Protect Our Patriarch

Chapter 3 – Standard countermeasures

“Enough.” Gongsun Hui reprimanded and stopped them, and then said, “Sixth uncle, don’t be impulsive. We’ll settle things calmly.”

Gongsun Hui herself was the official daughter of the Gongsun clan of Sanyang, legal wife of the late patriarch of the Wang family and the legal mother of the Wang clan’s new generation patriarch. She was more than qualified to mediate between the two parties.

An agitated Wang Dinghai said, “Fifth sister-in-law, it’s not that I’m impulsive, but this brat from the Liu family is just too much.

“Everyone in Ping’an town knows that the territory of our Ping’an Wang clan covers 30 miles of the Anjiang river from the Dingpu ferry port to the right of the rocky shore.

“However, Liu Yongzhou, had crossed the boundary line several times to fish. This time, he ostentatiously entered 10 miles into our territory. If I don’t drive him out, our Wang family wouldn’t have a leg to stand on in Anjiang.”

“Yo yo yo, Wang old sixth, how can you, the guilty party, sue me?” Liu Yongzhou looked as if he was greatly wronged.

“This wind over Anjiang is very strong while the currents are swift. My Liu family’s territory is in the upper reaches of the river. There’ll inevitably be times when the boat veers off course.

“But when you saw us, you rammed your boat into us. You suffered but, some minor losses from our conflict but you summoned the family elders. How outrageous, are you bullying my Liu family for having no clan elders?”

Wang Shouzhe had been silently observing and trying to figure things out. He had already established that the Liu family initiated the dispute.

Their purpose was probably to test the waters while he was new to the position of patriarch. They might also be gauging his capabilities as the patriarch.

If he wasn’t competent and timid, the next step would most probably be to join forces with the Zhao clan again. Subsequently, a series of conspiracies and plots would sweep in like a tidal wave.　　

“Ahem!”

Wang Shouzhe coughed twice and walked forward calmly.

“Eldest nephew Shouzhe, are you here too?” Wang Dinghai smiled and then, said angrily, “Quickly judge this. This brat carried out a sneak attack. Your sixth uncle refuses to concede and wants to have a fair fight with him.”

“Well, well, looks like it’s the Wang’s young clan, no, no, the patriarch had arrived.” Liu Yongzhou narrowed his eyes, revealing a slight look of scorn and jealousy towards Wang Shouzhe.

There was no doubt that Wang Shouzhe far surpassed Liu Yongzhou in all aspects of comprehensive strength.

Moreover, Wang Shouzhe was only 18 years old, and he had cultivated to the late sixth stage of the Qi Refining Realm, with great potential for growth.

Now, the Liu clan feared Wang Shouzhe. If he was given the opportunity to reach the Lingtai Realm, the set-up in Ping’an town would change dramatically.

Some of the onlookers around them began to murmur, seemingly interested in the young patriarch of the Ping’an Wang clan who had just succeeded his father.

They vaguely pointed out that the death of Wang Dingyue, the previous patriarch, was too early.

If he had lived for another 10 years, the situation of the Ping’an Wang clan would be different when Wang Shouzhe, the young patriarch, had grown up.

“Sixth uncle, victory and defeat are common in the military.” Wang Shouzhe narrowed his eyes slightly and lowered his voice as he casually probed, ” But, are you really sure you can beat him? If you lose another match in full view of the public, it’ll damage my Wang’s prestige.”

“This…” Wang Dinghai hesitated and whispered, “I have had several conflicts with the kid. Usually, we are evenly matched and have an advantage over each other.

“Today’s a bad day, and the boy’s water escape technique seemed to have improved tremendously. He is as slippery as a loach in the water. I was caught off guard and defeated. But don’t worry, my nephew, your sixth uncle will win this fight even if he dies.”

His water escape technique seemed to have improved substantially?

Oh, this is interesting, Wang Shouzhe rubbed his nose.

He roughly understood the other party’s tactics. Create a conflict to provoke Wang Dinghai’s indignance, and then let Liu Yongzhou, a rising star, defeat Wang Dinghai in full view of the public, undermining the Wang clan’s prestige.

It would be perfect if Liu Yongzhou could agitate Wang Dinghai intensely, so that the latter would sign a bet or something similar with the former.

By then, the Liu family would be able to bite off a large chunk of meat from the Wang’s body again.

Wang Shouzhe was very clear about the situation, and immediately said, “Sixth uncle, leave this matter to me.”

“This ……” Wang Dinghai hesitated again. However, after seeing Wang Shouzhe’s calm and composed look, he calmed down and took two steps back, “Shouzhe, you must be more careful, Liu is the best at playing tricks.”

“Sixth uncle, don’t worry, I wouldn’t suffer any losses.”

After reassuring his uncle, Wang Shouzhe looked around and said loudly to everyone, “The Xuanwu noble families had always been founded on martial arts. If the descendants are unable to protect their ancestral land, it’s only natural that they should retreat.

“Liu Yongzhou, since your Liu clan wants to encroach and annex my Wang clan’s fishing and hunting region, creating conflict is just an act.

“Why don’t you be more forthcoming? Let’s have a battle of life-and-death between the two of us, just like our ancestors. The winner takes the loser’s fishing grounds.”

“What?”

There were shouts of shock all around, a battle of life-and-death! Should that young patriarch of the Wang clan be so aggressive?

Wang Shouzhe was five years younger than Liu Yongzhou, but he initiated a battle of life-and-death. Liu Yongzhou’s face turned green, and then, white. He didn’t dare to accept this, nor could he.

He could only sarcastically say, “Wang family patriarch, you must be joking. You’re the patriarch; how can you get on the arena and fight a life-and-death battle?”

