Chapter 20  : Astonishing Outcome

“What?!”

After hearing what Jin Mulan said, the Earl became so frustrated that he started to steam with rage.

The wife of the Earl thought her ears were playing a trick on her. The servants of the Earl and the staff were also completely shocked.

“Mulan, are you insane?” said the Earl, “you didn’t choose the other talented people, but you chose Shen Lang?”

Everyone looked at Jin Mulan in disbelief.

Amongst the six, Shen Lang was the worst. Not only was he worse than Wang Lian, Mo Ye, and the three talented individuals from the Palace of the Earl, but he was even worse than an ordinary person.

He was a dumb person who had low IQ, someone who could not graduate after ten years of studying. He could not even manage his own daily chores.

“Mulan, why?” asked the Earl, “Wang Lian and Mo Ye are so talented; why didn’t you choose any of them?”

Jin Mulan said, “Father, they are talented. When I asked them what they can bring me in the future, one of them said that they would support me in terms of both literal and physical skills to manage the Palace of the Earl. One of them said that his martial arts skills were extraordinary and wanted to lead the troop of the Palace of the Earl to win wars!”

When the Earl heard this, he did not make any comments.

Others thought that their response was outstanding.

Jin Mulan said, “If father is still around, then there’s no problem. However, what if you pass away and my brother took over the position of the Earl? If my husband starts to eye the ruling position of the Palace of the Earl, what should I do? What will happen to my brother?”

After saying this, the Earl fell silent, and the others around them suddenly realized what she meant.

They had to admit that Mulan made a thorough consideration and was extremely loyal to her family.

Jin Mulan said, “Shen Lang’s response was to give me freedom. He said I can do anything except for looking for other men!”

“What on earth! Does he think my daughter is someone like that?” The Earl was frustrated and said, “Mulan, I know how you feel, but… you don’t have to suffer like this. Even if you don’t choose Wang Lian or Mo Ye, you can choose the other three men from the palace.”

“No, I can’t bring them down,” said Jin Mulan, “moreover, they used to be my subordinates. We are too familiar with each other.”

The wife of the Earl said, “But Shen Lang is too inferior. You haven’t heard of the rumors about him in Xuanwu City.”

The Earl said, “He was once the son-in-law of the Xu family. After being kicked out of the house, he became our family’s son-in-law. This… our family will be so embarrassed! This is with regards to your happiness. I would rather you marry someone favored by god, like Zhu Hongxue, than sacrifice you because of our family.”

Jin Mulan said, “Shen Lang’s reputation is terrible, but isn’t this good since it helps to vent Sir Zhu Lin’s anger? If I marry someone with a good reputation, I don’t think the Zhu Family will give up like that. If I marry someone who has a terrible reputation, the Zhu Family may hate us less. After all, they would feel happy to see their enemy suffer.” 1

This made a lot of sense. Mulan was brilliant and could read minds.

Jin Mulan continued, “I think Shen Lang is pretty good. In fact, I only have one requirement for my future husband, and that is good looks. Shen Lang is definitely first in this aspect!” 2

“But, but…” The wife of the Earl felt extremely uncomfortable. Her son was useless, and they had to sacrifice their daughter’s happiness by making her marry someone useless. What did the Jin family do wrong to deserve this? 1

The Earl said, “Mulan, do you want to reconsider?” 1

“No, this is it,” said Jin Mulan, “time is tight, father, please send out the wedding invitations now and prepare for the wedding. We have to make this wedding as grand as possible; it would be best if Sir Zhu Lin can attend the wedding after he reaches our palace.” Mulan then stood up. “Father, mother, I have been leading the army these few days, and I am tired; I shall go and rest now.”

Then, she bowed and left.

The Earl felt exceedingly terrible but was unable to vent his anger. He could not blame it on Shen Lang and could only vent it on his own son.

“Where’s that bastard son?” roared the Earl.

“He is reading,” the servant replied.

“What reading? He is still a useless fellow after more than ten years. Get him to kneel outside the door,” roared the Earl, “useless fellow, if he was more useful, why will Mulan have to make such a huge sacrifice?”

