Chapter 26: Uncle's Pressure

  Dah Lian Shen Xiū Míng was so tense that he couldn't sleep, and sat up on the kang, saying hesitantly: "Xiao Qiū Gē... are you still resentful of me?"

  Originally there were four young men living in the room, now only Xia Qiu and the Shen brothers are left, another one has run to another house to avoid suspicion.

  Xiao Qiu hadn't spoken yet, but Er Liang Shen Xiuyi hastily said: "Brother, you're also too... honest, you know the nature of Huan Saner, why admit guilt to him and in front of so many people."

  Shen Xiuning's face turned red, fortunately it was dark and no one could see, "I don't want to either, but Zhang Daoshi is helping the prince, he glares at you, who dares to resist?"

  "Xiao Qiuge is so bold."

  Shen Xiuning didn't want to get entangled with his brother anymore, looking at Xiao Qiu's position in the darkness. "Xiao Qiuge, you've managed to offend both Wangzi and Zhang Daoshi, your guts are really big, daring to call him 'Dizzy Three' in public. Today, at least ten people secretly asked me about the origin of 'Dizzy Three'."

  "Then did you tell them the truth?" Shen Xiuyi asked.

  The confrontation in the afternoon ended without incident, and upon seeing Xin Youtao's changed expression, Zhang Lingsheng immediately ordered the children to disperse, not giving Xia Qiu another chance to humiliate the prince.

  "Well, I've said something, but actually, you can all guess it even if I don't say it."

  Shen Xiou let out a disdainful hum, but in the afternoon, he stood firmly by Xiao Qiu's side, not regretting it one bit. "Once everyone finds out that Huan San'er is actually a coward, just wait and see how he'll still be so arrogant."

  Xiao Qiu lay on her back on the kang, "What did Xin Yu Tao say to you guys later?"

  Shen Xiuning's face turned red again, and after the confrontation in the afternoon, he was called by Xin Youtao to talk about something with a few young men from Ye Lin Town. He was the last one to leave Wang Zi's room, and he had planned to bring it up later, but Xiao Qiu asked directly, "Nothing, Wang Zi is... Brother Xiao Qiu, don't fight with him anymore. Wang Zi hates Shen Hao the most, he said that as long as you apologize to him tomorrow morning at breakfast time, he will let bygones be bygones and give you many gifts. You forgot, Shen Hao has been your rival since childhood, why are you taking the blame for him? He has his uncle's backing, no need for others to help. We have no home to return to, and we were lucky to be taken in by Pang Shan, don't cause trouble everywhere. Wang Zi is after all a prince, and everyone in Pang Shan will definitely side with him."

  Xiao Qiu listened quietly, the two had always been the best of friends. Whenever Xiao Qiu was impulsive, only Shen Xiuying could persuade him to turn back, but this time it didn't work.

  Xiao Qiu also sat up from the kang, patted Erlang Shen Youwei's shoulder, and stopped him from speaking. "Daliang, in front of outsiders I call you Shen Youming, but privately I still call you Daliang."

  "No matter in public or private, I call you Xiao Qiuge." Da Liang was slightly moved.

  "The people of Yelin Town have fallen, and only the nine of us are left. We are Yelin Town, you, me, Shen Hao, no exceptions. Xin Yu Tao wants to make friends, I'm willing, and from now on, we won't mention what happened back then. But what Xin Yu Tao wants is not a friend, but a follower and a servant. Dalang, we can't bow our heads. If we do today, we'll never be able to lift them again in the future. That way, Yelin Town will be gone too. Help me return the dagger to Xin Yu Tao and tell him that I'm not going to interfere with his business."

  Xin Yutao became a "prisoner" in the forest, Xiao Qiu snatched a dagger from him. He thought it was time to return the property to its rightful owner. Er Liang Shen Xiuwei, however, was very unwilling, "Why should we return it? Didn't Huan San'er take away Fang Fang's oil lamp without returning it?"

  Xiao Qiu handed over the dagger to Shen Xiuming, and the room fell silent. The three young men sitting on the kang were all lost in thought.

  "Can I stay here tonight?" A voice outside the door broke the silence in the room.

  It was Shen Hao, and he didn't know how long he had been waiting outside the door.

  "Of course," said Xia Qiu, making room for him by her side.

  Shen Hao pushed the door open, spread out a set of bedding on the kang, undressed and lay down. The room fell silent again. After a while, he said, "Thank you, Little Autumn."

  Dah Ryong Shim You Ming fell asleep as soon as he lay down and never spoke again.

  Xin Yutao's arrival completely broke the original pattern in the dormitory. Before that, dozens of children naturally divided into several small groups, coming and going among each other. The nine boys from Ye Lin Town had a slightly higher status because of their large number, but that was all. No one bullied anyone, nor was there any hatred.

  The Western king then demands that everyone make a clear choice, either stand on his side or be counted among the minority of others.

  Xin Youtao did not get up early to practice boxing, the children's split was not obvious yet, until he appeared in the front yard dining room, everything was different.

  Xiao Qiu, Fang Fang, Shen Hao, and Shen Xiuyi sat at the same table. The other children kept a distance from them. Shen Xiuming and five other boys from Yelin Town sat in the corner, far away from the center of the conflict. They were still in the "observation period" and didn't have the qualifications to get too close to Wangzi.

  Xin Yutao first occupied a table alone, his eyes scanned the dining hall, and he designated two children to sit opposite him. As he ate, he accepted thanks from those who came over one after another. The gifts he had generously given out yesterday were having a huge effect, and nearly half of the disciples recruited by Pangshan were from Xijiguo, so they naturally had some reverence for their own country's prince.

