A Clash of Gods - Chapter 119

Chapter 119 Take Back the Silver
The third elder lord seemed to have not expected Yang Ning to be so decisive. He was stunned for a while, and the hall was deadly silent. All people were petrified.

After a long time, the corners of the third elder lord’s mouth twitched. “Can you make the decision?” He sneered. “I advise you to ask the dowager.”

“No need to ask.” A voice came from outside the door. All people paid attention to Yang Ning and didn’t notice what happened outside. Hearing the voice, everybody looked at the door at the same time.

They saw that Gu Qinghan with a nice figure supported one person to come in, who was short and humpbacked seriously with white hair all over the head. Seen at first glance, it was like a dwarf. But seeing this person, all people in the hall looked stiff. The people who were standing straightened their backs immediately and the elders who sat in the chairs stood up.

The dowager in the marquis’ mansion came out in person at this time.

Seeing the dowager who was almost huddled up, Yang Ning felt a chill down his spine for no reason. He hesitated for a while and then quickly walked forward, greeting respectfully, “Grandma!”

The dowager just nodded slightly. She was blind and couldn’t see anything. With Gu Qinghan’s help, she walked to the master’s seat and turned around to sit down.

She was thin and short. It appeared inharmonious and even funny when she sat in the chair, but all people present were in awe of her.

“My Lady…” The third elder lord had been domineering before, but his tone softened now. “This kid Qi Ning is more and more naughty. I just said a few words, but look at him… Alas, he even announced that he would break away from the Qi clan…”

Many people in the hall were restless but relieved while hearing the third elder lord’s soft tone. They thought that if the heir of the Marquis of Honor was expelled from the clan, the Qi clan would have no backbone, and it wouldn’t be good for everybody.

Although the heir of the Marquis of Honor was still young and even arrogant, the title of nobility was rewarded by the imperial court and was a signboard of the clan. With this signboard, all people did everything more smoothly these years. If they lost it, the profits of all the members of the Qi clan would be harmed.

However, the third elder lord was the head of the clan and had much power in the clan, so nobody dared to offend him because of Yang Ning.

At the moment, the dowager showed up and it seemed that the situation would be reversed, so many people had expectations.

The dowager raised her head slightly and finally expressed, “Jing has passed away, and Qi Ning is the heir of the Marquis of Honor. I am an old woman good for nothing and don’t have the energy to ask about the affairs in the marquis’ mansion. I came out today just to tell everybody that everything in the mansion would be decided by Qi Ning in the future. His decision is the marquis’ mansion’s decision.”

All people had expectations, but after the dowager said that, everybody was shocked.

Yang Ning had thought that the old woman showed up all of a sudden and might ruin his plan, but unexpectedly, she defended him in public, so he was surprised.

“I already know that he would expel Qi Yu. Since it’s Qi Ning’s decision, Qi Yu would leave the mansion tonight.” The dowager spoke slowly in a feeble voice, but every word of hers had the power that nobody could doubt. “Since the Qi clan would expel Qi Ning, then we will have nothing to do with each other in the future.”

The third elder lord also turned pale and called involuntarily, “My Lady…”

The dowager stated slowly, “The Qi clan abandoned Qi Ning today, and he didn’t break away from the clan. All of you are present and know the cause and effect. Everybody has the judgement and knows who is right or wrong.”

Qi Yu rushed forward and knelt on the floor. “Grandma, Qi Ning is your grandson, but I am not?”

The dowager reached out her withered hand and waved it. Qi Yu moved closer to her on his knees. He never expected that he would be expelled from the marquis’ mansion. He was angry and scared and just hoped that the dowager could say something to keep him.

The dowager caressed Qi Yu’s face with her withered hand and stated in a low voice, “I am an old woman and can’t disagree to your brother’s decision. Remember that he is the heir of the Marquis of Honor and will inherit the legacy and the title of nobility. You did something wrong, so you should be punished. He drives you away today, but if you can correct your errors and make a fresh start someday, you may have a chance to return to the mansion. You need to be a man and depend on yourself. Do you understand?”

Qi Yu’s tears fell and he clenched his fists, trembling all over his body.

The dowager patted Qi Yu’s face and then got up. “Qinghan, help me walk back to the Buddhist hall.”

Gu Qinghan hurriedly supported the dowager. Under the watchful eyes of all people, the dowager soon disappeared from their sights.

The hall fell into silence. Yang Ning looked around and declared, “Everybody, what else will you tell me? We will walk on our own, and I won’t implicate you in the future. Of course, if you have something wrong, we would shut the gate of the mansion to you.”

The third elder lord looked furious and shook his sleeves, turning to leave, Seeing that, Qi Yu ran toward him in a hurry and grabbed his sleeve, saying in horror, “Third Elder Lord, you…will leave us alone?”

The third elder lord stated resentfully, “Qi Ning is not a member in the Qi clan, and I can’t discipline him. All of you, just leave now. Since he doesn’t allow us to come, we will not visit each other all our lives.” He glared at Yang Ning and added, “Bloke, you’d better shape up. Don’t ruin the family of the Marquis of Honor.”

