Just as Ren Jie said, these people, ever since they retired, only a few close ones still kept in touch. The majority had no chance to get into contact. For many people, they only got to see people that they hadn't met in a long time because of this incident. At this moment, after Fang Tianen retreated, quite a number of them exclaimed as they looked at the familiar faces. They had thought that this person and that person had already passed on.
And Ren Jie's words matched their temper. At once, they felt that the Marshal's son wasn't as intolerable as the rumors said. Perhaps he wasn't as bright and brilliant as the sun like the Marshal, but at least he was pretty manly. He was a gutsy person.
"Yes, disciple… will see to it immediately." Chang Laosi only recovered from his shock at this moment. He had never expected things to escalate to this extent.
Neither did he expect that Fang Tianen would actually cause a ruckus just to ask for him. He clearly wanted him dead. Earlier, when he followed behind Ren Jie, he was already entirely on guard, because he could sense several hidden threats targeted at him, so he had thought it through.
Once that fatal threat really struck, he would immediately draw the other party away. When Ren Jie gave the order to fight, his heart jumped to his throat.
He wondered to himself whether his Master knew that Fang Tianen's side still had several powerful beings present as strong as him or even stronger. Once they struck, it would certainly be an impactful move. Tens of thousands of troops, it would be difficult to guard against. Such people might not be able to fight tens of thousands of troops head-on, but they were able to get the head of the general amongst tens of thousands of soldiers.
And following that, Ren Tianzong's Thunder Fire Rifle killed Fang Tianen's spiritual beast carriage's spiritual wolf. It was so startling that he almost cried out. This was virtually adding fuel to the flames. In the end, what he didn't expect was that Fang Tianen actually grew afraid and retreated.
At present, feeling good, he responded extremely breezily and happily.
"I knew things wouldn't be that simple. He has acted, what do we do now?" Ren Hanlin communicated with Ren Junyang and Ren Wenxu through their divine sense.
"Back then, when Family Head appointed him as the next Family Head, he refused. Now, he comes out and helps the dandy, good-for-nothing Ren Jie in secret. What is he trying to do? To wash a pig is to waste both water and soap, is he looking forward to this Ren Jie becoming someone?" Ren Wenxu said, extremely displeased.
Ren Junyang's brows were locked tightly together. "If it was merely Ren Jie messing around, no matter what, we would have a way to deal with him at the Elders' Meeting. But if Sixth Lord is supporting him… No, we must discuss this matter at length."
Ren Hanlin and Ren Wenxu both nodded. The trio watched as the surroundings became noisy and messy. Frowning, they left on quick steps and entered Ren Junyang's private back room.
In the Ren residence's primitive-like forest, while Ren Jie arranged for a feast for tens of thousands of people, he walked in with a jar of wine and three bowls.
"You rascal, you really aren't scared of escalating things. You almost pierced through Jade Capital's sky." Sixth Lord Ren Tianzong sat there quietly while looking at Ren Jie.
"What I broke was their little sky, the true sky is much higher." Ren Jie smiled with total indifference. "Besides, even if I really broke it, I have Sixth Uncle holding it up. What am I afraid of."
"In the past, I didn't realize you were this bold. Do you know that you sounding the war drum has already touched certain people's anguish? Now you actually asked these people to stay and drink at the Ren residence. This is far more serious than humiliating the descendants of the Fangs and fighting with Fang Tianen. The struggle between the five big family clans has been long-standing, in the open and in the dark. Winning or losing is something temporal, anyone would be able to accept it. However, for the past twenty years, the Ren family has enjoyed too much glory. Hence, your father and I stood down one after the other, for the Ren family to conceal our capabilities."
The prior fight was instead considered nothing to Ren Tianzong. To him, Ren Jie keeping those ten of thousands of people to drink and dine was what was truly dangerous.
Ren Jie put the bowls down, opened the wine jar, and poured the wine. Then, he downed half bowl in one mouthful. This wine wasn't as good as the hard liquors from Earth, but after being fermented for so long, its unique thickness and mellowness were also distinctive.
"Phew…" The bowl wasn't very big, half a bowl was only about 150ml. As the wine went down, Ren Jie exhaled a long breath. "Even if I had not gathered them today, would the emperor and the three other family clans be unaware of the Ren family's capabilities?
"Since they are already aware, the so-called concealing our capabilities is just deceiving ourselves and others. Those people targeting the Ren family less doesn't mean that they've forgotten about our capability, the Ren family's influence, or are unaware of these people's existence. If I haven't guessed wrongly, all these years, they must have been using all sorts of small means in the dark to gradually divide them up. Today, I sounded the war drum and gathered all of them. I remember, there is a record in the library pavilion. The last time my father sounded this war drum, more than ten thousand people dropped everything and rushed over within a few hours.
"Among them were imperial guards, civil servants, government officials, and merchants. But look at now, so different from before." Ren Jie shook his head and said, "Unless the Ren family doesn't want these people who are loyal to us and sever ties with them from now on, otherwise, there is totally no need to intentionally keep a distance from them. Because then we would be totally fooling ourselves and others. If Sixth Uncle doesn't believe it, you can go investigate. There should be word that the Ren family has given up on them. Perhaps they would be able to hold on for a few years. However, if they unknowingly suffer all forms of suppression from the four family clans, lead by the royal family, and no one notices, regardless of how loyal they are, there would be a limit.
