Evil Servants Deserve to be Beaten

"Why should I bother? Everyone at Jade Emperor Academy knew I was pursuing Fang Qi. How could I ignore her when she was poisoned? But if even the Imperial Physician couldn't solve it, and it didn't require Yin-Yang Harmonization to detoxify her, then I really had to use the treasure my father left behind to cure her." Ren Jie's frantic pursuit of Fang Qi had long ceased to be news. Throughout Jade Capital City, countless people used it as the classic joke of a toad lusting after swan meat.

Although Ren Jie was already the Family Head of the Ren Family, no one believed he would come to a good end. Fang Qi, however, was different. She was a true daughter favored by heaven—how could Ren Jie, someone who suffered abuse at home and might lose his position as family head at any moment, while outside he was merely a hedonistic good-for-nothing, possibly compare to her?

Thus, Ren Jie said it outright, looking as if he would spare no expense for Fang Qi. He ignored Fang Tianen's cold snort as he turned and walked out, continuing to talk to himself.

Fang Tianen, who was only a few steps from the entrance, suddenly halted. He did not care that Ren Jie was a worthless piece of dog shit, but when he heard Ren Jie's words—the antidote treasure left behind by the legendary Ren Tianxing...

"Damn, here it came. No wonder Family Head Ren was so brimming with confidence—he'd brought out his old man. And he was really shouting publicly that he could detoxify her..." Gao Ren had originally wanted to remind Ren Jie from the side, but now he could only put on a solemn face and pretend he knew nothing. In truth, he was already laughing himself flat inside.

From afar, Fang Tianen abruptly stopped and turned to look at Ren Jie. Though he deeply despised this hedonistic good-for-nothing family head, if Ren Jie truly had a treasure that could save Fang Qi, that was another matter entirely.

"Boss, you... really were willing to use... such a treasure?" The moment he heard Ren Jie's comparison, Gao Ren nearly burst out laughing. Yet he held it in, playing along with deep feeling from the side, his expression one of extreme reluctance and pain.

Fang Tianen's breathing quickened somewhat. He was already considering how to speak with Ren Jie. If Fang Qi could be cured without paying much of a price, using this hedonistic young master would not be so bad.

Rubbing his chin, Ren Jie considered it very seriously. "I do want to save her, but you know how precious that treasure is. Her Lineage only offered one million Jade Coins and one Middle-Grade Spirit Tool. I'd suffer a huge loss that way. That sort of loss would be enough for me to buy several dozen courtesans' queens. Though I quite like Fang Qi too, she wouldn't be worth it if the price went beyond half a courtesan's queen. No, this deal is far too unprofitable."

Boom! Even within the Imperial Palace's Five Clans Great Hall, Fang Tianen could not restrain the eruption of his power. Having already stepped into the Divine Power Realm, his explosive fury revealed the mana fluctuations of a true powerhouse. The might spreading from him was even more majestic and surging than when Tong Qiang had acted earlier.

He had been played. In his desperate desire to save his daughter, he had actually believed the words of that bastard hedonistic young master. He had even stopped and wanted to negotiate with him, only for Ren Jie to compare the courtesans' queens of brothels to his daughter, a daughter favored by heaven. It was utterly unforgivable. No, this was no longer a comparison. That hateful bastard had actually said his daughter was worth less than a prostitute. Bastard!

"Good... good. With a family head like you, the Ren Family will surely do very well... very well..." Fang Tianen was so furious he wanted to kill this fellow. If anyone else, anywhere else, dared speak of his most beloved daughter this way, he would certainly kill them. Unfortunately, this was the Five Clans Great Hall within the Imperial Palace. By ancestral rules, no fighting of any kind was permitted inside the Five Clans Great Hall. Moreover, Ren Jie was the Family Head of the Ren Family. The moment Fang Tianen finished speaking, he strode away at high speed, several afterimages flashing behind him. He had actually used a spell that only the Divine Power Realm could wield to accelerate his departure. It was clear just how unwilling he was to see Ren Jie again.

