Martial Cultivator

Tearing down a family’s main gate at the drop of a hat?

Had such a thing ever happened in the Divine Capital?

It seemed not.

At least, no matter how hard Weng Quan racked his brains, he could not recall a single instance in the past two hundred years of Great Liang where someone had torn down a main gate just because they were not allowed to enter through it. But since Chen Chao had given the order, Weng Quan did not want to think too much. He immediately jumped down from the front of the carriage and laughed, “Brothers, His Excellency has given the order, tear down the Shen Family’s main gate!”

”Understood!”

The officials behind him responded in unison. They did not care about the bigger picture. Since ancient times, the Lord Warden Commander had always operated outside the imperial court. Now that the Commander himself had spoken, saying the Shen Family’s main gate should be torn down, unless His Highness the Crown Prince himself appeared in the next moment, they wouldn’t stop for anyone.

The officials rushed forward and were quickly blocked by the guards watching the gate. But they did not bother with them. After pushing the guards aside, they were just about to tear down the gate.

But soon, a middle-aged man rushed out from within, his face livid. But upon seeing that Chen Chao had not stepped out of the carriage, he quickly changed his expression, forcing a smile. “We didn’t know it was the Lord Warden Commander making a personal visit. We’ve truly failed in our hospitality. But for Your Excellency to order the tearing down of our main gate at the first disagreement, surely that’s going too far?”

For a family, the main gate was akin to a person’s face. Tearing down a family’s main gate was, in some ways, far more insulting than slapping someone in the face.

Chen Chao lifted the curtain and poked his head out. Looking at the man before him, he asked, “How should I address you?”

The middle-aged man suppressed his anger and said, “Second Branch, Shen Shi.”

Chen Chao gave an ”oh” and said nothing.

Weng Quan immediately shouted, “What are you standing around for? Tear it down!”

Shen Shi froze for a moment, then quickly said, “The Shen Family is willing to open the main gate in welcome. However, the Lord Warden Commander should remove your saber as a sign of respect.”

That had been the conclusion of a hasty discussion inside. Even the family’s ancestor had not expected this young martial official to be so reckless.

Chen Chao stepped out of the carriage and walked up to Shen Shi’s side, asking with some curiosity, “What did you say?”

Shen Shi gritted his teeth and repeated, “The Lord Warden Commander should remove his saber...”

Before the words were even finished, Weng Quan began to laugh.

Shen Shi could still speak politely to Chen Chao, but toward Weng Quan, his tone was clearly somewhat cold.

After all, this man was not the Lord Warden Commander, nor was he even one of the Commanders of the Left or Right Guards, there was no need to show him much regard.

“This official is laughing at your wishful thinking. My lord holds an imperial decree, he doesn’t even need to remove his saber when entering the imperial palace. And you, a mere Shen Family, think you can make my lord remove his saber? Do you think your words carry more weight than His Majesty’s?!”

Weng Quan narrowed his eyes, filled with cold intent.

”You...”

Shen Shi was taken aback. Of course he knew that the young Lord Warden Commander before him had the right to bear arms, and could carry it anywhere under heaven. The Shen Family had already made a concession and assumed Chen Chao would do the same.

“Tear it down.”

Chen Chao could not be bothered to waste words and simply repeated himself.

Hearing the command again, the officials did not wait anymore. They began ramming the main gate at once.

The entire long street seemed to tremble.

”Chen Chao! Are you really going to act so lawlessly, so arrogantly? Though you are the Lord Warden Commander of Great Liang, my Shen Family has done nothing wrong. According to the laws of Great Liang, this is without justification!”

Shen Shi’s expression was ugly to the extreme. What Chen Chao was doing was a public slap in the face to the Shen Family, and it made him furious.

Chen Chao looked at him and smiled. “If you really can’t accept it, go find someone whose word carries weight and ask them if they dare stop this official from tearing down this gate.”

After saying this, Chen Chao stopped speaking.

......

......

Inside the Shen Family, the news quickly made its way in. The room erupted into an uproar, no one had expected that not only had Chen Chao come, but that before they could even give him a show of force, he had already made such an extreme move.

“Ancestor, this man is truly going too far!”

“Ancestor, exactly! This snot-nosed brat actually dares to treat us with such contempt. He must be taught a lesson!”

”... ...”

As voices rose one after another in the room, Shen Xunchang’s expression grew darker and darker. He had not expected such a turn of events either, but he vaguely felt that from this moment on, things had become quite thorny.

This likely would not end peacefully.

“Hahaha...”

The old man seated at the head of the room suddenly began to laugh, his voice echoing throughout the chamber.

“This old man had thought he would at least be able to keep calm, but as it turns out, he really is just a reckless brute. Let him tear the gate down. This old man would actually like to hear what explanation he plans to give afterward. If he can’t offer a proper one, does he think he’ll still have a foothold in court after today? If he can get away with this, this old man will write my surname Shen upside down!”

The old man narrowed his eyes slightly. Lately, they had already been working to build up an image of Chen Chao as arrogant and overbearing in both court and public opinion. Now that Chen Chao had voluntarily jumped into the spotlight like this, it played perfectly into their hands. After this, who would doubt their claims about him?

They would lost some face, but in return, they would firmly seize the initiative in this game of chess. This old man did not feel that it was a loss at all.

