Chapter 169: Memorial, Unwelcome Guest

"Fourth girl, you have finally returned."

In the crowd, an old man leaning on a cane with gray hair greeted Shangguan Xiao first, trembling as he spoke.

Shangguan Xiao was Zhang Zongyang's fourth child, and also the youngest child; some elders in the family would call her fourth girl.

She saw the old man, and her cold gaze became much softer, saying softly:

"Third granduncle, I have returned."

This old man's name was Zhang Hongguo; he was Zhang Zongyang's third uncle and one of the few elders in the Zhang family who was good to Shangguan Xiao.

The old man's eye sockets were somewhat red, and he exerted force to support the cane in his hand, blue veins bulging on the back of his hand:

"Returning is good! Returning is good!"

"Little sister, the journey was hard."

A middle-aged man who looked somewhat similar to Shangguan Xiao walked up and nodded to Shangguan Xiao.

"Second brother."

Shangguan Xiao looked at the other party and greeted softly.

The body of a Dao Foundation powerhouse will undergo multiple reinforcements, so she looked much younger than her second brother, not at all like people of the same generation.

A complex expression appeared on the man's face: "I haven't heard you call me second brother for many years."

He was Zhang Zongyang's second son, named Zhang Zedong, currently serving as a Sword-Executing Envoy in the General Stop-Goe Academy, a Level 12 official, which is an imperial official.

Besides the deceased Zhang Zongyang who was a fourth-rank sitting official, only five people in the Zhang family were imperial officials. Zhang Zedong was the one with the highest official position and the most promising one in the first branch.

Of course, if you count Shangguan Xiao, who has now returned to the family, then Zhang Zedong cannot compare.

Shangguan Xiao, this head of the Xingcheng Stop-Goe Academy, is a Level 11 official. Although she is one grade lower than Zhang Zedong in official position, the actual power in her hands is not much worse, and most importantly, Shangguan Xiao is a Dao Foundation powerhouse, while Zhang Zedong is only a Force-Refining Martial Master.

This point determined that the development prospects of the two in the martial arts system of the Stop-Goe Academy could not be compared.

To serve as a Helmsman of the General Stop-Goe Academy, one must at least have the cultivation of the Dao Foundation Realm; this is a necessary condition.

Zhang Zedong has been stuck at the threshold of the Dao Foundation Realm for nearly thirty years, and it is almost impossible for him to have a chance to break through again. So, the Sword-Executing Envoy of the General Stop-Goe Academy is almost the peak he can touch in the officialdom in his life.

This is also the reason why Zhang Zongyang defied all opinions back then and insisted on supporting Shangguan Xiao with all his might.

Because the others were truly impossible to support...

Besides Zhang Hongguo and Zhang Zedong, the rest of the Zhang family present did not dare to come up to greet her, because they were truly not very familiar with Shangguan Xiao.

Shangguan Xiao was sent out to apprentice and learn martial arts at the age of nine, and the time she spent at home could be counted on one's fingers. At the age of nineteen, she even broke with the family directly, changed her surname to Shangguan, and after that, she didn't return home for more than thirty years.

The Zhang family members were actually very unfamiliar with her.

"Is this your martial nephew? Li Fei from Wu Da?"

Zhang Zedong took the initiative to look at Li Fei.

"Correct, he is my martial nephew, Li Fei."

Shangguan Xiao said simply.

Actually, Li Fei doesn't need her to introduce him too much nowadays; he has long been famous in Datong Prefecture!

"Junior Li Fei, I have met the senior."

Li Fei's hands were not empty, so he could only nod to Zhang Zedong to show respect.

"Are you accompanying your martial aunt to the Zhang family today?"

Zhang Zedong asked.

This question caused the surroundings to suddenly quiet down, and everyone watched Li Fei.

Although he is only a first-year freshman at Wu Da, Li Fei already has some weight in Datong Prefecture. This weight lies not only in the importance Wu Da places on him but also in his own growth speed.

Back then, Wang Fengqing used three years to break through to the Dao Foundation Realm all the way; how long does Li Fei, whose talent is clearly stronger, need?

Two years?

One year?

In any case, as long as one is on good terms with Li Fei, it means that in a year or two, one will highly likely gain the friendship of a Dao Foundation powerhouse.

No matter which force it is, they are willing to treat a Dao Foundation powerhouse as an honored guest.

This is the weight of Li Fei nowadays!

"Yes, the junior will accompany the martial aunt to the Zhang family."

Li Fei said affirmatively.

"Good, the Zhang family will keep it in mind!"

Zhang Zedong did not say words of thanks, or rather, did not give any reward; that would instead destroy the good teacher-student relationship.

He looked at Shangguan Xiao:

"Little sister, let's go, let's go home."

Although the Zhang family has lost power, they can still afford a few luxury cars, so the group boarded the cars one after another.

Soon, this luxury motorcade drove toward the Zhang family's mansion.

For a time, the news of Shangguan Xiao returning to the city and Li Fei going to meet her and heading to the Zhang family spread rapidly throughout the city.

