330 The Xiao Clan Took the Blame
The Zhao clan.
Zhao Huaifeng thought that sending the four elders to deal with Ye Xuan would be a piece of cake. However, a few days passed. Not only had Zhao Qing and the others not returned to report, but their whereabouts were also unknown. He had a faint feeling of unease in his heart.
It just so happened that at this critical juncture, it was time for the election of the four clans of Jade City. The Xiao clan had always been the one to win the election for the previous few years, and the Zhao clan had been ambitious and dissatisfied for a long time. They were determined to win first place this time and pull the Xiao clan down from their position.
The Zhao clan had been planning for a long time. Zhao Qing, Zhao Pei, and the others were indispensable.
“Young master, old master wants you to go over for questioning.”
Zhao Huaifeng furrowed his brows. “Did father say anything?”
The manservant shook his head. “The old master only said to let you go over.”
Zhao Huaifeng’s intuition told him that nothing good would come out of looking for him at this time, but he could only brace himself and walk over.
The middle-aged man standing in the hall had an extraordinary aura. His eyes were bright and full of spirit. He was so powerful that his subordinates did not dare to look him in the eye. He was the current head of the Zhao clan, Zhao Ru.
“I heard that a few days ago, you sent the four great elders to handle some matters.”
Zhao Huaifeng knew that he was over. As expected, Zhao Ru had come for this matter. He was originally seeking revenge and he was certain that Ye Xuan couldn’t cause any trouble, so he didn’t alert Zhao Ru.
“Yes, I did.”
Zhao Ru looked at him, and his expression darkened. A storm soon formed in his eyes. “A few days have passed. Have you settled your matter?”
Although Zhao Huaifeng was arrogant and despotic outside, he was extremely respectful to his father, Zhao Ru. He was like a mouse that had seen a cat. He didn’t even dare to breathe loudly when he felt the low air pressure.
“I… I don’t know. Maybe it’s been resolved…”
“Did you say that you don’t know?”
Zhao Ru was so angry that he almost laughed. He knew Zhao Huaifeng’s temper, but the Zhao clan’s status in Jade City was extraordinary, and Zhao Huaifeng’s cultivation was not low. Although he couldn’t compare to Xiao Mingyan, he was still far beyond his peers.
Thus, he usually turned a blind eye to Zhao Huaifeng’s actions. However, this time was different.
“You’re getting better and better. You know that the election is coming up, but you still transferred the four elders away. What is it that is worth you mobilizing so many people?”
Zhao Huaifeng originally thought that with the four elders’ abilities, they could settle Ye Xuan in at most a day. Who would’ve thought that the result would be like this? It was originally a small matter, but now even Zhao Ru was alarmed.
At this moment, he didn’t dare to hide anything. He told her how he met Ye Xuan, how Xiao Mingyan helped him out of trouble, and how he met Ye Xuan in Jade City.
“I just couldn’t get over it, so I wanted to teach him a lesson.”
Zhao Ru furrowed his brows. He didn’t expect Xiao Mingyan to be involved in this. From Zhao Huaifeng’s description, he could smell something unusual.
“Are you sure that person is an itinerant cultivator?”
“So what if he’s not an itinerant cultivator? He’s alone anyway. No one will know even if he dies. Even if the people behind him want to investigate, they won’t be able to trace it to us.”
Although that was what he said, Ye Xuan might have some background and involved with the big sects since he came from Jingdu.
At this critical moment, Zhao Ru didn’t want to cause any trouble.
“Nonsense!”
He chided him sternly, “I don’t want to criticize you for your misdeeds in the past, but the day of the election is coming soon. Now that the four elders are not here, how are we going to fill their vacancies?”
“Perhaps they’ve been delayed by something,” Zhao Huaifeng consoled. “They’ll be back soon. Father, you don’t have to worry.”
Although he said this, Zhao Ru had an indescribable feeling.
“No. We have to send more people. We have to find them and that Ye Xuan you mentioned.”
Although Zhao Huaifeng’s combat power wasn’t the best in Jade City, he was still one of the top few. The fact that Ye Xuan was able to defeat him was enough to prove that his strength was extraordinary.
Zhao Ru was knowledgeable and knew that some people liked to act stupid. Now that the four great elders had disappeared with Ye Xuan, it might be related to him.
However, no matter how many people he sent, they still couldn’t find Zhao Qing and the others. It was as if they had disappeared from the earth. Seeing that election time was approaching, Zhao Ru’s expression became uglier and uglier.
Without Zhao Qing and Zhao Pei, the Zhao clan would have lost half of their strength. They would have a smaller chance of winning.
Zhao Huaifeng knew that he had caused trouble, so he was punished by Zhao Ru for kneeling in the ancestral hall for a few days.
“Look at the trouble you’ve caused! It’s fine that you usually run amok, but you screwed up at the critical moment.”
“Could it be that another clan is trying to sabotage us? Based on the strength of Zhao Qing, Zhao Pei, and other elders, it won’t be easy to deal with them. Somemore the four of them are working together.”
Zhao Huaifeng and Zhao Ru started to discuss the conspiracy. They didn’t expect that Ye Xuan was the one who killed all of them by himself. Instead, they were suspicious of the other families.
“The Xiao clan? Or the Fu clan?”
Zhao Huaifeng said through gritted teeth, “It must be the Xiao clan. Without Xiao Mingyan, they’re worried that they won’t win. We’re the favorites to win, so they’re targeting the four elders, hoping that we’ll lose some of our combat power.”
This suspicion wasn’t impossible, but they didn’t have any evidence. Thus Zhao Ru couldn’t go to the Xiao clan to ask for the elders.
“What a good Xiao clan! They’re good at scheming. I’ve underestimated them in the past.”
The Xiao clan had helped Ye Xuan by taking the blame.