If Wong Liqing's attack on Xu Ke was like a sudden downpour, then Xu Ke's simple, crude insult was a bolt from the blue. Everyone present was shocked.

Wong Liqing was Wang Jiangnian's cousin. They had an excellent relationship, and he was a powerful man. But beyond his strength, Wong Liqing possessed an even more important quality: a keen strategic mind and the ability to see the big picture. When Wong Qifu took over the floundering Wang Family Corporation, he was one of the key elders who steadied the ship. And now... Xu Ke had just cursed out that very elder.

Of course, there was one person present who wasn't surprised at all: Wong Qifu. She seemed to have anticipated that Xu Ke would stand up and curse Wong Liqing.

"Kid, what did you just say?" Wong Liqing's face darkened, and he spoke through clenched teeth. In the entire Wang Family, no one had ever dared to curse him like that!

"You're a moron," Xu Ke repeated.

Wong Liqing was so furious his breathing grew ragged. He roared, "Xu Ke, are you courting death? Is this how you treat your elders? Wong Qifu, are you going to control your man or not?!"

His bellow echoed through the living room, and when it faded, a dead silence fell over the crowd. Wong Liqing looked directly at Wong Qifu, but she still hadn't had a chance to speak.

Xu Ke laughed. "Mr. Wong, you just said you don't acknowledge me as your nephew-in-law. I thought you wanted to communicate with me as an equal, but it turns out you still expect me to treat you like an elder? You must be dreaming!"

Xu Ke's tone was light, but to Wong Liqing's ears, it dripped with sarcasm.

"Equal communication? Is insulting me what you consider equal communication? Now I get it. A poor boy who clawed his way up from the bottom is bound to be this vulgar!" Wong Liqing's eyes widened, blazing with killing intent.

Xu Ke laughed. This guy calls me stupid first and now has the gall to criticize me? But he couldn't be bothered to bicker with Wong Liqing.

He simply nodded. "Fine. Since you want me to be polite, Uncle Qing, I'll show you some politeness."

At his words, Wong Liqing froze. A strange premonition crept into Wong Qifu's heart. Knowing Xu Ke... he's probably not going to say anything good. And just as she expected...

Xu Ke slowly bent at the waist, bowing with great solemnity. "You, sir, are a moron!"

The crowd was rendered speechless. Mai Qing, who was seeing Xu Ke for the first time, couldn't suppress a smile. The Young Master-in-law is certainly interesting!

This time, Wong Liqing's face turned beet red with rage. "Xu Ke..."

"All right, now. Don't get so angry at your age; it's bad for your health." Xu Ke smiled and gestured to a nearby seat. "Come, Uncle Qing, have a seat."

"Sit, my ass!" Wong Liqing swore, his composure completely shattered by Xu Ke's "politeness."

"Oh? Uncle Qing, why are you being vulgar just like me?" Xu Ke asked, looking at Wong Liqing with feigned astonishment.

"Cut the act!" Wong Liqing roared. "I came here tonight to teach you how things are done. Stop causing trouble for the Wang Family. And stop with your word games! Do you think you're impressive just because you're a smooth talker?"

Wang Qiya's expression turned uglier. She finally understood: Wong Liqing was using the fact that she had been deceived and nearly harmed by Ye Chong as a pretext to attack Xu Ke.

Xu Ke smiled. "Then please, Uncle Qing, enlighten me. What exactly did I do wrong?" If this were someone from another family, he would have resorted to fists by now. But Wong Liqing was an elder, and Xu Ke couldn't be disrespectful.

"I already told you what you did wrong. Didn't you understand me?" Wong Liqing glared.

"I understood," Xu Ke said. "But my thinking was simple: saving them was the priority."

