Chapter 51 Making a Clean Break with the Li Family

Unflinching, with fearless eyes and an expression as immovable as Mount Tai even if it were to crumble before him.

To be able to face a gun pointed straight at his head without even blinking, and to have the audacity to draw a blade in retaliation—in the past, Li Jianjun would have deeply admired such a young man.

But right now—

The situation was different!

The man before him was bringing impending disaster upon the Li family that he had built with decades of painstaking effort.

Last time, it was because of him that they were driven out of the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce.

This time, it was still because of him!

He was like a harbinger of doom, plunging the Li family into a quagmire.

Li Jianjun hooked his finger around the trigger, as if in the next second the bullet would blast forth and shatter Guan Sheng's skull.

Yet at that very moment, Li Yuyan rushed forward, instantly shielding Guan Sheng with her body.

"Grandfather... if you want to blame someone, blame me!"

"It is all my fault."

Li Jianjun’s eyes turned glacial: "Step aside."

Just two words, but the tone was dripping with murderous intent.

Li Yuyan did not retreat an inch, her body standing firm and resolute like a stone wall.

Li Jianjun let out a cold snort: "I am utterly disappointed in you. You defy me for the sake of an outsider?"

"Are you still a member of the Li family? Do you have any idea how many calls from prominent figures the Li family received today, and how many people you have offended by registering your marriage with this brat?"

"That is not just the Qi family. It is every single influential figure outside Jiangcity and across Jiangnan Province who favors Qi Xiaolong."

"Do you want to see the Li family—ruined?"

Li Yuyan trembled all over. She closed her eyes, and a single crystalline tearful of grievance was squeezed out.

How similar this was to that day—the exact same tone, the exact same disappointment. To this old man, her existence seemed to be nothing more than a commodity for exchanging interests, possessing only that meager bit of value.

She had no retort, not because she lacked words, but out of sheer despair.

Yet at this juncture, Guan Sheng spoke up: "A Li family so devoid of human warmth deserves to be ruined!"

"It spares my eyes from being dirtied and my stomach from being turned."

"What? Does my Yuyan not even have the right to decide her own marriage? Whoever you tell her to marry, she must marry? Is she your dog, or your toy?"

"As someone who was once a high-ranking military pillar of the nation, your mindset is still so pedantic and rotten. Do you have the face to look the country in the eye?"

As these words fell, they struck Li Jianjun's chest like sharp arrows.

"Impudent! How dare you talk back to the patriarch? What kind of thing do you think you are?"

"You wretched cur who harmed my daughter, if you don't kneel right now, I'll have you thrown in prison!"

Li Shan, the head of the Li family's eldest branch, immediately stepped forward, pointing at Guan Sheng's head with a ferocious grimace as he holstered out.

Guan Sheng cast a cold glance his way, his imposing aura unyielding: "A father devoid of benevolence, a person devoid of integrity—no wonder that bitch is full of filth; it turns out her father is absolute trash."

"Get this straight. Your daughter insulted me first."

"Since you failed to teach her how to behave like a human being, I taught her for you."

"And yet you dare to come here and point fingers at me? Believe it or not, I'll hack you to pieces with a single blade?"

"You—" Hearing this, Li Shan was instantly so furious that his mustache twitched and his eyes bulged.

Yet the moment he recalled how Guan Sheng had sliced off Xu Tao's head with a single stroke that day, Li Shan lost his nerve.

He had witnessed Guan Sheng's martial prowess with his own eyes; this fellow was entirely capable of following through on his threats.

"Hah!" Li Shan hurriedly shifted his target to the second branch of the Li family, shouting at Li Feng: "Second brother, take a good look. This is your fine son-in-law."

Xu Hong's expression shifted, and she pulled on Li Feng, preparing to stand up.

Li Feng felt that he had lost every shred of dignity; how could he possibly be willing to bicker with Li Shan in front of such a crowd?

Xu Hong, however, was unwilling to let it go—she certainly didn't want to be looked down upon. Akimbo, she snapped: "Eldest brother, what you just said is quite wrong."

"What fine son-in-law? Get it straight, I, Xu Hong, have never acknowledged this son-in-law."

With that, Xu Hong looked toward Li Jianjun: "Grandfather, heaven and earth are my witness, I have always regarded Young Master Qi as my son-in-law. As for whatever this Guan Sheng character is, I don't know him at all."

"Neither Li Feng nor I had any idea that Yuyan and this brat had registered their marriage."

"Both of us want to make our stance clear to you: our family absolutely refuses to acknowledge Guan Sheng."

"This fellow has a violent disposition, he is poor and penniless—how could he possibly be worthy of our Yuyan, and how could he ever be worthy of being my son-in-law?"

Hearing this, Guan Sheng let out a cold laugh. In the end, he was still looked down upon.

Was he unworthy?

Hah!

A pack of blind fools.

As he watched Xu Hong eagerly distance herself, Li Jianjun wore a look of utter disdain. Back then, Li Feng had personally sworn to his face that this very Guan Sheng was Young Master Qi.

