The others nodded in agreement. Sure enough, the members that the Cheng’s brought with them this time and their capabilities were no worse than any other prominent families.
“Most importantly, Elder Ying of the Cheng’s is….”
An elderly shook his head lightly and carried on, “Martial monarch. Such was the power of a martial monarch. We couldn’t even summon up the desire to stand up against him while in front of him!”
“He was right. We must admit that this Elder Ying was very powerful.”
The emperor nodded, squinted his eyes, and said, “They are powerful, but we still must maintain the pride of the imperial family. Forefather, do you not have any ideas of what we could do?”
“We have only heard about rumors that Cheng Xiao Xiao is a beast tamer but none of us had seen it with our own eyes, is that correct?” asked the forefather.
“That is correct.” The emperor paused for a bit and asked, “Forefather. Do you intent to test the Cheng’s and see they had fooled…”
The emperor did not finish what he was saying. He was embarrassed to go on. After all, he was the one who gave the order to give Cheng Biyuan the title of Count Zhongyuan. If Cheng Xiao Xiao wasn’t truly a beast tamer, the emperor would be even more humiliated.
The emperor’s father also frowned and said, “From what we have learned so far, Cheng Xiao Xiao being a beast tamer should be true. After all, there are a lot of mystical beasts at Sacred Land Zhongyuan. They wouldn’t be able to keep so many mystical beasts under control if they don’t have a beast tamer.”
“Exactly. You said they have some 200 ~ 300 mystical beasts, right?” The emperor asked his son Feng Bucang.
Feng Bucang was the only one presence that had been to Sacred Land Zhongyuan and saw the mystical beasts in person.
Feng Bucang, who hadn’t had the opportunity to speak so far, nodded and said, “That estimation is probably on the low side. Sacred Land Zhongyuan had at least 100 – 200 of mystical cranes alone. That and they also deploy a lot of mystical beasts for surveillance. I am not sure how many there are, but I trust that there are at least 100 or so. Otherwise, they will not be able to cover the dozens of li around Sacred Land Zhongyuan.”
“……”
Having heard that, they all quieted down. Just knowing that, they wouldn’t dare to touch the Cheng’s even though they very much wanted to.
“We finally have a beast tamer in Dafeng. I say we should just let this slide. It is fine as long as they stay in Qing’an,” said an old man in a gray robe.
“That might be true, but we also need to make sure we are not coddling someone who might bring about calamity in the future. Even now, their being so disrespectful to the imperial family was just…” said the emperor’s father in a deep voice.
“Grandpa is right. Fellow elders, we need to show the Cheng’s who’s the boss here, or at least teach them a lesson. The imperial family is the boss here. We are the one who gave them the title of Count Zhongyuan. They had grown to be so bold in just 6-months’ time. I am afraid they’d have no respect for the imperial family in the future!”
Feng Bucang said viciously, “Forefather, no matter what, we will need to make our point with the Sacred Land Zhongyuan Cheng’s that they cannot just walk all over us!”
“Bucang, what are your thoughts?” Forefather Feng gave him a profound look and said, “Why don’t you share your thoughts with us. No matter what it is, we will take a listen to it!”
“Forefather, the Feng Imperial family has already been around for 1,000 years, have we not? You can’t tell me that there is nothing we can do against Sacred Land Zhongyuan!”
“Bucang, don’t be rude!” shouted the emperor at his son.
“It’s alright…”
Forefather Feng smiled and said, “Bucang, I understand what you mean. After all, the Feng’s had been the imperial family for over 1,000 years. How is it possible that an insignificant place such as Sacred Land Zhongyuan would be a threat to us, right?”
“Exactly, Forefather!”