Fang Yan Was So Furious He Coughed Up Blood

A dragon's nine sons are all different; one generation produces a hero, another a worthless dog. The odds were greater than producing heroes generation after generation. Cradled in Ren Tianzong's arms, Ren Jie thought this to himself. But he had gradually adapted to all of this. Since he had been given such a chance to live again, he had to live brilliantly and live with clarity.

Ren Jie also kept Sixth Uncle Ren Tianzong's love for Sixth Aunt, as well as his silent acts of concern for him, firmly in his heart. If he had not known these things long ago, he would not have acted this way.

In truth, Sixth Master Ren Tianxing had already noticed Ren Jie's series of unusual actions recently. But even though he thought more deeply than the others, he still could not be certain, because Ren Jie still behaved like the same hedonistic young master—absurd, reckless, and lately even somewhat crazed.

That was why he had decided to have Wan Hong summon Ren Jie. He wanted to test him personally, yet he had never expected things to turn out like this...

"If your father could have remained for another three years, it would have been enough for you to gain complete control of the Ren Family. But the Ren Family is no longer what it once was. Before the time is ripe, you absolutely cannot let anyone discover your change." After his joy, Sixth Master Ren Tianzong suddenly thought of what worried him most and spoke gravely.

Now that he knew Ren Jie was not such a good-for-nothing, his first thought after rejoicing was the matter that worried him most. Though he was happy because of it, Ren Jie might very well lose his life because of it as well.

Within the Ren Family, throughout the Bright Jade Dynasty, and even in the neighboring nations, no one wanted—or would allow—the Ren Family to produce another Ren Tianxing. If another Ren Tianxing emerged and flourished for several decades, there might be no other nations left on this continent, and the other families would once again be crushed until they could barely breathe.

Thus, the situation Ren Jie had to face was ten times, a hundred times harder than when Ren Tianxing had succeeded as Family Head, taking over a family that no one cared about and that ranked at the bottom of the Five Great Families.

And this was precisely what Ren Tianxing had been worrying about most recently.

"Sixth Uncle, don't worry. The people outside are hoping that I'll fight the Council of Elders, while everyone else is busy with their own affairs. And after all, I am the rightful Family Head of the Ren Family. There's no need for me to openly fight for anything. I only need to keep being a hedonistic young master, an arrogant puppet Family Head."

Ren Jie grinned wickedly. "Look, in a little while, I'll go detoxify Fang Qi. That is practically the same as directly admitting that I was the one who poisoned her. But what can they do? I can make a huge scene in the Imperial Palace, rightfully use the Amnesty Jade Token to frighten Gao Peng into kneeling and crying, and deal with the Deputy Chief Steward right at our front gate. But in their eyes, none of that is fundamentally competing with them for power. Every side currently wants me to remain this way—continue being a hedonistic young master, continue being crazy, continue serving as a puppet Family Head. So I only need to keep playing this role."

What Sixth Master Ren Tianxing feared most was that Ren Jie was not truly such a good-for-nothing. Because of that, he might be unwilling to remain a puppet Family Head and seek to seize power and control the Ren Family as quickly as possible.

Once he developed such thoughts, it would be difficult to stop him. After all, obstinacy and persistence were traits unique to geniuses. But if that happened, he would become everyone's enemy. Even if Sixth Master Ren Tianxing tied himself to Ren Jie, it would not be enough.

"With those words from you, Sixth Uncle can rest easy. Since you understand this principle, there is no need for Sixth Uncle to ramble on. Go ahead and do whatever you need to do. If the sky collapses, Sixth Uncle will hold it up for you." Worry was one thing; he had worried that Ren Jie did not understand the situation and would act recklessly. Now that he saw Ren Jie understood everything clearly, all that remained was to support him without sparing any effort.

"Sixth Uncle, do you know anything about my father?"

"I knew you would ask sooner or later. I don't know about Eldest Brother's affairs either. Back then, he suddenly vanished and suddenly returned. He never told me anything, and would not even let me ask." Sixth Master Ren Tianzong shook his head helplessly.

Ren Jie did not ask further about this matter. After speaking a few more words, he left without lingering, since it was nearly time for Sixth Aunt's illness to flare up again and Ren Tianzong had to help her control it. Sixth Aunt's condition was unusual. Trying to detoxify her alone, ease her symptoms, or do anything else would only have the opposite effect. Before the poison could be completely removed, Sixth Uncle could only continue exhausting his own Source True Essence to suppress it for Sixth Aunt.

