Chapter 51: Truth
Translator: DavidT Editor: celllll
At this point, Young Master Yang finally had a chance to speak. After furiously spitting out the mud inside his mouth, he shouted, "It’s that little bastard who is setting me up, I’m innocent! …" He barely got the sentence out before he was viciously slapped by the ashamed Yang KongQun who shouted back: "Shut your mouth!"
Ling Xiao’s eyes were suffused with coldness which everyone could see. "To think that jerk dared to call my son a ‘little bastard!’ Such a humiliation! To think he dared to be so unbridled even after carrying such a heavy crime!" Ling Xiao could not help but want to step in, to teach him a lesson.
Yang KongQun stood ramrod straight in front of his grandson, saying: "Although things have come to such a stage, all of us have only heard one side of the story. Doesn’t everyone want to hear the other party explain themselves?"
Standing by the side, Li ZhengChong guffawed heartily, saying: "It doesn’t matter what Young Master Yang says regarding this sort of matter, however, if Sire Yang is not resigned to this fact, you can let your grandson speak out, there’s no harm in doing so!" Li ZhengChong realized that the Yang Family would be in quite a predicament this time round and he could not help but feel amazed in his heart.
This was an originally minor incident, of two children from opposing families arguing. However, under some premeditated guidance, what was originally chicken feed evolved into something which involved all levels of the imperial court, thoroughly putting the Yang Family in an embarrassing spot! In particular, the person’s ability to grasp the opportune timing, and his judgement was impeccably accurate, leading to such an astonishing scene.
The most wonderful part of this was not the fact that Yang Wei was set up, but rather in which the timing was so precisely calculated that both the Yang and Ling Families’ reinforcements arrived at the exact same time. This was totally mind blowing!
One must know that if any of the Families had arrived earlier than the other, the end result would not be like this. If the Yang Family were to arrive first, then they would disperse the crowd of witnesses at the first instant and save their people. Only then would they formulate their counterattack. If the Ling Family were to arrive first, the Yang Family would also have an excuse, saying that all these witnesses were planted by the Ling Family deliberately. The Ling Family might even be marked with bogus accusations.
However, now that both the families had arrived at the same time despite the distance being substantially different, the situation had also become more complex. Right now, both families did not dare to ask the witnesses to disperse in order to deal with this situation. The moment one side opened their mouth it would mean giving the other party an excuse to strike, and say that the offending party had a guilty conscience. As such, either family could use such a scenario to turn the tables onto the other.
And the most crucial factor was that even the Capital Law Enforcement Squadron was also called over. The moment the Law Enforcement Squadron had heard that there was someone showing signs of rebellion as well as insulting the Emperor, they immediately rushed to the scene, attempting to try and net some merit. However, it was unfortunate that they ended up as a pincushion against the fights of the two Great Families! If the Law Enforcement Squadron had not appeared, both families would have brought their people back and forgot about this matter after fighting for a few rounds. Even if both families were to flip the skies upside down, the Imperial Family would still adopt the position of a bystander and not get involved, waiting for reap the benefits of both families weakening. However, now that the team representing the imperial authority had already awkwardly inserted themselves into this matter, that former idea obviously would not work anymore.
At this juncture, the only solution to this seemed to be to report the matter to the Emperor, and await his judgement. However, the fact that Yang Wei had blatantly insulted the Emperor meant that he would not be able to escape punishment. One of them was viciously scolding, while the other trying his best to defend the name. Both families were poles apart! At this juncture, which family the Emperor would lean towards was obvious at a glance!
No matter how this matter was settled, it was undeniable that the Ling family would gain the upper hand. Not only would they win the lawsuit, they would also receive the Emperor’s favor as well as his reward. On the other hand, even if Yang Wei would be given grace, and stop the pursuit of this matter, Yang Wei’s life would already be considered finished due to this tiny incident! Not only did the Yang Family have to swallow all these pent-up grievances, they had to swallow them with joyous expressions on the surface with half a word of complaint! If they wanted to seek revenge from the Ling Family, they could only do so discreetly and not out in the open. However, both families were already locked in constant strife with each other, so why would the Ling Family be afraid of this revenge from the Yang family?
Expert! To be able to extrapolate such a trivial matter into such a heaven defying result, this could only be the work of gods or devils!
