Chapter Fifty-Three: Ji Yun Not Only Was Blameless but Also Deserved Praise!

"Well, that word 'married' is really used quite nicely..." Ji Ling teased with a chuckle.

Nangong Lingyue curled her lips and said, "What can I do? In a great family, to ensure the continuation of the family bloodline, things are always different from other families."

"So if I marry into your family, I'll have to change my surname to Nangong too?" Ji Ling asked instinctively.

Though the speaker meant nothing by it, the listener took it to heart.

Nangong Lingyue looked at Ji Ling and asked, "What? Do you want to marry me?"

Ji Ling was taken aback for a moment, then immediately grew somewhat embarrassed, stuttering, "I—I was just asking casually..."

Nangong Lingyue's face also flushed slightly, and she gave a couple of light coughs before saying, "I—I suppose you would have to..."

"Oh." Ji Ling nodded slightly, not knowing what else to say.

Nangong Lingyue cast a stealthy glance at Ji Ling out of the corner of her eye and asked, "However, your Ji family is also a prominent clan. If you were to marry into our family as a matrilocal husband, your family probably wouldn't agree, right?"

Ji Ling gave a scoff, shook his head, and said, "The Ji family has never really regarded me as family anyway."

"That's true." Nangong Lingyue smiled faintly, nodded, and said, "Then I suppose you'll just have to suffer a little grievance, change your surname, and marry into our Nangong family! Don't worry! If the Ji family won't have your back, our Nangong family will!"

Arriving at this point in the conversation, Ji Ling finally realized something was amiss and hurriedly said, "Wait a minute! Why are the two of us suddenly talking about my marriage with you? You and I..."

Nangong Lingyue's pretty face flushed even brighter. "Th—that's right! Wh—who wants to marry you?!"

"Shameless!"

Ji Ling naturally felt unconvinced upon being scolded. He pouted and said, "I—I was just making conversation, who knew you'd actually pick up the thread like that..."

"Well, I couldn't just let your words fall flat on the ground, could I?" Nangong Lingyue retorted, looking equally unyielding.

Watching Nangong Lingyue's stubborn and defiant expression, Ji Ling held back for a long while before finally bursting into laughter.

Seeing Ji Ling laugh, Nangong Lingyue was both exasperated and amused, and she pounded his shoulder with her dainty fists. "What are you laughing at? Is it really that funny? Stop laughing! Laugh again and I'll beat you to death!"

The sound of their bickering carried a long way across the camp. Under the moonlight, the figures of the two chasing and frolicking perhaps embodied what Nangong Lingyue had described as the way youth was meant to be.

...

The Ji Family.

Ji Yun had already been kneeling in the ancestral hall for over six hours, sheer defiance written all over his face.

Li Guizhen and his two elder sisters simply couldn't bear to watch any longer, their hearts aching intensely. Finally, they came to find Ji Tianxing, who was sitting in the living room smoking in gloomy silence.

"Ji! You've gone quite far enough!" Li Guizhen said with bitter resentment. "What on earth are you making a fuss about? If our son had lost today, making him kneel would be one thing! But he clearly won! If Xiaoyun hadn't won, the Ji family would have been ruined today!"

"Not only is he without fault, but he actually has great merit! On what grounds are you punishing him with kneeling?!"

Looking at Li Guizhen, who excessively spoiled their son, Ji Tianxing felt a profound sense of despair.

"I have my own reasons for making him kneel! The boy has been completely spoiled rotten by you, and that's why we are in this state today!" Ji Tianxing said with lingering resentment and fury, "And you have the nerve to say if he hadn't won, the Ji family would be ruined! If it weren't for him, our Ji family would never have faced the risk of destruction in the first place!"

"On that alone, doesn't he deserve to be punished with kneeling?!"

Their eldest sister, Ji Ruxue, immediately stepped forward and said, "Father! You are going too far! Xiaoyun just finished a Divine War today! Furthermore, he previously expended his vital essence to transfer divine power to that good-for-nothing Ji Ling, leaving him practically drained to the point of collapse! And you're still making him kneel for this long!"

"Is this how a father behaves?!"

"You haven't balanced your scale at all! And you talk about pampering Ji Yun! Clearly, you're the one pampering that wild seed Ji Ling!"

Ji Ruxue's words almost drove Ji Tianxing to laughter.

Him pampering Ji Ling?

He didn't even believe such words himself.

Yet such ridiculous words had just come straight out of his own daughter's mouth.

At this moment, Ji Tianxing felt completely hopeless.

He didn't know whether everything he had done was right or wrong.

However, one thing was clear to him.

A single lie usually required a hundred, a thousand, or even ten thousand more lies just to cover it up.

The monstrous lie of the Ji family had now reached a point where it could no longer be patched over.

Even without anyone coming to tear down their facade, this colossal lie was already tottering and would sooner or later fall apart completely.

When that time came, the Ji family would be ruined all the same.

The fact that the Ji family had survived today was merely a stroke of luck; the downfall of the Ji family was already a matter of time.

Yet right now, Ji Tianxing didn't dare mention any of this to his wife and daughters.

Before the Divine War, he had thrown all of the Ji family's circulating capital into gambling, betting that Ji Yun would lose.

But now, regardless of whether the Ji family was ruined or whether Ji Yun lost face, Ji Yun had won.

Not a single cent of that money could be retrieved.

The Ji family's current liquid funds had dropped to almost zero.

When he returned home tonight, he had already applied for bank loans.

After all, without circulating capital, the family's daily livelihood still needed to be guaranteed.

To prevent his wife, daughters, and outsiders from noticing any anomalies, their standard of living could not be allowed to drop by even the slightest fraction.

Therefore, Ji Tianxing was forced to rely on loans to sustain this entire household.

Yet right now, his wife and daughters were still creating a scene.

This massive mess of troubles left Ji Tianxing at his wit's end.

The ceaseless quarreling of his wife and daughters finally broke Ji Tianxing's patience, and he let out a furious roar.

"All of you, shut the fuck up! Get out! Get the hell out of here, all of you!!!"

Ji Tianxing's violent rage instantly silenced his wife and daughters, leaving them too terrified to bicker any further.

Taking a deep breath, Ji Tianxing turned and walked toward the ancestral hall.

Upon entering, he slammed the doors shut behind him, walked straight up to Ji Yun, and glared down at him with a cold face.

Right now, no matter how Ji Tianxing looked at Ji Yun, he only felt anger welling up inside him.

If he hadn't subjected Ji Ling to those inhumane treatments back then, would the outcome today have been different?

But it was far too late to think about such things now.

Looking at Ji Yun, Ji Tianxing spoke in a freezing tone, "Do you know why I made you kneel?"

Ji Yun raised his head, his face full of gloom, and let out a cold snort. "I know!"

"I almost lost the Divine War, making you lose face and leaving the Ji family unable to hold their heads up!"

"I'm not a son who can make you proud. Why don't you go to the Eastern War Zone right now and snatch Ji Ling back? Maybe you'd even earn a fine reputation for braving the Black Fog Forbidden Zone to rescue your biological son! Humph!"

Ji Yun's words almost caused Ji Tianxing to choke with rage.

This unfilial son still hadn't realized that his actions today had almost led to the annihilation of the Ji family!

Even the Director of the Divine Bureau, Nangong Zhongjian, had nearly been forced to resign because of him, having already written half of his resignation letter.

Yet right now, he was actually here getting jealous over Ji Ling.