The Lian family's Ancestral Worship Ceremony had caused an uproar.
Not only had Jiang Wuyong lost face, but the Lian family had also lost face because of Lian Que's fierce response.
The guests left one after another, and gossip spread.
But this was not something Jiang Wang needed to worry about.
At the moment, in the most luxurious restaurant in Nanyao City, Jiang Wang was talking to Chung Geng Sheng.
"You've offended the Fourteenth Prince so badly. Won't it affect you?" Jiang Wang asked.
He owed Chung Geng Sheng a big favor this time. Chung Geng Sheng's gains and losses were his only concern.
"Of course it will. But overall, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages."
Chung Geng Sheng analyzed for him carefully. "His Majesty has 17 sons and 9 daughters. The eldest son has been deposed and is still imprisoned in the Palace. The Crown Prince is the second son. Besides him, only the Third Princess, the Ninth Prince, and the Eleventh Prince are very powerful and qualified to fight for the throne. "
"Clans like our Zhongxuan Clan won't get involved in the fight for the throne at all. The losses outweigh the gains. No matter who inherits the throne, he will not treat the Junggenjia badly. So I don't need to give face to the other princes and princesses, and my family won't say anything either. If word gets out, it will prove that the Junggenjia is only loyal to His Majesty and has no intention to fight for the throne. "
The fat guy was very proud. He smiled so widely that his eyes narrowed. "For us, you've gained a lot of benefits from the bet, and our reputation has risen."
"Do you know what it means to defeat Jiang Wuyong? It means that you deserve to be one of the strongest in the Reaching Heaven State. Many people will compare you with Wang Yiwu. And you're my follower. Tell me, how strong should I be? Today, I used all my family's resources to bet on Jiang Wuyong. I want to tell those people that they should reconsider their choice! "
Chung Geng Sheng only mentioned the advantages, but not the disadvantages. But Jiang Wang certainly knew.
He listened quietly, then nodded and said, "It's good that you've seriously considered it."
With that, he picked up the sword on his knees, got up and walked out. "We'll leave later. Lian Que asked me to look for him. He has something to tell me. "
"That incomparably ugly blacksmith?"
Jiang Wang looked at him helplessly, implying that he should not talk about Lian Que like that. Also, are you that much stronger?
"Go, go." Chung Geng Sheng waved his hand nonchalantly.
When Jiang Wang walked to the door, he said shyly, "Well, apologize to him for me."
Lian Que was forced to commit suicide to prove his innocence. Although the Lian family was mainly responsible for this, Chung Geng Sheng's mockery and ridicule also played a huge role.
From the bottom of his heart, he truly respected such a staunch person.
Of course, it was impossible for the future head of the Junggenjia to apologize personally. Apart from the benefits.
…
As one of the ten most outstanding youths of the Lian family's younger generation, Lian Que naturally had his own property in South Distant City.
For example, this wine cellar.
Jars of strong liquor were placed in the hall, and bowls were ladled out to the guests. There were only a few private rooms on the second floor for receiving guests.
These properties, including the wine cellar, were mainly used for domestic consumption.
However, it was not much because Lian Que had never been interested in things like power and wealth.
He went to the Heaven's Secret Realm to become stronger, and to become stronger in order to forge better weapons. That was all.
Jiang Wang had originally planned to leave with Chung Geng Sheng after driving Jiang Wuyong away. However, Lian Que had urged him to stay. Moreover, the higher-ups of the Lian family had the intention to mend their relationship with the Chongxuan family after their cooperation with Jiang Wuyong had been broken. Thus, they had temporarily stayed.
Chung Geng Sheng would not put on a fight to the death just because he had a bad impression of these people. He had basically achieved all his goals on this trip to South Distant City, so there was nothing to be angry about.
If one wanted to achieve great things, one could not allow one's personal preferences to influence one's decisions. If one did not accept some steps, there would be many others who wanted to help one remove them. Those competitors could not wait for one to fall and bleed.
After communicating with Chung Geng Sheng, Jiang Wang went to the wine cellar.
When he entered the private room, Lian Que had been waiting for a long time.
He was not a meticulous person outside of weapon forging, but he still asked first, "Is your hand okay?"
"It's just a small injury." Jiang Wang smiled. His hand was wrapped in a few layers of gauze, so it did not affect his movement. "When you forge weapons, you must have suffered a lot of injuries like this."
"Yes," Lian Que sighed and extended his hand to show Jiang Wang. His hand was full of scars and thick calluses.
Jiang Wang's hand also had thick calluses, but they were mainly concentrated on the part where he held the sword and the knuckles. His hand was not as scarred as Lian Que's.
"I have a friend. When he was forging weapons a few years ago, he did not control the fire well and the furnace exploded. Because he was too tired, he could not avoid it and lost his eyes. He was not blind. If he was blind, there was still a chance to treat it. Go to East King Valley or other places and spend more money. There will always be a way. Both of his eyes were gone. "
"He was very close to you, right?"
"Ah, yes. He was considered my only friend. "
"Then … how is he now?"
