"You are here." Inside a small room that was filled with shelves of books, was the figure of a middle-aged man standing with his back facing the newcomer. With a book in his hand, he was occasionally frowning while turning the pages.
"Yes." Yang Ze replied in a short sentence.
Placing his book back on the shelve, Yang Yuanzhen turned around before raising his hand towards him. "Take a seat."
Yang Ze stood still for a second before exhaling heavily and sitting on the small table that was placed in front of him.
Right now, two of them were sitting across the table, facing each other.
"Tea?" Filling the cups in front of him Yang Yuanzhen pushed one towards him before picking the other. After taking a sip he closed his eyes.
"You asked for me?" Till now, Yang Ze wasn't able to understand why he called him here. If he wanted to give him a message, he could have asked any servant to deliver it to him. There was no need for a busy person like him to waste his time.
"Yes, I did."
"But before that, how is life going on in the new city? I heard you didn't take charge of the textile industry. May I ask why?"
Though he was speaking calmly, one could still feel the disappointment in his voice. This second son of his was an embarrassment to him. Not only he was a waste in cultivation, but also a coward, who wouldn't bear the weight of the responsibility given to him.
"Nothing much, life there is better than this place. At least in that place, I don't get to see a person every few steps who ridicules me. As for the matter of industry, I don't plan to take care of it for the time being. I still need some time to adjust to the new life."
Listening to him, Yang Yuanzhen didn't speak anything or show any emotion. He just sat there in silence, looking at this disappointment of a son.
"Well, I am pretty sure you didn't call me here to talk about our gold old days. Is there something you need from me?"
While Yang Ze was speaking Yang Yuanzhen was calmly analyzing him. In the past, Yang Ze never dared to raise his head in front of him, much less talk in such a tone. It was as if, he changed into a completely different person after leaving the main house. And his guess was absolutely right. If it were the previous Yang Ze, he wouldn't have dared to breathe loudly in front of his father, but the current Yang Ze could care less about him.
"Sigh. I have something to tell you. It's about a decision I made for you."
Speaking in an irrefutable tone, Yang Yuanzhen looked at him with narrow eyes.
"You see, your elder brother is already a talented person. Two days later, he will be admitted to the Martial Academy. Since his talent was revealed, the family has provided him with countless resources."
"As for your younger brother, he will be the future patriarch of the Yang family. I don't think I need to tell you what I mean."
"Both of your brothers have everything they ever need. Out of my three children, you are the only one who was never given anything of value."
The more he spoke, the more Yang Ze felt something was wrong. 'Did the sun come out of the west today?'
For a person like Yang Yuanzhen who only sees interest, worrying about others was the last thing he would do. Not to mention that 'other' was his useless third son.
"I understand your worries. What do you wish me to do?"
Without wasting any more time, Yang Ze narrowed his eyes before asking in a flat tone.
Yang Yuanzhe who had prepared an emotional speech in his mind suddenly found it to be worthless.
"Fine then, I have decided to betroth you to my friend's granddaughter."
This was a short sentence, but to Yang Ze it was like someone dropped a hydrogen bomb.
"HUUUUUUH???????"
Yang Ze almost jumped out of his chair. His first thought was that he heard wrong, but looking at his face which didn't seem to be joking the least, he was convinced.
"Why me?" Calming himself down, Yang Ze gazed into his eyes for a long time.
Yang Yuanzhen didn't avoid his gaze, instead, looked back at him.
Both of them stayed there silently, staring at each other for a long time.
"Don't worry. I am not marrying you to someone disabled or someone ugly. She is beautiful and talented. Much more talented than your elder brother."
"I don't care about her condition or appearance. If she is that good, then why don't you marry her to the elder brother? I reckon they will make a great pair."
"Sigh... I'm afraid that's not quite possible."
"Yeah!!! And why is that?"
Closing his eyes Yang Yuanzhen went silent for a long time. Should he tell the truth or should he make something up? With these thoughts, he was in quite a pinch. It was only after a few minutes, that he opened his eyes again and looked at Yang Ze seriously.
"Well, let's say I did it for your good."
"My good or your own good?"
"YANG ZE... IS THIS THE WAY YOU SPEAK TO YOUR OWN FATHER?"