Wan Hong escorted Ren Jie all the way to the edge of the Primeval Forest. Watching Ren Jie leave, he bowed deeply from the bottom of his heart. Only after Ren Jie's figure disappeared did he slowly straighten.

Within a side hall of the Ren Family, Fang Yan had waited here for nearly five whole hours. An entire day had already passed.

Night had fallen. Fang Yan looked at Gao Ren seated across from him, then at the exquisite dishes laid out before him, but he had no appetite whatsoever.

This whole day, that Dead Fatty had nearly disgusted him to death and enraged him so badly several times that he had almost wanted to kill someone.

Fang Yan kept thinking to himself that if this were not the Ren Family, if he had not come with a special mission involving far too many matters, he would definitely tear that Dead Fatty apart with his own hands and rip all the fat from his body.

With his cultivation, although he had not yet reached the level where he could abstain from food, going without eating for several days was no great problem.

In fact, he had already been filled with anger. How could he possibly have any mood to eat, especially when Gao Ren kept eating while never forgetting to provoke him?

"No matter how angry you are, you can't take it out on your own stomach. One look tells me you've never suffered hardship or gone hungry. You don't know how precious food is." After taking a few bites, the fatty stopped to wipe himself, as though lecturing a child who refused to eat properly and was picky with food.

"Actually, it isn't bad not becoming Family Head. No matter what, you still have the chance to become an Imperial Son-in-Law. But honestly, Imperial Sons-in-Law do not seem all that impressive. I heard that when an Imperial Son-in-Law wants to sleep with his wife, he has to wait for the princess to hang out a lantern and summon him. Do you have parents? If you do, that would be terribly awkward—your father-in-law and mother-in-law kneeling to their daughter-in-law in salute."

"Oh right, are you lustful? If you are, then you're in for misery. An Imperial Son-in-Law cannot casually take concubines. If the princess gets angry... tsk, tsk..." As he spoke, the fatty lifted a small cup of wine and took a gentle sip. He looked at Fang Yan with deep sympathy, as if he understood exactly why Fang Yan could not eat.

That gaze was full of pity and compassion, but in Fang Yan's eyes, it was like adding explosives to a blazing fire.

Fang Yan was nearly so furious that smoke poured from his seven orifices. He raised his hand and slapped the table as he rose, only to discover that the table beside him had already been smashed apart by his earlier slap. After the fatty had someone clean it up, he had not allowed another table to be brought in. Fang Yan had no table left to strike. It was not as if Fang Yan had never tried to meet the fatty head-on this day. Though he was competing for the title of Martial Arts Champion, his eloquence and literary talent were not bad either, and he was usually rather proud of himself.

Yet it had been better when he did not speak. He could barely keep himself under control, calmly forcing himself not to listen, not to think too much, to endure... endure... endure...

But once he opened his mouth, he could no longer control himself. So Fang Yan gave an angry snort and once again used his divine sense to seal off his hearing, allowing himself to calm down for the moment while refusing to investigate what that Dead Fatty was saying.

"Imperial Son-in-Law... Imperial Son-in-Law, damn it, he's pretending to be deaf again. Fine, then. I should rest too and enjoy a proper meal." The fatty muttered wickedly to himself and began sweeping through the dishes before him.

"Dead Fatty, you're eating without thinking of me." At that moment, Ren Jie entered from outside. He had come from Sixth Master Ren Tianzong's Primeval Forest, returned to his residence to check on Tong Qiang and the others' cultivation, and only then hurried over. Seeing the fatty eating, he unceremoniously pulled over a chair and sat down.

The fatty, who had originally been eating slowly and elegantly, suddenly looked as if he had spotted an invading army. His speed increased tenfold, his chewing speed increased tenfold, and the amount of food he picked up was several times greater than before. If his eating had just been like a gentle breeze and fine rain, faintly majestic, then now it became a tornado sweeping away clouds—wildly devouring everything.

"Damn, were you reincarnated as a starving ghost?" Ren Jie cursed by instinct, then began fighting for the food at a speed no slower than the fatty's.

The fatty had a bad habit. Whenever someone else ate with him, his speed immediately increased, as if he feared he would not get enough. Otherwise, he would divide the food in advance and eat it separately. Ren Jie had always thought that Gao Ren must have suffered some sort of trauma in the past, or he would not have developed this habit.

Of course, eating with the fatty once in a while was still incredibly satisfying. Fighting over food was satisfying too.

"Mm... Ren Family Head, this commander has waited here for you all day. You should have seen the Fang Family's sincerity by now. Please come with me to the Fang Family. Whatever demands you have, the Fang Family will do its utmost to satisfy them." At last, at last Ren Jie had appeared. Fang Yan let out a long breath, immediately released his sealed hearing, and rose to his feet.