"He could not take the blow and committed suicide that day," Lian Que said very calmly.
The profession of weapon forging was indeed not easy. It was hard, dangerous, and easy to attract covetous eyes. The divine weapons that were forged were usually used by the people who used them. Their names spread far and wide, while the weaponsmiths were mostly unknown to the public.
Everyone knew that the owner of the Army Destroyer was Jiang Mengxiong, but how many people remembered who forged this pair of brass knuckles for him?
The situation of weapon forging masters like the Lian family was not bad. They had status and respect, and they did not lack strength. However, most of the people in the world were lowly and ordinary craftsmen who worked hard without complaint.
This was also one of the reasons why the upper echelons of the Lian family had immediately given in when Lian Que went to die. Lian Que, who had forged the famous weapon Cherished Yearning, could no longer be an insignificant junior to the Lian family. He was one of the important factors in maintaining their status as a weapon forging holy land.
Even if they had not thought it through before, they should have thought it through after this incident.
Jiang Wang was silent for a moment.
Because Lian Que was not a person who needed consolation.
Lian Que placed his calloused hand on the table and said, "In truth, I asked you to stay because I have something to discuss with you."
"Speak," Jiang Wang said.
"This matter starts with Lian Shao. Do you still remember Lian Shao?"
That fellow who had mocked and ridiculed Lian Que in front of the Sword Furnace …
Jiang Wang nodded.
"As I said, he is actually a pitiful person," Lian Que slowly said. "As for the reason, it is because of the life tablet you returned to me …"
From Lian Que's narration, Jiang Wang learned of the Lian family's dusty history.
When the Lian family's homeland was destroyed, the Lian family fled and migrated.
Because the Lian family's weapon forging heritage was already quite famous at the time, they were hunted down and betrayed along the way.
In order to protect the family, to ensure that the family's weapon forging secrets were not leaked, to prevent people from defecting to the enemy …
At the time, the patriarch of the Lian family decided to forge life tablets for the entire Lian family and give them to the loyal elders of the family to watch over. If there was a betrayal, they would be killed without mercy.
These elders did not care about mundane matters, but they controlled the life and death of the family.
This rule did indeed protect the Lian family's heritage. At the time, the power of the Lian family was gathered and the Lian family was able to take root in Qi. They built a prosperous Southern Distance City from nothing and became one of the five great weapon forging holy lands.
However, hundreds of years had passed, and this temporary emergency plan had become a stale family rule.
Every newborn of the Lian family had to forge a life tablet when they were born. Before they had their own will, their life and death were already under the control of others.
The earliest elders might have all been loyal to the family, but times had changed. There would always be a few unconvincing elders, and there would always be a few scums who would become arrogant because of this.
It was not that many people did not recognize the problem of this rule, but those who had vested interests in power could not let go of the power in their hands.
Looking back from now, a hundred years ago, there was a talented Lian family descendant. Because he was dissatisfied that his life was in the hands of others, he secretly had a rebellious heart. He had been operating in silence for many years, colluding with all parties and setting up the overall situation.
Finally, he attracted all forces to besiege the Lian family.
If the Qi Emperor had not wanted to fight a war at that time and urgently needed the Lian family to forge weapons and mobilize the army for protection. In that disaster, the Lian family would have been destroyed.
Even so, after the disaster, the Lian family's reputation also plummeted, and there was not a single industry left.
The Lian family was rebuilt after the disaster.
But even after such a thing, the elders of the Lian family were still unwilling to give up the power of life and death.
They were used to being high and mighty, and they had been like this. They suffered from the rules, and slowly they became part of the rules.
But since then, the Lian family would choose ten of the most outstanding descendants in each generation. The family recognized that they had the ability to control their own fate and returned their life tablets.
Lian Que was one of them.
The way to control a flood was better than blocking it. These ten people seemed to be a kind of honor, but in essence, it was just a way to vent.
Why did Lian Zhuping and Lian Luyue think that the personal honor of a descendant was not worth mentioning and did not even consider it? Because in their minds, the descendants of the family had no possibility of defying them.
They had never imagined that Lian Que would go against them.
This kind of old and rotten rule had been passed down in the Lian family for too long. It was so long that it seemed innate, so long that very few people felt that it was wrong.
And Lian Shao was one of those Lian family members who could not control their own life tablets.
He was the majority of those who could not control their own life and death.
He had also worked hard for the sake of those ten freedom spots. But everyone worked so hard. He was one step behind, and from then on, he lived in a different world from those ten people.
Because he could not control his own life tablet, no matter how hard he tried, he could not obtain it. So, he was especially angry at Lian Que's action of giving his life tablet to Jiang Wang in the Heaven's Secret Territory.
To him, if he could obtain his own life tablet, he would rather die than hand it over.
He was not angry at Lian Que.
He was angry that he could not be free, and even more angry that Lian Que did not cherish this freedom!
By the time he finished speaking, the jar of wine was already empty.
Lian Que turned the jar upside down and shook it. Only two drops of wine fell out.
He put down the jar and sighed. "Being born in the Lian family means being controlled for life."
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