In fact, it was a huge gain.

“After the gate is torn down, Renshan, go and demand an explanation from him. Let’s see what he says!”

The old man spoke slowly. His voice was not loud, but it carried undeniable confidence.

A middle-aged man stepped forward and nodded. “Yes, Ancestor.”

This man was one of the true power holders within the Shen Family. Those businesses that dealt with the officialdom were mostly handled by this person.

......

......

With a thunderous crash, the Shen Family’s main gate collapsed at last.

Chen Chao stood before the gate, glanced at Shen Shi, and then walked in calmly.

The officials behind him followed as well. Shen Shi wanted to speak and stop them, but after one glance from Weng Quan, he forced himself to swallow the words.

This acting commander, while usually appearing a bit dazed, could really display a certain poise at times.

At the very least, he would not lose his nerve.

However, with his cultivation realm still not high enough, Weng Quan still had a ways to go before he could truly hold the fort on his own.

However, just as Chen Chao stepped into the Shen Family, he was quickly stopped.

The one who arrived was Shen Renshan.

Chen Chao looked at him, and he looked at Chen Chao too.

The two locked eyes.

Shen Renshan smiled and said, “Lord Warden Commander’s honored visit should have been welcomed with wide open gates, but the message was delayed a little and didn’t get passed on in time. Though there was some fault, it wasn’t too grave, was it? Why would such a thing anger Lord Warden Commander so much? To the point of insisting that my Shen Family’s main gate be torn down?”

Chen Chao glanced at him and said nothing.

Weng Quan understood and said, “Where is the Shen Family Head? When my lord arrived outside and the Shen Family Head didn’t come out to greet him, forget it. But now that my lord is already in the Shen Family’s inner residence, the Family Head still doesn’t appear? Is this really how high he thinks of himself?”

Shen Renshan was no stranger to confrontation; how could he be intimidated by such words? He simply said calmly, “Since it was Lord Warden Commander who sent a name card to request an audience, then who from the Shen Family comes to meet Lord Warden Commander, and how they meet him, does not seem to be for Lord Warden Commander to decide. Besides, the Family Head happens to be occupied at the moment and is not presently in the Shen Family’s inner residence.”

Weng Quan gave a cold snort and was about to speak, but Chen Chao waved his hand to stop him. He looked at Shen Renshan before him, remained silent for a moment, and asked, “The Shen Family Head truly refuses to come out and meet with this official?”

Shen Renshan moved his lips and said, “He... will not meet. What about it?”

Originally, he had only intended to say the first part, but for some reason, he added a few more words in the end.

Chen Chao smiled. “It’s not as if anything must happen. After all, whether or not you meet with this official is your freedom, just like how you didn’t want to open the main gate for this official.”

Half the sentence was said aloud, but the other half carried unspoken meaning.

They had not opened the main gate, and now the main gate was gone. Now the Shen Family Head refused to meet him, was that a sign that soon, the Shen Family itself might be gone too?

The weight of these words could be light or heavy. Even the common people in the marketplace chatted idly about such things over tea and meals. But the things they said, no matter how they said them, were never truly taken as real.

But the one speaking these words was no ordinary man, it was the head military official of the Great Liang Dynasty.

The weight was naturally entirely different.

Chen Chao looked at Shen Renshan before him and rubbed the webbing between his thumb and index finger.

The latter forced himself to remain calm and said nothing.

Chen Chao sighed. “Weng Quan, go find Song Lian. Tell him to surround the Shen Family and say they’re colluding with the foreign lands. We’re conducting a full investigation.”

Weng Quan nodded and turned to leave.

Shen Renshan said in a low voice, “Lord Warden Commander, is slandering others always this blatant?!”

He truly could not make sense of this young martial artist’s intentions. He never imagined that Chen Chao would utter such words so lightly.

Chen Chao shook his head. “It’s not slander. It’s based on information we received. We need to investigate thoroughly. After all, this is precisely the responsibility placed upon the Warden’s Office.”

Shen Renshan replied coldly, “And if, after the investigation, nothing is found, then what?!”

Chen Chao glanced at him and said indifferently, “If we haven’t investigated yet, how can you claim there’s nothing?”

At this point, Shen Renshan truly could not grasp what this young martial artist was trying to do. He opened his mouth, but in the end, no words came out.

Threatening him now seemed truly useless.

“I’ll give you one more chance. Go and ask someone who actually has the authority to speak. This official will wait half an incense stick’s time.”

Chen Chao glanced at Weng Quan. The latter waved his hand, and immediately, some constables brought over a chair from nearby and placed it in front of Chen Chao.

Chen Chao slowly sat down, fingers tapping against the chair.

Before long, someone hurried over and whispered a few words to Shen Renshan. His expression changed slightly, and then he finally opened his mouth. “I’d like to ask Lord Warden Commander, do you really think that the present Great Liang now answers solely to you?”

Chen Chao lifted his head. “His Highness the Crown Prince is in charge of the country. Naturally, His Highness has the final say. However...”

Chen Chao lowered his gaze again and looked at Shen Renshan before him, saying calmly, ”But this official has the final say in this matter.”

“If you don’t believe, you can test it, see whether after today, the Great Liang still has a Shen Family.”

Chen Chao rubbed his head, his tone light and casual.

As if he were speaking of something utterly trivial.