Volume 1, Chapter 37: Unfilial Son!!

The entire courtyard was plunged into a deathly silence. The air seemed to congeal, with only the cold gleam reflected off the dozen or so steel blades silently speaking of lethal danger.

Liu Chengye lay sprawled on the ground, his expression ghastly.

Wang Defa’s chest heaved violently, his ragged breathing sounding like a broken bellows. His eyes, round as copper bells, were fixed on Ye Xuan, the fury and murderous intent within them nearly tangible.

Kill him!

The thought screamed wildly in his mind!

Yet, Ye Xuan’s airy remark acted like an invisible shackle, tightly gripping the executioner’s blade he was about to swing.

His son’s leg!

That was his only legacy, his entire hope! If he killed this boy before him, Teng’er’s leg would truly be ruined, and the Wang family would be as good as half-destroyed.

This realization hit him like a bucket of ice water, cooling his boiling rationality just enough. He had not climbed to the position of Deputy Commander of the Garrison Command by brute force alone. From the beginning, this young man had not shown a shred of fear. Such composure and poise were not things an ordinary person could feign.

Wang Defa narrowed his eyes, his murderous intent slowly receding, replaced by a more gloomy and dangerous scrutiny. He stared at Ye Xuan as if trying to see through him completely. After a long while, he forced a smile onto his fleshy face—a smile more hideous than tears—and spoke in a hoarse, low voice.

"Good. A fine lad."

"You’ve got guts!"

He slowly withdrew the blade that had been pointed at Ye Xuan’s chest. Seeing this, the soldiers behind him, though confused, also sheathed their swords. The murderous aura that had threatened to tear everyone apart dissipated for the most part, but the atmosphere in the courtyard grew even more oppressive and eerie.

Wang Defa took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the raging fire in his heart, and said word by word, "Boy, I don’t care what your background is."

"Now, you will come back to my estate and heal my son’s leg."

He paused, a flicker of savage ruthlessness flashing in his eyes.

"Once it is done, the matter of you assaulting me and breaking my son’s leg today can be wiped clean."

"However..." His tone shifted, becoming chilling. "Capital punishment may be avoided, but living punishment is unavoidable."

"Break one of your own legs, and this matter will be over!"

Break his own leg!

He said these four words nonchalantly, yet they carried an unquestionable arrogance and cruelty. In his view, this was the greatest concession he, Wang Defa, had ever made in his life.

Lying on the ground, Liu Chengye heard this, and the flicker of hope that had just ignited in his heart was instantly extinguished. It was over—the negotiations had completely collapsed.

However, contrary to everyone’s expectations, Ye Xuan did not get angry upon hearing this; instead, he laughed. He began with a low chuckle, then the laughter grew louder and more unrestrained, as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world.

"Haha... Hahahahaha!"

The clear, resonant laughter echoed in the small courtyard, filled with undisguised mockery and disdain.

Wang Defa’s face turned from green to purple, then from purple to black. The veins on the back of his hand gripping the sword hilt bulged like writhing dragons.

"What are you laughing at!" he squeezed the words through his teeth, like a beast on the verge of losing control.

Ye Xuan finally stopped laughing. He looked at Wang Defa as if gazing at a mouse flaunting its power in a rice bin.

"Wang Defa, I am laughing because you are pathetic and do not even realize it."

"What?" Wang Defa was stunned.

"Let me ask you, do you think that by letting me off today and only demanding I break one leg, you are bestowing a grand favor upon me?" A cold curve played on the corner of Ye Xuan’s mouth.

Wang Defa did not speak, but his expression clearly confirmed it.

"Then think again."

Ye Xuan’s voice was not loud, but it struck Wang Defa’s heart like a series of heavy hammers.

"I can cure the terminal illness of the Liu family’s daughter, for which even the imperial physicians of the capital have no solution."

"I dared to break your precious son’s leg in broad daylight."

"And now, facing you and your dozen steel blades, I remain unflinching."

Ye Xuan took a step forward, his gaze suddenly becoming sharp as a blade, piercing deep into Wang Defa’s heart.

"Tell me."

"What makes you think you have the qualifications to negotiate with me?"

*Boom!*

Wang Defa felt a thunderous roar in his brain. Struck as if by lightning, he subconsciously took half a step back.

Indeed... what qualified him?

He had been blinded by rage all this time, thinking only that the other party had hit his son and he needed to retaliate. But he had ignored the most fundamental question: Why did the other party dare to do it?

A divine doctor who could cure a terminal illness, a young man who could chat and laugh while facing a dozen executioner blades... could such a person be a soft persimmon for him to squeeze?

Fear began to creep silently from the bottom of Wang Defa’s heart like a vine.

"Who... who exactly are you?" His voice carried a tremor he had not even noticed himself.

Ye Xuan smiled, not answering his question directly, but shifting the topic.

"Commander Wang, I hear you are illiterate, which is why you are desperately trying to have your son study to earn a scholarly title and bring honor to your ancestors, is that right?"

This remark hit exactly the softest and most inferior part of Wang Defa’s heart. His face flushed instantly, and he roared, "What business is that of yours!"

"It certainly is my business," Ye Xuan said leisurely. "Because you are personally destroying your only hope."

"You!"

"You want him to become a well-read scholar, but you have indulged him into becoming a bully who drags innocent women off the street."

"You want him to bring glory to your house, but your current actions are digging a grave for the entire Wang family!"

Ye Xuan’s voice turned cold. "By the way, let me whisper a piece of news to you. Do you know who else your son offended on the street besides me?"

"Who?" Wang Defa, now completely led by the nose by Ye Xuan, asked subconsciously.

Ye Xuan leaned close to Wang Defa’s ear and whispered softly:

"The daughter of the current Chief Councilor, the foremost talented woman in the capital, Su Qingxue!"

Upon hearing the name Su Qingxue, Wang Defa’s pupils contracted!

Who? The Chief Councilor’s daughter? How could she have been here?

It was over!

In that moment, dozens of ways to die flashed through Wang Defa’s mind. If what Ye Xuan said was true, then he, a mere Deputy Commander of the Garrison Command, was finished!

*That rebellious son!!*