Chapter 3: One Cry Shocks Heaven

  It's outrageous that someone dares to criticize Yuan Shao for being unfair in handling affairs!

  A joyful atmosphere came to an abrupt end, and everyone's eyes looked around in surprise.

  In the corner, Yuan Fang also felt unexpected, looked up and saw that the doubter was Tian Feng.

  Yuan Shao's eyebrows furrowed slightly as he said in a deep voice, "Yuan Hua, what makes you say this?"

  Tian Feng stood up, cupped his hands and said seriously: "Master, according to age, it should be the second young master who gets married first, then the third young master. Now Master has chosen the third young master for this marriage, which is not in accordance with etiquette and law, and is somewhat unfair."

  "What a Tian Feng, indeed straightforward and unyielding! If I had such a minister, I would have to heavily rely on him..."

  Yuan Fang, who was deeply trapped in the corner, nodded secretly and admired Tian Feng extremely. It wasn't because Tian Feng spoke for himself, but because Tian Feng dared to disregard Yuan Shao's personal preferences and insisted on justice with this kind of courage.

  Yuan Shao's eyes flashed with a hint of displeasure, clearly dissatisfied with Tian Feng's words and actions.

  He didn't get angry, but instead suppressed his dissatisfaction and calmly said: "Yuanshuo's words are not unreasonable, however, this marriage was proposed by Brother Ziran after all. How can I make a decision on my own? Alright, Brother Ziran, you can choose one of my sons to be your son-in-law."

  Everyone's gaze focused on Zhen Yi again.

  Yuan Shao didn't want to be said to be unfair, so he kicked the ball back to Zhen Yi.

  Yuan Fang saw through Yuan Shao's intentions at a glance and was even more aware of his tactics.

  Zhen Yixian first looked at Yuan Xi, a "talented and handsome" man, then looked at Yuan Fang, who had a disability, with a hesitant expression in his eyes.

  After coughing a few times, Zhen Yi sighed and said: "Actually, my daughter had made a solemn vow to marry a man who is both literary and martially accomplished, so..."

  Zhen Yi didn't say it outright, but the implication was already very clear. The so-called "literary and martial arts combined" hinges on a single word: "martial".

  Yuan Fang is a cripple, if he really wants to fight, he's probably not even a match for a woman, where does his "martial" come from?

  Zhen Yi's words clearly implied that he had tactfully chosen Yuan Xi as his son-in-law.

  Yuan Xi looked at Yuan Fang, with a hint of provocation and disdain in his eyes.

  Yuan Fang was saddened by their situation.

  Zhen Yi thought he had made a good deal and could climb up the big tree of the Yuan family, but he didn't know that the Yuan family would be defeated by Cao Cao's hands, and not one of the Yuan family father and son would survive.

  Everyone's gaze turned to Yuan Fang, either looking down on him or feeling sorry for him. They all thought that as a cripple, Yuan Fang was no match for the title of "well-rounded in both literature and martial arts". If he knew what was good for him, he should just give up voluntarily.

  Yuan Fang remained silent, watching them still put on a hypocritical face.

  Yuan Xi saw that Yuan Fang was not willing to decline, and he couldn't help but show a look of annoyance. At this time, Yuan Tan leaned in close to him and whispered a few words in his ear.

  Yuan Xi's mouth hooked up with a wry smile, and he suddenly stood up, bowing to Yuan Shao: "Since Uncle Zhen has this condition, I don't want to make things difficult for Father either. I'd like to have a trial of sword skills with my second brother."

  Yuan Xi actually wanted to compete with Yuan Fang in martial arts, apparently this was to defeat Yuan Fang in front of everyone and show that he was superior in the way of martial arts, so as to naturally meet Zhen Yituo's requirements for choosing a son-in-law.

  Yuan Shao nodded slightly and said: "Alright, you two can have a friendly competition."

  Yuan Fang is a cripple, how can he be Yuan Xi's opponent? This contest doesn't need to take place, the outcome is already clear.

  Yuan Shao knew this, yet still wanted to agree, and naturally had suspicions of being biased towards Yuan Xi.

  "Victory is not martial, even in victory it's still a defeat..."

  Tian Feng saw Yuan Shao's partiality, but this competition was fair on the surface after all. Tian Feng couldn't say anything more and could only shake his head and sigh secretly.

  Having obtained Yuan Shao's consent, Yuan Xi turned to Yuan Fang, with a look of disdain in his eyes, and coldly said: "Second brother, do you dare to compare swordsmanship with me? If second brother doesn't have the guts, he can also give up."

  Everyone's eyes fell on Yuan Fang, and everyone thought that Yuan Fang would surely know better to give up this competition and voluntarily yield Zhen family's thousand-golden-girl miss to Yuan Xi.

  Otherwise, wouldn't it be a case of being overconfident and going on stage to compete, only to be humiliated by Yuan Xi in public?

  Even Xiao Cha was making eye contact with Yuan Fang, hinting that he should give up voluntarily, because she didn't want to see her own young master being defeated and humiliated by his younger brother in front of everyone.

  Yuan Fang's expression was calm as water, his eyes quietly staring at Yuan Xi's provocative expression.

  In his heart, anger was still burning fiercely.

  "I've tolerated you time and again, but you keep pushing me. Do you think I'm easy to bully?!"

  In the midst of contemptuous gazes, Yuan Fang slowly stood up, limping and hobbling to the center of the hall, chest out and head held high, calmly facing Yuan Xi.

  "In that case, I'll just exchange a few moves with Third Brother."

