Chapter 416: Purpose
Editor: Atlas Studios
The more Qi Feng thought about it, the more aggrieved he felt. His face turned sinister. Seeing this, Fan Zijin’s heart turned cold. He fell to the ground and accused angrily and sadly, “Uncle, Eldest Cousin is your biological son!”
Everyone also saw Qi Feng’s expression. Just like Fan Zijin, they also thought that Qi Feng was unwilling. They all shook their heads in their hearts, feeling that Qi Feng was indeed ruthless. Qi Xiuyuan was, after all, his biological son. Even a vicious tiger would not eat its cubs.
Frowning, Qi Shan said, “Second Brother, no matter what conflicts exist between you two, Xiuyuan has at least always been respectful and filial to you, his father. You don’t have to worry about Haoran marrying a bad wife. I heard that Xiuyuan had planned to marry Haoran to this girl to begin with. Since the girl’s family is willing to agree to this marriage at this time in order to help Xiuyuan recover, it can be seen that there’s nothing wrong with their morals.”
Qi Feng was so angry that his nose was crooked. Looking at Fan Zijin suspiciously, he said, “Is Xiuyuan really seriously injured and needs to get rid of the bad luck?”
Fan Zijin nodded repeatedly and hurriedly said, “The Imperial Court also knows about this. When Eldest Cousin patrolled the border, he discovered the Jin soldiers who had infiltrated. At that time, the situation was urgent. In order to save the people from the two villages, he could only go deep into the forest. Who knew that he would be ambushed by the Jin soldiers? Later on, it was Haoran who rushed in with his men to save him. However, Eldest Cousin was already seriously injured with a poisoned arrow. Because of the delay, the doctors were all helpless. They could only seek help from a master who was proficient in medicine and divination to help. However, that master could only barely protect Eldest Cousin’s heart meridians. He said that it was best to flush away the bad luck with a wedding. Only then might there be a chance of survival. Otherwise, the poison would enter his heart’s meridians sooner or later. Should that happen, even Bodhisattva would not be able to do anything…”
“Nonsense. These are clearly demonic words to confuse people’s hearts. To think that you’re a scholar. If flushing away bad luck with weddings really works, what need is there for doctors?” Qi Feng shouted righteously.
A hint of mockery flashed across Fan Zijin’s lowered eyes. When he looked up, his eyes were filled with shock. He asked in confusion, “But back then didn’t you make Madam Wu your legitimate wife in hopes of flushing away the bad luck for Old Madam? You even said that it was very effective. Right after you made Madam Wu your legitimate wife, Old Madam could immediately walk.”
All sorts of colors could be seen on Qi Feng’s face instantly.
Someone in the crowd couldn’t help but burst out laughing. Qi Feng’s face turned even more colorful.
Beaming, Qi Cheng added, “I remember that back then, not only did Second Brother hold a banquet to promote Second Sister-in-law, but he also recorded her name on the genealogical tree. Even though the Wu family didn’t get the Zhu family’s approval or the marriage contract from the government office. Ah, I remember that Second Aunt’s condition started to improve after Second Brother recorded Madam Wu’s name on the genealogical tree.”
“Then it seems that this genealogical tree is the most important part. Perhaps Xiuyuan will be fine after we write the names on the tree.”
Puzzled, Qi Shan asked Qi Feng, “Since Haoran is already married and has gotten the marriage contract, why are you unwilling to put their names on the genealogical tree?”
If Qi Haoran was not yet married, it was still possible that Qi Feng wanted to use his marriage to form a marriage alliance. But now, even the marriage contract had been finalized. Did he really not want Qi Xiuyuan to have this chance of survival?
Thinking of this, Qi Shan’s gaze was a little unfriendly. Even if there were all kinds of conflicts within the Qi clan, it was not to the extent of wishing one of their own dead. Moreover, Qi Xiuyuan was Qi Feng’s biological son.
Feeling a chill in his heart, he looked at Qi Feng with an increasingly unfriendly gaze.
Qi Feng couldn’t say anything. He was indeed the one who set the precedent for using a wedding to flush out the bad luck within the Qi clan. He felt an extremely bitter sensation in his mouth. As everyone became increasingly aggressive, Qi Feng had no choice but to say, “What do you know? I already have plans for Haoran’s marriage. I’m going to let him marry Minister Qin’s fourth daughter!”