Twenty minutes later, the motorcade stopped in front of the gate of a grand mansion.

This is the Zhang Mansion; a single mansion occupies a street alone!

At this time, quite a few luxury cars were already parked on the street.

Today is Zhang Zongyang's funeral, and these people are all here to pay their respects.

Given the Zhang family's status and Zhang Zongyang's prestige during his lifetime, the people coming to pay their respects today should have blocked the entire street, but today it appeared somewhat deserted, and the atmosphere of the entire Zhang Mansion was somewhat miserable.

This is the true portrayal of the Zhang family nowadays.

After getting off the car, Shangguan Xiao looked at this mansion she hadn't returned to for more than thirty years, her expression complex.

Ultimately, she said nothing, followed Zhang Zedong toward the gate of the Zhang Mansion, and Li Fei followed by her side.

Just as the group stepped onto the steps, preparing to enter, a group of people suddenly surged out from inside, blocking Shangguan Xiao and the others.

The leader was a man who already had some white hair; although wearing mourning clothes, he still couldn't hide that obvious official authority.

"Second uncle, what do you mean by this?"

Zhang Zedong looked at the leader and asked with a frown.

This person's name was Zhang Zongming; he was Zhang Zongyang's younger brother.

The Zhang family is divided into three branches; the first branch is naturally led by Zhang Zongyang, while the second branch is led by Zhang Zongming. He is also one of the imperial officials of the Zhang family, currently serving as the head of the Engineering Division of the General Internal Affairs Academy of Datong Prefecture, also a Level 12 official.

"Zongming, today is not the time to make trouble!"

Zhang Hongguo, who had the highest seniority present, stepped forward with his cane and scolded with a fierce gaze.

Zhang Zongming met Zhang Hongguo's gaze without showing weakness, then bowed respectfully:

"I am not here to make trouble, but my Zhang family has been passed down for many years; rituals cannot be abandoned, and family laws cannot be forgotten!"

After speaking, he straightened up and looked at the expressionless Shangguan Xiao, asking sternly:

"You publicly broke with my Zhang family more than thirty years ago and changed your surname to Shangguan, so today, in what capacity are you entering the door of my Zhang family?!"

This question of his actually hit the most critical point, and it was also the reason why many people opposed Zhang Zongyang supporting Shangguan Xiao back then—

A person who publicly broke with the family and even no longer has the surname Zhang, what qualification do they have to enjoy the Zhang family's resources?

What qualification do they have today to enter the door of the Zhang family again?

"Second uncle!"

Zhang Zedong exuded a murderous aura belonging only to a martial man, glaring at Zhang Zongming, "My Zhang family is in this situation now; must you fight internally at this time and let outsiders watch a joke?!"

"A joke?"

Zhang Zongming looked at Zhang Zedong without fear, "I don't care who becomes the head of the Zhang family in the future, but there is one point: I would rather the Zhang family be destroyed in the hands of our own people than let it fall into the hands of someone who doesn't have the surname Zhang!"

"You..."

Zhang Zedong glared at Zhang Zongming but was helpless.

Even Zhang Hongguo, who had just scolded Zhang Zongming loudly, fell silent.

For a noble family, the inheritance and honor of the family are always placed first. The mentality that Zhang Zongming just expressed is actually not unique to him, but a mentality that almost every noble family in this world has:

Even if my own family property is squandered by my own people, it cannot be tainted by outsiders!

Today's Zhang family indeed needs the help of a Dao Foundation powerhouse like Shangguan Xiao, but if the final result is to let the Zhang family change its surname to Shangguan from now on, then I am afraid no one among the power holders of the Zhang family can accept it.

Li Fei watched this scene quietly. He carefully observed the expressions of Zhang Zedong and Zhang Hongguo, secretly guessing whether this scene could have been discussed in advance by the first and second branches, with the purpose of forcing Shangguan Xiao to express her stance?

There is also a possibility that the people of the first branch knew in advance that the second branch would make trouble today, and just wanted to take advantage of the second branch's hand to make Shangguan Xiao express her stance.

How will Shangguan Xiao choose?

The gazes of everyone present were focused on this green dress.

Shangguan Xiao looked at Zhang Zongming with a cold gaze. According to her past temper, she would have already taken action and broken in directly, and would not have listened to the other party say so much nonsense.

But today is Zhang Zongyang's funeral.

"I, Shangguan Xiao, have come today to pay my respects in the capacity of Zhang Zongyang's daughter!"

Shangguan Xiao said loudly.

Hearing this, the expressions of Zhang Zedong, Zhang Hongguo, and others changed drastically, while Zhang Zongming was stunned for a moment, then breathed a sigh of relief.

He stepped aside to make way: "Very well, please!"

Following this action of his, the people of the second branch stepped aside one after another.

"Little sister..."

Zhang Zedong wanted to say something.

But Shangguan Xiao ignored him and stepped into the gate of the Zhang family.

Li Fei followed closely behind.

"Shangguan Xiao, here to pay respects—"

When Shangguan Xiao passed through the front courtyard and was about to enter the mourning hall where the funeral was held, someone had already announced loudly.

