Chapter 97: Duke Chengguo, Duan Rufeng!
Dingtianfu.
As the capital of Daqing, Dingtianfu has always been very stable, whether it is people's livelihood, climate, or public security, for decades.
Another daily pastime of the people that has also remained the same for decades is gossip.
No one dared to spread what happened in the palace, and what happened in the noble mansions could not be spread. Whatever was talked about were just trivial matters between neighbors.
It's too bland.
But this day was different.
"Have you heard? The Duke Cheng's mansion is in mourning. I don't know who died."
"More than just hearing about it, I just passed by from a distance. As for who died... who else could it be other than the old Duke Cheng?"
"Indeed, Duke Chengguo is nearly eighty years old, right? It's time for him to die."
“…”
News like this was spread quietly in private, and even some minor noble families got involved and kept talking about it.
Chengguogong Mansion, main hall.
The "damned" Duke of Chengguo Duan Rufeng sat in the main seat.
Just sitting there, his tall and majestic body exudes an aura of profound and majestic power.
But he had his eyes closed and his face was calm, without any sign of sadness or anger.
In addition to Duke Chengguo, there was also a middle-aged man with a simple and honest face in the main hall. He was Duke Chengguo's eldest son Duan Yuanyang.
This seemingly honest man was roaring with great anger at this moment.
"How audacious! How audacious!"
"How dare Wuxie do such a thing?"
"He is his father after all!"
"Between father and son, is there any misunderstanding that cannot be resolved?"
"Does it have to come to this point of killing each other?"
"If this gets out, how can we save face as Duke Cheng?"
"Where should you put your face, father?!"
"My wise and brave second brother was so pitiful. He was about to break through and might even make the Duan family two dukes in the future... but he died just like that!"
"This evil creature..."
Duan Yuanyang's hair and beard stood on end, and he was shaking with anger. He cursed for half an hour before he stopped and clasped his fists towards his superior, "Father, I am not talented, but I am willing to lead the Chisong Army to capture that evil bastard!"
"you……"
Duan Rufeng slowly opened his eyes, "Are you so happy?"
"Open...what do you mean by this, father?"
Duan Yuanyang was stunned. "I am deeply saddened by the death of my second brother. How can I be happy?!"
"Because you think that since your second brother is dead and your nephew has done something like this, I will definitely not pass the position to him."
Duan Rufeng explained for his eldest son, "Is that right?"
Plop.
Duan Yuanyang knelt down directly, trembling, fearful and angry: "Father is innocent! I swear to heaven that I never meant that!"
"Oh, is it so?"
Duan Rufeng's tone remained calm, "Then let me ask you, with Wu Xiangyi here, how do catch Wu Xie?"
"This kid has a plan!"
Duan Yuanyang straightened up and said confidently, "We know the true face of that evil creature. As long as we write his name on the Skynet, it will be useless even if he escapes to the ends of the earth!"
"Skynet?"
Duan Rufeng's tone rose slightly, "You mean, at my age, I should have the nerve to ask the red-skinned guy for a Daoist device to handle our own family affairs?"
"this……"
Duan Yuanyang lowered his head, his eyes flickering, "I know that family disgrace should not be made public, but the death of my second brother cannot be concealed. Even a few minor officials in Zhanghua can guess that it was that bastard. Sooner or later, this will happen..."
Snapped!
Before he could finish his words, Duan Yuanyang was slapped and flew away, rolling over and over for more than ten times before he stopped.
"One bite, one bastard. One bite, one bastard."
Duan Rufeng appeared at the place where Duan Yuanyang had knelt before, with a violent look on his face: "Even if we take a step back, Wuxie is at least your second brother's son, and your second brother is also my child!"
"…I know I was wrong!"
Duan Yuanyang got up, not even bothering to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth, and kowtowed repeatedly.
But the look in his eyes was so resentful that it was a little creepy.
"Don't think I don't know what you're thinking."
Duan Rufeng sneered, "You just want this matter to spread as widely as possible, and it would be best if His Majesty issued an edict to reprimand Wuxie, so that Wuxie will never have the chance to become the head of the family, right?"
"This, this...I have absolutely no such intention!"
Duan Yuanyang raised his head, his face full of fear: "I have no talent or virtue, and I am not qualified to support the position of Duke. I have never dared to hope for it. If you don't believe it, father... If you don't believe it, you don't need to use Skynet. As long as you use the Life Lock, I can find him! And I don't have to worry about being known!"
