"Why would I not be concerned? Everyone in the Jade Imperial Academy knows that I'm pursuing Fang Qi. How can I not interfere when she is poisoned? However, even the imperial physician cannot find a solution. If we do not resort to balancing out the yin and yang to treat the poison, we can only resort to the treasure that my father left me." Ren Jie pursuing Fang Qi was not new. Countless people in the Jade Capital had joked about that; they had described that as the epitome of pursuing someone out of one's league.
Although Ren Jie was the Ren family head, no one thought well of him. Meanwhile, Fang Qi was the complete opposite. She was a golden girl. Ren Jie was incomparable to her. He was bullied back at home and he risked losing his position as the family head anytime. When he was outside, he was known for being a pampered useless kid.
Therefore, when Ren Jie offered to help and looked as if he would do anything for Fang Qi, Fang Tianen simply did not take his words seriously. He snorted and walked outside as he mumbled the words to himself.
Fang Tianen was only a few steps from the door when he stopped in his tracks all of a sudden. He did not care about the worthless Ren Jie. However, from his words, he mentioned the treasure that the legendary Ren Tianxing left him that could be used to treat poison…
F*ck. So here he goes. No wonder the magnificent Ren family head was so confident. He has brought up his dad. Now he is really bragging about treating the poison here openly… Gao Ren was standing beside him. Originally, he had wanted to remind Ren Jie. However, after hearing Ren Jie's words, he had pretended to be in all seriousness and forcefully acted as though he was oblivious to everything. In reality, he almost rolled on the floor laughing in his mind.
Fang Tianen was a distance away from them. He stopped in his tracks abruptly, turned and looked at Ren Jie. Although he did not really like this pampered and worthless family head, it would be a different situation if he had some treasure in his hands which could save Fang Qi.
"Big Brother, are you… really willing to… use that treasure?" Gao Ren almost laughed out loud upon hearing the metaphor that Ren Jie used, yet he held it in ultimately. He joined Ren Jie on the show he was putting up very enthusiastically and appeared genuinely reluctant and inseparable.
Fang Tianen's breathing hastened. He was thinking about how to communicate with Ren Jie in his mind. If there was a way to cure Fang Qi without sacrificing much price, he would not mind using him.
Ren Jie touched his chin and contemplated deeply. "I want to save her. But you know how precious that treasure is. If your family clan merely gave a million jade coins and a middle-grade spiritual item in exchange, I would suffer a huge loss. The loss is enough for me to buy dozens of courtesans at the auction. Although I do like Fang Qi a lot as well, it would not be worth it if I suffer a loss of more than half the price of a courtesan. No, this deal is way too unprofitable."
"Kaboom!" Even though he was in the Five Clans Hall within the imperial palace, Fang Tianen could not stop himself from letting his power out. He was already in the Divine Power Realm. The outburst from his rage produced visible dharmic power ripples. The presence that he emitted was even more overwhelming than when Tong Qiang attacked earlier.
I was tricked. In the hurry to save my daughter, I have actually believed what this pampered b*stard said. I actually stopped in my tracks just to have a discussion with him. In the end, he compared my golden girl with those courtesans in the brothels. That's absolutely intolerable. No. He did not merely compare my daughter with them. This evil b*stard said that my daughter can not even be compared to them. What a bastard, he thought.
"Great… Great… It would just… be great… that the Ren family have you as their family head…" Fang Tianen was fuming and was tempted to murder that kid. If it was another person, if they were at another place, he would definitely murder the person who dared to say that about his beloved daughter. It was a pity that they were in the Five Clans Hall. According to the rules set by their ancestors, no fights were allowed to take place within the Five Clans Hall. Moreover, Ren Jie was the Ren family head. After Fang Tianen muttered these words out, he left the place swiftly using a dharma spell that only those who had reached the Divine Power Realm could utilize. His pace fastened and he disappeared as a few blurry figures appeared in his path. That showed how badly he did not want to have Ren Jie within his vision.