  Yuan Fang's demeanor was calm and composed, his tone of voice was light and casual, that air of confidence, as if he didn't take Yuan Xi's challenge seriously at all.

  The hall was suddenly filled with an uproar.

  "What's wrong with this second young master? He's usually timid and weak, but today he's become so bold, daring to accept the challenge of the third young master!"

  "Yes, when he just came in, I felt that his demeanor was different from usual, seemingly more composed than before."

  "He's just pretending to be calm, he's a cripple, and yet he dares to exchange blows with the second young master, isn't that just asking for humiliation?"

  The people in the hall whispered among themselves, some with surprise, some with unexpectedness, but most still looked down on him.

  "The second young master actually has such courage, this is indeed a surprise...” Tian Feng stroked his beard, muttering to himself, with a hint of admiration in his surprised gaze.

  Even Yuan Shao couldn't help but show a look of surprise on his face, as if he didn't dare to believe that his crippled illegitimate son had become somewhat different from the others today.

  After Zhen Yishi left, the female servant who was disguised as a man slightly raised her eyebrows and nodded slightly.

  Yuan Xi was stunned, his face filled with incredulity.

  In front of him, this crippled brother who used to be bullied by them and never fought back, not only beat up his servant girl but also dared to accept his challenge for the sake of competing with him over a woman.

  Yuan Xi couldn't believe it, the person standing in front of him was actually Yuan Fang.

  For a moment, Yuan Xi was stunned and humiliated into anger, and he sternly shouted: "Bring me my sword!"

  The servants in the hall hastily presented two long swords.

  Yuan Xi looked at Yuan Fang with a slanted gaze, saying proudly: "Second brother, you have leg disease, I don't want to take advantage of you, and be said that my victory is not gallant. Today in this trial, you can hold your sword, while I will fight you bare-handed."

  Yuan Xi was extremely confident and didn't take Yuan Fang seriously at all, thinking that even if he were to use only one hand, he could still knock Yuan Fang to the ground.

  Yuan Fang smiled faintly: "No need for you to let me through, brother. Let's just have a sword-to-sword showdown and see who comes out on top."

  As soon as this was said, the crowd was shocked again. Unexpectedly, Yuan Fang dared to accept the challenge, and even Yuan Xi's swordsmen were disdainful.

  Has he gone mad? Could it be that this young master has lost his mind today?

  Most people's minds have this idea emerging spontaneously, and apart from that, they really can't find any other reasonable explanation.

  Yuan Xi was even more enraged. In his view, Yuan Fang's refusal to accept his surrender of the sword was an open slight and humiliation against him.

  "Alright, since Second Brother is so confident, then I'll take a look at Second Brother's sword moves."

  Yuan Xi let out a cold snort and swiftly seized the sword in front of him. He raised his long sword, its icy blade flashing with a cold light, pointing it at Yuan Fang.

  Yuan Fang, however, was not in a hurry and slowly picked up another long sword, standing with his sword held horizontally.

  In the hall, suddenly there was dead silence, and everyone's eyes were focused on the two brothers of the Yuan family.

  In the eyes of the vast majority of people, this is a competition without any suspense, and Yuan Xi has already won.

  Everyone was just curious whether Yuan Xi would knock down his crippled brother in a few rounds.

  Yuan Fang's eyes were fixed tightly on Yuan Xi, he guessed that Yuan Xi would definitely attack his crippled left leg to win with one blow and humiliate him severely.

  A flash of coldness flickered at the corner of Yuan Xi's mouth, and with a swift movement, he took an arrow step forward, pouncing towards Yuan Fang.

  The tip of the sword was pointing directly at Yuan Fang's left chest.

  "As expected, humph, Yuan Xi, let you also taste the humiliation of being ridiculed in public."

  Yuan Fang's calm face suddenly flashed a hint of ferocity.

  The sword edge arrived, and in the blink of an eye it was already three inches in front of him. Yuan Fang's "crippled leg" suddenly moved, and his body swiftly dodged to the side by a fraction of a moment.

  Yuan Xi's expression was originally one of determination, but it suddenly changed, and he never thought that Yuan Fang would suddenly become so agile.

  In his shock, he used too much force in his move and was unable to retract it. His long sword stabbed at the air, and he brushed past Yuan Fang's side.

  In the next breath, Yuan Fang's figure turned agilely again, and the long sword in his hand was already placed on Yuan Xi's neck.

  Victory and defeat, in one move, the outcome is already clear.

  Yuan Fang subdued Yuan Xi with just one move under everyone's watchful eyes.

  Everyone was stunned, staring blankly with their mouths agape, wondering if what they were seeing before their eyes was an illusion.

  Yuan Shao's mouth was slightly agape, and a look of astonishment had already flashed across his stern face. The outcome of this trial was truly beyond his expectations.

  Zhen Yiyao's face was full of surprise and confusion, unable to understand why such a result would appear.

  Xiao Cha was overjoyed, never expecting that the divine medicine taken by Second Master would actually take effect at a critical moment.

  Most people present were amazed and couldn't believe that the private son of the Yuan family, who was powerless in their eyes, actually won against the noble Yuan Xi.

  Even Tian Feng was shocked and couldn't accept this astonishing fact for a while.

  Behind Zhen Yi, the maid who was disguised as a man initially looked surprised, but then a hint of delight appeared on her tender lips.

  "Third brother, you lost."

  Under a gaze of astonishment, Yuan Fang made a graceful gesture of sheathing his sword, turning his back on the stunned Yuan Xi, without even sparing him a glance.

  ————

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