Chapter 128 One Hundred and Twenty-Eight

Chapter Summary: [Jin Guangshan was about to speak, but seeing this, he became displeased. Jin Guangyao, noticing his expression, quickly raised his voice and said, "Everyone..."]

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Jin Guangshan was about to speak, but seeing his displeasure, Jin Guangyao, noticing his expression, quickly raised his voice and said, "Please calm down, everyone. The important matter to be discussed today is not this." As he spoke, he had his servants bring over chilled fruit slices to divert attention, and the Dianjin Pavilion gradually quieted down. Jin Guangshan seized the opportunity to say, "Sect Leader Jiang, originally this was your family matter, and I shouldn't interfere, but now that things have come to this, regarding Wei Ying, I have to remind you of something."

Jiang Cheng said, "Sect Leader Jin, please speak."

Jin Guangshan said, "Sect Leader Jiang, Wei Ying is your right-hand man, and we all know you value him highly. But whether he respects you as the clan leader is another matter. In all my years as clan leader, I've never seen a subordinate dare to be so arrogant and conceited. Have you heard what's being said outside? That the Yunmeng Jiang Clan's achievements in the Sunshot Campaign were all carried by Wei Wuxian alone? That's utter nonsense!"

Hearing this, Jiang Cheng's face turned extremely ugly. Jin Guangshan shook his head and said, "At such a grand occasion as the Hundred Families Flower Banquet, he dared to give you a hard time in front of you and just leave. Yesterday, he was even more presumptuous behind your back, daring to say things like, 'I don't take Jiang Wanyin, the head of the family, seriously at all!' Everyone present heard it with their own ears..."

Everyone in the Jiang family stared intently at Jin Guangshan's hypocritical face. Everyone could tell that his attempt to sow discord was now blatant.

Wei Wuxian's actions undoubtedly challenged the authority of the Jin clan at that time, and he even showed no respect to Jin Guangshan, the clan head, in front of everyone.

If you want to take action against Wei Wuxian, you must make sure he has no one behind him. The Yunmeng Jiang Clan has just been rebuilt, and the patriarch Jiang Cheng is only of age. He took a liking to Wei Wuxian’s cautious and strong-willed nature. These words, spoken to Jiang Cheng at that time, did have some effect.

But now, hearing these words again, Jiang Cheng only finds them laughable.

But what can be done? What's done is done.

As for Jin Guangshan's fabricated story about Wei Wuxian, apart from a few close friends, who wouldn't believe it after witnessing Wei Wuxian's unrestrained behavior?

Suddenly, a cold voice said, "No."

Jin Guangshan was engrossed in his choreographing when he heard this and, like everyone else, looked in the direction of the voice.

Lan Wangji sat upright, calmly stating, "I have never heard Wei Ying say those words, nor have I heard him express the slightest disrespect towards Sect Leader Jiang."

Lan Wangji's voice was like a cold spring pouring down on everyone's heads.

Some with good memories have begun to recall every word Wei Wuxian said. In fact, they now empathize with him, as if they have experienced everything he said, did, and thought.

The truth is, Wei Wuxian never said such a thing, nor did he ever have such thoughts.

They didn't believe it then because every family had its own undercurrents of struggle. Someone like Wei Wuxian, who was in a lower position but possessed great abilities, would be desperately trying to climb up the social ladder. So they were unwilling to admit that in the Yunmeng Jiang Clan, this much larger family, there was such a pure and supportive friendship.

Lan Wangji was a man of few words. Even during discussions on law and philosophy, he only answered concisely and to the point when challenged, his words few but always hitting the nail on the head, easily outmaneuvering those who spoke eloquently and fluently. Otherwise, he almost never spoke. Therefore, Jin Guangshan was far more surprised than annoyed at being interrupted. However, being publicly exposed for altering and embellishing his words was slightly embarrassing. Fortunately, his embarrassment didn't last long, as Jin Guangyao immediately came to his rescue, exclaiming in surprise, "Really? Ah, that day Young Master Wei stormed onto Jinlintai, saying so many things, each more earth-shattering than the last. He probably said something similar, but I can't remember exactly."

His memory was no worse than Lan Wangji's, and Nie Mingjue knew immediately that he was pretending to be confused, so he frowned slightly. Jin Guangshan then took the opportunity to say, "That's right, he's always been arrogant and conceited."