Upon seeing that, some people shook their heads and some sighed, walking out one after another. When the third elder lord prepared to leave, Yang Ning expressed casually, “Third Elder Lord, don’t hurry to go. You seem to have forgotten something.”

The third elder lord frowned and turned his head. “What’s the matter?”

“The silver.” Yang Ning repeated, “The tax silver!”

The third elder lord trembled, while Yang Ning continued impassively, “Since we are not related, the tax silver of the marquis’ mansion certainly can’t be kept in your mansion. Shall I send people to get it or will you tell some people to send it here? I will check the accounts carefully and won’t allow one cent to miss.”

The sixth lord of the Qi clan sneered. “If the tax silver is given to you, won’t you waste all? We were worried that you would act recklessly, so we kept the tax silver in our mansion.”

“It’s our business no matter how we would waste the tax silver of our family. And no need outsiders to tell us what to do.” Yang Ning laughed. “As far as I know, your family has the tax of five hundred families in the fiefdom every year. Of course you can’t have it in the future.”

“How dare you?” The third elder lord’s face darkened. “This is the rule made by the old marquis. Even your father doesn’t have the right to take it back, let alone you.”

Many people had walked out, but there were still few in the room. Hearing that Yang Ning would take back the tax silver from the third elder lord’s family, they all watched aside and even some people were delight in the misfortunes of others.

There were twenty to thirty families of the lineal descendants and offshoots from the Qi clan in the capital, and most of them just worked depending on the signboard of the marquis’ family.

The marquis’ family was strict and simple, and the offshoots and relatives didn’t get many profits from the marquis’ mansion directly. Only the lineal descendants, the third elder lord’s family got the tax from five hundred families in the fiefdom when the old marquis was alive mainly because this family had a lot of members and needed plenty of money to spend in the capital.

Although they were in the same clan, only the third elder lord’s family benefitted so much. The other families didn’t say anything, but they would be jealous inevitably. Hearing that Yang Ning would take back the tax from five hundred families, some people felt happy.

Yang Ning expressed, “The old marquis gave your family the tax from five hundred families, and he didn’t know that you would expel me from the clan someday. Now I am not a member of the Qi clan, so I certainly don’t need to provide for you. Don’t forget that the fiefdom with three thousand families was rewarded to the marquis’ family, so the tax from the fiefdom should be controlled by my family. Grandma also said that the mansion would be managed by me in the future, so the tax should be under my control. It’s God’s truth that I will take back the tax from the five hundred families.”

The tax from five hundred families was taken back, and it was undoubtedly like stabbing their hearts with a knife. How could the sixth lord Qi Song bear it? He roared, “Qi Ning, we can’t meddle when you act willfully, but if you want to grab something from us, we will fight against you till death.”

“You are shameless.” Yang Ning sneered. “Something from you? When did the tax of the marquis’ family become yours?” He sat down in a chair and continued, “The fiefdom was rewarded by the imperial court. Now somebody wants to seize the tax from the fiefdom unlawfully. I don’t know how the imperial court would make a judgement after they know that. You are just civilians with no official positions, but you want to bully the family of the Marquis of Honor. The imperial court would naturally defend us.”

The third elder lord turned pale out of anger and asked after trying to calm down, “Qi Ning, are you going to be so heartless?”

“Heartless?” Yang Ning looked cold. “I will call you Third Elder Lord once more. Who was heartless? Did you see Qiu Yi? Do you know where he is now? I tell you, he is locked up in the woodhouse. And do you know Zhao Yuan and the fake Qi Cheng in Jiangling? Right, and in the villa of the Loyalty Cemetery, I was almost assassinated. Why was the assassin so familiar with the villa? What is the dirty trick behind it?”

He stared at the third elder lord with his piercing eyes.

The third elder lord twitched and opened his mouth, but he just said “Ah, ah…” He couldn’t close his mouth and leaned backward. Fortunately, Qi Song reacted quickly and reached out his hands to support him. Seeing that the third elder lord rolled his eyes, Qi Song screamed, “Father, what’s wrong with you?” Then he shouted, “Help. Support my father to see a doctor. Father, don’t scare me…”

At the moment, several people ran here and carried the third elder lord to leave in a hurry. The others knew that it wouldn’t be helpful if they stayed here, so they went away one after another. In an instant, the main hall was silent inside and around.

Yang Ning finally vented his anger that he had restrained for many days and just felt happy. He looked back and didn’t see Qi Yu, so he knew that Qi Yu had left when it was in a mess. He called, “Qi Feng!”

Qi Feng was not far away and jogged over. He replied with a smile, “Your Excellency, I am here.” Then he showed a thumbs-up sign. “Your Excellency, you vented our hatred today. They always gesticulate profusely to our mansion and just want to take advantage of us. Now it’s great that we take back the five hundred families in the fiefdom…” He also felt happy and laughed loudly.

Yang Ning ordered, “You need to finish two jobs. First, drive away Qi Yu and his mother from the mansion before midnight; second, call in some people and go there to take the tax silver back next morning. Remember, it’s the tax silver from three thousand families this time.”