"Hey... Family Head Fang, the price is negotiable! Given my love for Fang Qi, giving you a half-courtesan's-queen discount is absolutely no problem. But the price of your reward is far too low. If you truly want to save your daughter, let's properly discuss the price again," Ren Jie shouted loudly in the direction Fang Tianen had left, cupping his hands around his mouth.

His voice echoed through the Five Clans Great Hall. Even Wen Yong, who had reached the entrance, shook his head in vexation. What had Ren Tianxing been thinking? How could he let his hedonistic son become family head? Was he made of that stuff? Still, this fellow's courage was now astonishingly great. He had beaten Gao Peng before the Imperial Palace, angrily cursed the Family Head of the Gao Family before His Majesty, and now he even dared toy with the Family Head of the Fang Family. He had heard that this brat used to act arrogantly only toward hedonistic young masters inferior to him, people who could not afford to provoke him. Now, he had changed quite a lot.

"Hahaha... Fang Qi, the Fang Family's stunningly gifted young miss, was worth only half the price of a courtesan's queen—worth less than even a prostitute. Impressive, too damn impressive..." The fat man had endured until he was on the verge of collapse within the Imperial Palace. The instant he boarded the Spirit Beast Carriage, he clutched his stomach and burst into wild laughter.

"That gave me a scare too. I thought the family head really intended to cure Fang Qi. That woman was no good," Tie Ta said. He did not find the matter funny at all; he simply disliked Fang Qi greatly.

Ren Jie, however, found nothing amusing about it. He said very seriously, "Do you think she was much better than a courtesan's queen? I was being completely serious, alright? Truly top-notch courtesans' queens cost anywhere from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of Jade Coins. Some famous ones even cultivate techniques that assist men in cultivation. From childhood, they learn how to please men—thirty-six kinds of moans and seventy-two bed techniques, all mastered. They must also preserve their virginity until the end. Their voices, looks, and bearing have all been cultivated over more than ten years. Saying half was already giving her face."

"Uh..." This time, the fat man was left speechless. Seeing that Ren Jie was truly serious, without the slightest hint of joking, he felt extremely uncomfortable about what Ren Jie had just said.

"Cough... well... then what about our money-making plan?" Gao Ren rubbed his nose, casually shifting the subject elsewhere.

"There's no need to rush at all. I've already said what needed to be said. For now, he'll think it was an insult, deliberate provocation, and picking a fight. But after they exhaust every possible method, they'll become like drowning people. In the end, even if it's only a single straw, they'll desperately clutch it and refuse to let go. Only then can we say whatever we want and have it be so." Ren Jie was not worried in the least. "As long as we have confidence in the poison we concocted, and no one else can detoxify it, all that remains is to keep our composure. The more anxious they become, the greater the benefits we'll ultimately reap."

"Even a single straw, they'd desperately clutch and refuse to let go..." Gao Ren was hearing this comparison for the first time, but the more he thought about it, the more vivid he found it.

Moreover, with this kind of matter, the longer it dragged on, the greater the benefits should be. When Gao Ren realized Ren Jie's words made perfect sense, he himself found it strange. Since when had Ren Jie's words become so reasonable?

Though Tie Ta, sitting there, was not particularly quick-witted, he understood as well. His heart thumped wildly. Previously, he had not been in the same class as the family head and had only heard how the family head crazily pursued Fang Qi, was always toyed with by her, and had recently nearly been beaten to death by Gao Fei over jealousy. Yet recalling the scene in the great hall and hearing these words now, Tie Ta thought that those people at the academy understood nothing at all. The family head was not as unbearable as they claimed.

But as a personal guard, Tie Ta had studied under his father since childhood. Therefore, no matter what he heard, he would not speak out of turn. He simply sat there obediently.

"Reporting to the family head, the three elders are waiting in the Great Council Hall. They instructed that the family head proceed to the Great Council Hall immediately upon returning." The moment they returned to the Ren Family, someone came forward to greet them. Then Tong Qiang's voice sounded from outside.