You expect me to believe this couple had no idea?

Who would believe such a ghost story?

Now that the fellow's true identity was exposed, the two of them immediately turned hostile and pretended not to know him. Such snobbery was sickening to behold.

Li Jianjun let out a cold snort, fixing his gaze once more on Li Yuyan: "Yuyan, grandfather will ask you one last time: are you truly going to defy me for the sake of this man?"

Li Yuyan took a deep breath, as if mustering all her courage, and replied: "Yes, grandfather."

"I do not want to marry Qi Xiaolong of the Qi family. I want to make a genuine decision for myself for once."

"A decision?" Li Jianjun scoffed. "The Li family raised you up, sparing you from hunger and cold, enabling you to study at top overseas institutions, nurturing you into the talent you are today—a renowned prodigy across Jiangnan Province."

"And in the end, it turned out we raised an ungrateful wolf."

"Right, an ungrateful wolf!" At that moment, leaning on a cane with her shoulder still bandaged, Li Yuxue stepped out from behind Li Shan, staring daggers at Li Yuyan.

"Ungrateful wolf, look at what your useless piece of trash did to me!"

"Someone like you is unworthy of being a member of the Li family. Get out of the Li family!"

Provoked by Li Yuxue, everyone's emotions were instantly ignited.

"That's right, get out of the Li family!"

"Get out of the Li family!"

"Don't ever cross the threshold of our Li family again."

"Get as far away as you can!"

"..."

Listening to the abuse echoing in her ears, Li Yuyan could no longer feel any semblance of familial affection in this place.

She looked toward her parents.

Li Feng and Xu Hong both averted their gazes entirely, as if wishing to sever any connection with her whatsoever.

When even her closest kin refused to look at her, what was left in this household to yearn for?

There was still something!

Her dreams.

Li Yuyan said to the old man: "Grandfather, I... I am not an ungrateful wolf. I simply do not wish to marry Qi Xiaolong."

"I can inherit your will, continue to engage in charity, and help those children who are suffering. I will immediately host a charity banquet to attract—"

Before she could finish her sentence, Li Jianjun abruptly pulled the trigger.

With a deafening "bang," the entire ancestral courtyard plunged into absolute silence.

Li Yuyan felt a chill run through her entire body as she experienced... the chilling cruelty of her grandfather's heart!

Everyone else held their breath, their bodies trembling involuntarily.

They saw that a hole had been blasted clean through the ceiling.

The old patriarch of the Li family, once a pillar of the nation, smiled in profound disappointment.

"My will..."

"Hah!"

"Li Yuyan, you are unworthy..."

"Starting today, you are expelled from the Li family. You, Li Yuyan, have nothing more to do with the Li family."

"Whether you live or die—"

"Whether you are wealthy or destitute!"

"You, Li Yuyan, are no longer the granddaughter of Li Jianjun. The Li family does not possess disobedient descendants like you."

"What charity banquet... Do you honestly believe that now, without Young Master Qi as your backing, having married a man who is an absolute nobody, you can attract any donations at all?"

"Get out of the Li family!"

"Get out!" Li Jianjun lowered the shotgun, pointed toward the outer gates of the estate, and roared!

At that very moment, Li Yuyan's legs went weak, her delicate frame trembling as she collapsed toward the ground.

Yet before she could fall more than halfway, her body was caught and scooped up in Guan Sheng's arms.

Guan Sheng swept his gaze across the crowd. He had etched every single insult hurled at his wife today into his memory; every person here was permanently recorded in his mind.

He spoke in a chilling voice: "Are you all finished talking?"

No one answered; they all stared at him with cold indifference.

Guan Sheng looked down at his wife. At this moment, Li Yuyan had her eyes closed, tears streaming down relentlessly. Following a sharp pang of pain in the depths of his heart, a surge of murderous intent boiled within him.

Yet this time, he restrained himself. He reached out, lifted Li Yuyan into his arms in a bridal carry, and turned around.

"Since you are finished, then it is my turn to say a few words!"

"Since the Li family does not want my Yuyan, then from this day forward, she is solely Guan Sheng's woman and no longer a member of the Li family."

He paused, flicking the long blade in his hand.

"Clang!" A streak of cold, brilliant white appeared behind him.

This was—a clean break of all ties!

"From now on, whether the Li family lives or dies has nothing to do with either of us."

"Oh, and three days from now, I will establish a new charitable corporation for Yuyan."

"At that time, we will invite figures from all walks of life in Jiangnan Province to attend the charity banquet. If the Li family is willing, I can reserve a seat for you!"

"Finally, let me state something ugly."

"From this moment on, should anyone dare to insult my wife and me the way Li Yuxue did, it won't be as simple as getting their legs crippled!"

"I, Guan Sheng—always keep my word!"

As his voice faded, it reverberated through the entire venue like a clap of thunder.

And right there, in full view of everyone, he held Li Yuyan in his arms and walked away!

He walked right out of the Li family estate!