Everyone was stunned. Fourth Great Uncle Qi Yong pushed everyone away and asked as he trembled, “Who do you want Haoran to marry?”
When Qi Feng saw everyone’s shocked expressions, he looked up and said, “Minister Qin’s fourth daughter. Although she’s a concubine’s daughter, she’s virtuous and gentle… Geez…”
“I’ll beat you to death, you bastard.” Qi Yong picked up his walking stick and smacked him in the face. “You sold your son for glory and are now even disregarding the life and death of your biological son. How did the Qi family raise a bastard like you?”
As he spoke, he swiftly picked up his walking stick and hit him. The stick smacked Qi Feng loudly, causing the latter to dodge and call for help. However, everyone simply stood still and looked at him with complicated gazes.
To be able to provoke the most honest and cowardly Fourth Brother into personally beating someone up, Qi Feng could be considered a talent.
Qi Yong only stopped when he was tired. Tears streamed down his face as he pointed at Qi Feng in grief and indignation. “Why do you have such thoughts? You’re trampling my Qi family’s reputation into the mud!”
Qi Shan also glared at Qi Feng unkindly. “Second Brother, I don’t care what you think. In short, my Qi clan will never allow the Qin family’s daughter to enter the clan. I’ve made the decision. I’ll open the ancestral hall now and put Haoran and his wife’s names on the genealogical tree. If you, the father, don’t want to write it, I’ll do it!”
Qi Feng pointed at them and said angrily, “Do you think I’m the one who suggested this marriage? This is His Majesty’s idea.”
Qi Cheng sneered and said, “We’re not officials, so how would we know if it was His Majesty’s intention? Besides, so what if it was? He hasn’t issued a decree to grant the marriage, so isn’t it up to us to decide who Haoran marries?”
Although Qi Cheng loved money and was usually a little unreliable, he knew that they couldn’t become in-laws with the Qin family. Although Minister Qin was powerful, his reputation outside was not much better than the smelly ditch. It did not matter to Minister Qin since he was influential, but considering the Qi family had no power or influence, wouldn’t they have to bear all the anger of the people should they become associated with him?
He sized up Qi Feng and asked, “Don’t tell me you were so happy upon hearing His Majesty’s words that you couldn’t find an excuse to brush it off? No, there isn’t even a need to find a random reason. There’s a ready-made one here. Haoran is already married in Jingzhao Prefecture. If the Qin family is willing to marry their daughter over as a concubine, our Qi family won’t mind.”
At this point, Qi Cheng was filled with malice.
Qi Shan glared at Qi Cheng before looking at Fourth Uncle Qi Yong. He bowed and said, “Fourth Uncle, you’re the oldest elder in the clan. How do you think we should deal with this matter?”
Qi Yong gritted his teeth and said, “Open the ancestral hall. I’ll personally write their names on the genealogical tree.”
Qi Shan was delighted. He didn’t expect Qi Yong, who had always been honest and happy to stay invisible, to be willing to step forward. It seemed that Qi Feng had really angered him this time.
Qi Shan immediately got someone to prepare the things.
Qi Feng hurriedly stopped him. Qi Shan pushed his hand away angrily. “Haoran is already married. No matter what, the Qin family’s marriage is not going to happen. What’s the point of stopping him now? Are you really going to disregard the relationship between father and son?”
Qi Cheng rolled his eyes and said suspiciously, “Second Brother, don’t tell me you think it doesn’t count if the Mu girl’s name hasn’t yet gone on the genealogical tree, and that you’ll demote her to a concubine in order to let Haoran marry the Qin daughter?”
This guess was very shameless. Initially, Qi Cheng thought that he was judging a gentleman by his own narrow-mindedness. However, when they saw Qi Feng’s expression stiffen, everyone understood that this fellow really had such thoughts.
The clansmen who originally didn’t want their relationship to become too strained immediately agreed to open the ancestral hall. What a joke. If Qi Feng really became in-laws with Minister Qin, the entire Qi clan would be implicated. Which of them didn’t have unmarried children?
They did not want their children to be unable to marry in the future. Hence, they nudged Qi Shan and Qi Yong along as they entered the ancestral hall with Fan Zijin.