A Clash of Gods - Chapter 55
Chapter 55 Sworn Brothers
Qi Yu’s face was twisted, and the muscles on his face were twitching. He said with a sneer, “You…you are seeking personal revenge. You…you are in power currently and you want to get back at me.”
Yang Ning smiled and said, while clapping his hands, “Well said. You are a smart guy, like I said. You are right, I am seeking personal revenge, and I am getting back at you.” Yang Ning stepped forward and said with a sneer, “I like the way you look right now, unhappy and helpless. So what? What are you going to do to me?” Seeing Qi Yu was clenching his fists, Yang Ning said, “It seems like that you are going to pick up a fight. Come on and bring it. I will never fight back. I will love it if you are going to give me a reason to drive you out of the mansion.”
Hatred showed in the eyes of Lady Qiong. She said in a cold voice, “Qi Yu, he is the earl. If he wants you to salute to him, you just make the salute.”
“Mother…!” Qi Yu turned and saw Lady Qiong slightly nodded with a sombre expression on her face. Qi Yu suppressed his anger and hesitated, then he raised his hands to Yang Ning.
“Good,” Yang Ning said, smiling, “You are getting to know the rules, and this is a good sign. Qi Yu, as your elder brother, I have a piece of advice for you, and it’s up to you to take it or leave it.”
With his head slightly tilted, Qi Yu gave Yang Ning a hostile look and said nothing.
Yang Ning slowly said, “I know you like to play tricks, and I also know that you are a smart guy. If you play your tricks properly, you will certainly be safe, and you will surely live a luxurious life. However, I need to remind you that you shouldn’t play your tricks improperly, and you shouldn’t point fingers behind my back. I won’t lose my temper easily, but if you poke the bear one day, I will make your life miserable.” Then he continued in a cold voice, “Did you hear me?”
Qi Yu snorted, then he turned and left very quickly. As he passed by Lady Qiong, he didn’t even look at her.
Lady Qiong glared at Yang Ning with resentment, then she followed Qi Yu and left hurriedly.
Watching those two went away, coldness showed on Yang Ning’s face.
For some of the big families, it was difficult to take them down from outside. What caused the big families to decay was usually something inside the house. The internal power struggle was always the reason for big families to fall apart.
In fact, Yang Ning didn’t care about the prosperity or the decay of the Mansion of Marquis of Honor, but he really resented Qi Yu and his mother.
Yang Ning couldn’t believe that Qi Yu could just randomly come up with something so evil, while he was cursing Gu Qinghan. It must be something Qi Yu had been thinking about for a long time.
Gu Qinghan needed to maintain the order of the Mansion of the Marquis of Honor, and uphold the authority of Qi Ning, so people like Qi Yu would certainly hold grudge against her, and she would be the biggest obstacle for Qi Yu to inherit the title of Marquis of Honor. In this case, Gu Qinghan would surely be the thorn in Qi Yu’s flesh. If Qi Yu rose to power someday, he would definitely get back with Gu Qinghan.
Yang Ning could understand that men were born selfish, but Qi Yu and his mother were so vicious, intriguing behind people’s back. This was totally different from Gu Qinghan.
If Yang Ning had to leave one day, he must get rid of those vicious two for Gu Qinghan.
However, Yang Ning also knew that it would be very hard to look out sneaky people who tended to intrigue and plot. Now Qi Yu and his mother were aiming at Yang Ning, so Yang Ning needed to be very cautious. If he could find any evidence to prove that they were plotting against him, Yang Ning would never let go of them.
As Yang Ning was thinking about it while walking, he suddenly heard the voice of Duan Canghai, “Your Excellency, here you are.”
“Oh, Uncle Duan, what’s it?” Seeing Duan Canghai hurried over, Yang Ning said with a smile, “I am also looking for you.”
“What do you want, Your Excellency?” Duan Canghai stepped forward and raised his hands.
Yang Ning said with a smile, “Spare the courtesies.” He said quietly, “By the way, Uncle Duan, do you know where is the Mansion of the Marquis of Martial Arts, is it also on the Pipa Street?”