With a loud roar, Yang Yuanzhen smashed his hand down in a fury. It was the first time someone from the younger generation dared to speak to him like that. Even his eldest or the youngest didn't dare to speak in a higher tone to him, much less mock him on his face.
"Yeah. Truth is always bitter." Yang Ze was still sitting nonchalantly. Even though he was facing Yang Yuanzhen's anger head-on, there wasn't a change in expression on his face. It was as if everything in front of him was completely unrelated to him.
Looking at his second son, who seemed to grow up overnight, Yang Yuanzhen was stunned. You have to know that even the elders of the family would tremble in front of his anger, much less a child less than seventeen years old. Yet, the situation in front of him was the complete opposite of what he had thought. Not to mention fear, he couldn't even see him flinching for a moment.
"Fine... You want the truth, I shall tell you then." Gritting his teeth, he calmed himself before speaking further.
"Twenty-six years ago, when the granddaughter of my friend Cang Lin was born, I gave him my word to let her marry my son."
In his mind, a story was slowly taking place. As for the matter of it being true or false, it didn't matter right now.
"Great, then marry her to the elder brother."
Yang Ze's proposition still stood strong.
"Your brother needs to focus on his future."
"Now before you say to let her marry your younger brother, I need to tell you that he is still only ten years old. As for the matter of waiting for him to grow up, it can not be done. The girl is joining the academy too."
"Well, then she can find herself another talented person there." With an obvious tone, Yang Ze looked at him like he was looking at a fool.
"Now listen here you little shit." Yang Yuanzhen finally lost his cool. The constant comebacks from Yang Ze were truly testing the limit of his patience.
"I gave them my words, not to mention Cang Lin is adamant on the idea of our two families joining forces together."
"Also, it's not like you are losing anything. On the contrary, you will be the son-in-law of the Cang family. Not to mention the tons of resources you will get."
"Oh really?" Yang Ze still had a smile on his face.
"What will happen after I marry?"
"You will get the protection of the Cang family and resources."
"Then?"
"Then perhaps, you will be able to practice martial arts or cultivation."
"Then?"
"Then You will be able to rise above others and live a peaceful and happy life."
"What do you think I am doing right now?"
.
.
.
The room was engulfed with silence. Yang Yuanzhen who was trying to make his son understand the benefits was crushing his teeth in anger. Just from the veins that were popping on his forehead, one could imagine the rage he was going through.
"Well, it's not entirely possible."
While Yang Yuanzhen was still thinking about the ways to make this waste son of his agree to this marriage, a calm voice sounded in his ears.
"Really?"
Looking at Yang Ze, Yang Yuanzhen asked in a low voice.
"Well, it depends... Depends on what I want."
Twirling the cup of tea in his hand, Yang Ze was speaking while looking at it.
"What do you want?" Yang Yuanzhen looked at him intently.
"Spirit stones."
"Okay." As soon as he asked for spirit stones, Yang Yuanzhen immediately agreed. In his mind, he was afraid of Yang Ze making some unreasonable demands, but if it was something that could be solved with the spirit stones, then it wasn't going to be a problem.
"How many spirit stones?" Yang Yuanzhen asked while sipping on his tea.
"Thousand."
"Pffff..." Yang Yuanzhen spurted out the tea before looking at Yang Ze as if he were looking at a fool.
"Our entire family's profit of one year is eight hundred spirit stones, and you want a thousand stones?"
"Good guy, you might as well ask for the entire Yuyang city as a gift."
"Tch..." Cursing in his mind, Yang Ze thought for a while before asking again.
"How about 200 spirit stones? One less and you can go find yourself a new son."
"HMPH!" With a snort, Yang Yuanzhen clenched his fist. Though two hundred was a huge amount, it wasn't something he couldn't afford.
"Deal."
Reluctantly, he nodded his head.
"Oh yes, one more thing. Can you let me have a look at the sixth volume of the Seaheart Art?"
Yang Ze now stated the true purpose of his visit to the family. Taking the marriage into the account, he was sure this was the best time to ask for it.
"We don't have it." Unfortunately for him, Yang Yuanzhen shook his head in disagreement.
"Then where is it?" Yang Ze furrowed his brows. If the Seaheart Art wasn't here, then it was going to be a big problem for him.
Yang Yuanzhen stayed silent for a long time before speaking out in a helpless tone.
"XUANWU MARTIAL ACADEMY."