After this announcement, it meant that today Shangguan Xiao was only here to pay respects in a personal capacity.

Shangguan Xiao stopped outside the hall for a moment, took out a black veil prepared in advance, and let Li Fei help her tie it on her left arm.

Subsequently, the two walked into the mourning hall.

In the center of the mourning hall was a coffin, with Zhang Zongyang's portrait hanging in front.

This is a man whose eyebrows are like swords; even if one only looks at him through the portrait, one can feel as if a sharp gaze has pierced one's body!

Seeing this portrait, Li Fei immediately associated it with Shangguan Xiao's cold gaze; the eyebrows of the father and daughter were truly too similar.

The first time Shangguan Xiao saw Zhang Zongyang's portrait, her body trembled slightly, and the ice on her face disintegrated instantly.

"Little sister... come and pay your respects."

A man with somewhat gray hair guarding the side of the coffin said to Shangguan Xiao with an exhausted face.

He is Zhang Zongyang's eldest son, Zhang Zezheng, and can be considered the eldest legitimate son of the Zhang family, but he is neither good at literature nor martial arts; he has neither the aptitude to become a martial artist nor any talent, and ultimately can only be responsible for managing some of the Zhang family's businesses, and almost no one thinks he can succeed as the head of the Zhang family.

Shangguan Xiao did not reply to Zhang Zezheng. Her brain was already blank at this time, and she walked forward step by step like a soul lost, until she walked to the coffin, and this Dao Foundation powerhouse lost all her strength and knelt down with a thud.

"..."

Shangguan Xiao opened her mouth; she didn't even realize that tears had already flowed down. She used all her strength to try to say something, but she just couldn't make a sound.

After a long time, she squeezed a sentence from her throat:

"Father, Xiao'er has returned—"

After speaking, she bowed forcefully, and her body began to tremble.

At this moment, scene after scene that happened over the past few decades passed through Shangguan Xiao's mind:

Zhang Zongyang did not marry her mother properly; in other words, she was an illegitimate child of the Zhang family.

But at the age of seven, Zhang Zongyang held her hand and led her into the door of the Zhang family openly.

After that, everything she was treated to in the family was no worse than Zhang Zongyang's other three children.

At the age of nine, she was sent out by Zhang Zongyang to apprentice and learn martial arts. At first, she felt that Zhang Zongyang didn't like her and didn't want to let her stay in the Zhang family, and her heart was full of resentment.

It wasn't until later that she knew what kind of earnest heart that was.

At the age of nineteen, she chose to break with the family because of Hao Yi's matter and changed her surname to Shangguan. At that time, the entire Zhang family was cursing her, and only Zhang Zongyang never said a word about this matter from beginning to end.

Later, she went to Xingcheng to create the Qingyuan Fist Village and very smoothly obtained the channels for purchasing elixirs and implants. She was very surprised at first, and only later knew that this was actually Zhang Zongyang using the Zhang family's channels to help her secretly.

Half a year ago, she suddenly contacted Zhang Zongyang actively, revealing her desire to enter the officialdom.

Zhang Zongyang didn't say a word, defied all opinions, and used the family's resources to pave the way for her, allowing her to smoothly become the head of the Xingcheng Stop-Goe Academy.

All these things, perhaps there was no lack of long-term consideration by a family head, but a father's love for his daughter was also in it.

Actually, when Shangguan Xiao chose to succeed to the position of head of the Xingcheng Stop-Goe Academy, she had already thought about how to repay the family well according to Zhang Zongyang's wishes in the future.

But Zhang Zongyang did not wait for her repayment.

So many years have passed, and she had hidden many words in her heart that she wanted to say to her father.

But now they can only be hidden in her heart forever.

Shangguan Xiao just knelt on the ground like this, kneeling for a long, long time...

"Helmsman Chu Bo of the General Stop-Goe Academy, here to pay respects—"

It wasn't until this announcement came from outside the mourning hall that Shangguan Xiao slowly got up, wiped her face, and stood up from the ground.

When she turned around, she had already restored her cold gaze.

Li Fei turned around and looked outside the mourning hall.

He had obtained the Zhang family's information from Lu Mengyang in advance and figured out many of the Zhang family's interpersonal relationships.

Among them were the Zhang family's friends, and there were also the Zhang family's enemies.

The General Stop-Goe Academy has a total of three Helmsmen; Zhang Zongyang and Fu Lang were friends, but the relationship with the remaining Helmsman, Chu Bo, was very bad.

The grudge between the Zhang family and the Chu family has lasted for many years; Chu Bo's only son once fell into Zhang Zongyang's scheme and finally died under the siege of the General Stop-Goe Academy.

So there is an unresolvable blood feud between the two sides!

Today is Zhang Zongyang's funeral, and Chu Bo came to pay respects personally; one knows with one's feet that he is here with bad intentions.

Soon, a man wearing the black martial uniform of the Stop-Goe Academy with a stern aura walked into the mourning hall first.

He first looked up at Zhang Zongyang's portrait, then sneered without covering it up.

An unwelcome guest has arrived!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 170 =====