"Haiz… Fang family head. We could discuss the price. Because of how much I fancy Fang Qi, I would not mind giving you a discount equivalent to half the price of a courtesan. However, the price in the reward notice is way too low. If you really want to save your daughter, we can discuss the price in detail," Ren Jie shouted in the direction Fang Tianen had left with his hands cupping his mouth.
His voice reverberated within the Five Clans Hall. Even Wen Yong who was at the entrance shook his head in distress. What was Ren Tianxing thinking? How could he let this pampered son of his become the family head? How is he cut for the position? he thought.
However, this rascal's guts are unbelievably huge. He beat Gao Peng up in front of the imperial palace, scolded the Gao family head in anger before the emperor, and now he even dared to toy around with the Fang family head. I heard that this rascal only dared to mess with pampered kids whose backgrounds were inferior to his and dared not to mess with him. Now that has changed tremendously.
"Haha… The genius Miss Fang from the Fang family is only worth the price of half a courtesan. She is incomparable to even a prostitute. Brilliant… Just brilliant…" The fatty almost went mad trying to hold in his laughter in the imperial palace. The moment he boarded the spiritual beast carriage, he cupped his stomach and burst out laughing.
"That gave a scare too. I thought that our family head would actually help to treat Fang Qi's illness. That woman is no good." Tie Ta did not find the matter funny at all. He merely disliked Fang Qi a lot.
Ren Jie did not find it funny as well. In all seriousness, he said, "Do you think she is any better than a courtesan? I am serious, ok? The most impressive courtesans can price from ten thousand jade coins to hundreds of thousands. The more famous courtesans will even cultivate techniques that aid in males' cultivation. They will learn to gain the likes of men from a young age. They will master all thirty-six kinds of moaning and all seventy-two sex techniques. Moreover, they need to keep their virginity to the very end. They train their voices, looks, and posture for about a dozen years. Saying that Fang Qi is worth half a courtesan is actually overestimating her."
"Umm…" That made the fatty speechless. He looked at how serious Ren Jie was. He did not seem like he was joking at all. However, Ren Jie's words made him very uncomfortable.
"Cough… That… But if that's the case, how are we going about with our plan to obtain money?" Gao Ren rubbed his nose and changed the direction of the conversation in a seemingly casual manner.
"We cannot rush with the plan at all. I can't take back what I have said. Now he thinks that I am humiliating his daughter and intentionally provoking him. However, we will wait until the time when he has exhausted all measures. When a man is drowning, he will grasp anything he can find with all of his effort, even if that's a strand of straw. When that time comes, we will be the ones calling the shots," Ren Jie replied calmly. "We just have to be confident of the poison that we have concocted. We must believe that no one else can find a cure for it. What is left for us to do is to maintain our composure. The more anxious they are, the more we will benefit in the end."
"… grasp anything he can find with all of his effort, even if that's a strand of straw…" That was the first time Gao Ren heard such a metaphor. The more he thought about it, the more descriptive he thought that metaphor was.
When it came to such situations, it was indeed true that the benefits would be greater the longer the issue dragged on. As Gao Ren thought about how Ren Jie's words made sense, he wondered how weird it was for Ren Jie to say words that made sense.
Tie Ta was sitting beside them. Although he was not very smart, he could understand what Ren Jie had said. His heart palpitated nonstop. He was previously in a different class from Ren Jie and had only heard about how crazy Ren Jie was when pursuing Fang Qi, yet he was always tricked by her. Recently, there was also the incident when Ren Jie was beaten up by Gao Fei when they were fighting for Fang Qi's favor. However, after he saw the events that unfolded in the hall and heard the words that Ren Jie had just said, Tie Ta thought that those guys knew nothing about Ren Jie. His family head was nothing like how bad they described him.
As a personal guard, Tie Ta had learned from his father since he was young not to gossip about anything he heard. He was told to keep his naiveness and just sit there.
"Reporting, Family Head. The three elders are waiting in the conference hall. They want the family head to rush there immediately after you have returned." Someone walked towards Ren Jie the moment he had reached the Ren family abode. Afterward, Tong Qiang's voice was heard from outside the carriage.
