An Open Scheme with No Answer? Han Yue: What a Coincidence

"You!"

Qiu Tian's expression turned ugly.

But he truly couldn't refute Ye Zhengming's words.

"Hmph." Qiu Tian restrained his presence and said coldly, "Here in Ye City, your Ye Clan uses its power to bully others. I can't be bothered to say any more to you."

"Uses its power to bully others?" Ye Qingzhou shook out his hand and said calmly, "If my Ye Clan were using its power to bully others, we should have kept you here and made your Qiu Family bring something to exchange for you, instead of leaving you with a chance to spout nonsense."

Ye Zhengming was taken aback, then clutched his stomach and burst out laughing. "Good, good, good! As expected of a seed disciple of my Ye Clan. You hit the nail right on the head."

Qiu Tian's expression grew even uglier, and killing intent entered his gaze as he looked at Ye Qingzhou. "Junior, I'm speaking with your elder, yet you dare interrupt recklessly. You truly have no manners or upbringing."

"Someone with no upbringing thinks everyone else has none either." Ye Qingzhou met him word for word, showing no fear of the Dou Emperor before him. "Ye City is the Ye Clan's city, my Ye Clan's territory. You aren't even a guest, yet you came into someone else's home and spouted nonsense. Could anyone have worse manners than you?"

"Hahaha, good." Ye Zhengming nodded in approval. "Well said, Qingzhou. That's exactly how it is."

The onlookers immediately broke into discussion, feeling that Ye Qingzhou's words flew like arrows from a bow.

"What a sharp tongue." A strange light flashed in Han Yue's eyes.

Although winning a war of words served no practical purpose, it was satisfying to hear. She really wanted to learn how to do it.

"Damn it." Qiu Tian's face had darkened to the extreme. If he could, he truly wanted to strike and teach Ye Qingzhou a lesson.

But just as Ye Qingzhou had said, this was the Ye Clan's territory. Even as a Dou Emperor, he didn't dare break the rules.

Otherwise, not only would the Ye Clan make a move against him, but the Qiu Family might not protect him either, for the sake of the bigger picture.

"Junior, with a mouth as unrestrained as yours, you'll pay the price sooner or later." Unwilling to remain any longer, Qiu Tian issued a cold threat. "There are seven years and two assessment opportunities left. When your Ye Clan loses its place among the Pill Tower's Five Great Families, I hope you'll still be as arrogant as you are today."

As soon as he finished speaking, perhaps fearing that Ye Qingzhou would come out with something else infuriating, Qiu Tian flashed away.

Seeing this, Ye Qingzhou gave a soft, derisive chuckle and bowed to Ye Zhengming, who had landed beside him. "Greetings, Fourth Uncle."

Ye Zhengming was the eldest son of Ye Zhong's younger brother and a cousin of the clan head, Ye Zhengqing. He was a few years older than Ye Zhengqing.

"Hahaha, Qingzhou, no need for formalities." Ye Zhengming reached out and clapped Ye Qingzhou on the shoulder. "You really brought honor to our Ye Clan just now. We should teach those Qiu Family brats who don't know the immensity of heaven and earth a lesson!"

A lesson?

Ye Qingzhou looked at Qiu Yue and Qiu Shuang as they departed in sorry states not far away and sneered inwardly.

This lesson would cost them their lives!

"Come, go with Fourth Uncle to Zhaiyue Tower. The Jia Nan Academy's Inner Academy assessment will take a little more time," Ye Zhengming said with a smile, unaware of what Ye Qingzhou was thinking.

"Yes." Naturally, Ye Qingzhou did not refuse. After Ye Xinlan ran over, he followed Ye Zhengming away.

Seeing that the show was over, the onlookers dispersed in twos and threes, whispering among themselves.

"Not long ago, several Qiu Family disciples picked fights with Ye Clan disciples, and the Ye Clan lost every time. Now the Ye Clan has finally won one back."

"I heard the Qiu Family and the Ye Clan don't get along. Looks like it's true."

"It's not just the Qiu Family. The Bai Family is eyeing the Ye Clan like a tiger watching its prey too, though it isn't as direct as the Qiu Family. I hear the elders of those two families in the Pill Tower don't get along either."

"That's only natural. There's a saying that came from the seas in the far west of the continent: when one whale falls, all things thrive. The Ye Clan is about to be kicked out of the Pill Tower's Five Great Families, and whether it's the other four great families or some of the smaller families beneath them, they're all eyeing the Ye Clan like tigers watching their prey."

