't want to see anything unpleasant."

  "Presumptuous, you really think that just because you've become a consultant, you can be so arrogant." Zhang Wubing's face was filled with anger, when had he, the master of the Zhang family, ever been ridiculed like this.

  "This staff position seems to have nothing to do with any help from the Zhang family, right?" Zhang Huaming smiled and countered.

  "You..." Zhang Wubing heard this sentence, and his furious expression suddenly turned dark red, revealing how angry he was at that moment.

  "Haha!" Qin Xiao Tian burst out laughing at the scene, slapping Zhang Hua Ming's shoulder with his palm and chuckled: "Brother, I didn't expect that we're connected by fate! To hell with what family head, we are who we are. Let's go back to the station. If anyone gives you trouble this afternoon, I don't mind leading troops into the capital to cause a big stir."

  "Let's go!" Zhang Huaming's mood also gradually calmed down at this moment, and he left with Qin Xiao Tian, shoulder to shoulder, as if they hadn't seen the officials and nobles behind them who wanted to fawn over the two great families but couldn't.

  "Father, look at this unfilial son..." Qin Wang and Zhang Wu Bing said in unison with a furious expression.

  "Shut up." Qin Li and Zhang Xiaotian both blurted out a sentence at the same time.

  "Black out."

  "Ruthless."

  Qin Li and Zhang Xiaotian shouted in unison, and two figures appeared before the two elderly masters, Zhang and Qin.

  "Old Master."

  "Go and bring Young Master back to the manor, even if you have to use force." Qin Li and Zhang Xiaotian gave the same order.

  "Old master!" The two old men, Hei Wu and Wu Qing, were both at a loss for words, their faces filled with a mixture of emotions.

  "What's wrong? Hei Wu, what do you want to say?" Qin Li saw his old partner with a difficult expression and asked with a puzzled face.

  "Hei Wu Lian's expression changed slightly before he spoke directly: 'Master, if I were to use force to take Young Master back home, it wouldn't be a problem... but the issue is...'"

  "What's going on?" Qin Li was confused by his old partner, if he could be escorted back home, then just escort him back home, did that rascal really dare to take matters into his own hands?

  Hei Wu did not immediately respond to his master's words, but instead looked at Zhang Xiao Tian with a strange gaze, and then said with a bitter smile: "Master, I am not the opponent of that Young Master Zhang who is by the young master's side."

  "What?" Qin Li and Zhang Xiaotian, the core members of the two major families, were shocked. Everyone knew that the stewards of the four major families were all at the middle stage of Wu Zong's cultivation. If it was said that the middle stage of Wu Zong's cultivation was not a match for him, what did that mean? It meant that he was at least at the high stage of Wu Zong's cultivation! How was this possible? That kid was only a few years old?!

  Zhang Xiao Tian furrowed his brow, waved his hand, and the attendants following behind him quickly surrounded the area, not allowing other passing officials to approach. With a serious expression, he asked Wu Qing: "Wu Qing, what do you think?"

  "Old master, I couldn't sense any fluctuations of Wu Yuan from the young master's body at all, but the feeling he gives me is unfathomably deep and perilous." Wú Qíng replied with an icy expression.

  "Ah!" Zhang Xiao Tian's eyes lit up for a moment when he heard this sentence, and then dimmed immediately. He naturally understood the true meaning of saying this from Wu Qing's mouth. He knew how profound Wu Qing's martial arts were. Although Wu Qing's cultivation was only in the middle stage of Wuzong, even if he faced a high-stage Wuzong cultivator, he could retreat unscathed. Yet, he said the word "danger", which showed how much he valued that cheap grandson.

  "Haha!" Zhang Xiao Tian smiled wryly and waved his hand: "Forget it, let's go back to the manor."

  Zhang Xiatian left, and the Zhang family followed suit. In the blink of an eye, only the Qin family's people were left at the palace entrance.

