Chapter 190: Brother Chen! How could you? (Part - 2)
"Brother Chen!"
"How could you?"
Gu Fan sighed dramatically, perfectly playing the role of a wronged victim.
"Your words deeply wound my fragile heart."
"Whatever you asked of me... I gladly did."
"You made me walk in the front, I did."
"You made me break the array you were so afraid of, I did."
"You made me kill those Blood fiends and save my brothers, I did."
Gu Fan then turned towards the elders and spread his arms, "Ask my brothers who fought through that hell with me and managed to return. Ask them... They will tell you the truth."
"But how could a lowly Spirit Realm junior like me possibly match up to my great brother Chen? I..." Gu Fan told the elders, but then stopped to correct himself, " No... We... We did whatever we could."
"Now to blame me," Gu Fan sighed helplessly, "Just because you asked me to love you, and I did not?!"
"That’s childish Brother Chen... Very childish... If you were still unhappy over it, we could have settled it in private."
"You did not have to bring in the elders into this."
"You lying piece of trash!" Gu Chen snapped, pointing a shaking finger at Gu Fan, "When did I ever..."
"Enough!" a sharp authoritative voice suddenly echoed through the massive hall, instantly cutting through Gu Chen’s shouting like a hot knife through butter.
Sitting on a slightly lower seat beside her ’husband’ Madam Li had been silent all along, listening to the childish squabble of those below her.
Wearing a crimson silk dress that perfectly accentuated her voluptuous figure, her beautiful face was right now twisted into a sneer of pure contempt.
Her sudden interruption was the perfect signal for the elders belonging to her political faction to aggressively launch their own counter-attack.
"You call this boy the Golden boy of our clan?!" The Third Elder, a fierce loyalist of Madam Li, sneered loudly as he stepped right into the centre of the hall, pointing his cane directly at Gu Chen’s kneeling figure, "He lost twenty of our most elite, highly trained younger generation disciples! He exhausted massive amounts of clan resources, heavily damaged our Clan’s fighting forces, and after all that, he returned with absolutely nothing but a mouthful of pathetic excuses!"
"Third Elder is absolutely right!" The Second Elder quickly chimed in, crossing his arms over his chest as he glared at the First Elder, "You claim the enemy was too cunning, but I say your so-called genius is simply an incompetent, arrogant fool! A true leader does not actively blame his dead subordinates for failing to hold a line he commanded!"
"Heh." The third elder scoffed, "Well said second elder... Well said. He wants to lame it all on those who laid their lives for the clan."
"What are you implying?" The first elder frowned as he narrowed his eyes.
"I am implying nothing," the third elder chuckled, "I am merely curious. If Young Master Chen truly performed flawlessly... Where are our sons and grandson? Why are they not here anymore? Why?"
The hall immediately became quiet again as every gaze turned towards the first elder.
"They died protecting the clan," one of the elders standing beside the first elder spoke up first, "They died because of the enemy."
The first elder nodded hearing his lackey’s response.
"Perhaps," the second elder nodded as if he understood the explanation, "But who was the one tasked to protect them?"
Gu Chen remained silent, the elders remained silent.
"He did!" the second elder said, pointing his cane at Gu Chen. He then turned on his heels to address everyone in the hall, only to stop his gaze at Gu Yangtian.
"If the commander bears responsibility for victory."
"He also bears responsibility for failure."
"If everything succeeds..."
"The commander deserves praise."
"If everything collapses..."
"Should we instead blame heaven?"
Several elders exchanged glances.
Those words were difficult to refute.
"Second elder is absolutely right," Just then another elder from Madam Li’s faction stood up, "Our Gu Clan spent enormous resources on Gu Chen."
"Spirit Stones."
"Medicinal herbs."
"Elexirs and what not?!"
"We priortised Gu Chen over everyone else to the point we were discriminating openly."
"But when we needed him. When we needed him to step up for the clan," The elder’s voice raised loud enough to be heard even out of the Audience Hall, "We are told that this was merely unfortunate?"
"Clan Head!" He slowly looked toward the Patriarch, "If every failure can be explained away with excuses... What exactly are we rewarding?"
And with these words, the atmosphere in the Audience Hall became even colder, and the first elder’s expression darkened.
"How dare you insult the Young Master!" the First Elder roared furiously, his face flushing dark red as he aggressively slammed his hand onto his wooden chair, "Gu Chen fought off two different demonic sects! If any of your pathetic grandsons had led this highly dangerous expedition, they wouldn’t have even survived a single incense stick!"