“Yes!” The servant hurried over.

“Forget it, I will go myself,” said the Earl, “where’s the whip? I want to wallop him.” 1

“Hubby,” said the Earl’s wife.

“Are you trying to stop me?” said the Earl.

“I will go with you!” replied his wife. 2

Meanwhile, in another reading room, a plump individual was reading with his focus on his book while feeling touched. 1

“As the son of the Earl, I am so hardworking. I woke up to read when the sun rose. My parents must be extremely heartened to see this and will definitely praise me for it.” 3

At this moment, the Earl and his wife barged in suddenly.

The son replied, “Father, mother, look at yourselves! I purposely woke up earlier to read, and both of you came over to compliment me. This is what I ought to do as a son; I should be so hardworking as the son of the Earl of Xuanwu.”

“Praise?” the Earl whipped out the whip.

Then, moans could be heard from the palace. 1

“Father, mother, why are you beating me? I didn’t commit any mistakes and woke up to read in the morning!”

“Do we need a reason to beat you?” said the Earl as he continued to whip.

The wife of the Earl whipped her son’s buttocks and thighs with a ruler and shouted, “Yes, do we need a reason to beat you, useless fellow?”

“Ah… ah… ah…” Their son moaned in pain, “Sister, save me, save me!” 3

***

When the results were out, Shen Lang heaved a sigh of relief!

He had finally succeeded. From a son-in-law, he became another son-in-law.

After this, he could eat and live a good and prosperous life.

What else could be better than being lazy and getting free food? Nothing! 1

Initially, he was in a deadend. The Xu family, the Lin family, and Tian Heng were trying to hunt him down.

Now, this crisis had been resolved.

After becoming the son-in-law of the Earl of Xuanwu, none among the Xu family, Lin family, or Tian Heng would be unafraid of laying a finger on him even though he was really timid.

“Just wait and see, witness what I, Shen Lang, meant by taking revenge!”

“I would never let Tian Heng, the Lin family, and the Xu family escape unscathed. I would take revenge one after another and make sure everyone in their family dies.” 8

…

The close servant of the Earl, Jin Zhong, stood in front of Shen Lang.

His face was very black and looked as though someone owed him 1000 gold coins. 1

Jin Zhong was born in the Palace of the Earl of Xuanwu. Not only was he a servant, but he was also regarded as a family member that was most loyal to the Jin family.

Moreover, he had seen Jin Mulan grow. Now, she was forced to marry someone who was so ridiculous and stupid; how could he not be angry?

After all, he was a loyal servant, and no matter how frustrated he was, no matter how sly he was, he would be faithful. Now, although his attitude was not the best, he would not speak wrongly. Although he was emotionless, he was still respectful.

“Student Shen, please come with me.”

Then, Shen Lang walked behind him and finally reached his room after ten minutes. He only had one phrase to utter.

“This palace is f*cking huge.”

Even the wealthy families on Earth did not have such a huge mansion.

“Oh right, please send someone to my house and tell my parents to not worry about me,” said Shen Lang.

“I have already sent people over,” replied Jin Zhong coldly.

Shen Lang continued, “Can you invite my parents and brother over for the wedding tonight?”

“I will personally send people to invite them over,” said Jin Zhong before he closed the door and left. He did not want to look at Shen Lang’s face for more than a minute.

Shen Lang said, “Please hurry up, someone is trying to kill my family.”

Jin Zhong looked at Shen Lang coldly. No matter how useless Shen Lang was, he was a part of the Earl’s family; someone wanted to harm his family? Were they really that fearless to do that?

“Okay, I promise that your family members will be alright. Mister Shen, please get some rest and prepare for the wedding tonight.”

***

Meanwhile, within the Black Clothes Gang…

Tian Heng said coldly, “It’s about time, Thirteen, send people to capture Shen Lang’s family. If he hands over the formula for the dye, then kill all of them nicely. If they don’t, torture them before killing them.”

“Roger!” said Tian Thirteen.

Then, he left the Black Clothes Gang with more than ten other warriors and went toward Shen Lang’s house.

***