Upon realizing all this, the Head Advisor, Li ZhengChong had a face full of reverence. As though he was witnessing the first rays of sunlight on top of a tall mountain, he looked at Mister Qin! Though this fellow seemed to be law-abiding and scholarly, no one would have imagined that beneath this restrained appearance was someone who was bold and shrewd! One indeed cannot judge a book by its cover!
No one would even imagine, let alone believe, that this matter was actually orchestrated by the teary-eyed, gutless child standing by the side!
At this moment, Yang Wei was narrating the whole process in which the argument had developed: "... then he said, he said, he was going to tell his aunt's husband about this, and let him take care of me… so I just… I just…" Saying up till here, he secretly lifted up his head to see his grandfather’s expression, and tactfully did not continue talking.
Thankfully, Yang KongQun did not die from anger from this! Yang KongQun repeatedly cursed in his heart: "How could I have such a idiotic grandson! You would be better off not speaking in this case!" In his heart, he had already understood what exactly happened. In a verbal exchange, it would be natural for one’s tongue to inadvertently slip. If it were a normal person, that would be the end of it, however the person in question was Ling Tian! The ‘aunt's husband’ that Ling Tian had brought out, was someone not in the capacity of Yang Wei to even criticize!
All the surrounding audience all felt the same way; if a child was being bullied, he would naturally look for an adult to protect him. As to why Ling Tian had mentioned his uncle-in-law, it was a matter of fact. In every child’s heart, only the mightiest adult would have the capability to help and protect him. In Ling Tian’s case, among all the people he knew, the first person in his mind would definitely be the Emperor!
This also meant that the Emperor, to Ling Tian, was a figure he respected and was close to! Thus, Yang Wei’s retaliatory sentence not only sealed his fate, but also increased Ling Tian’s reputation in the eyes of the Emperor!
When the crowd separates, word of this would spread to the Emperor’s ears, and his impression of the Ling Family would also improve by a few points! One would definitely think: "Why would such a small child like Ling Tian be able to speak of asking his uncle-in-law for help? It could only be that their family teachings were good!" Furthermore, this would speak volumes about the loyalty of the Ling Family towards the Emperor. It was the combination of all these factors that made Yang KongQun nearly faint from the anger!
Such a small matter, was reflected into such a big problem, and could even result in long term repercussions! If one were to manipulate it properly, this would be enough to determine the success and failure of both the families! The crowd were not fools — after pondering for awhile, they could not help but show a change in their expressions. In that instant, it was as if all of them were suffering from suffocation, and they collectively sucked in a long breath of cold air! The suction was so great it was as if the entire street had turned into a vacuum in that very moment...
As the commander of the Law Enforcement Squadron, Wan ShiFang, saw how the matters had already progressed to such a stage, he could only prudently observe Yang KongQun’s expression as he suggested, "This matter is out of this small one’s jurisdiction, might I suggest that the two Sires instead pay a visit to the Emperor, and seek divine judgement."
The crowd remained silent. At this point, who could not guess what the Emperor would say and deal with this matter? What so-called divine judgement was all a formality. However, the solution that Wan ShiFang suggested was the only plausible route to take in order to solve this problem! Even though both Ling Zhan and Yang KongQun possessed enough manpower to overflow the heavens in their lifetime, they did not have the ability to resolve this problem amicably.
The two old fellows exchanged a glance. One of them had an expression full of glee, while the other was angered beyond words, with a depressed expression! Both nodded their heads at the same time.
Xiao FengHan only hid behind Ling Zhan from start to the end, coldly watching on as a bystander. Having suffered from a disadvantage before, he naturally could tell with a glance that this matter was, without doubt, another masterpiece created by that little demon! To think he could still reveal such a pitiful look to win the audience’s pity! Today’s matter did not just severely wound the Yang Family, it also greatly boosted the development of the Ling Family. The ingenious part of this was that Ling Tian’s escaped from the spotlight the moment Mister Qin stepped out of the carriage! Thus, Ling Tian managed to continue concealing himself, with the brunt of the impact being taken by Mister Qin.
Such a brilliant plan! The more Xiao FengHan evaluated the successes and failures of this plan, the more he felt as though that pitiful child had an intellect that was as deep as the ocean, vast and unfathomable! He could only suck in a breath of air, and once more seriously reconsider his viewpoint of Ling Tian. As he focused on Ling Tian, he saw Ling Tian turn his head towards him, the corners of his mouth rising upwards in a crafty smile...