Gao Ren heard the voice from outside and shivered. "Meal Ticket Big Brother, you are in deep trouble now. Why don't you return to the academy with us? We'll find cover and avoid them until they have calmed their anger."
"What trouble? There are no more lessons in the academy during the last month. The lessons for first-year students have been completed. There is only the major examinations left. Why would you need to go to the academy? You two will stay here as well," said Ren Jie before he stepped out of the spiritual beast carriage.
"Ah!" Gao Ren almost cried when he heard that. That was not the first time he accompanied Ren Jie to the Ren family abode. That made him more uncomfortable than when he was staying in the streets. Moreover, after a year's efforts, he had constructed an apothecary room in the academy. If he was not allowed to do his research on the medicinal prescriptions, he would be bored to death. In the Ren family abode, his every move would be closely supervised. It was worse than if he was sitting in jail.
"Big Brother, please take pity on me. I am a good student. Please let me return to the academy to prepare for the upcoming major examinations." Gao Ren rushed out of the carriage. He held his hands together in a praying position and begged Ren Jie.
Ren Jie broke into laughter at Gao Ren's antics. "Look at how foolish you look. People who don't know might think that I am planning to sell you. The lessons you attended were even fewer than me. Do you believe yourself when you say that you are a good student?"
"The only reason you went to class was because of the beautiful girls. Although my physical body was not in the classroom, my heart was there…" Gao Ren muttered. Afterward, he immediately steered the conversation back on track. He pulled Ren Jie's arm and said, "Meal Ticket Big Brother, please let me go back to the academy. I will follow you if you land yourself in jail or decide to explore a dangerous valley full of demonic beasts."
"F*ck. This move would work if you were a beautiful girl. Considering your physique, let's not do such things." Ren Jie looked at how Gao Ren was pleading him while pulling his arm and had an urge to throw him out.
"Tsk. Hoes over bros…"
"Family Head, the three elders have been waiting in the conference hall for a long time. Since you are back, please make your way there quickly. Additionally, the family head is the head of the family clan. You should not make the elders worry about you or cause them to become angry. This is a public place. You should constantly be cautious about your behavior. Look at how you are tugging around with this pig-like guy. Those who don't know might think that you are a homosexual." Ren Qiancheng had been waiting at the entrance with four other subordinates. He was newly promoted as the inner gate assistant butler. He was slightly over forty and appeared dominating with the four subordinates standing behind him. Ren Jie was standing and talking to the fatty on the spiritual beast carriage and did not seem like he was about to alight anytime soon. Ren Qiancheng's triangular eyes stared in Ren Jie's direction. Seeing no response from Ren Jie after a long time, he walked towards the spiritual beast carriage impatiently.
"Captain Tong, all of you should go back and take a break. You guys appear a couple of times at the end of every year just for show, yet the benefits you guys get on a usual basis is way higher than the others. Do you guys know how many people are upset about that? If not for the third elder and the other elders helping to manage them, you would not be as carefree as you are now." Ren Qiancheng looked askance at Tong Qiang, who did not get along with him. He recalled what the elders said about Tong Qiang and thought that the good days were over for them.
They did not do anything usually, yet their remuneration was better than what he received as the assistant butler. It would be wrong if he did not tell them off.
"And you. Why are you dazing there? Bring the family head to the entrance of the conference hall and go back to have a rest." Ren Qiancheng ordered as he pointed at Uncle Beast.
Uncle Beast sat there and completely ignored Ren Qiancheng. He appeared as though nothing in the world had anything to do with him.
"Bam…" Ren Jie struck suddenly. Ren Qiancheng was totally not expecting that. The slap to his face made him stagger a few steps back. Although he was no genius, he had survived to become the assistant butler of the Ren family and had been cultivating for dozens of years. He had finally touched the fifth level of the True Qi Realm. However, he had not been in any real battles and had all the more not expect Ren Jie to hit him. Hence, despite how he had reached the fifth level of the True Qi Realm, he was hit squarely in the face by Ren Jie's simple slap.