A Clash of Gods - Chapter 37

Chapter 37 Causing Havoc in the Mourning Hall
Lady Qiong’s nails were quite long. If she clawed Gu Qinghan across the face, that beautiful and flawless snow-white face would inevitably be scratched. Yang Ning was about to stop her, only to see Gu Qinghan flashed aside lightly. The failed lunge had thrown Lady Qiong off-balance and she fell to the ground after staggering forward a few steps.

Qi Yu, who had been kneeling on the side of the temporary memorial tablet and watching them with cold eyes, finally stood up and shouted, “Bitch, do you dare to bully my mother? I will show you.” He looked around, and finally grabbed an incense burner on the altar and threw it at Gu Qinghan. The guy was quite strong. Seeing that the incense burner was flying to her, Gu Qinghan’s face lost its color. When the incense burner was about to hit Gu Qinghan, a man suddenly lifted his leg and just kicked it. The incense burner immediately rebounded.

No one ever expected it. Qi Yu was also stunned until the incense burner hit his chest. He yelled, and fell down on the ground, covering his chest with his hands. He was out of breath for a while.

Everyone was stunned, and Gu Qinghan was no exception. Yang Ning’s leg was raised high in the air, and then he slowly dropped it down.

“He…” The Sixth Lord opened his mouth, but he only said a word and failed to speak.

Yang Ning looked around, and suddenly laughed a silly laugh. It was until now that everyone found a second wind.

Yang Ning thought these people all believed that the earl was a fool, so he couldn’t be too clever. When he should pretend to be a fool, he could just do it and might as well show a silly laugh.

He naturally knew how to appreciate a favor. Although he was not willing to be the official filial son, he could see that Gu Qinghan was sticking up for him. Apart from Gu Qinghan’s beautiful appearance, her good will of defending the right of him was also worth his help.

Lady Qiong was sitting on the ground crying. But when she saw that Qi Yu was hit by the incense burner and fell to the ground, she hurriedly got up and ran over, and said nervously, “Yu, how are you? Are you injured?”

Third Elder Lord stood up and said angrily, “Look at you! Look at you!” He pointed to Gu Qinghan, “Have… Have you kept the rules? This is the mourning hall, and you dare to fight here. Gu Qinghan, you are really unscrupulous.”

Gu Qinghan’s eyes turned red, but she still said, “Third Elder Lord, you have seen what has happened clearly. Someone calumniated me without evidence. Don’t you hear that? I’m married to the general in Qi family. Defaming me is defaming the Qi family. Don’t you control and teach her?” Speaking of this, she couldn’t help shedding tears.

“Defame you?” The Sixth Lord sneered coldly, “A straight foot is not afraid of a crooked shoe. If you had been discreet about your private life, no one would have said that.”

“You…” Gu Qinghan glared at him angrily, her eyes chilling.

Third Elder Lord pointed to Yang Ning and said, “You even beat your own brother. What if that heavy stuff hits his head? Have you ever thought about the consequences? They all say that you are a fool, and that is true. How can you guard the coffin like this?” He said in a deep voice, “A few days later, all the nobles will visit our family to offer comfort. If they find that you are such a fool, it will be the loss of face for the Qi family. We will be shamed forever. Our mansion is at least one of the Four Great Mansions of Marquis in the Southern Chu State, so we won’t let you bring shame to us. Now I decide to let Yu be the official filial son and guard the coffin. As for the matters after the funeral, I will deal with them myself. You two don’t have to interfere.”

The skinny Third Lord shouted, “Yes. This fool even doesn’t shed a single tear when his own father is dead. Isn’t he cold-blooded? How can such a person receive our guests?”

Yang Ning ignored him, walked slowly to the side of the temporary memorial tablet, and pointed to Qi Yu, motioning Qi Yu to go away.

Qi Yu now could breathe smoothly. He stood up, his eyes full of resentment, and sneered, “It is you who should go away. You are a fool. Do you think you can still be the heir to the title of the Marquis of Honor?”

Yang Ning raised one hand and spread his five fingers. These people didn’t know what he was going to do. But then they saw that Yang Ning bent his fingers one by one. When he bent the third finger, he suddenly extended his other hand and grabbed Qi Yu by his collar. Before Qi Yu could make any reaction, he had already been thrown away. Qi Yu staggered a few steps and then fell to the ground.

Lady Qiong exclaimed, and others were also surprised.

“You are unruly. You are unruly,” Third Elder Lord couldn’t contain his anger, “Qi Ning, what do you want to do?”

Yang Ning thought that the earl was really called Qi Ning. It seemed that he would use this name in the future. He looked at him and asked, “What do you think I want to do?”

“How can you be so bold?” The Fifth Lord said angrily, “How dare you be so presumptuous before your elders?”

Yang Ning pointed to Qi Yu first, and then pointed to Gu Qinghan, asking, “Why don’t you control and teach Qi Yu for insubordination?”

Third Elder Lord looked pale, and said in a deep voice, “Gu Qinghan doesn’t behave herself, how can I speak for her?”

“As an elder, you even don’t respect yourself. How can I pay respect to you?” Yang Ning’s words were amazing, “Qi Yu offended the Third Lady, and resorted to sophistry. But none of you ever stopped him. Of course, I can also be insubordinate. You teach me that.”