One...

Two...

Three...

Having risen and spoken, Fang Yan looked at Ren Jie with a formal demeanor. But after waiting for quite some time, Ren Jie and the fatty were still sweeping through the dishes like a tornado, fighting over the food on the plates and snatching pastries. Yet no one paid him any attention.

No one paid him any attention. No one paid him any attention...

He was completely, utterly ignored, treated as if he were air. It made Fang Yan feel even more humiliated than he had after enduring the fatty's words all day.

"Ren Family Head, I have come on behalf of the Fang Family to invite you." Fang Yan emphasized the word "invite," and his voice had already taken on a nasal tone.

"Mine..." Ren Jie had grabbed the last piece of pastry, but the fatty's hand had reached it at the same time.

"Half each." The fatty gripped it tightly and refused to let go.

"Fine." Ren Jie reluctantly agreed.

Deliberately. They were doing it deliberately. They had to be doing it deliberately.

Watching this scene, Fang Yan's mind was filled with nothing but those thoughts. Endure. I'll endure again. The Seventh Princess and His Majesty will learn of all this, and so will Fang Tianen.

You want to use this to humiliate this commander, do you? But you are actually helping this commander.

After his initial fury, Fang Yan calmed down again, repeating these thoughts endlessly in his heart.

"Ren Family Head, you're done eating now, yes? Then..." Fang Yan waited until Ren Jie had finished eating before speaking again.

"Stop... stop, stop, stop!" Ren Jie raised a hand to prevent Fang Yan from continuing. At last, he looked up at him. "You're a disciple of the Fang Family, right? Although your Fang Family is inferior to our Ren Family, and you have no inheritance rights so you cannot become Family Head like me, the standards for you might not be so strict. But you are still a direct descendant, someone from a great family. How can you have no sense of etiquette at all?"

"Clang, clang..." Ren Jie tapped the table. "Can't you see this Family Head is eating? One does not speak while eating or talk while sleeping. You keep babbling on and on beside someone while they are eating. What are you trying to do? Didn't your elders teach you that this is extremely rude?"

Uh! This time, Fang Yan was speechless, because Ren Jie was indeed right. Fang Yan had only been thinking about speaking with Ren Jie as quickly as possible and had not regarded this as a formal meal. Added to that, Gao Ren had angered him all day until he was already beside himself with rage, so he had not thought much about it.

"Family Head Fang, please forgive me. Just now, I..."

"Forgive? Forgive what? Right is right, wrong is wrong. Why should I forgive you? Who are you that I should forgive you?" Ren Jie had long seen through Fang Yan's thoughts, including his secret contact with the Second Prince outside the Imperial Palace. Since Fang Yan could endure the fatty for so long, Ren Jie had no intention of being polite to him.

If he went so easily to detoxify that vicious woman who had wanted to kill him, that would be the real problem. Even though Ren Jie and the fatty had been waiting to go over and extort them, they would not go so easily.

"Ren Family Head, Fang Yan was wrong. Please forgive this person. This time, I have specifically come on behalf of the Fang Family..." Fang Yan took a deep breath. Ren Jie, Ren Jie—today, I will endure all of this from you, and from that Dead Fatty too. Just wait. If one day I do not tear out your tendons and strip your skins, then I, Fang Yan, swear I am not human. Today, I will use you as foil. Fine, you are arrogant and humiliating me, are you? Sooner or later, I will deal with you bit by bit.

Thinking this, Fang Yan instead relaxed and openly admitted his mistake.

"Fine, admitting your mistake is enough. You need not say anything else. You cannot represent the Fang Family. This Family Head said it earlier in the Five Clans Great Hall, but Fang Tianen did not appreciate it. Now he sends a junior like you, and you keep babbling while I am eating, telling me to go over immediately. Do you think this Family Head is your family doctor? Have Fang Tianen come himself before we discuss anything. You are not qualified." Ren Jie spoke without wasting another word on Fang Yan. He rose and left.

"Family Head... isn't that a little inappropriate? No matter what, he is the future Imperial Son-in-Law..." Gao Ren seemed to kindly chase after him.

"Damn it, we aren't princesses. Why should we care about him?" Ren Jie and the fatty worked together seamlessly. Ren Jie spoke casually and left without looking back.

"Pfft..." A surge of energy rushed up from Fang Yan's chest. The fury within him, the rage attacking his heart, was too powerful for even his strength to suppress. He actually spat out a mouthful of blood from sheer anger.