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The slap was both swift and forceful. He was an eighth-level Battle God, while Du Chen's Lotus Internal Energy was only at the first-level Dou Qi. Such a large disparity left Du Chen no chance to dodge, and he took the full blow, his cheek swelling instantly.
"Why did you hit me?" Du Chen was seething with anger, the fury he felt intertwining with the discrimination young Francis had suffered in the past, making it unbearable. "How can you even call yourself a father!? I was a fool before, making it impossible for you to hold your head up among the nobles, but now I’m fine and fully capable of being a respectable noble. Why are you still dissatisfied!? Duke, what do you want from me!?"
Angus’s face turned even darker, and he raised his hand again!
"Father!" Steve hurriedly grabbed Angus's hand and pleaded, "Third brother is only fifteen; he doesn’t understand many things!"
"He doesn’t understand? And you do!?" Angus shouted angrily, "As the eldest son of the Saint Cain family, you’ve failed twice in a row at the Battle God Academy exams since you were eighteen! Do you still have the face to say anything!? Look at Charlie, he's two years younger than you, and he's already a fourth-level fighter. What about you? You spend your days partying, doing nothing to improve yourself!"
Steve quickly apologized, "Father, I was wrong in the past. This year, I’ll definitely pass the Battle God Academy exams. But third brother didn’t do anything wrong! As a descendant of a titled Battle God, saving people is never wrong!"
Charlie interjected, "Hmph, perhaps it’s not wrong in his eyes, but the empire’s military funds are completely controlled by the Ministry of Finance, and Ferris’s father holds them! Big brother, you need to think about the family too! Over the years, father’s accomplishments have surpassed the king’s, and he commands tens of thousands of soldiers..."
"Enough! Stop talking!" Du Chen sneered and mocked, "You can never explain things clearly to people who don’t understand!"
"What did you say!?" Angus, enraged, pointed at Du Chen, his chest heaving with anger.
Charlie also shouted angrily, "Francis, do you think father wouldn’t dare to expel you from the family, cancel your title as a Battle God descendant, and strip you of your noble status!?"
Without the title of a Battle God descendant, any noble on the street could easily insult Du Chen, and enemies like Kaman could even openly kill him.
But Du Chen refused to swallow this insult. In his past life, he was an orphan and didn’t know what family meant. In this life, he wanted to experience what family felt like, but ended up with such a father!
"It’s just a title. Who cares? Cancel it if you want. I don’t want to stay in this family anymore!" Du Chen angrily threw his noble attire onto the ground.
"Good!!" Angus laughed bitterly, pointing at Du Chen. "As the head of the Saint Cain family, I hereby declare that from now on, Francis..."
"Father!" Steve knelt in front of Angus and kept repeating, "For the sake of our deceased mother..."
When he mentioned his wife who had passed away many years ago, Angus seemed to deflate like a deflated balloon, as if remembering something. He dropped his hand and turned to walk into the manor. "I’ll let you off this time, but there won’t be a next time! Charlie, prepare the carriage. I’m going to Vernal Palace for His Majesty’s banquet!"
Father and son entered the manor.
At this point, Steve looked at Du Chen apologetically and suddenly slapped himself! "Sorry, I shouldn’t have left you alone last night!"
He slapped himself a few more times.
Du Chen’s heart warmed, and he grabbed Steve’s hand. "Big brother, don’t blame yourself. It’s second brother’s fault!"
"Sigh, I need to go to the church to atone for my sins!" Steve said dejectedly. "When I took the vow to walk the path of the Battle God, I swore to protect you..."
Du Chen lightly punched Steve in the chest. "If you’re really guilty, go find me a sister-in-law soon and stop wasting your time on wine and women!"
"Can we change the condition?" Steve suddenly smiled mischievously. "Oh, dear brother, I can’t bear to disappoint the young ladies in the imperial capital. Don’t you think? If I marry, many young ladies might be so heartbroken they’d commit suicide!"
This big brother!! Du Chen sighed helplessly. "Fine, if one day I get kicked out of the family, as long as you still recognize me as your brother, that’s enough!"
"Don’t worry, with me around, you won’t get expelled from the family! If that really happens, I’ll leave with you!" Steve, seeing Du Chen still laughing, suddenly became serious. "I swear by the Battle God’s oath!"
Du Chen naturally didn’t take the playboy’s oath seriously. He had already made up his mind. Once he received a large compensation, he would take Old Fuye and Aliza and leave the Saint Cain Manor. The world of Battle Gods was so vast, there were many places to hide. Why stay here and suffer?
When they returned to the tower, Old Fuye and Aliza were waiting outside. Old Fuye rushed over and anxiously asked, "Young master, I’ve heard about what happened. Did the master give you trouble?"
"It’s fine!" Du Chen shrugged and took out the pastries he had brought back from the banquet, though they had already lost their shape after a night of chaos.
Du Chen smiled awkwardly. "These are the pastries I brought back from the banquet, but now... hehe! Just throw them away!"
"No, young master!" Old Fuye grabbed the pastries and hurriedly shoved them into his mouth, tears in his eyes, choking as he said, "Young master’s kindness, even if I die, it’s worth it!"
Aliza smacked his lips and rubbed his hands, saying, "Young master, I want to eat too!" He shyly looked at Old Fuye, and when he received a piece of the pastry, he smiled foolishly.
Simple people are always easy to please.
...
On the Day of Shen'an in the 1277th year of the Fallen God calendar, for Du Chen, it was an ordinary day, but also a warm one. Old Fuye bought a lot of delicious food, and when Du Chen saw the saliva dripping from Aliza’s mouth, he smiled knowingly.
In the afternoon, Angus returned from the banquet, looking displeased. Who knows what happened at the imperial banquet, but Steve privately conveyed that tomorrow he would accompany Du Chen to discuss Ferris’s ransom. The reason was that Steve was afraid Du Chen didn’t have enough experience in noble negotiations and might not be able to secure a good deal.
The next day, Du Chen woke up early, and Steve was already waiting at the door.
The two brothers boarded the carriage, and Steve, unusually serious, instructed Du Chen, "Don’t worry, if we can get one hundred gold coins, don’t settle for ninety-nine. Godfather Ferdinand is on our side!"
Du Chen couldn’t help but ask, "Does Godfather Ferdinand have a political faction too?"
"Wherever there are people, there’s politics!" Steve said philosophically, but his second sentence was more blunt. "It’s like where there are humans, there’s rape. Even without the opposite sex, there will inevitably be some sparks between the same sex..."
Du Chen shook his head, thinking it was harder to make this big brother serious than to make him stop chasing women!
Yesterday had been chaotic, and it was late at night, so Du Chen hadn’t had a good look at the magnificent Saint John Cathedral of Ains. Today, he finally noticed. The church, opposite the Laning Empire's palace, was indeed impressive.
It’s not just the exterior, but the height as well. The highest point of Saint John Cathedral was even higher than the Laning Palace across the street!
And within a hundred meters of the church, the entire area was paved with milky-white cobblestones, with no other buildings around. The entire area belonged to the church, which effectively meant it had taken royal land for its own use!
However, above the church’s main door, where a statue should have stood, there was a patch of worn bricks, as though a statue had once been there but had been destroyed.
Du Chen and Steve walked to the square in front of the church. The large square in front of the church was empty, and Steve wondered
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