"If you're willing to risk the lives of the Rens to kill me, then why does it matter if I die? But I must say that I have belittled you in the past, Ren Jie. I don't care if you're really a spoilt child or have gone crazy after Gao Fei beat you up. What you did today has angered me. Don't think that just because you're from the Rens that nobody dares to offend you. You're dead meat to me, you got that? If I want your life, then you'll die even if the entire Ren family is backing you. Do you think only the Rens have reached their peak? You've only had a glorious phase for the last 20 years, but the Gaos have been at our peak for the last 200 years, and even now you're not much better than us." Gao Peng used his divine sense to send the words to Ren Jie's mind.
"Right now I'm not the one in a spot, it's you. I don't care if you're really crazy or just acting like a spoilt child, but you've dug your grave today. You're dead meat, dead meat for sure." Gao Peng was someone who could endure hardship and he was a person of many secrets, but at the same time, he was also an arrogant man who could not believe that he was being humiliated by a good-for-nothing like Ren Jie.
He was not afraid of death. Hence, he was not afraid of angering Ren Jie further. If his death could allow the Rens to be wiped out and for the Gaos to regain power, then it would not be in vain. But if he were to live, then he would never forgive Ren Jie and would have him killed.
He suddenly recalled what he said when he was lecturing Gao Fei, that if Ren Jie was acting crazy then he must be killed. If he had really gone insane after being beaten up, then all the more he would not forgive Ren Jie since he had just been humiliated by a lunatic.
"Ren Jie, a life for a life. This is the palace. Even if the Rens are above the law, if you dare touch Peng-er, nobody will be able to protect you. The Gaos will not spare you, either. So you better release him immediately." Just as Gao Peng threatened him using his divine sense, Gao Zhanyuan shouted from the side as well.
Ren Jie could see his urge to kill from Gao Peng's eyes, but he did not mind it, especially after he had heard a Sage preach. The urge to kill in Gao Peng's eyes meant nothing to him after that.
"Of course I will not go against the law, but a life for a life? Rubbish! Look at this." Ren Jie held out a jade tablet after he finished speaking.
It was a token tablet of pure jade, and the large words "Death Exemption" were written on it with a line of fine print at the back. There was an abundance of gold and silver in the Clear Jade Dynasty. Thus, they were not particularly precious. Even a slightly more well-to-do family could afford a token tablet made of gold for their guards. What was truly precious was a jade tablet that had an Artifact Spirit. And the one in the Ren Jie's hands was even more precious.
"Look at this. This is the Death exemption jade tablet. It would be considered a personal feud even if I killed your whole family, much less just him. I will not be charged for any crime as long as I do not commit treason.
"The Patriarch of the Ren Family obtained a Death Exemption jade tablet when he helped to start the Clear Jade Dynasty, and I have an impressive father who managed to obtain another two of these Death exemption jade tablets in 20 years. The Clear Jade Dynasty has only had five Death Exemption jade tablets in its 1,000-year history, and the Rens have three of them. Besides treason, I can do anything else I want with this. And since I have so many Death Exemption jade tablets, I might as well try using it to see what it's like, or else it will just be like excess cash lying around."
"Dang…" Ren Jie threw the Death Exemption jade tablet on the ground as he spoke. This was not ordinary jade and thus, it did not shatter easily, only making a crisp noise as it fell on the ground. The sound reverberated in everybody's ears, including Gao Peng's, who had been smiling even as he was being beaten up and confident even as a knife was placed on his neck.
There was only silence at that moment.
Nobody would have thought that Ren Jie would pull such a stunt. Even Ren Junyang was stunned as he did not expect Ren Jie to have this, much less use it…
Some of the people suddenly found it difficult to breathe. Death Exemption jade tablet. This was something that they had only heard about but few saw. Yet, Ren Jie was about to… use it.
Gao Zhanyuan originally wanted to continue threatening him to make Ren Jie release Gao Peng, but now, his words were stuck in his throat as he had lost his voice. With the Death Exemption jade tablet, Ren Jie could kill Gao Peng if he wanted today and would not get into much trouble either. How could this be? What was he going to do?
How could anyone use this before committing a crime, this was too… too…
Too exhilarating! Gao Ren felt his breathing hasten as he did not think that Ren Jie would escalate the matter to such a scale at all. He had thought that it would merely be verbal arguments as he had been pondering how was he going to help Ren Jie humiliate this Gao Peng who had crafty and unsettling laughter. To think that it would come to this, it was all too exhilarating.
Tie Ta clenched his fists. This was too exciting, no wonder his dad always talked about how it was when he served the old family head…
Fang Yan, Wen Zihao, and the Second Prince were all shocked as they looked on. This was all beyond their expectation. This Ren Jie was really out of his mind, why else would he be carrying a Death Exemption jade tablet around? Could he already have planned to use it on somebody?
