He Dezong
"Master, there's news from Third Master Xu from North Silver Market. He said that Hei Wu really did try to establish himself by stepping on our He Household's merchant caravan."
The group consisted of twenty or so fugitives, including two skilled fighters: Hong Qin from the Grass Witch Cult and the Lady Guo the Si Lao Mountain Kingdom. The fact that the Second Master was able to escape unscathed from such a perilous situation truly shows the blessings of his ancestors!
He Dezong raised his eyebrows, ignoring the words of the pale-faced steward beside him, and cursed inwardly, "What ancestral blessing? Bullshit! It's Jiang Qing's flying sword that's protecting us!"
Thinking of this, he turned to look at his second younger brother and said in a deep voice, "Degong, you've really messed up this time."
He Degong's handsome face was ashen. Hearing his brother's rebuke, he didn't soften his tone and retorted, "When does elder brother plan to settle accounts with Wang Daoqiong and his gang?"
"Liquidation? What do you care about liquidation? Didn't you run away yourself?" Hearing He Degong's question, He Dezong's anger intensified, and he roared.
Even if you don't dare to fight alongside Jiang Qing, you can just stay there and wait until after the war, when you've received his life-saving grace, and then come back together! That would naturally bring the relationship between the two families even closer.
But that bastard just abandoned Jiang Qing and ran away!!
If it weren't for the fact that they were brothers from the same mother, he really wouldn't want to look at this bastard. They've been brothers for so many years, and he never realized he was such a scoundrel!
"Now that one of the caravans has been lost under your control, your annual salary will be suspended for three years, otherwise you won't be able to explain it to the other branches of the family."
Don't go out to work for the next year or two. I'll talk to Wang Daoqiong myself; you don't need to worry about him, he won't have a good ending.
"Furthermore, your cultivation level is indeed a bit low. I still have some suitable pills here. Let's try to break through to the Qi Refining Fifth Layer as soon as possible. Didn't you say that even Kang Dabao broke through to the Qi Refining Fifth Layer? There's no reason for you to be inferior to him, is there?"
He Degong remained silent after hearing this, his expression unchanged. He simply stood up, reached out and silently took the jade bottles that He Degong had taken out, then lowered his head and quickly walked out of the hall.
"Master, what about the old lady?" The steward reminded him as He Degong left.
"Hmph, does he still have the nerve to complain this time? If he weren't afraid of upsetting his mother, he would come crying to me again. I'd give him a good lash this time!" Upon hearing the words "old lady," He Dezong's anger did not diminish. He still snorted coldly, his tone very displeased.
A mere fine and confinement isn't enough to get him off easy?! Is Mother really going to protect him?
"We finally had the chance to bring Jiang Qing, this rough gem, from the Chongming Sect. We were just thinking that once we had some time to warm her up, we could choose one of the seventh or sixteenth sisters in the clan to marry her off. That way, Jiang Qing would be completely tied to our He Household!"
No matter how close or loving the senior and junior brothers are, nothing beats the comfort of your spouse.
If we could go even further, it would be best to dismantle the facade of the Chongming Sect and lure the other two back as well.
Kang Dabao is quite skilled in the art of wealth, and Yuan Jin is a weapon-making talent that our clan desperately needs. If they were willing to marry into our He Household, what a blessing that would be for our He Household!
Not to mention that Jiang Qing, with only the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining, was able to kill nearly twenty people despite being surrounded by Hei Wu, Hong Qin, and Lady Guo! His future is immeasurable!
Not to mention, he's still very young, barely in his early twenties!
Let alone our He Household, even if you were to search among the True Disciple of the major Foundation Establishment sects in the surrounding counties, how many would possess such abilities!
The matter that Senior Lang had personally instructed me to handle earlier had kept me so busy that I couldn't entertain him personally. I could only repeatedly remind him to give his instructions.
I never imagined that He Lao'er would be so shameless this time, completely wasting all the effort I've invested in Jiang Qing over the years!