"If we really wait till the day where the support has been totally lost and some problem occurs for the Ren family, we'd really be doomed. These people do not need anything else, they only need to know that the Ren family still remembers them, that they're part of the Ren family. That's enough. Besides, this news was spread very quickly, the rest will learn of it soon. If this had been done by my father, it might lead to a joint effort by the four family clans, but it was done by me. That makes things different."
At this point, Ren Jie filled half of his bowl with wine again and raised it to toast Ren Tianzong. "Sixth Uncle, I'm simply a playboy in their eyes. Even if I make a mess, they don't care. After all, if I really, assertively, want to grasp power in the Ren family, we would first need an inner conflict. This is instead what they really hope to see. Naturally, I would have to take advantage of such a chance to do something. Reap benefits when I ought to, gather people's support when I ought to, consolidate power when I ought to. I'm the Ren Family Head and my father is Ren Tianxing, I do not need to use those cheap tricks. Such a big stir was created today, and the lack of reaction from the emperor is enough to illustrate everything. Besides, I still have you, Sixth Uncle. What do I have to fear?"
"Gulp…" Ren Jie downed all the wine in another mouthful and said extremely heartily, "Refreshing. Sixth Uncle, you two drink slowly. This Family Head has to go thank all the brothers who came to help me today."
Ren Tianzong did not say anything at all subsequently. At this point, his raised bowl had yet to be put down. He watched Ren Jie drink and heard him say he was leaving, but Ren Tianzong was dazed for a long time.
Ren Jie did not say much, but he had explained everything clearly.
Ren Tianzong really wanted to let out a long wail at the top of his voice. Big brother has an heir, the Ren family absolutely will not decline after its prime.
It turned out this rascal knew very well everything he was doing. He appeared to be a dandy and arrogant, but behind his unbridled behavior, he understood what he was doing.
It was sufficient, it was sufficient.
Ren Tianzong's tears welled in his eyes. Then, he drank all of his wine in one mouthful and felt a lightheartedness he hadn't felt in years.
Originally, he was worried about Ren Jie's thoughtlessness. After all, the fight between the five big family clans was unpredictable. When they fought with a family clan, they had to take into consideration the three others. And more importantly, the royal family. Now it seemed that he didn't need to worry at all. Ren Jie was very thorough in his consideration of everything.
"Marshal has an heir. I'd said, Marshal's son cannot be that hopeless. I see… I see…" Just then, a person walked out of the other side of the forest. It was the stout Zhan Tianlong, Great General Zhan, in full armor.
At present, although Zhan Tianlong was fully armored, his voice was slightly choked up.
"Haha… yes, yes. This rascal fooled all of us. Originally, even I lost confidence in him. I never thought…" Ren Tianzong laughed with tears in his eyes. Ren Jie had surprised him enough the last time, but after today, he was really at ease.
"I was still not too convinced when you told me in the past. Now, I truly believe it. In the future, even if he wants to burn down the Ren mansion, we'll add firewood for him. Even if he wants to beat up a prince, we'll hold the prince down for him. Haha…" Zhan Tianlong sat down as he laughed. Picking up the bowl that Ren Jie had filled with wine not long ago, he downed it in one go too.
With regard to Zhan Tianlong, Ren Tianzong did not hide anything from him. Zhan Tianlong was also one of the very few people who could come into his space. Zhan Tianlong was in a really high position now, but he did not have actual power. His several requests to the emperor to go to battle had been rejected. He felt extremely depressed in recent years and often visited Ren Tianzong.
When Ren Tianzong told him that Ren Jie wasn't truly foppish, he refused to believe it. Earlier, he had arrived slightly before Ren Jie. He'd found it hard to understand why Ren Tianzong was so indulgent of Ren Jie and even took the blame for his nonsense of poisoning others and the other incidents.
However, Ren Jie's words just now left him startled and surprised. It turned out that everything had been intentional. It could be said that everything before was a cushion, using this opportunity to gather the support of a group of people and expanding his influence as the family head was the real deal. Moreover, it left no trace. To others, this still looked like he was messing around and even needed Ren Tianzong to clean up the mess.
If other people were worried, they would only be worried about Ren Tianzong, not much attention would be given to him. This was a hundred, thousand times more efficient than doing something furtively. Because, given his status and situation, regardless of how sneaky he was, it would be difficult to hide it from others.
Overt scheme, an absolute overt scheme. Upfront and publicly gathering support, publicly spreading the name of Ren Family Head. He simply wanted to be imposing, ferocious, to beat someone up…
If Ren Jie hadn't said it personally, who would've thought of it? Even if they'd more or less guessed it, they would think it was an inner conflict within the Ren family, of Ren Tianzong behind him. No one would have guessed that everything had been Ren Jie's doing.
Great, great, haha…
Ren Tianzong and Zhan Tianlong found it ingenious the more they thought about it. The two didn't say much, they just savored the moment and what Ren Jie said earlier. If the conversation were to be mentioned, the most they said was, "Good, great, big brother has an heir now" and "Marshal has an heir now".
Just like two people muttering to themselves, in the end, they suddenly felt really happy and agitated. Then, drink with one bowl for you, one bowl for me. Unconsciously, without needing any side dishes, the two were already dead drunk.
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