Elder Scolds Hedonistic Young Master Patriarch

"By the way, why does it equal zero? And what about four, five, six, seven, eight? A hundred million—is that even possible?" Suddenly, Gao Ren recalled what Ren Jie had said earlier about one plus one. Though the bit about a man plus a woman was a little... that, he had to admit it was a clever thought. Especially the part about one drop of water plus another drop of water still equaling one drop of water.

With those two answers in mind, Gao Ren—who had been acting like a true master ever since meeting Ren Jie—found himself baffled. He wanted to chase after him and ask, but realized Ren Jie had already left with the person who came for him.

The Jade Emperor Academy was one of the two pinnacle academies of the Bright Jade Dynasty. It gathered all the royal offspring, heirs of the Five Great Families, and children of the powerful and wealthy—hence its nickname, the Hedonistic Young Master Academy. The other academy, the Jade Essence Academy, concentrated the cream of the crop from across the Bright Jade Dynasty, elites selected through countless trials in every field. Its name meant "essence of jade," and since spirit jade was the foundation of cultivation in this world, it was also called the Elite Academy.

The Jade Emperor Academy was less than three hundred li from the dynasty's capital, Jade Capital City, lying to its south, while the Jade Essence Academy sat to the north.

At this moment, Ren Jie sat in an ultra-spacious, luxurious carriage. The interior was over ten square meters, like a small bedroom with places to both lie down and sit. The carriage moved with astonishing speed and smoothness. He casually pulled aside the curtain and saw the scenery whizzing past as they raced along an official road paved with flat stone, dozens of meters wide.

There had been two maids in the carriage earlier, but Ren Jie had sent them away. He wanted to be alone and think.

Staring at the unique ring on his finger—a symbol of the family head's authority—Ren Jie didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Though he had been an ordinary person in his past life and had now accidentally transmigrated into a true hedonistic young master—no, the head of a major family—Ren Jie didn't feel particularly happy about it.

Deep down, he wasn't thrilled. Back when he read novels about protagonists transmigrating, he enjoyed it because it let him vicariously experience a brand-new otherworld. But now that he had actually transmigrated himself, the first thing that came to mind when he quieted down was that he could no longer play computer games, use a phone, watch TV or movies, or even download porn. Though he had been an orphan, living off the inheritance his parents left after their deaths, and had nothing much to miss back there, he had grown up on Earth after all.

Leaving behind modern life and truly transmigrating—his mood was really quite uncomfortable.

But what's done was done. He'd have to make do for now.

"Who goes there? Halt for inspection!"

"How dare you! This is the carriage of the Family Head of the Ren Family!"

From Ren Jie's memories, the Jade Emperor Academy was three hundred li from Jade Capital City, so he planned to use this time to think deeply, to quietly ponder everything. After all, he had arrived in a strange world, and so much had happened.

But to his surprise, he had only briefly reminisced about his modern life on Earth, and it didn't seem like much time had passed. Even if he had been lost in thought, it couldn't have been more than a few hours—half an hour at most. Yet he heard voices outside.

He pulled aside the carriage curtain again and saw a bustling stream of traffic slowly entering a city. In the distance loomed a city so massive and magnificent it was hard to imagine.

"So it's the carriage of the Family Head of the Ren Family. Yes, yes... let them through immediately!"

Someone outside answered cautiously, and the carriage was quickly allowed to pass, speeding into the city.

"Where are we?" Ren Jie wondered inwardly. After a moment's thought, he asked ambiguously.

"Reporting to the Family Head, we've entered the outer city. There's still less than two hundred li to the Ren estate. We'll arrive in about two ke." The guard outside answered respectfully.

Entered the outer city, still two hundred li from the Ren estate? Two ke was about half an hour for two hundred li—that meant a speed of around four hundred li per hour. No wonder three hundred li had passed so quickly. What kind of carriage was this? It was practically comparable to a high-speed railway, not much worse than maglev. That was terrifying.

Ren Jie suddenly realized he didn't know much about this world. What kind of world was this? As for his predecessor, aside from women and various pleasures, his memories contained nothing else.

It seemed that if he wanted to truly understand this world, he'd have to rely on himself. But soon, another thought struck him: if the carriage was that fast, how had he been able to look at the scenery outside without any speed-reducing glass when he pulled the curtain? The things he used to know and understand seemed useless here. One thing was certain, though: from his predecessor's memories, he was only at the fifth layer of the Body Refining Stage. That was decent among ordinary people.

But among the younger generation of the Five Great Families of the Bright Jade Dynasty, aside from a cripple who couldn't cultivate, a severely injured waste, and an idiot, he ranked fourth from the bottom in cultivation among the hedonistic young masters of Jade Capital City.

Even so, his physical body could apparently withstand looking at the scenery at three to four hundred li per hour without getting dizzy or having other reactions. As for his memories, there were also the True Qi Realm, Divine Power Realm, and Yin Yang Realm. Above the Yin Yang Realm existed the Taiji Realm, which was almost transcendent and detached from the mundane world—beings who could fly and burrow through the earth with their own power.

Damn, that's it?

Ren Jie was very interested in these things, but when he scoured his predecessor's memories for knowledge about cultivation, he only got that after the Body Refining Realm came the True Qi Realm, then the Divine Power Realm, where one could master divine powers, then the Yin Yang Realm, and finally the Taiji Realm, which surpassed the ordinary world. Nothing else.