Duan Canghai shook his head and said, “The Mansion of the Marquis of Martial Arts is near the Wende Bridge, and it’s kind of far from our mansion. Why does Your Excellency want to know about the Mansion of the Marquis of Martial Arts?
“I want to pay a visit to the Marquis of Martial Arts,” Yang Ning said with a smile, “Since it is impolite not to reciprocate. We haven’t given him a response since the last time he came here. Now that the funeral is about to be finished, we shall give him a response.”
“Ah?” Duan Canghai hurried and asked, “Has the Dowager made her decision?”
Yang Ning casually said, “This is my marriage, so I should be the one to make the decision.” After a pause, he continued, “Considering the comments the Marquis of Martial Arts had made, do you think we have any chance to make things better?”
Duan Canghai looked serious, and said, “Su Zhen has brought such a shame for his family by eating his words on such an important matter. He must dare not to pay respect to the late Marquis of Martial Arts .” Then it seemed like that something suddenly came to his mind, and he said, “I almost forgot. Your Excellency, don’t hurry to the Mansion of the Marquis of Martial Arts. There is someone asking for you.”
“For me?” Yang Ning was curious, “Who is asking for me?”
Duan Canghai said in a low voice, “It’s the sworn brother of Your Excellency, Yuan Rong!”
“Sworn brother?” Yang Ning got nervous, saying, “I…I have such a sworn brother?”
“Eh…!” Duan Canghai pondered for a while, then carefully said, “Your Excellency, Mr. Yuan and Your Excellency are sort of friends. But…please allow me to remind you that you shall not get too close to this kind of people. In the past, Your Excellency used to hang out with these people, but…but they didn’t bring anything good for you. You were the one who always suffered losses. In fact, Third Lady didn’t like Your Excellency hanging out with them.”
“Is that so?” Yang Ning was a smart guy. Hearing what Duan Canghai had said, Yang Ning immediately figured out something, and he asked with a smile, “Uncle Duan, this sworn brother of mine, is he a playboy who always wants to screw around? He and I were just fair weather friends, aren’t we?”
Hearing this, Duan Canghai stopped frowning, and he said with a smile, “It turned out that Your Excellency already knew this. In this case, I have nothing to worry about. Yuan Rong is the eldest trueborn grandson of Minister Yuan in the Ministry of Rites. Minister Yuan is surely a literary and talented man. Being the grandson of him, Mr. Yuan is also kind of literary, but…!” Duan Canghai shook his head and said, “It is normal for a young man to be arrogant.”
“This is weird. I have been back for many days, and we have spent lots of days holding the funeral of my father. I have never seen this sworn brother during these days,” Yang Ning said with a half smile, “So how come he shows up now, right after the funeral?”
Duan Canghai quietly said, “If I am right, it may be about the assassination in the villa of the Loyalty Cemetery.”
“Is that so?” Yang Ning frowned, “What do you mean, Uncle Duan?”
Duan Canghai thought that Yang Ning had misunderstood him, so he explained, “Don’t overthink about it, Your Excellency. I don’t think Yuan Rong is related to the assassination. Though he is a flirty playboy, Yuan Rong is not an evil person.” Duan Canghai looked around, then said, “His grandfather is the Minister of Rites, and the villa of the Loyalty Cemetery is subordinated to the Ministry of Rites. Such a huge accident, an assassination of the earl, happened in the villa, and if we don’t let go of this matter, Minister Yuan, the Minister of Rites, would get in trouble somehow.”
“Ah?” Yang Ning understood the meaning of Duan Canghai’s words, saying, “Minister Yuan wants to trivialize this matter, but he is not convenient to do it in person, so he sends Yuan Rong over to sound us out.”
Duan Canghai gave Yang Ning a thumb-up, saying, “Your Excellency is sharp. That is probably the case.” Gratification showed in Duan Canghai’s eyes, and he thought that the Mansion of the Marquis of Honor must be blessed by the God, since the earl was getting smarter and smarter.
