Green Goat looked at the bearded man. After all, he was the chieftain of the Fox Clan, and the fox clan was distributed everywhere in the Western Ox Continent, possessing extensive intelligence networks.
"Young Master was fostered in Prince Zheng's Mansion twenty years ago. His biological father bore the surname Ren and the personal name Xiao, serving as the Minister of War in Xijing, in command of the realm's military forces."
The bearded man said, "Young Master bears the surname Ren and has yet to change back to the surname Ren. His specific given name is unknown."
Granny Sha asked in surprise, "The surname Ren? Minister of War? He doesn't belong to the Thirteen Surnames; how could he possibly serve as the Minister of War and command the realm's military forces?"
Important court positions were often held by experts hailing from the Thirteen Noble Families—this had long become convention.
Among the Six Ministries, the Ministry of War possessed a Minister of War who was a Principal Second Rank senior official. Although his authority was inferior to that of the Grand Secretariat Scholars, he was still a high-ranking official wielding actual power. The Thirteen Noble Families should never have allowed this official post to fall into the hands of an outsider.
Green Goat asked, "Could the Ren family be a great noble clan?"
The bearded man shook his head, saying, "I've never heard of them."
"That is rather strange."
Granny Sha said, "Even if Ren Xiao is the Minister of War, the son he fostered shouldn't warrant changing his surname. Even if Young Master were Ren Xiao's son, he wouldn't possess such vast influence as to make the Thirteen Noble Families and even Chan Master Kuzhu view him with special favor."
The bearded man hesitated for a moment before speaking. "Legend