"Lock with the same name?"
Duan Rufeng's disdain grew even stronger. "Yes, if you use the Life Lock, you can indeed find Wuxie, but what do you plan to do after you find him? Use the Life Lock to suppress his power, and then kill him on the spot, right?"
"baby……"
"Shut up!"
Duan Rufeng scolded, interrupting Duan Yuanyang's argument, "I have heard too many lies from you in my life, I've had enough of them."
Duan Yuanyang shuddered, but he kept his mouth shut and didn't dare to say another word.
"I have no objection to your ambition. Even if you are mean, shameless, vulgar, and have no bottom line, I can accept it."
Duan Rufeng turned and walked towards the main seat, talking as he walked, his tone low, lonely and helpless.
"If you can use conspiracy to kill your second brother, your nephew, or even me, not only will I not blame you at all, I will even brag to my ancestors in the underworld... because my son is better than theirs!"
"But you?"
"In your entire life, have you ever accomplished anything?"
"When you are an official, you will never make small mistakes, but you will definitely make big mistakes."
"I married a wife and you killed her alive... That fucking wife is your wife, the daughter of the Minister of Rites, not a prostitute!"
"You can't even give birth to a baby."
"That's right. Since ancient times, the eldest son has always been the heir. It's the same in our Duan family."
Duan Rufeng sat down in the main seat and looked at Duan Yuanyang with a look of disappointment. "But ask yourself, can I trust you with such a huge family business?"
"I know I was wrong. I have brought shame to my father..."
Duan Yuanyang lowered his head, the resentment in his heart was so strong that it could not be any stronger.
"okay."
Duan Rufeng waved his hands helplessly, "You are indeed a hopeless piece of mud, but now, the position of the Duke can only be held by you."
"What?!"
Duan Yuanyang suddenly looked up, a look of disbelief on his face.
Obviously, things had come to this point, and he had defended Duan Wuxie to this extent. He should have no hope of taking the position of the patriarch anymore. Why was there a sudden reversal?
Could it be that... the old man has gone insane because of the death of his second brother?
Thinking of this, Duan Yuanyang was overjoyed and immediately looked into Duan Rufeng's eyes.
this……
Duan Yuanyang was stunned for a moment, then immediately lowered his head again.
He saw clearly that Duan Rufeng's eyes were tired and weak, but he was still clearly awake, without any signs of confusion.
This is not the look of insanity at all.
If you're not crazy, why do you say that?
Duan Yuanyang couldn't understand.
At this moment, Duan Rufeng gave the answer.
"The life lock has been broken."
Duan Rufeng slowly closed his eyes.
"What?! Broken?!"
Duan Yuanyang was so frightened that he couldn't control himself and fell backwards, from kneeling to sitting on the ground.
The Life Lock is not a very high-level treasure. At best, it is at the level of a magic weapon. It is mainly used to train outstanding descendants of the family.
However, this kind of unique magic weapon is extremely rare. Even in the capital city where nobles are everywhere and officials are as numerous as dogs, few families can afford it.
It has only one function, which is to link the life sources of two people together.
This fate link does not mean that if one person dies, the other will definitely die.
Its real effect is in martial arts - as long as either one of the two people makes progress in martial arts, the other will get feedback.
Only when both people die will the life lock break.
so……
The second brother and his bastard, are all dead?!
Duan Yuanyang came back to his senses and began to try his best to suppress the corners of his mouth from rising.
"Even if the life lock is not broken, I still don't believe that Wu Xie killed your second brother."
Duan Rufeng continued, "You may think that Wuxie is afraid of waiting too long to become the head of the family, so he wants to kill your second brother, but you don't know that Wuxie doesn't want to be a Duke of Chengguo at all... He prefers to hide in the dark and enjoy the feeling that no one in the world knows him."
"What's more, now the fate lock is broken."
"It is very likely that Wuxie died much earlier than your second brother."
It is indeed possible...
Duan Yuanyang gradually calmed down from his excitement and nodded thoughtfully.
"Now, you are the only candidate for the position of Duke."
"But if you want to become the Duke, you must accomplish one thing."
"If I can't accomplish this, I would rather go to the palace and ask His Majesty to strip me of my title than leave it to you!"
Duan Rufeng's eyes were wide open with anger, and a blood-and-iron aura rose up, covering the entire main hall.
"Did you hear that clearly?!"
