Chapter 999: 474 Overbearing Marquis (First Update) Chapter 999: 474 Overbearing Marquis (First Update) This matter has blown up so much, the impact is extremely bad. Even if it’s just to save his old face, Grand Preceptor Zhuang will certainly go to the emperor to lodge a formal complaint against Marquis Xuanping.

But is Marquis Xuanping afraid of his complaints?

Memorials to impeach Marquis Xuanping pile up like mountains in the Imperial Study Room, his shameless deeds are almost too numerous to document. He hasn’t committed arson or murder, so heavy punishment isn’t warranted, but he has done one despicable thing after another, enough to infuriate people to the point of enlightenment or ascension!

Yet, these deeds are not worthy of death, at worst he gets a hundred or so strokes of the cane.

And after the beating, he’s back to being a hero!

Marquis Xuanping rode away in Xiao Hen’s carriage, leaving Grand Preceptor Zhuang and his grandson as laughingstocks in the street.

It was supposed to be a show of force to intimidate Xiao Liulang, but instead, Grand Preceptor Zhuang found himself humiliated by Marquis Xuanping, a disgrace he had never experienced in his life.

The Zhuang family and the Marquis Residence of Xuanping have been at odds not for just one or two days, it’s normal for them to have a falling out, but it’s rare to see it to this extent. Is this just a falling out? It’s as if they’ve torn off each other’s pants!

Prince An was truly wronged.

The idea for today’s event wasn’t his, and although he indeed felt a certain sense of superiority in his heart, on the whole, he was dragged down by Grand Preceptor Zhuang.

The glory of joining the cabinet was completely spoiled by Marquis Xuanping’s show of force, and today’s humiliation is likely to become a dark stain in his history.

Marquis Xuanping dropped Xiao Hen off at the Hanlin Academy, and along the way, he wanted to talk to his son many times, but each time Xiao Hen answered, “I didn’t sleep last night,” Marquis Xuanping would close his mouth.

Marquis Xuanping held it in for the entire journey, and only when Xiao Hen finally opened his eyes and was about to get out of the carriage, he asked, “What were you doing that you didn’t sleep all night?”

“I had things to deal with,” Xiao Hen said.

Marquis Xuanping: …I know you had things, but what exactly? Speak up!

He couldn’t lose his temper with his son.

The joy of bullying Grand Preceptor Zhuang was nothing compared to the misery of being bullied by his own son.

Before Xiao Hen’s incident, Marquis Xuanping occupied an absolutely dominant position in their father-son relationship. Four years have passed, and their roles have been completely reversed.

“Should I ask for a leave of absence for you?” Marquis Xuanping offered.

“No need,” Xiao Hen replied indifferently as he stepped down from the carriage.

Marquis Xuanping followed suit.

He had never scrutinized his son’s height before, but today, he suddenly took notice and realized that his son had grown too tall, almost surpassing him.

As a military general who had trained in the mud since childhood, it was natural for him to grow tall. But as for this boy, he hadn’t done anything; he hadn’t even been seen running or jumping around, so how did he shoot up so quickly?

Just as Xiao Hen was about to enter the Hanlin Academy, Marquis Xuanping, with sharp eyes, noticed that his son’s walk was odd.

He was a man who had survived the battlefield, and apart from his face being intact, there was really no part of his body that was unscathed. His injuries probably outnumbered the times Xiao Hen had taken a fall. Could he not notice that his son’s limp was different from before?

He asked, “Is your foot better?”

Xiao Hen paused in his step.

“Is it really better?” Marquis Xuanping asked, looking at him with excitement.

Xiao Hen still did not intend to engage with him.

Marquis Xuanping sighed, “Do you hate me that much? Are you blaming me for being busy with the investigation at that time, for not rushing to rescue you from the fire? Or do you resent me for not detecting those people’s presence earlier, causing you to be forced into hiding and fleeing far away?”

Straightforward men can never find the focus when it comes to admitting their mistakes, capable of infuriating someone to dig a vegetable patch with their toes on the ground!

Xiao Hen, with a cold face, entered the Hanlin Academy without looking back.

Marquis Xuanping was confused, how could he be angry again?

Chang Jing drove the carriage over.

Marquis Xuanping sighed sadly as he got into the carriage, leaning against the wall and said despondently, “Chang Jing, I am so pitiful, Xiao Hen does not acknowledge me, I’m going to become a lonely, old man.”

Marquis Xuanping’s intention with this statement was to hear a reply like, “You’re not old, you’re in the prime of your life, you can still be gloriously attractive for another twenty years!”

Unexpectedly, Chang Jing fell into deep thought.

After a long while, Chang Jing responded seriously, “It’s okay, when you die, I’ll smash a pot for you.”

Marquis Xuanping: “…”

Meanwhile, Gu Jiao, after a whole day and night of intensive medical practice, was carried by Xiao Hen to the western chamber and fell into a deep sleep.

Perhaps it was because she was not particular about where she slept, or perhaps it was because the bedchamber carried a scent she found comforting and reassuring, she slept soundly until the afternoon.

And just before she woke up, she had a dream.

In her dream, she saw an endless sea where a battlefield sat above the waters; Marquis Xuanping was on a warship riddled with holes, wielding a long sword, clad in black iron armor, fighting in the midst of the blood-drenched deck.