The instant Gao Ren heard this, he shuddered. "Meal Ticket Boss, you're doomed this time. Why not come straight back to the academy with us? Lie low for now, then talk once their anger subsides."

"Doomed my ass. The final month at the academy is free activity time. The first-year courses are already complete, with only one final examination left. What would I go to the academy for? The two of you aren't going back either." As Ren Jie spoke, he stepped out of the Spirit Beast Carriage.

"Ah!" Upon hearing that, Gao Ren nearly wanted to cry. It was not as though he had never come to the Ren Family with Ren Jie before. But being here felt even more miserable than wandering outside. Especially after a year of effort, he had finally established a small pharmacy of his own at Jade Emperor Academy. If he could not research medicinal agents, he would die of boredom. Yet in the Ren Family, he was restricted at every turn. It was simply worse than prison.

"Boss, please take pity on me. I'm a good student. For the sake of the coming final examination, let me return to the academy." Gao Ren rushed out after him, clasping his hands pitifully and bowing toward Ren Jie.

Ren Jie laughed at Gao Ren's antics. "Look at that pathetic bear of yours. Anyone who didn't know better would think I was selling you off. You attended even fewer classes than I did, and you call yourself a good student? Do you believe that yourself?"

"You only went to class for the beauties. My body might not have been there, but my heart was..." Gao Ren muttered. He immediately shifted back to the main issue, grabbing Ren Jie's arm. "Meal Ticket Boss, I'm begging you, let me return to the academy. When you go to prison or venture into the dangerous Demon Beast Abyss, I'll risk my life to accompany you."

"Damn it, if you were a beauty, begging like this might work. With your build, could you not do this gesture?" Seeing Gao Ren tugging at his arm and pleading, Ren Jie had the urge to fling this ball away.

"Tch, you value women over friends..."

"Family head, the three elders have been waiting in the Great Council Hall for a long time. Since you have returned, hurry over. Also, the family head is the head of the Lineage. Stop always making the elders worry over you and angering them. And in public, you must always pay attention to your appearance. Pulling and tugging with a pig-like fellow—people who don't know better might think the family head has a fondness for male lovers." At this moment, Ren Qiancheng, the Ren Family's newly promoted Inner Sect Deputy Chief Steward, saw that Ren Jie and the others were standing atop the Spirit Beast Carriage, talking with the fat man without any intention of coming down. Ren Qiancheng, a man in his early forties who had been waiting at the Ren Family gates with four subordinates, carried himself with great force. His triangular eyes had been fixed on Ren Jie's direction all along. After waiting for so long and seeing no response from Ren Jie, he impatiently stepped forward to the Spirit Beast Carriage.

"Captain Tong, you should go back and rest as well. You only come out a few times a year to put on a show, yet your usual treatment is so much better than everyone else's. Do you know how many people are dissatisfied? If the Third Elder and the other elders weren't keeping them down for you, could you still live so freely?" Ren Qiancheng shot a dissatisfied sidelong glance at Tong Qiang, who had never given him face. Added to what he had heard the Third Elder and the others say about Tong Qiang earlier, he thought to himself, Your good days won't last much longer.

Usually, they did nothing at all, yet their treatment was actually better than his, the Deputy Chief Steward's. If he did not point things out to them, they would not even know what was what.

"And you, what are you still standing around for? Once you've brought the family head to the entrance of the Great Council Hall, hurry back and rest." Ren Qiancheng pointed at Beast Uncle again.

Beast Uncle sat there and ignored Ren Qiancheng completely, as though everything between heaven and earth had nothing to do with him.

Smack! Ren Jie suddenly struck, sending the utterly unprepared Ren Qiancheng stumbling back several steps with a slap. Though he was no genius, he had still climbed to the position of Deputy Chief Steward in the Ren Family. Having cultivated for decades, he had barely reached the fifth layer of the True Qi Realm. Yet he had never participated in real combat and had never expected Ren Jie to hit him. Thus, a dignified fifth-layer True Qi Realm cultivator was actually struck by Ren Jie's most ordinary slap.