One of the clan heads said, "Actually, I've wanted to say this for a while. Although Wei Wuxian did have some merit in the Sunshot Campaign, there were many guest retainers who had more merit than him, and I've never seen anyone as self-important as him. To put it bluntly, he's just the son of a servant. How can the son of a servant be so arrogant?"

Listening to Jin Guangyao's words, one can't help but admire his tact and resourcefulness in dealing with people, and how quickly he reacted in such an awkward situation.

But this is a skill he was born with or that he honed through more than a decade of painful training, and others have no right to comment on it.

But the mention of "the son of a servant" made the Jiang family members frown again.

Although Yu Ziyuan often blurted out these words when scolding Wei Wuxian or arguing with Jiang Fengmian, it was only when she was angry and spoke without thinking. In addition, Jiang Fengmian had not yet expressed his feelings at that time, so there were many misunderstandings between the two. Wei Wuxian was just the punching bag in the middle.

Once outside the family home, Wei Wuxian, though playful and mischievous, possessed exceptional talent and intelligence, making him the Jiang family's top disciple. His father, Wei Changze, though once serving the Yunmeng Jiang clan, was a brother and friend of Jiang Fengmian. Not to mention Cangse Sanren, their friendship was deep; how could they allow these people to insult the bond between father and son by calling him "the son of a servant"?

Jiang Fengmian slightly raised his head, his eyes filled with seriousness.

“A-Xian is the son of two of my old friends, and also the eldest disciple of my Yunmeng Jiang Clan. If anyone ever hears of him being insulted in this way again, my Yunmeng Jiang Clan will not let him off lightly.”

When he mentioned "the son of a servant," some naturally thought of "the son of a prostitute" standing in the hall. Jin Guangyao clearly noticed these ill-intentioned glances, yet his smile remained perfect, unwavering. The crowd quickly followed suit, expressing their dissatisfaction.

"Sect Leader Jin had Wei Ying present the Yin Tiger Tally with good intentions, fearing that he might not be able to control it and cause a great disaster. But he judged Wei Ying with the mind of a petty person, thinking that everyone coveted his magic weapon? How laughable. When it comes to magic weapons, which family doesn't have a few treasures to protect their home?"

"I knew from the beginning that his cultivation of the demonic path would eventually lead to problems. Look! His bloodthirstiness is starting to show; he's indiscriminately killing our people for a few warm dogs..."

Just then, a cautious voice chimed in: "It's not indiscriminate killing, is it?"

Lan Wangji, who seemed to have entered a state of serene meditation where he was oblivious to everything, stirred at the sound and looked up. The speaker was a beautiful young woman standing beside a clan head. Her incongruous remark immediately drew a barrage of criticism from the nearby cultivators: "What do you mean by that?"

The woman seemed frightened and said more cautiously, "No... I didn't mean anything by it, everyone doesn't need to be so agitated. I just think the word 'indiscriminate killing' is not quite appropriate."

Another person, spitting as he spoke, said, "What's wrong with it? Wei Wuxian has been a bloodthirsty killer since the Sunshot Campaign, can you deny that?"

The woman tried to defend herself, saying, "The Sun-Shooting Competition was a battlefield. On a battlefield, wouldn't everyone be considered to have committed indiscriminate killing? Let's stick to the facts. I really don't think he committed indiscriminate killing. After all, there was a reason for it. If those supervisors really mistreated the prisoners and killed Wen Ning, then it's not indiscriminate killing, it's revenge..."

One of them said angrily, "You're ridiculous! Are you going to say that it's justified for him to kill our people? Are you going to praise it as a righteous act?"

One person scoffed, saying, "We don't even know if those supervisors did these things; no one saw it with their own eyes."

"Yes, the surviving foremen all said they absolutely did not mistreat the prisoners of war. Wen Ning accidentally fell off the cliff and died. They even kindly helped Wen Ning collect his remains and buried him, who knew they would be retaliated against like this. It's truly chilling!"

The woman said, "The other supervisors, fearing accountability for mistreating prisoners and killing people, naturally insisted that he fell on his own..."

Suddenly, someone sneered, "You don't need to make excuses anymore. We don't want to hear the words of someone with a guilty conscience."

The woman blushed and raised her voice, "Explain yourself! What do you mean by 'having a guilty conscience'?"