Although Liu Yongzhou stood out amongst his peers, he was way behind Wang Shouzhe, who had been groomed since young to assume the position of patriarch.

“Hehe~” Wang Shouzhe sneered and mocked, “If you don’t have no guts, you don’t have no guts! Why speak pretentiously?

“I, Wang Shouzhe, will stand here today. I’ll take on as many as the Liu’s Yongzi generation who dare to take up my challenge!”

“Good! Well said! The new patriarch of the Wang clan is heroic enough.”

“The Xuanwu families founded on martial arts are rather interesting. Let’s see how the Liu clan will respond. As far as I know, the oldest of the Liu’s Yongzi’s generation is around 36 or 37 years old, while the youngest is still learning to talk.

“When I think about it, I really can’t think of anyone who can fight the Wang clan’s new patriarch.”

“Brother, how strong is this young man? Can he really defeat all of Liu’s Yongzi generation?”

“Are you a foreigner? That’s our Ping’an Wang clan’s new patriarch, Wang Shouzhe. At only 18 years old, he’s on the verge of reaching the senior level of Qi Refinement.

“Rumours had it that he’s extremely gifted in swordsmanship and had long reached the point of perfection.”

With a tinge of pride, the local resident added, “In addition, Wang Shouzhe had passed the Zifu Academy’s admission test and will soon be enrolled. But it’s a pity that he had to give up his studies because of a major event in the family.”

“Zifu Academy? Is this the Zifu Academy that claims that once you enter the academy, you’re bound to enter the Lingtai Realm? Amazing, amazing but what a pity!”

The surrounding discussions reached Wang Shouzhe’s ears. They reminded him that he had passed the preliminary selection for admission to the Zifu Academy not long ago.

The Zifu Academy in Longzuo county recruited new students every three years, but their requirements were extremely strict.

Every time, there would be one to three people within Chang Ning’wei who passed the preliminary selection and qualified for the re-examination. Wang Shouzhe was among them.

But it was an exaggeration to claim that Wang Shouzhe was about to enter Zifu Academy. In the entire jurisdiction of Chang Ning’wei, not even one academy student could be produced within eight or 10 years.

Although Wang Shouzhe was extraordinary, he knew the probability of passing the retest was less than 30%.

The public opinion around them began to tilt in the Wang’s favour.

The previous conflict was not handled properly and would have damaged the Wang’s reputation. Now, however, it had boosted the Wang’s prestige.

“My nephew did a great job.” Wang Dinghai said with joy, “”Let’s see if that little brat of the Liu family still dares to be arrogant?”

Gongsun Hui was also slightly surprised. She didn’t expect that Shouzhe would turn the bad situation which undermined the prestige of their family into an unfavourable one for the Liu’s in just a few words.

Prior to this, he had always focused on his own cultivation and cared very little about other things. She had never expected that he would show his ability as soon as he became the patriarch.

“Good!”

Suddenly, a voice acclaiming him rang out, “The remarks of Wang’s Patriarch have enlightened yours truly. Liu really admire them, I admire them.

“The Xuanwu noble families had always been founded on martial arts. If the descendants are unable to protect their ancestral land, it’s only natural that they should retreat. Excellent, well said!”

The speaker, a middle-aged man dressed in a brocade robe and with an extraordinary bearing, walked out. He was surrounded by several brave generals. He stared at Wang Shouzhe, with an inscrutable expression.

As soon as the man stepped out, Gongsun Hui and Wang Dinghai’s countenance changed, “It’s Liu Shengye!”

Although in an awkward situation, Gongsun Hui reminded Wang Shouzhe, “Zhe’er, there must be something fishy about the Liu family head appearing at this time. Be careful.”

Liu Shengye.

Wang Shouzhe’s eyes narrowed slightly. Liu Shengye was the patriarch of the Liu family in Ping’an.

Rumours had it that his martial arts were not the best in the Liu family. He’s already 40 years old but had yet to break through to the eighth level of the Qi Refining Realm.

But in Wang Shouzhe’s memory, this person had always been known for his cunning and deceitful ways. He was famously known as a smiling tiger.

He had repeatedly taken advantage of his clashes with Wang Dingyue, the former patriarch of the Wang clan. He was also very good in managing the clan’s assets, allowing the Liu family’s strength to flourish.

“Well, it turns out to be Patriarch Liu.” Wang Shouzhe calmly responded, “Since Patriarch Liu agrees with me, do you agree with Liu Yongzhou and my life-and-death battle?”

Don’t say anything else, let’s set up Liu Shengye first.

However, Liu Shengye saw a way to exploit the weaknesses in Wang Shouzhe’s tactics and counterattacked, “How can this be? Although Patriarch Wang’s words are reasonable, how can you, the leader of a clan, bully the junior?”

“Since it’s a life-and-death challenge, it’s only natural that both fighters should be of the same status. Only then will the battle be worth watching.”

All the pretty words were aimed at getting Liu Yongzhou and Wang Dinghai to fight it out.

“Patriarch Liu’s remarks are very sensible.” Wang Shouzhe nodded in agreement with a serious expression, “You and I, the Wang clan and the Liu clan, have had a lot of friction and accumulated grudges.

“Since we’re going to have a life-and-death battle, why don’t you and I, the two clan patriarchs, personally take this on since we can be considered to be of equal status.”

“What?”

Liu Shengye’s face twitched. The patriarch personally accepts a life-and-death challenge?

Was this brat, Wang Shouzhe crazy? First, he bit Liu Yongzhou, and now he bit him, Liu Shengye, directly! I certainly didn’t mean this.

The surrounding merchants and travellers, as well as the rest of the people on the wharf, were in a state of silent shock.

This time, it was a battle to the death between two family patriarchs. Should they be so impulsive?