Wong Liqing's criticism boiled down to a few key points. Xu Ke could have used the situation to the Wang Family's advantage, cornering Ye Chong and lodging a complaint against the Ye Family with the Martial Alliance to seize the initiative. Instead, Xu Ke had acted rashly without waiting for reinforcements. Furthermore, he had used excessive violence by destroying Ye Chong's Dantian, making the situation irreversible and provoking Ye Dexian into action. Wong Liqing believed that even crippling Ye Chong would have been an acceptable outcome, as long as Xu Ke and the others escaped safely. At least then their operation would have yielded a final prize: Second Young Master Ye was crippled. But then Xu Ke's actions became contradictory; he inexplicably chose to heal Ye Chong. Because of this, Wong Liqing's move to intercept Ye Dexian had been rendered utterly meaningless. The Wang Family had gained nothing and had eight men injured. The Ye Family, on the other hand, was completely unscathed. From this perspective, Xu Ke's every decision tonight had been a complete and utter failure.

"Saving her?" Wong Liqing sneered. "Does saving someone require destroying their Dantian? Couldn't you have just taken him hostage and walked out?"

Xu Ke's expression was placid. "First, Ye Chong's cultivation is almost at the Innate Middle Stage. If I hadn't completely incapacitated him, I couldn't have restrained him.

"Second, Wang Qiya and Zhou Yi Yi were with me. I couldn't get them out on my own; I had to wait for Uncle Wu."

Wong Liqing's face stiffened before he slammed his hand on the table. "And then what? What did you gain?"

"I got them out safely," Xu Ke replied.

"And what if some of the men we sent to intercept Ye Dexian had died? How would I face their families? Huh?" Wong Liqing roared. "Am I supposed to go to their graves and tell them that for all their desperate fighting, the Ye Family escaped completely unscathed? Could I even bring myself to say those words?"

When he finished, the living room fell silent. Xu Ke was quiet for a moment before letting out a sigh. He looked at Wong Liqing and said, "All right, Uncle Qing. I was wrong. I'm very sorry."

Facing Wong Liqing, there were certain plans he couldn't reveal. Besides, even without mentioning his plans, he couldn't refute the man's argument. He could tell that Wong Liqing didn't truly care about Wong Qiya's life. That much was obvious from how little Wong Liqing cared about the fact Xu Ke had rescued her. If Xu Ke were to use saving Wong Qiya as a counter-argument, Wong Liqing wouldn't be bothered in the slightest, but Wong Qiya, who was right there, would be hurt.

As if on cue, the rims of Wang Qiya's eyes turned red. She had understood the unspoken meaning behind Wong Liqing's words. She didn't care about the personal slight; she knew that everything tonight had happened because of her and Zhou Yi Yi. But what hurt her and filled her with guilt was that Xu Ke was the only one taking the blame.

"You think a simple apology is enough?" Wong Liqing sneered. "And there's still the matter from last time. I haven't settled that score with you yet."

Xu Ke's brows furrowed. Last time?

Just then, Wong Qifu finally spoke, her gaze fixed on Wong Liqing. "That's enough.

"Uncle Qing, this matter isn't over. It's premature to be blaming Xu Ke. Furthermore, what happened last time has nothing to do with him. There's no need to rake over old coals."

Wong Liqing instantly understood. Wong Qifu intends to drop the subject and shield Xu Ke!

But Wong Liqing wasn't about to agree. "Xiao Fu, before your father left the Wang Family, he asked me to help you, not take orders from you. Do you understand?"

Wong Qifu's pupils contracted. Wong Liqing was using her father, Wang Jiangnian, to pressure her. Nearby, Wang Wu and Lin Qinghua frowned.

At this, Xu Ke shook his head at Wong Qifu before turning back to Wong Liqing. "Uncle Qing, just say what's on your mind." He didn't want Wong Qifu to get dragged into this because of him.

"I was also there last time, when you were kidnapped," Wong Liqing said. "At first, I thought you were genuinely helpless, so I actually respected you.

"But later, I learned you had faked your death. Your Martial Path cultivation had even reached the Innate Middle Stage.

"So why didn't you coordinate with us from the start?

"You might be smug about your feigned-death tactic killing so many from the Ye and Huang families, but don't you understand that great families are built on unity and cooperation? Do you get it?!"

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