How could they possibly apologize for something like this?

Huang Zhendong and Qian Jun were utterly infuriated by Yuan Shang's blatant favoritism toward Xu Ke. But just as the two were about to speak, Xu Ke beat them to the punch with a wave of his hand. "It's alright, Vice Alliance Leader Yuan."

"I believe they were just acting on impulse. If you have them sit down and cool off, they should be able to communicate with me peacefully."

Yuan Shang immediately lauded him, "See? Xu Ke is truly magnanimous."

"Since that's the case, you don't need to apologize. Just sit down and have a peaceful discussion!" he commanded. "But you must remember, the Martial Alliance is not a place for you to stir up trouble."

Upon hearing this, the eyes of everyone from the Ye and Huang families nearly bulged out of their sockets.

What the hell? Asking the two of them to apologize was already an outrageous demand, but now Yuan Shang was praising Xu Ke to the high heavens? This whole self-directed play is ridiculous! How can you two have all the say?

They had now seen for themselves just how shameless Yuan Shang and Xu Ke could be. The two men were so furious they couldn't speak, their chests tight with stifled rage.

Huang Zhendong, however, managed to compose himself. After taking a deep breath, he forced himself back into his seat, his face dark. He wouldn't squabble with Xu Ke in the heat of the moment.

But Qian Jun couldn't hold back. He erupted in fury, "Peacefully?"

"This guy makes an outrageous demand, and you're telling me I don't have the right to be angry?"

Qian Jun had an extremely high opinion of himself; thanks to his talent, he was showered with praise wherever he went. Yet from the moment he walked through the door today, he had suffered one setback after another. How could he possibly stomach this?

"Disagreements are normal, but you can't just make baseless accusations and slander someone for robbery, can you?" Yuan Shang said coolly.

Those words nearly made Qian Jun's nose twist with rage.

Why didn't you say anything when Xu Ke called me Sun Luo's illegitimate child? Now you suddenly jump out and say I'm slandering Xu Ke?! Isn't this favoritism a little too blatant?

Yuan Shang wouldn't give any face to Wong Ting, let alone a mere Qian Jun.

Ye Yunfeng finally spoke up, his tone laced with superiority. "Alright, Qian Jun, sit down for now."

"Even if Xu Ke is insatiably greedy, you don't need to get angry with him."

"He may be petty, but are we?"

Hearing this, the corners of Qian Jun's mouth curled into a sneer. "Indeed. A greedy country bumpkin who's never seen the world."

"Now that he finally has a chance to get his hands on so much money, of course, he's insatiable."

As he spoke, a hint of superiority returned to Qian Jun's face, as if Ye Yunfeng's words had restored his pride. The crowd let out a few scornful chuckles, as if doing so could restore their sense of superiority as elites and offset the losses Xu Ke had inflicted upon them.

Xu Ke simply remarked, "You've mastered the art of psychological victory."

Hearing this, the smiles on the crowd's faces stiffened once again. Even if they threw a few harmless insults at Xu Ke, didn't they still have to obediently pay up in the end? After all, wasn't it their own money on the line?

At this thought, their expressions soured once more.

…

"Alright, let's get back on topic." Seeing that the arguments had died down, Lin Zhongtian, who had been hiding in his shell, stepped forward to preside. "Do the Ye and Huang families accept the compensation proposed by Xu Ke?"

Kang Chenghua snarled through gritted teeth, "Of course not!"

The others remained silent, tacitly agreeing with him.

"Then, Xu Ke, what are your thoughts?" Lin Zhongtian turned to look at him.

"They won't pay?" Xu Ke's lips curled slightly. "Then let them all bear the responsibility."

When he said that, the expressions on everyone's faces turned uglier.

Qian Jun sneered, "Bear the responsibility? They were the ones who kidnapped her, not me. Why should I bear the responsibility?"

In Qian Jun's mind, he knew nothing about Sun Luo and Li Lang's conspiracy to kidnap someone. He was supposed to take responsibility on their behalf? What a joke!

Xu Ke laughed. "I'm afraid there might be something wrong with your brain."

"We established from the very beginning that by representing those animals at this Martial Alliance meeting, you have, according to the rules, already defaulted to accepting responsibility for this matter."

"Moreover, you signed an agreement. It's in black and white. Are you trying to deny it? What do you take the Martial Alliance for?"

As soon as Xu Ke finished speaking, Qian Jun, who was unfamiliar with the Martial Alliance's rules, saw his expression change. He whipped his head around to stare at Lin Zhongtian.

Lin Zhongtian didn't dare to meet his gaze and stammered, "According to the rules of the Martial Alliance, that is indeed the case!"

In the struggles between the great families, extremely violent methods were often necessary. Generally, when a great family decided to use violence against an opponent, they would prepare to disown the perpetrators should they fail. This way, as long as the family didn't admit to their involvement or no evidence was found linking them to the incident, the family itself would not be implicated.

This was why after Ye Fan's failed attempt to kidnap Xu Ke, his first instinct was to flee, not to bring the Ye Family to the Martial Alliance for a confrontation. If he fled, even if he were caught, the responsibility for the kidnapping would fall on him alone. But if he brought his family to the Martial Alliance, the matter would publicly become the Ye Family's responsibility. Then, Xu Ke could use the Alliance to punish not only Ye Fan but the entire Ye Family.

Xu Ke himself had operated under the same logic. When he went to the Martial Alliance to beat someone up the night before last, his first instinct was to formally separate from the Wang Family.

Although disowning a member after they got into trouble sounds shameless and illogical—after all, doesn't everyone know they belong to that family?—this practice had become an unspoken rule governing the conflicts between the major families.

Under these circumstances, Xu Ke knew that directly holding them responsible for Xu Yi's kidnapping would be difficult. Thus, through his deliberate planning, he and Yuan Shang had set a trap. They allowed the Kang and Huang families to attend as co-conspirators in the kidnapping, demanding compensation from the Ye Family and Li Lang. The Kang and Huang families thought they were simply extorting money from the Ye Family and Li Lang, but in reality, they had already fallen for Xu Ke's scheme.

This group had indirectly admitted their involvement in Xu Yi's kidnapping!

Furthermore, to prevent them from backing out, Xu Ke had Lin Zhongtian establish the nature of the proceedings beforehand. He even had them sign a settlement agreement, putting everything in black and white. Once the contents of the settlement agreement were confirmed, it carried the full weight of the Martial Alliance's authority. If they dared to deny their involvement now, the punishment awaiting the Ye Family and the others would be even more terrifying.

…

Hearing Lin Zhongtian's stammered confirmation, Qian Jun's face turned impossibly ugly, as if he had eaten something foul. He turned to look at the silent Ye Yunfeng and the others, grinding his teeth so hard they nearly shattered.

He finally understood. He understood why these people had been as silent as the grave when he stood up to refute Xu Ke—they all knew! They all knew they had been completely outmaneuvered by him!

Li Lang, in particular, felt a chill run down his spine, his hands and feet turning to ice.

He finally understood Xu Ke's true goal. They had all walked right into the scheme without even realizing it... and every single one of them had done so gleefully!

The Ye Family thought they were paying to save a "hero."

The Huang Family thought they had seized an opportunity to ruin Xu Ke's plot to frame Li Lang, all while extorting the Ye Family.

Qian Jun, too, had gotten the Ye Family to agree to his terms.

Everyone was happy; everyone thought they had achieved their goals.

But they never, ever imagined this was Xu Ke's real objective...

At this moment, all their faces turned a deep, ugly crimson with rage and shame.

Now they finally knew what it meant to walk right into a trap!

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