"The Pill Tower has its own rules. For at least the next seven years, the Ye Clan is still the same Ye Clan."

"The young man who fought just now is called Ye Qingzhou. I hear he's a newly promoted seed disciple of the Ye Clan, from a collateral branch."

"A youngster from a collateral branch probably won't be able to save the Ye Clan."

"..."

Such conversations sprang up all over Ye City.

Han Yue stood at the window of a tall building, watching Ye Qingzhou's retreating figure disappear into the tallest restaurant nearby, and felt a little more inexplicable goodwill toward him.

In this young man, she sensed the same pressure she faced from carrying on her family's legacy.

The Han Family she came from had once been the undisputed foremost family of Tianbei City in the Northern Region of the Central Plains, and had treated its subordinate families well.

But after the Hong Family established ties with the Wind Lightning Pavilion, it forgot the kindness it had received. Over the years, it had steadily swallowed up the Han Family's businesses, intending to take its place.

Compared with the Han Family, the Ye Clan was clearly facing greater danger.

We're in the same boat. Perhaps I could make a friend and have someone to keep me company in the Jia Nan Academy's Inner Academy in the future.

And he's actually named Qingzhou.

Han Yue thought of the copy of the diary she had received and found it quite a coincidence.

Meanwhile, on the top floor of Zhaiyue Tower, Ye Zhengming led Ye Qingzhou and Ye Xinlan inside.

As soon as they entered, the two saw several young disciples of the clan with bruised and swollen faces.

Among them was an old acquaintance of Ye Qingzhou's, Ye Xintian.

"Ye Xinbei greets Young Master Qingzhou." A sturdily built young man with an honest-looking face stepped forward to pay his respects.

He was a direct-line disciple of the Ye Clan, with fire- and lightning-attribute Dou Qi. His talent for becoming an alchemist was very ordinary, so he devoted himself solely to cultivation.

The other boys and girls also stepped forward to pay their respects, including Ye Xintian, though his gaze was somewhat complicated.

Who could have imagined that in the space of a single month, their positions would have undergone such an earth-shaking change?

Ye Qingzhou had leaped from a collateral-branch disciple to a seed disciple, with a status even higher than theirs as core disciples.

"We're all family. There's no need for formalities." Ye Qingzhou responded with a smile, seemingly a man of few words.

"Qingzhou, you really vented our pent-up anger for us, but you need to be careful too." Ye Xinbei rubbed the back of his head and cautioned, "Qiu Shuang isn't weak, but he's not the strongest of the Qiu Family disciples here this time. The Qiu Family brought a seed disciple named Qiu Tao."

"A seed disciple." Ye Qingzhou nodded thoughtfully and looked at Ye Zhengming. "It seems the Qiu Family can't wait any longer."

"The Qiu Family is afraid of following in the Ye Clan's footsteps, so it's desperate to take the biggest bite it can out of the Ye Clan." Ye Zhengming greatly appreciated Ye Qingzhou's intelligence and spoke plainly, without concealing anything. "This Qiu Tao is a Three-Star Dou Ling. His alchemy is said to be close to reaching the fifth tier, and he ranks near the top among the Qiu Family's seed disciples."

"Qiu Tian brought him to Ye City specifically to take part in the Jia Nan Academy's Inner Academy recruitment, simply to use this opportunity to suppress and measure the strength of our Ye Clan's younger generation."

"They also want to draw in some of the factions that are still watching from the sidelines, so they'll dare to make a move against our Ye Clan."

"This caught our Ye Clan off guard."

"If you hadn't acted so forcefully today, it would certainly have had a bad effect."

This was the Qiu Family's open scheme: while the whole city was focused on the Jia Nan Academy's recruitment, it had sent its outstanding disciples to prove that the Ye Clan's disciples were no good and let the Qiu Family's people steal the limelight on the Ye Clan's own turf.

That would surely lead many factions to believe that the Ye Clan had indeed declined, that its younger disciples still weren't up to par, and that it was very likely to lose its place among the Pill Tower's Five Great Families.

Once the other factions were drawn into attacking together, the Qiu Family could charge to the front and take the lion's share.

"A good idea, but I'm afraid their teeth aren't strong enough and they'll smash their own mouths." A cold light flashed in Ye Qingzhou's eyes.

Meanwhile, in a tall building not far away.

Qiu Tian slammed his palm on the table and looked at Qiu Shuang and Qiu Yue. "You two pieces of trash, you've made me lose every shred of face!"