Especially Gongsun Qingyue, whose face was full of disbelief. "You brat, at least think before you lie. Her? Liu Ruoxi? Would Liu Ruoxi wash clothes herself? If she’s Liu Ruoxi, then I’m..."
Before Gongsun Qingyue could finish, Gongsun Xin immediately interjected, "Qingyue, she *is* Liu Ruoxi."
"Xin, don’t joke."
"Have you ever seen me joke?" Gongsun Xin’s expression was stern; he was a man who rarely smiled.
Upon hearing this, everyone in the Gongsun family was stunned.
"So... she really is Liu Ruoxi!"
"I heard Liu Ruoxi was incredibly arrogant, yet she’s doing laundry... That’s strictly a servant’s job."
In the dictionary of the Gongsun family, the phrase "doing one’s own laundry" simply did not exist.
Amidst their shock, Ye Xuan’s voice rang out again. "Now do you understand why I cut off his hand? Hitting my fiancée is the same as slapping my face. Back at the Liu family, I promised I would never let an outsider bully or hurt her, not even a single hair on her head. I, Ye Xuan, am a man of my word."
"You... I..."
Gongsun Qingyue was left speechless. He had just criticized Ye Xuan for being ignorant, but now it turned out his own son was the ignorant one. How could he strike the young lady of the Liu family? If word of this got out, the Gongsun family would lose all face.
At this moment, Ye Xuan continued, "I only cut off his arm; I didn’t kill him. I gave him plenty of face considering we’re family. If his last name weren’t Gongsun, he’d already be a corpse. How dare anyone touch my woman!"
"How dare anyone touch my woman." Although Ye Xuan’s words sounded a bit melodramatic, they caused Liu Ruoxi to suddenly pause her laundry. However, her hesitation lasted for only a moment. She knew better than anyone what kind of person Ye Xuan was.
"Tu’er, why did you hit her?" Gongsun Qingyue asked, deeply disappointed in his son’s foolishness.
Gongsun Tu replied aggrievedly, "Dad, how was I supposed to know the laundry girl was Liu Ruoxi? What kind of noble lady washes her own clothes? I’ve never seen such a thing in my life. I thought she was just a servant."
As soon as he finished, Ye Xuan said flatly, "Well, now you have."
Gongsun Tu’s face turned ugly, completely at a loss for words.
Gongsun Qingyue spoke up again. "Even if my son accidentally hit Liu Ruoxi, did you really have to cut off his hand?"
"Shouldn’t I? Your name is Gongsun Tu, right? What, you couldn’t beat me, so you ran crying to your daddy? Aren’t you ashamed? My mother said you’re older than me, so you must be at least thirty. Do you still think you’re a three-year-old?"
"I can’t beat you?" Gongsun Tu laughed out of sheer anger. "If you didn’t have a mid-grade Ghost-tier weapon, you could never have cut off my hand. If you could, I’d take your last name!"
"Is that so? Then how about we go another round."
"Let’s do it, then! But let me make this clear—blades have no eyes. If you die, that’s just your fate." Gongsun Tu refused to back down, a trace of killing intent flashing in his eyes.
"Ye Xuan, since you’ve agreed, there’s no taking it back." Gongsun Qingyue was the first to voice his approval. He knew exactly what Ye Xuan’s strength was. He was nothing but an ant in the Super Spirit Realm. His son’s hand had only been severed due to the sharpness of the mid-grade Ghost-tier weapon and his own carelessness. But if they fought again, his son would definitely be able to kill Ye Xuan.
Ye Xuan said solemnly, "Of course."
Gongsun Qingyue smiled. "Everyone heard him. He agreed to the duel on his own accord. We didn’t threaten him. If anything goes wrong during the fight, or if he even loses his life, he has no one to blame but himself."
As soon as Gongsun Qingyue finished, Gongsun Xin shook his head. "There is no need for a duel."
"Xin, why are you still protecting him and taking his side? He agreed to the duel himself." Gongsun Qingyue’s expression changed. His older brother was entirely too biased toward their youngest sister. Out of fondness for her, he even favored her son.
"I’m taking his side?" Gongsun Xin shook his head and said grimly, "I am taking Gongsun Tu’s side."
"Taking my son’s side?" Gongsun Qingyue laughed. He wanted to say more, but Gongsun Xin’s voice rang out again. Looking at Gongsun Tu, he asked, "Why did you come looking for Ye Xuan?"
"Uncle Xin, I heard that with my aunt’s return, Ye Xuan is going to participate in the once-a-decade family tournament. It didn’t sit right with me. I felt his presence would just bring bad luck. Honestly, who wants to fight a bastard?"
Gongsun Xin nodded. "So, you came to find Ye Xuan to teach him a lesson? To show him the immensity of heaven and earth, and make him realize the gap between you two?"
"Exactly." Gongsun Tu held his head high, still looking at Ye Xuan with disdain.
"I understand. Since you want to fight Ye Xuan so badly, you can wait for the family tournament. Your grandfather has already allowed him to participate. You can’t change what he has agreed to. That’s enough for today. Everyone is dismissed."
"Xin, is this really how we’re leaving things?" Gongsun Qingyue still couldn’t swallow this insult.
"What? Does my word mean nothing?" Gongsun Xin’s face instantly turned cold.
Gongsun Qingyue’s expression turned ugly, but he ultimately took Gongsun Tu and left. With the main instigators gone, the spectators also dispersed one after another.
Once they were far from Lingxuan Courtyard, Gongsun Qingyue asked coldly, "If you face Ye Xuan in the family tournament, can you kill him? Don’t tell me you can’t. You’re eight years older than him! You’re already thirty-three!"
"Dad, I will definitely kill him! However, the family tournament is usually a friendly spar; lethal force isn’t allowed. Besides, even if I go for the kill, if he’s in danger of dying, the Elder supervising the match will intervene to save him."
Gongsun Qingyue sneered coldly. "Don’t you know what it means to be too slow to intervene?"
Gongsun Tu’s eyes lit up, and he smiled wickedly. "In that case, Dad, I will definitely make sure he dies!"
Meanwhile, in Lingxuan Courtyard.
Gongsun Xin glanced at Ye Xuan before speaking, "Ye Xuan, how have I treated you?"
Ye Xuan nodded. "Uncle Xin, you’ve been very good to me, and I deeply respect you."
These words were definitely not mere flattery. Although Gongsun Xin didn’t have much of an emotional bond with Ye Xuan, he had always taken good care of him. When Ye Xuan entered the Forbidden Area, Gongsun Xin had secretly given him a Protective Talisman. Most importantly, Gongsun Xin took excellent care of Ye Xuan’s mother. For this reason alone, he held the utmost respect for Uncle Xin.
"That’s good. Then promise me one thing."
"What is it, Uncle Xin? As long as I can do it, I will definitely promise you."
Gongsun Xin nodded and said, "If you face Gongsun Tu in the family tournament, even if you have an absolute opportunity to kill him, spare his life."
Gongsun Xin knew exactly how strong Ye Xuan was. Since Ye Xuan could defeat Liu Ruoxi while at the 5th Layer of the Super Spirit Realm, how could Gongsun Tu possibly be his match? Earlier, he genuinely had been protecting Gongsun Tu. It was just that Gongsun Qingyue refused to believe it. In fact, if Gongsun Xin hadn’t personally witnessed Ye Xuan’s battle with Liu Ruoxi that day, he wouldn’t have believed it either.