Qi Shaorong and the people from the Zhuang Family negotiated a little, made some guarantees, and then they finally took Hu Feng back.
Zhuang Qian was pacing around the room. Zhuang Hao looked at Zhuang Qian and said, "A-Qian, what's wrong with you?"
Zhuang Qian shook his head and said, "Nothing, it's just that, Elder Brother, you're such a good-for-nothing! Qi Shaorong was contracted by you! That guy was actually turned into a servant by you, but he's still like that." He had originally thought he'd get to see his Elder Brother act prideful and arrogant, but he never would've expected…
Zhuang Hao glanced at Zhuang Qian. Zhuang Qian pouted and didn't say anything anymore.
"Hu Feng, that guy, really attaches a lot of importance to Qi Shaorong! For Qi Shaorong's sake, he actually risked it all to try and capture you. Now, I'm afraid that you won't be able to hide your secret about being a level eight mage anymore." Zhuang Renquan said.
For many generations, the Zhuang Family had always created magic geniuses, and in this generation, Zhuang Hao's genius was something that could only come by once every thousand years.
Previously during the Hundred Schools Competition, Zhuang Hao's strength had already reached the eighth level. He truly was an outstanding talent [1], but in order to ensure that Zhuang Hao wouldn't be too eye-catching, a Zhuang Family Elder had placed a seal on Zhuang Hao to bring his strength down to the seventh level. If it weren't for that, then Zhuang Hao also wouldn't have suffered under Qi Shaorong's hands inside the secret dimension.
Zhuang Hao lowered his head and said, "Hu Feng at most would probably think that I'd only recently advanced a level, it's fine."
Zhuang Renquan looked at Zhuang Hao and said, "Qi Shaorong, that guy, really has an interesting personality! A-Hao, what do you think?"
"Compared to the Ghost Doctor, it's really nothing much," said Zhuang Hao.
Zhuang Renquan: "…"
Hu Feng dejectedly arrived back at the college with Qi Shaorong, "Master, how did you get caught by the people from the Zhuang Family? I had thought that even if you weren't able to capture Zhuang Hao, you'd still at least have a way to escape."
"I underestimated him. Zhuang Hao that guy is a level eight mage, he had been practicing level seven magic at the same time, and he also has a heavenly spiritual strength, so his magic power is much more abundant than normal mages. I was stopped by him." Hu Feng said.
Qi Shaorong's eyebrows twisted and he said, "Zhuang Hao's that powerful?"
Hu Feng nodded and said, "That guy, his title of being the first among the Seven Imperial Talents isn't just for nothing. Lu Ming that old guy actually managed to get such an exceptional talent as his disciple."
"Master, does that mean that I'm not an exceptional talent?" Qi Shaorong asked.
Hu Feng smiled awkwardly and said, "Disciple ah! It's not that I, your master, am trying to give you a shock, but compared to Zhuang Hao, you're just a little worse than him."
Qi Shaorong looked at Hu Feng and said, "Master, you can't continuously praise Zhuang Hao just because you had been caught by him. That useless person doesn't even know how to remove a contract, how could someone be so stupid?"
Hu Feng: "…"
The matter of Hu Feng being caught by the Zhuang Family was originally kept a secret, but somehow it was turned into a big deal. Even the matter of Qi Shaorong being contracted by Zhuang Hao spread like wildfire, so that pretty much everyone knew about it eventually.
"Have you found out how this matter was leaked out?" Qi Shaorong asked Qi Heng.
Qi Heng nodded and said, "The information that Bi Liuyun gave us says that it was spread by the principal of Shenghuang College, Lu Ming."
"Lu Ming?"
Qi Heng nodded and said, "Yes! Principal Lu Ming and our college's Principal Hu Feng are longstanding rivals, and they've disliked each other for years now. Young Master, everything that you had done previously inside the secret dimension had seriously damaged Shenghuang College's reputation. If Lu Ming has an opportunity, of course he'd want to get the better of you."
Qi Shaorong gave out a short laugh and said, "So birds of a feather really do flock together then, Zhuang Hao isn't some good thing, and Shenghuang College's principal isn't a good person either."
Qi Heng: "…"
"Young Master, what do you plan on doing about the contract?" Qi Heng asked.
