The disciples of YuanLi sect kept on talking about what had just taken place, not believing that Young Miss Li could behave in such manner. They continued chatting for a very long time in the dinning hall, while occasionally eating from their food.
A male servant rushed in to announce the arrival of the YuanLi sect leader, who walked in shortly after. Li Guoliang saw the table with so much leftover and wondered if the food that day was so bad that his daughter and Physician Shen weren't able to eat as much from it. They all stood up to pay their respect to the YuanLi sect leader, curtsying as they did so.
Each of the disciples looked at their sect leader seeing a thoughtful look appear on his face. Shaking his head from the thought that circled his mind, Li Guoliang turned to face his disciples. In a tone that showed worry, to ask, "Has Jiao'er retired for the night?!"
At first, none of them was willing to give an answer to what he asked, not knowing if what they said will end up in heavy punishment. They were all dressed in a similar manner, with their sword always by their side wherever they went to. The only except to that was the senior disciple Fu Zian, whose preference for some unknown reason was the purple zither, which he carried about with him everywhere.
Summoning courage from within, Lei Yuzhu the disciple known to be the top of the class and also a very eloquent speaker, rose up to address the sect leader. He began by mentioning the name of the disciple who asked a question that the Young Miss Li found to be very offensive, he also spoke of the fight that took place and the state at which she was in.
Zhu Wenxue, the disciple that challenged "Li Jiao," trembled where he sat. Physician Shen immediately took care of his injuries, which was why he was still able to sit with them at the hall after what happened. His eyes remained downcast, as he could not face the sect leader after the scuffle with the Young Miss of YuanLi sect.
Li Guoliang found it hard to believe that his daughter could have done such a thing, for one she couldn't cultivate due to her frail heart and had always been known to have a calm and peaceful disposition. It was almost as though he was hearing the story about someone else and not his daughter.
"What do you have to say for yourself?!"
On hearing the roar of rage from the sect leader's voice, they all scrambled out of their seats, to knee on the ground with their head to the floor. They didn't know if they could plead for mercy. Li Guoliang had always been a man of few words, hardly anything could make him talk at length.
They had known their sect leader for a long time, only on a handful of occasions did he outwardly show anger, just like he was doing. One of the sect's rule was that "the sin of a brother was everyone's sin." In this case one of them stepped out line, then it follows that they all had to go through the same punishment. Shouting out an order, as he looked at the disciples still on the ground, saying,"Take them out! Get someone to cane them twenty strokes each!"
None of them dared to complain, as the servant from earlier rushed out to get thirty more servants to carry out what their master had asked of them.
As the disciples were being dragged out, Li Guoliang ran in the direction of his daughter's chambers in fear, wishing for no harm to have befallen her. A part of him knew that she was in capable hands, but another part could not shake the worry and fear that had taken over his mind. He had seen how sickly she was as a child, despite what Physician Shen told him of her wholesome recovery, he still wanted to see with his two eyes that she was safe.
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Inside the bed chamber of Li Jiao, was Xu Hui lying on the bed, as Physician Shen carried on with caring for her. By the side stood Fu Zian, who looked on, as he fought the desire to hold on to her hand. His eyes rested on her face, whose eyes still remained closed. Fu Zian felt something shift within him, but none of the people in the room could see beyond the smiling face, the changes that was beginning to take place in the young man.