When Yang Ning saw Yuan Rong, he was having his tea in the side hall.
Yang Ning didn’t step inside immediately, but watched Yuan Rong for a while outside the side hall. Yuan Rong was about twenty, wearing an ivory silk robe and a delicate silk hat. It was true that people relied on clothes. With all those fancy clothes, Yuan Rong looked kind of handsome.
There was no one else but Yuan Rong in the side hall. He certainly didn’t care about the tea, and he didn’t expect that Yang Ning would sneakily watch him outside the side hall. Yuan Rong got up and fake a smile, then he looked at a certain place and said with a smile, “Brother, I missed you so much. Finally I get to see you today!” He raised his arms and looked like that he was hugging someone.
Yang Ning was shocked at first, and he thought Yuan Rong was so sharp that he could figure out that Yang Ning was standing outside the door. However, seeing Yuan Rong was hugging the air, Yang Ning immediately understood that Yuan Rong was just practicing.
Sure enough, Yuan Rong shook his head and said to himself, “It’s not good. His father just died, so I need to look sorrowful at this time…!” He looked up and pretended to be sad. He wiped the tear which didn’t exist, and said in a sorrowful voice, “Brother, the Marquis of Honor passed away, and the whole state is mourning for him. You need to take care of yourself, and if you need anything, just say it. I will help you even if you need me to go through hell. After all, we are sworn brothers.” He suddenly stopped here, and he shook his head, saying, “It’s even worse. If he really needs me to do something for him, am I asking for trouble?”
There were multiple expressions on the face of Yuan Rong. He looked happy now and sad then, practicing his speech by himself, like a psycho. Yang Ning thought it was funny, and he suddenly coughed, stepping into the side hall with his hands at his back.
Hearing the cough, Yuan Rong hurried to restore a normal pose. He turned and saw Yang Ning stepped in. Yuan Rong was smiling at first, then he saw Yang Ning’s face was cold, so he immediately put his sad face on. Yuan Rong stepped forward and said, “Brother, you…!” Before he could finish his sentence, Yang Ning passed by him, without looking at him. Yuan Rong was astonished for a while, embarrassed. Seeing Yang Ning was already seated in the chair, Yuan Rong stepped over and asked quietly, “Brother Ning, are…are you all right?”
Yang Ning looked up, staring at Yuan Rong, without saying anything, and there was no expression on Yang Ning’s face.
Being stared by Yang Ning, Yuan Rong got a creepy feeling. He forced a smile and said, “The Marquis of Honor passed, you…you need to take care of yourself. If there is anything…anything that I can do…oh, no, Brother Ning, you see, I…this…!” Yuan Rong stumbled, then it was like something suddenly came to his mind. He gathered his wits together and forced a smile, saying, “Are you blaming me for not help you these days?”
Yang Ning snorted and didn’t say anything.
Yuan Rong lifted his hand, pointing up and saying, “God knows that I couldn’t have any rest ever since I heard that you were kidnapped. I tried many times getting out of the capital with my team to rescue you, but…but the old bigot in my family said that it was really dangerous in the capital because they even dared to kidnap the earl. He got me locked up in the room, and I couldn’t find a way to break out.”
Yang Ning darted a look at him and gave him another sneer.
“Sure, it was not easy for him to lock me up.” Yuan Rong said in a low voice, “You, my brother, was kidnapped, so how could I stand by doing nothing? I, Yuan Rong, am a man uphold brotherhood. I’d rather break my neck and drain my blood than leave my brother behind. Therefore, I sneaked out of our mansion one night, and I wanted to track you down, but…!” He let out a great sigh, “But the old bigot was so cunning, and I was caught by him. Unlucky for me, I was punished according to our family rules. My bottom got bashed, and I couldn’t even move for more than half a month.” Seeing Yang Ning’s face was still cold, Yuan Rong anxiously said, “Don’t you believe me, brother? Fine, I will take off my pants and show it to you.”
Yuan Rong looked serious, and threw off the bottom of his coat, lifting it up. He turned his back to Yang Ning, and was about to take off his pants to prove his words.