Qi Shaorong looked at the mark on his hand and said, "I'll think of something else. Just because Zhuang Hao can't do anything about it, doesn't mean that other people won't have a way either. Zhuang Hao isn't the only beast tamer in this world."
Good news never makes it far past the door, while bad news spread wide and far. Originally when Yi Huo and Yi Bing had gotten into an accident one after the other, everyone in the Imperial Capital had placed all their attention on the people from the Yi Family. As soon as the news about Qi Shaorong and Zhuang Hao's contract was spread out, everyone's conversations immediately changed to be about Qi Shaorong and Zhuang Hao.
Yi Huo and Yi Bing could also be considered as talented people, but compared to Zhuang Hao, they're much worse. While Qi Shaorong had taken first place in the Hundred Schools Competition, so the people in the Imperial Capital were also very interested in him. Now that there was drama involving Qi Shaorong and Zhuang Hao, it completely blew up so that everyone knew about it.
Luohua Pavilion.
Chen Yuan and Zhuang Qian sat across from each other in the loft and were drinking alcohol together, "I never would've expected that your brother actually contracted Qi Shaorong," said Chen Yuan, rejoicing in other people's misfortune.
Zhuang Qian nodded and said, "Right!"
"I guess your brother has also helped me get rid of one of my grievances." Chen Yuan said joyfully. He had gotten kicked out of the secret dimension on the very first day by Qi Shaorong. Although the two Yi Family brothers had both gotten into trouble one after the other, and allowed him to reclaim seventh place on the Seven Imperial Talents rankings, but really, it would've been better to just not go back onto the rankings at all.
He didn't know how many people were talking about him behind his back, calling him a knockoff product, saying that he had only relied on his family's prestige to receive that ranking.
Zhuang Qian rested his chin in his hand and said, "Qi Shaorong that fellow was contracted by my brother, but he's still so unreasonable."
Chen Qian touched his chin and said, "He's going to have to yield eventually."
"Who's going to yield!" Bi Liuyun walked in and asked.
Chen Yuan laughed awkwardly and said, "It's nothing."
Bi Liuyun looked Chen Yuan up and down and said, "Congratulations to Young Master Chen for returning to the Seven Imperial Talents rankings."
Chen Yuan smiled and said, "I was just very lucky."
"Young Master Chen, your luck really is good! The two Yi Family brothers had both gotten into accidents one after the other, and it just so happened to give you a chance." Bi Liuyun said.
Chen Yuan smiled awkwardly, then he suddenly remembered that Bi Liuyun and Qi Shaorong were good friends.
"Manager Bi [2], your business seems to be doing pretty well!" Chen Yuan said.
Bi Liuyun nodded and said, "It's alright, but I should still thank Young Master Chen for flattering me."
Zhuang Qian carefully took a sip of tea and felt a little bad premonition.
[T/n: So originally they were drinking alcohol but then it turned into tea I guess lol.]
Chen Yuan and Zhuang Qian walked out of Luohua Pavilion, and Chen Yuan sullenly said, "Bi Liuyun, that guy, really isn't a good person!"
Zhuang Qian: "…"
"Zhuang Qian, does your brother really not know how to break the contract, or did he deliberately deceive Qi Shaorong?" Chen Yuan asked.
Zhuang Qian shrugged and said, "I think my brother really can't break the contract."
Chen Yuan said with some schadenfreude, "That Qi Shaorong is out of luck now."
Zhuang Qian: "…Qi Shaorong that guy is definitely going to talk bad about my brother in front of the Ghost Doctor."
Yi Family.
Yi Chuxue looked at the maid by her side and said, "You said that Qi Shaorong was made into a servant by Zhuang Hao."
The maid on the side nodded and said, "Yes."
Yi Chuxue laughed and said, "What can Qi Shaorong that guy do now? No matter what, won't he still be a slave?"
The maid on the side looked at Yi Chuxue and said, "This news has now spread everywhere, Qi Shaorong has lost a lot of face!"
"Qi Shaorong, that guy, he could still use the contract as an excuse to involve himself with Zhuang Hao." Yi Chuxue snorted softly and said.
Yi Chuxue stood up and walked out. Several maids gathered together.
"The Miss doesn't seem to have given up yet!"