"But our grandsons are not the ones who constantly boast about their Righteous Dao heart!" the Third Elder mocked viciously, actively rubbing salt directly into Gu Chen’s wounds, "Gu Chen practically begged for this crucial mission, promising the Patriarch he would retrieve the tribute and secure our clan’s glory."
"Instead, he led twenty of our dears sons to their death and came back completely empty-handed!"
"You speak as though Young Master Chen deliberately failed," One elder tried to defend Gu Chen.
"I merely speak of responsibility." The third elder shrugged.
"Young Master Chen was abandoned by fortune." Another elder from Gu Chen’s side immediately rose, "The enemy used despicable means. You cannot expect perfection."
"Perfection?" A loud snort interrupted him, "No. We expected results."
"The expedition was impossible! He could have nothing more."
"So why come jumping to the Patriarch asking for a chance? He had already embarrassed us enough in the Hunting competition and the Annual Tournament."
"But the enemy was prepared!"
"Will the Emperor care for that?"
"Our young master fought bravely!"
"Bravery does not replace the Emperor’s tribute."
"Without Young Master Chen, none would have survived!"
"Yet the tribute still vanished."
One sentence after another struck like sword blows as Gu Chen stood quietly in the centre.
Every word felt like another slap across his face as his fists gradually clenched.
Soon the grand hall devolved into a chaotic shouting match, as the two factions aggressively tore into each other without a single ounce of mercy.
The Patriarch’s supporters desperately tried to excuse the heavy losses by blaming the Blood Fiend Sect and the Phantom Sirens, while Madam Li’s faction relentlessly verbally assaulted Gu Chen’s leadership, using the massive failure to punch down the Patriarch even further.
All this while Gu Chen remained kneeling on the cold floor, his fingernails digging so deeply into his palms that blood began to drip onto the expensive carpet.
Meanwhile, Gu Fan simply stood back and happily watched the political warfare unfold, enjoying the entertaining show.
"SILENCE!" Patriarch Gu Yangtian finally roared, as his 8th Stage Origin Realm Qi violently exploded into the air and suppressed the shouting elders.
The grand hall instantly fell dead silent again, but the heavy, deeply suffocating tension in the air was entirely palpable.
Now that everything was silent, Gu Yangtian massaged his throbbing temples, his face looking incredibly old and deeply tired as he stared down at Gu Chen.
"This bickering is absolutely useless," the Patriarch stated with a defeated tone, actively acknowledging the massive disaster looming over their heads.
"The reality is that our tribute to the Royal Court is due in three days. And now that Gu Chen has failed to retrieve the stolen goods, our Gu Clan needs to think of something else."
"We cannot afford to pay the massive tax out of our own shrinking treasury, and the first batch of Spirit Stones from the Spirit mines won’t be here for the next ten days."
"Now instead of fighting among yourselves, find a way so that our hands don’t end up on the chopping boards."
When the patriarch finally told them all the predicament they were in, a wave of terror washed over the entire hall. This wasn’t just a simple failed mission, but a literal death sentence for every single person standing in the room.
Even the Second and Third Elders turned completely pale, aggressively swallowing their saliva. Even they had absolutely no counter-argument against the Emperor’s ruthless imperial laws.
Just then... A soft chuckle drifted through the hall. It wasn’t a loud or forceful chuckle, yet it instantly silenced every elder present.
Madam Li gracefully rose from her seat, her crimson robes flowed gently behind her as every gaze shifted toward the elegant Matriarch.
A faint smile rested on her lips and unlike the others, she showed neither panic nor disappointment.
Instead she looked almost prepared for this very moment.
She slowly looked toward the Clan Head before speaking in a calm, composed voice.
"My Lord Patriarch..." Madam Li spoke, "I knew this arrogant little boy would fail the moment he was chosen to retrieve the tribute."
"How foolish of you to actually believe him Yangtian," Madam Li spoke coldly, her sharp voice carrying an undeniable authority that made even the Patriarch flinch.
She slowly walked down the short steps of the dais, actively stopping right in front of Gu Chen to look at his muddy, blood-stained robes exactly like he was a piece of pathetic trash on the side of the road.
"Because I absolutely refuse to let my precious life end simply because this boy here is a massive disappointment," Madam Li announced loudly, as she looked directly at the terrified elders.
"You can all stop shaking exactly like frightened dogs," Madam Li told them.
"I have already made other arrangements to pay the Emperor’s tribute."