The Return of the Demon

"Father, you shouldn't have brought this bastard back to the Ning family. You should have let him beg and wander, and let him die in a corner."

"Because of him, I lost my official position on the first day of my appointment. My career is hopeless and I have become a laughing stock for everyone."

"Why did you bring him back... He is a disaster."

Ning Gan drank too much. This was the first time he yelled at Ning Ziming.

Ning Ziming was stunned by the yelling and looked at Ning Gan in disbelief.

In his impression, Ning Gan has always been respectful to him.

Ning Chen dared to act rashly because he was protected by His Majesty. Now Ning Gan yelled at him again. Where is his dignity as a father?

A nameless fire surged in his heart. Ning Ziming waved his hand and slapped Ning Gan in the face.

"You bastard, what's your attitude? You lost your job, what does it have to do with Ning Chen?"

Ning Gan covered his face and roared angrily: "Because the first two lines of the poem I presented to His Majesty were found in Ning Chen's room."

"If it weren't for his two lines of poetry, His Majesty wouldn't have reprimanded me for seeking fame and reputation, and having only a superficial appearance... nor would he have taken off my black gauze hat and dismissed me from my official position."

Ning Ziming's eyes widened, his face full of surprise.

When Ning Gan wrote that poem, Emperor Xuan was very pleased and appointed him as a Hanlin editor on the spot...He, as a father, was proud of it.

That night, he celebrated for Ning Gan in the Zhuangyuan Building.

But on the day Ning Gan took office, he was told that Emperor Xuan asked him to go home and wait for transfer.

And at that time, Ning Gan was given eight words...Seeking fame and reputation, having only a superficial appearance.

He never understood what these eight words meant?

I wanted to ask Emperor Xuan, but I didn't have the courage.

He even went to ask his father-in-law, the left prime minister... The left prime minister couldn't guess what Emperor Xuan meant.

At this moment, he finally understood that Ning Gan had plagiarized Ning Chen's poem.

Ning Chen knew His Majesty, but Ning Gan didn't know this.

This means that Emperor Xuan already knew that the first two lines of the poem were not written by Ning Gan, so he dismissed him from his post and asked him to go home and wait for the call.

And waiting for the call means waiting slowly.

Ning Ziming's old face turned pale. Plagiarizing other people's poems and using them to deceive His Majesty is a crime of deceiving the emperor... His Majesty didn't issue an order to directly execute Ning Gan, which was already a special favor.

"You bastard, you are so treasonous, you dare to deceive His Majesty... I said that the last two lines of the poem are not in the right tone, it's bullshit."

Ning Ziming was furious, and he hit Ning Gan's face with his big mouth as if it was free.

Ning Gan fell to the ground after being slapped, and he was mostly sober.

Ning Ziming's hands were hurt, and Ning Gan's face was swollen.

Ning Gan was terrified, and only then did he realize that he had said the wrong thing.

Ning Xing and Ning Mao were trembling with fear.

"You bastard, I taught you to read and write, and study articles, thinking that you could bring honor to the Ning family... but what did you do?"

"You traitor, how dare you deceive His Majesty... Do you want to drag the entire Ning family to be buried with you?"

"I, Ning Ziming, have been wise all my life, how could I give birth to such a fool like you."

Ning Ziming was furious, His Majesty was furious, and Ning Gan had no hope of becoming an official.

His years of hard work and teaching were all in vain.

Who will bring honor to the Ning family?

Ning Xing?

Ning Mao?

No one knows a son better than his father, and these two idiots are not good at studying at all.

He suddenly thought of Ning Chen.

His Majesty was particularly favored by Ning Chen, and he did not hesitate to punish him, a second-rank official, for this.

Now, only Ning Chen can bring honor to the Ning family.

He turned his head to look at Ning Chen, forcing a smile on his face, and asked: "Chen'er, did you really write the first two lines of that poem?"

Ning Ziming was full of doubts. Ning Chen had been wandering since he was a child, and only began to read and write when he came to the Ning family. How could he write such a good poem?

Ning Chen said indifferently: "Didn't you hear it?"

Ning Ziming's eyes lit up. If those two lines of poetry were not plagiarized by Ning Chen... then his son was a genius.

If he could write such wonderful poems, if he was cultivated, he would have a promising future. Maybe he could pass the imperial examination and come back... to bring honor to the Ning family.

After all, Ning Chen was only fifteen years old, and everything was still in time.

"Chen'er, where have you been for the past half month? Your father was worried about you and couldn't sleep at night... Seeing you come back safely, your father is relieved."

Ning Chen looked at his hypocritical face and felt sick and wanted to vomit.

"I've been missing for half a month, and Minister Ning can't sleep at night... I'm afraid he can't sleep because he's so happy? Or..."

Ning Chen wanted to ridicule him, but before he could finish his words, a messy sound of footsteps came from far away.

Someone must have informed Chang Ruyue of what happened here.

Chang Ruyue hurried over with a few maids.

When she saw Ning Gan lying on the ground with red and swollen cheeks, she exploded on the spot, not caring about maintaining her virtuous image, pointing at Ning Ziming and roaring:

"Master, Gan'er has always respected and loved you, and has never disobeyed you... He is your biological son, how could you do that? Do you want to beat him to death?"

"This bastard is your son, isn't Gan'er? You beat Gan'er like this for him."

Ning Ziming was ignited with anger again, "A loving mother often spoils her son, an ignorant woman... Do you know what stupid things your precious son has done?"

Chang Ruyue refused to give in, "So what if my Gan'er did something wrong? His grandfather is the left prime minister of the dynasty, who can do anything about it?"

"Ning Ziming, I have long noticed that something is wrong with you. You tolerate this bastard in every way and become more and more mean to us mother and son... Do you want to drive us mother and son out of the Ning family and leave all the family property to this bastard?"

Ning Ziming was so angry that he trembled all over. He pointed at Chang Ruyue and roared, "You, you... ignorant woman, shut up."

Ning Chen stood aside, watching the dog bite the dog with a smile.

But at this moment, a servant ran in quickly.

"Master, Madam... The left prime minister is here."

Ning Ziming's arrogance was extinguished immediately, and a trace of fear flashed across his face.

Ning Chen saw it in his eyes, and his heart was full of contempt... This scum, heartless, cowardly, hypocritical, these words combined are not enough to describe him.

Chang Ruyue's arrogance was even higher, "My father is here, please come in!"

At this time, an obese old man with loose brocade clothes and gray hair and beard came towards this side, surrounded by a group of guards.

This is the left prime minister who is second only to the emperor.

He has a round face and ordinary features, but his eyes are sharp. He has been in a high position for a long time and is intimidating without anger.

Ning Ziming and others hurried forward to greet him.

"Meet the father-in-law!"

"My daughter pays respects to my father!"

"Grandpa..."

The Ning family saluted respectfully.

The servants and maids in the family knelt on the ground.

Only Ning Chen stood still, his back straight as a pine tree.