  Qin Li saw Zhang Xiaotian and others leave, his facial expression changed several times before he waved his hand: "Hei Wu, you don't need to go either, let's return to the manor."

  The King of Qin saw his father about to return to the palace and suddenly said in a hurry, "Father, are you going to let that rebellious son roam free outside?"

  "Slap!" A loud slapping sound rang out.

  The King of Qin looked at his father with a silly expression, his face revealing an unbelievable look as he stared at his father. He still didn't dare to believe that just now his father had slapped him.

  "You ungrateful little brat, did you ever think about today when you drove him out of the house back then? You're a shameful thing, get out of my sight now!" Qin Li scolded with an angry expression and turned to leave.

  This scene didn't just happen on the Qin family's side, a similar one also occurred when Zhang's horse returned to their mansion.

  "Dad, what did I do wrong?" Zhang Wubing said with a look of grievance.

  "What did I do wrong? You'd better think about it." Zhang Xiao Tian's face was filled with regret and frustration, his heart secretly lamenting that he shouldn't have gone into seclusion. All for the sake of breaking through to the middle stage of the Martial Ancestor realm, and now he had done something that made him regretful. At 16 years old, he had already warned himself about this! Damn it, even thinking with his toes would tell him that this child's future achievements would be extraordinary. Originally, this should have been the Zhang family's most glorious event, and directly entering one of the four major sects wouldn't have been a problem! But now, his own son had actually driven out such a monstrous genius of a grandson from their household. For crying out loud, if he could at this moment, he really wanted to kill this son of his.

  "Father, isn't he just a grandson? This kid now thinks that by becoming a staff officer, he can start acting tough." Zhang Wubing still didn't understand the real reason for his father's anger and thought that his father was blaming him for not teaching his son well enough, causing him to lose face in court.

  "Slap!" The sound of a slap rang out again.

  "Are you not even a decent grandson? You damn well better go find me a 16-year-old high-ranking martial arts master to be my grandson, or else... You pig-headed fool only knows how to eat, drink and count money all day!" Zhang Xiao Tian's face turned bright red as he shouted.

  Zhang Wubing heard this and suddenly remembered another aspect of his cheap son, the 16-year-old high-ranking Wu Zong. He exclaimed, "How could my old man be so furious?" Zhang Wubing immediately fell silent, his eyes rolling around before he hastily said, "Father, don't get angry and hurt your body."

  "Get out of here, you little brat! I'm so angry I could split you in two right now!" Zhang Xiao Tian cursed with a furious expression.

  "Dad, don't get angry first! Maybe this matter has a turning point, it's not certain!" Zhang Wubing said with an apologetic smile.

  "A turning point?" Zhang Xiao Tian was taken aback and blurted out: "What turning point?"

  "Father, this unfilial son may not recognize us, but his mother is still in our Zhang family! As long as we keep his mother detained in the Zhang family, no matter how powerful he becomes, he will still listen to us obediently." Zhang Wubing said out a very clever plan, unfortunately, he didn't notice that his old father's face was getting darker and darker.

  "Slap!" The loud sound of a slap rang out again.

  "You..." Zhang Xiao Tian's heart was filled with more and more hatred at this moment! He even sometimes wanted to crack open his son's skull to see what was inside.

  "Dad, what did I do wrong again?" Zhang Wubing looked at his father with an innocent expression.

  "I'm telling you, if that kid comes to pick up his mother this afternoon, don't you dare cause any trouble, or there might still be a chance for you. If you do cause some kind of trouble, you'll have to bear the consequences yourself, don't forget what Qin's butcher said earlier." Zhang Xiaotian finished speaking and ignored his own foolish son, closing his eyes as if meditating.

  "Little Butcher?" When Zhang Wubing heard this name from his father's mouth, he seemed to have thought of something terrifying, and his whole body trembled with fear, his face revealing a look of dread, and in his heart, he secretly reminded himself to be extremely careful.