Crazy, he was really crazy. Ren Junyang, Ren Hanlin, and Ren Wenxu, who were stopped by the personal guards after they alighted from their carriage, also stood still in shock.
Was this really the kid who acted like he was dying when his allowance was docked and would continuously fawn over them all for another ten thousand taels of silver a month?
"On the count of three, you better kneel down and cry, or else I shall use this Death Exemption jade tablet on you." Ren Jie raised the knife in his hand as everybody remained in shock. "One…"
"How dare you, Ren Jie! Men, get ready…" Gao Zhanyuan immediately jumped into action as he ordered his men to charge forward, but even though he was also in the Divine Power Realm, he also knew that no matter how many men he had, there was no way they could break through the fortress of Ren Jie's personal guards anytime soon. Moreover, Gao Peng was held by Tong Qiang.
This fellow was too damn arrogant. Everything from good to bad and happiness to sadness was measured in comparison, and in that instant, the Second Prince could not help but think that Ren Jie had been pretty good to him. Well, at least in comparison to now.
It was the first time that the prince realized that somebody else could be more arrogant than him in the Jade Capital.
"Ren family head, please spare him, or else don't blame me for fighting you." Fang Yan knew that he absolutely had to do something now. At least he had to say something. And even if he could not find a way out of this later, he could always just let himself be injured even if he could not really strike.
There were all kinds of reactions from those at the side, but Gao Peng, who was held by Tong Qiang and at the tip of Ren Jie's knife, felt his confidence start to waver.
He could not help but retrace his thoughts. This fellow used to only fool around with people who were much worse than him, and in the eyes of the spoilt wealthy children, he was not even considered a spoilt wealthy child yet. Yet, he had everyone shocked now that he was not just a spoilt rich child, he was somewhat crazy too.
"Two…" At that moment, Ren Jie's knife was raised to the highest point.
What was he to do?
Gao Peng started to waver, then as he realized that this fellow was truly crazy. Gao Fei could really have been killed then too. Did this guy lose his mind after he was beaten up by Gao Fei?
If that wa truly the case, then he might die in vain. In vain, how could that be? How could he have been forced to this by such a fellow? What about his dreams? He had something great planned that was bound to shake the world, how could he be killed by a fool like that?
No, he could not die by a Death Exemption jade tablet.
"Plop!" Gao Peng knelt down finally, and as he did, tears trickled down his face. These were tears of humiliation, of unjustness, the fiery anger in his heart on the verge of consuming him.
"Oh, you knelt. Now let me see if there are tears." Ren Jie lowered his head to take a look and commented happily. "Not bad, you knelt and cried.
"Look at you, why are you crying? I'm just playing with you. As a family head, why would I make things difficult for a child like you?" Ren Jie picked up the Death Exemption jade tablet as he said so and patted Gao Peng's cheek. "Even if you're willing to die, I won't be willing to part with this Death Exemption jade tablet. To put it simply, you're not worth it. I only used it to scare you because it irks me to see your arrogant smile."
He had to stay alive to get back. Hence, when Ren Jie used the Death Exemption jade tablet to threaten Gao Peng, he put aside his pride and knelt down. However, Gao Peng was already consumed by his anger, anger greater even than the one he felt when Lan Tian took away his title of Academic Scholar and much angrier than he felt towards Fang Yan and Fang Qi.
He was going to plan his revenge right now, an elaborate plan. He was not concerned with a moment's loss or gain because it gave him the opportunity to get even closer to him so that he could hatch his plan.
It was only that he was set to graduate from the Jade Imperial Academy in another month's time and he had thought about all kinds of accidents that may disrupt his plans for the next five years. Yet, he had never thought this would happen today.
His spontaneous decision to test for a reaction resulted in him being humiliated by a spoilt rich child who was a crazy puppet-family head.
He could not take it lying down. There was nothing Gao Peng wanted more than to tear Ren Jie apart to quench his anger.
But he had to endure it. He had always thought that he would be able to endure humiliation like the ancient kings and triumph in the end, but only after experiencing it for himself did he realize that it was something so difficult to do.
If he had the intention to kill Ren Jie when he calmly looked at him, then now his intention to kill had extended to all those around them too. The Death Exemption jade tablet, huh? I'm going to make sure that I wipe the Rens out. Completely… wipe… them… out!
"Crack…" Tears of suppressed anger trickled down his face, but the anger in his heart continued to rage. The arrogant Gao Peng almost broke down, but then finally composed himself. However, when Ren Jie said that he was just toying with him using the jade tablet and talked down to him like he was speaking to a child and that he was not worth the jade tablet, he clenched his jaws so tightly that he actually bit off a few of his teeth. Such was his anger.