"The Miss really is something. Both her Elder Brother and Second Brother are lying sick in bed right now, yet she's still in the mood to care about Young Master Zhuang Hao's affairs!"
"It's just because something has happened to both the First Young Master and the Second Young Master, so the Young Miss can only make a comeback by relying on Zhuang Hao!"
"Right! Young Masters Yi Huo and Yi Bing had both gotten into trouble, and I think that the family elders have been treating Master Xun much more coldly now. Previously, Little Du had gone to the main family's internal affairs hall to ask for a soul elixir, but the steward there turned him away, saying that they didn't have a soul elixir available. This has never happened before!"
"Young Master Zhuang is a peerless talent, so it would be good if Miss Chuxue could marry Zhuang Hao, but even before the Young Masters Yi Bing and Yi Huo hadn't had their accidents yet, Zhuang Hao still was very indifferent towards the Miss. It'd be even more difficult for her now."
Yi Huo listened in on the conversation of the little servants outside the door, and raised the corners of his mouth coldly.
His little sister sure was carefree! Even if she had been framed by Yi Bing for the matter with the poisoned wine, she had let go of it so quickly and had even happily gone off to pursue Zhuang Hao now. The little sister that he had loved so dearly all these years, turned out to only be this kind of person.
Li Hong hurriedly walked in and said, "Student Qi, some people from the Qi Family have come."
Qi Shaorong frowned and said, "The Qi Family people came here? Why did they come? Doesn't the school not allow outsiders to enter? Chase them out!"
Qi Shaorong had donated more than 10 million gold coins to the school after the Hundred Schools Competition. Now, besides being a student of Tianlan College, he was also one of the shareholders of the college, so the teachers of the college had to give face to Qi Shaorong.
"We can't chase them out, they're insisting on coming in." Li Hong said.
"What about the Principal?" Qi Shaorong asked.
"The Principal went out to go demand an explanation from Shenghuang University's Lu Ming. If we were to wait for him to return, I'm afraid we'll have to wait for a while." Li Hong said.
"He's demanding an explanation from Lu Ming?" Qi Shaorong asked.
Li Hong nodded and said, "Yes, Student Qi, the matter of you being contracted by Zhuang Hao has spread like wildfire. When the Principal heard that it was that bastard Lu Ming who had started it, he went to ask Lu Ming to explain himself!"
"How many people from the Qi Family have come?" Qi Shaorong asked.
"Three came, the one leading them is a level eight mage." Li Hong said.
Qi Shaorong frowned and said, "Level eight, this seems to be a little troublesome!"
Li Hong looked at Qi Shaorong and said, "Yes! Student Qi, what if you just go back home for a visit with the Qi Family elders who've come here today?"
Qi Shaorong glanced at Li Hong and said, "Go with the people from the Qi Family? Once I enter the Qi Family residence, I'm afraid it won't be easy to leave again." He really didn't want to have to experience the family's unique ways of brainwashing.
Li Hong looked at Qi Shaorong and said, "Student Qi, what do you plan on doing then?"
Qi Shaorong glanced at Li Hong and said, "I'll have to trouble the Vice Principal, if there's a fight later on, have the students move farther away."
Li Hong looked at Qi Shaorong and said, "Student Qi, are you going to fight with the Qi Family elders?"
"Of course not? It's just in case." Qi Shaorong said.
Li Hong: "…"
Qi Shaorong took Qi Heng with him and walked out, and Li Hong followed them with some confusion.
"Vice Principal, what should we do!" The instructor who came with him asked somewhat awkwardly.
Li Hong frowned and said, "Go to Shenghuang College and get the Principal to come back, tell the Principal that there's something huge happening, so he should hurry back quickly!"
Li Hong looked over in the direction of Qi Shaorong. During the time when he had been hesitating, Qi Shaorong had already walked away. Some strange feelings arose in Li Hong's heart. The Principal wasn't a calm and peaceful kind of guy, and this disciple of his really wasn't a well-behaved person either!
Footnotes:
Outstanding talent: So the original Chinese raws used a whole bunch of flowery words and adjectives and idiomatic expressions which are basically just describing Zhuang Hao as a very talented individual. I couldn't exactly figure out how to translate it.
Manager: Like the boss or proprietor of an establishment.