  Xiao Qiu was indifferent to the cold atmosphere in the dining hall, chatting and laughing with Er Liang and Shen Xi. Fang Fang smiled but didn't speak, while Shen Hao looked extremely depressed, feeling that he had dragged down his three companions.

  A few village women who brought food noticed today's abnormal phenomenon, cautiously pretending to be unaware, only the high-cheeked village woman kept looking around, her eyes full of curiosity, bringing food to the hut was originally a dull and uninteresting task, now it has some meaning.

  Breakfast over, the village women carried their lunch boxes in both hands, with the newly acquired cloth tucked under their arms, and walked out of the gate with excitement. Xia Qiu knew that even they would not remain neutral.

  Xin Yutao changed his strategy, no longer confronting the stubborn Ye Lin Town youth directly, but instead using a circuitous approach. This move achieved a major victory that evening.

  Shen Hao's uncle came and went, at noon he entrusted the villagers to call his nephew out, this time the conversation lasted longer, until dinner time Shen Hao walked into the dining hall, as if he had suffered a heavy blow, his expression was dejected, his footsteps slow, completely losing the demeanor of the second young master of the Shen family, his head hung down in front of his chest, not looking at anyone, and went straight to Wang Zixin's side.

  "Your Highness..."

  "I said, on Mount Pong's Taoist path, everyone is equal, don't call me 'Your Highness'." Xīn Yòutáo probably already knew this would happen, so he had long since assumed a solemn and respectful posture, as if the food in front of him wasn't plain rice and vegetables, but rather delicious royal delicacies.

  "Xin Daoyou, please forgive my past recklessness and ignorance. I didn't know your identity at the time, otherwise even if I had a hundred times more courage, I wouldn't have dared..."

  Xiao Qiu and the three people at this table could no longer bear it, putting down their unfinished food, standing up and leaving. Only a few children noticed them, everyone else was stunned by Shen Hua's sudden concession, feeling even more that Wang Zi was not to be trifled with.

  In the study, Erliang Shen was pacing back and forth, indignantly saying "Ershuang is really a scoundrel! We stood by his side, but he actually... He's really a scoundrel!"

  Fang Fang was also slightly puzzled, "A cultivator shouldn't be like this. When everyone arrives at Yangshen Peak and truly begins to cultivate, perhaps... perhaps their state of mind will change, no need to compete with each other."

  "Xin Yutao wants to turn everyone into his slaves," said Xiao Qiu, he didn't have a deep grudge against Xin Yutao, but was unwilling to break through the bottom line, "I won't bow my head to him."

  "I won't either, I'd rather die than bow my head to Wan San'er." Er Liang rubbed his belly and said, "But next time let's not leave too early, we should finish our meal instead, it's a waste to leave it there."

  Fang Fang burst out laughing, "Anyway, we won't provoke him, after all, this place belongs to the Pangshan Daoist tradition. Even if Xi Jie Wang himself comes, he can't force everyone to listen to him."

  "Is there such a rule? You'd better tell me about it." Er Lang Shen Hui's confidence increased instantly, and he listened to Fang Fang's explanation of the book's content with unprecedented patience.

  After dark, Xiao Qiu and Shen Xiuyi practiced Tieguquan in the courtyard for half an hour before returning to their room to rest.

  Da Liang Shen Xiu Ming moved away and no longer lived with his younger brother and good friend, but Shen Hao didn't, lying on the kang in silence, as if he had fallen asleep long ago.

  Shen Xiu merely hummed softly and slept on the other side of the bed, leaving Xiao Qiu to lie between them.

  A moment later, Shen Hao burst into tears, crying uncontrollably. At first, Shen Xiuyi looked down on him, but then felt a pang of sympathy and consoled him: "Forget it, there's nothing to be sad about. He's a prince, and you going to apologize won't be too humiliating."

  "My uncle forced me." Shen Hao choked back a sob, feeling utterly wronged and having no one to confide in, so he could only reveal it to the two people in the same room. "He's a minor official in Xijie City, afraid of the prince seeking revenge, I had no choice... After you guys left, the prince made me sit next to him, gave me things to eat and even patted my head, as if... as if I was his pet dog, everyone saw it, I know they were laughing at me in their hearts."

  "It's not always a good thing to have an uncle." Shen Xiuyi's sympathy increased by several points, "You were forced into this situation and had no choice, but why did you still come back to sleep in this room? If Huan San'er finds out, he'll bully you again."

  "He ordered me to come back." Shen Hao stopped crying, feeling even more embarrassed, sat up, and pulled out something from the bedding, placing it on the kang and pushing it towards Xiao Qiu. "He told me to give this to you, saying that unless you apologize in public, admit that you used to be a thief, and that the 'three times fainting' was all made-up lies, he won't take back the dagger, nor will he forgive you. He also said..."

  Shen Hao muttered to himself, filled with disgust and hatred for the role he was playing at this moment.

  "What else?" Xia Qiu asked, wanting to know how far Xin Youtao would distort the facts.

  "He also said that if you don't apologize, he'll publicly challenge you to a duel. He wants to prove his skills are superior and that you're a fake, and he won't easily fall unconscious."

  Xiao Qiu fell silent for a moment, and one by one, the young men from the same town were won over, conquered, and defeated by Xin Youtao. This actually calmed him down, allowing him to carefully think about his current situation. He made three different decisions, only to veto them each time, until he felt there was no other choice left. Only then did he open his mouth to say: "Then let's have a martial arts competition."

  After speaking, Xia Qiu took back the dagger and fell asleep immediately.

  (Collection wanted Recommendation wanted)