"Family Head, please alight. The elders have been waiting in the council hall for some time. They request that you enter immediately after your return." After racking his brains and coming up with only that much, they had already arrived at the Ren estate.

Stepping out of the carriage, he saw a magnificent complex of ancient buildings. Unlike the ancient structures he had seen on Earth, these were more vivid and grand, with many elements beyond normal imagination. In the distance, countless pavilions and towers rose up. Some buildings rivaled the skyscrapers of his previous life, while others were so beautifully ornate they defied ordinary understanding.

Wow, if they added some dry ice and smoke, it would feel like stepping into a fairyland.

The Ren family's Great Council Hall was even more exaggerated and magnificent than the imperial hall Ren Jie had seen in the Forbidden City on Earth. As he entered, he saw three old men and a young man seated below. The three elders all had grim expressions. When the young man saw Ren Jie arrive, he let out a faint, disdainful snort, then composed himself, eyes fixed ahead. Here it comes again. It had been nearly a year, and every month they put on this same show. Thinking about what was about to happen, he found it somewhat amusing.

The Sixth Uncle didn't want to come and see him grovel and fawn over the elders, so he sent me instead. Truth be told, he too hated the monthly Elder Council Day and despised Ren Jie even more—for disgracing his father, Ren Tianxing, and for disgracing the Sixth Uncle.

On the left sat an elder with a long beard—Ren Junyang, the Second Elder of the Ren family. Beside him sat a short, fat, slightly bald elder—Ren Hanlin, the Third Elder. On the other side sat a man with a long, gloomy face like a horse's—Ren Wenxu, the Fourth Elder. Next to Ren Wenxu sat a young man named Wan Hong, a representative sent by Ren Jie's sixth uncle, Ren Tianzong.

As soon as he entered the Great Council Hall, Ren Jie's mind recalled the information about these people.

Ren Tianzong was one of the members of the Council of Elders entrusted by Ren Jie's father to assist him when he handed over the position of family head. However, he never meddled in the council's affairs and rarely participated in such matters. Only on the monthly Elder Council Day did he send a representative—this young man named Wan Hong—to listen in.

As Ren Jie walked past, he thought to himself, at least this bastard hadn't been so rotten that he didn't recognize the family elders. Otherwise, he would have really embarrassed himself.

But the atmosphere felt oppressive. Ren Jie thought, better to stay put and adapt. He walked straight to the central seat of the family head and sat down. It was on a raised platform, much higher than the rest. Looking down from above, sitting on a chair even more massive than the Dragon Throne he had seen in the Forbidden City, Ren Jie felt quite uncomfortable.

"Hmm?" Wan Hong raised an eyebrow slightly. This kid didn't explain anything today, didn't even greet the three elders before sitting down. Strange.

Could it be that he knew he had gone too far and didn't know how to explain himself? Did he think staying silent would let him escape?

"Bang!" No sooner had Ren Jie sat down than Fourth Elder Ren Wenxu slammed his teacup heavily onto the side table. "Unbelievable! You even forgot the Elder Council Day, making us sit here waiting for over six shichen. And on top of that, you were bickering over a woman! Look at yourself—what kind of image is this..."

Third Elder Ren Hanlin also furrowed his brow, looking up at Ren Jie seated in the family head's position. "Family Head, as the head of the family, you should lead by example. Not only were you late for the Elder Council Day, but I've also heard reports that you were bickering over a woman at the Jade Emperor Academy and got knocked unconscious. Is this true?"

His question was utterly redundant. From the still-swollen lump on Ren Jie's forehead, even a fool could see what had happened. If he hadn't been beaten like that, then he'd really have a problem with his head.

"Family Head, this is last month's expense report. The family clearly has its own supply of medicinal materials—why did you purchase so many useless ones separately? And there are many other expenses, especially this one..." At this point, Second Elder Ren Junyang took out an account book and opened it directly. He intended to cut straight to the point, using this as a breakthrough to discuss other matters with Ren Jie afterward.

"Three thousand taels of gold for top-grade spring water from Gushing Spring County for bathing... Ten thousand taels of gold for ten thousand Fire Cloud Sparrows, just to eat their tongues. Last month, the Family Head's expenses exceeded the budget by a full thirty percent. And all of it was spent on such wasteful things. It seems the monthly allowance of fifty thousand taels of gold and the credit limit of one hundred thousand taels are still too high. Today, we must first discuss reducing the credit limit and cutting back the Family Head's regular allowance."

"Slap!" Ren Junyang closed the account book with a grim face. He had never seen such a wasteful good-for-nothing. If not for the Great Elder being in seclusion, two other council members being away from Jade Capital City, and Ren Tianzong only sending a representative to the monthly Elder Council Day—making it impossible to gather enough people for an emergency meeting—they would have called one long ago. Now, after enduring a month, it was finally Elder Council Day, and Ren Junyang struck straight at the heart of the matter.

"That's right. The Family Head's behavior is getting more and more reckless, more and more hedonistic."

"How can this be? The dignified Family Head of the Ren Family gets his head broken over a woman—word of this will be a laughingstock."

"The Ren family may have vast resources, but we can't let him squander them like this. We must cut back."