Third Elder Lord was struck dumb for a while. Gu Qinghan was also startled, anxiously saying, “Ning…”

Yang Ning raised his hand, stopped Gu Qinghan, and continued, “Who am I? I am the eldest son of the Marquis of Honor.” He pointed at Qi Yu, “Who is he? He is just a concubine’s son. Since you have been talking about rules all the time, you can tell me which rule says that a concubine’s son is more honorable than the eldest son.”

Yang Ning now understood that he was the dignified eldest son of the Marquis of Honor. Qi Yu was the son of Lady Qiong, so he was just an ordinary concubine’s son.

In fact, Yang Ning had no prejudice against the titles of the eldest son or the concubine’s son. After all, he was not born in this age. He didn’t have to abide by so many dogmatic rules in the past. He actually was against the corrupt customs of dividing people into various grades and ranks. But when he saw that this gang of people was so arrogant and overbearing, he was really angry. He did not know how long he would be the earl. Since he was the earl now, he could take the advantage of the identity.

If others made him unhappy, he would make them unhappier.

The eyes of the Fifth Lord were opened widely as if he was going to eat people. He said angrily, “Qi Ning, you are really unruly. You…”

“Who are you?” Yang Ning glanced at him and said lightly, “Do you only know the word ‘unruly’? By the way, are you the Fifth Lord?”

“I am your fifth uncle,” The Fifth Lord said coldly, “You are a good-for-nothing. You are not qualified to speak here.”

Yang Ning smiled and said, “This is the Mansion of the Marquis of Honor. If I can’t speak here, who else can?” He swept his eyes over the crowd, and saw that everyone was looking at him with a strange look.

He was very clear why they had such a reaction. They all knew that the earl was stupid ordinarily. But now his refutation was clear, well-organized, and germane. So they must be surprised.

Gu Qinghan’s charming eyes, like autumn water, were also full of surprise.

“You are worried that others will laugh at me,” Yang Ning said with a smile, “But I don’t know what the guests will think when they see that the official filial son is just a concubine’s son. Will they think that the Marquis of Honor even doesn’t have an heir?”

He repeated the words “concubine’s son” again and again. Qi Yu’s face was already pale, his hands clenched, his eyes staring at Yang Ning like a knife.

Yang Ning glanced at him lightly, and said, “Father has passed away. As the saying goes, elder brother should be regarded as father. Since I am your elder brother, I can be regarded as your father. But you are quite domineering before me. Is that the rule of the Mansion of the Marquis of Honor?” Looking at Gu Qinghan, he asked, “Third… Third Lady, do we have domestic disciplines in our mansion?”

Gu Qinghan’s beautiful eyes were full of shock at this time. She never thought that Yang Ning would come forward bravely and say these words, so she didn’t know how to answer his question for a while.

“Domestic disciplines?” Third Elder Lord sneered, “You are just a young boy. Are you qualified to talk about domestic disciplines here? I am the head of the Qi family now, so I should be the one who can give orders. Yang Ning, you have no respect for the elders and dare to shout in the mourning hall. I will never allow you to be so arrogant and you must be punished in line with the domestic disciplines.” He said in a deep voice, “Servants, capture this disobedient bastard, and beat him according to the domestic disciplines!”

Yang Ning was both angry and puzzled. He wondered why the old man always defended Qi Yu. It wouldn’t be for the stupidity of Qi Ning, so there might be other unknown reasons.

Once Third Elder Lord issued the order, several people rushed forward. Gu Qinghan’s eyes were as cold as ice, and she said coldly, “Ning is the earl. Who dares to touch him?”

These servants were stunned suddenly. The fat Sixth Lord made a sneer, rushed forward, and was going to claw at Yang Ning’s neck with his hand.

Yang Ning escaped easily. He grabbed the arm of the Sixth Lord and pulled him forward with great strength. The Sixth Lord couldn’t hold his feet, so he stumbled towards the altar. Amidst the exclamation, his fat body had already hit the altar. The candlesticks fell down suddenly, and the fruit trays were upset. It was totally in a mess.

The candlesticks fell on the white mourning cloth and immediately ignited it. Everyone was shocked and their faces lost color. Some people even exclaimed. Gu Qinghan was hit by the shock and screamed, “Put out the fire. Put out the fire!”

The fire spread very quickly and soared up. People outside the mourning hall had carried buckets of water and quickly extinguished the fire. It was just that at this moment the mourning hall was in disarray.

Seeing that the obese Sixth Lord had got up and was about to run out, Yang Ning suddenly rushed forward, kicking him in the back. The Sixth Lord shouted “Ouch” and then fell to the ground. Yang Ning immediately sat on him, removed his hat, grabbed his hair, and shouted, “You…you dare to destroy the mourning hall? I will fight it out with you. You must restore my mourning hall… Restore my mourning hall.” He raised his fist and punched the Sixth Lord in the head.

The Sixth Lord screamed like a pig. At this time, the mourning hall was in a mess. After the fire was set, Third Elder Lord was immediately supported out of the mourning hall. The Fifth Lord had already walked out of the door. When he turned back and saw that Yang Ning was riding on the Sixth Lord and punching his head with his fist, he shouted, “Qi Ning, you disobedient bastard. You even beat your uncle…” He rushed in the mourning hall fearlessly and raised his foot to kick Yang Ning. .

Yang Ning had made preparation for a long time. He extended his hand after the attack of the Fifth Lord, grabbed the ankle of him, and then twisted it hard. With the sound of a scream, the Fifth Lord fell to the ground.