He Dezong grew angrier as he spoke, and suddenly slammed his hand on the low table beside him. After the wood chips flew everywhere, the annoyance and anger on his face intensified, and he made no attempt to hide it. He was so angry that he gritted his teeth so hard they creaked.
He Dezong felt increasingly distressed as he thought about it, recalling the effort he had invested in Jiang Qing over the years. This young man valued loyalty over wealth, and he had to expend a great deal of energy and sincerity to befriend him. This was far more exhausting than trying to poach someone by throwing Spirit Stone at them.
It's so hard to finally see some results!
He... you can't just curse his mother!
He Dezong thought to himself, "If it weren't for the deep bond between Jiang Qing and his two senior brothers, how could a mere sect of three people have withstood the He Household's attempts to win them over!"
Thinking of this, I felt even more that Jiang Qing was a rare and precious talent, and my heart ached even more, as if it were being cut by a knife, and my face became increasingly pale.
"That Hei Wu is no ordinary person; even the patriarch couldn't stop him back then. This time, he's come with meticulous preparations, and his presence is truly impressive. The second patriarch was momentarily outmatched, and it's inevitable that he would make a mistake."
As a He Household servant of the He family, the steward had been instructed by Old Madam He beforehand. Seeing that He Dezong looked unwell, he spoke up to cover for He Degong.
Unexpectedly, this only made He Dezong even angrier. He closed his eyes tightly and sat on the grand chair for a long time without saying a word.
"Take my warrant, go to the storeroom, and fetch two hundred Spirit Stone, a bag of Refined Gold Sand, and a bolt of Moon Water Caltrop Gauze. Then go to the Beast Garden and tell the second branch to prepare a Gray Spirit Falcon. I will personally go to the Chongming Sect to apologize to Brother Jiang Qing in a few days."
He Dezong opened his eyes, his previous dejection gone, replaced by a sharp glint in them. He turned to the steward and gave him instructions.
"Master, isn't this a bit too much?" The steward had been cultivating with He Dezong since childhood, so he naturally knew He Dezong's magnanimous and generous nature.
As a trusted and loyal servant, he wasn't one to talk too much, but this time the quantity was truly staggering.
"It's just a matter of two hundred Spirit Stone, what's with all the fuss? What, when did the clan meeting start, and you were made the head of the He Household family?"
The steward was reprimanded, but he was not afraid as he had grown up with He Dezong since childhood.
Therefore, although he repeatedly said he dared not, he was secretly complaining in his heart:
"This is over two hundred? It's almost a thousand! No wonder the other masters are complaining! They've only lost a caravan, and the losses of each branch haven't even been accounted for yet, and they're already giving away such a large sum of money to outsiders. The head of the family has offended quite a few people in the family over the years."
After glancing at He Dezong's unyielding expression, the steward knew that he could not speak at this moment.
He immediately accepted He Dezong's order, lowered his head, and left the hall to handle these troublesome matters.
"The various branches are now nothing but burdens, offering almost no help to my Foundation Establishment endeavors." Alone in the main hall, He Dezong sighed softly.
Thinking of the vast He Household, which has been passed down for hundreds of years, and seeing the flourishing flowers, it's clear that the combined number of Qi Refinement cultivators in its dozen or so branches is close to a hundred.
"This apology is unavoidable. Even if I have to endure some ridicule from Kang Dabao, I can't ruin my friendship with Jiang Qing! Tsk, I never thought Qin Sufu would be so lucky to be favored by Lord Shan. I can't compare, and that's fine. But even Kang Dabao is lucky. Sigh, the He Household."
Remembering the unfathomable figure hanging over the He Household's head, He Dezong could only sigh inwardly, "What talk of hope for Foundation Establishment, hope for Foundation Establishment. It's been said for so many years, yet without Foundation Establishment, how utterly lowly."
Thank you to Brother Guangchengzi for the 100 coins reward, and thank you to Brothers Wenjk and Xingye Rumeng for the Extended Net Moon.
(By the way, do people sometimes get confused about who's speaking in these dialogue-heavy segments? Does anyone know of any books that handle this well? Lao Bai could try to learn from them.)
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