The man said, "No need to say anything, you know it in your heart, and we all know it too. Back when he flirted with you at the bottom of the Xuanwu Cave, you were already head over heels for him? And now you're still making excuses for him, twisting the truth. Ha, a woman is just a woman."

Apart from the head of the family who was present that day, most of the other people were hearing these words for the first time.

If these words were spoken at the beginning of Tianying, probably four-fifths of the people in the entire space would scoff at or even curse this brave woman who stood up, just like the people in Tianying.

But after seeing so many celestial scenes, hearing these things again, the words stuck in my throat.

Was the girl wrong?

In retrospect, it was absolutely right.

During the campaign to shoot down the suns, every soldier who went to the battlefield had dozens or even hundreds of lives on their hands.

As for the killing of the supervisor at Qiongqi Road, most people originally felt that prisoners should have a sense of their status as prisoners, and that the victors and the vanquished are the ones who live, as has been the case since ancient times. However, this is often said by the victors. Since they are prisoners, they have already surrendered. They should be made to do labor and be educated so that they can atone for their crimes. Why go so far as to kill them and inflict cruelty on them, turning themselves into demons as well?

But those supervisors at Qiongqi Road...

All that came to mind were the images of the Wen family prisoners being tortured and beaten in the desolate mountains on a rainy night, and Wen Ning's tragic death at Qiongqi Road. A chill ran down their spines.

Yes, prisoners are human beings too. How can a foreman treat human life so lightly? When it comes to indiscriminate killing, it is probably those who arbitrarily abuse and kill prisoners who are truly guilty of indiscriminate killing.

It was only because of their biased listening, or rather, their willingness to believe only the supervisor and not the Wen family prisoners, that they instilled in themselves this seemingly righteous ideology.

In reality, it is they who are making excuses.

The story of Wei Wuxian rescuing a beauty from the bottom of Xuanwu Cave was once a popular topic of conversation, so many people immediately realized that the young woman was "Mianmian".

Someone immediately muttered, "I knew it, no wonder they were so eager to talk to Wei Wuxian..."

Mianmian retorted angrily, "What sophistry and distortion of the truth? I'm just stating the facts. What does it have to do with me being a woman? If you can't win an argument, you resort to other things to attack me?"

Someone scoffed, "Tsk tsk tsk, you speak so clearly and innocently, but your heart is crooked, how can you talk about discussing the matter objectively?"

"Don't waste your breath on her. It's shameful that someone like her is from our family and can even infiltrate the Golden Pavilion. I feel ashamed to stand next to her."

Many of those who attacked her were fellow cultivators who sided with her family. Mianmian's eyes reddened with anger, tears welling in them. After a long pause, she shouted, "Fine! You're loud! Okay! You're right!"

She gritted her teeth, abruptly ripped off her family crested robe, and slammed it heavily on the table with a loud bang. This drew the attention of the family heads in the front row, who hadn't been paying attention to her, and they turned to see what was happening. The others were startled, because this action signified "leaving the family."

Mianmian didn't say a word, turned around and walked out. After a while, someone mocked, "If you dare to take it off, then don't put it back on!"

"Who does she think she is... If she wants to quit, she should quit. Who cares? Who is she trying to impress with this sulking?"

Scattered voices began to chime in: "Women will be women, they can't stand being told what to do, they'll definitely come back on their own in a couple of days."

"Of course. After all, it wasn't easy for her to go from being a slave's daughter to a disciple, hehe..."

Although the Heavenly Realm only lasted a few hours, the scene of Wei Wuxian rescuing people at the bottom of the Xuanwu Cave seemed like something from a past life.

No wonder everyone thought the girl looked familiar.

When everyone saw that Mianmian had actually taken off her family crested robe, they were all in an uproar, but they also sincerely admired the girl's courage and decisiveness.

Jiang Fengmian stood up and bowed to Luo Qingyang, whose gaze was focused on him.

"Thank you, young lady."

Although Luo Qingyang was just a weak woman, she dared to go against the wishes of others at that time and stand up to argue and defend Wei Wuxian, which was enough to deserve this gratitude.

Luo Qingyang quickly stood up to return the greeting, her face slightly flushed.

Including Elder Jiang, she has already received three gifts of gratitude, which she really cannot accept anymore.

Besides, compared to Wei Wuxian's rescue back then, her help was nothing more than a drop in the ocean for him at the time.