This Martial Saint's Health Bar is Too Thick!-Chapter 259 - 31: Memorial Service, Unwanted Guest _2

Zhang Zedong looked at the person in the lead and furrowed his brows to ask.

This man was named Zhang Zongming, the brother of Zhang Zongyang.

The Zhang Family was divided into three branches, with the eldest branch naturally led by Zhang Zongyang, and the second branch by Zhang Zongming. He was also one of the several Imperial Officials of the Zhang Family and currently held the post of Head of Department of the Civil Affairs General Hospital in Datong Prefecture, also being a 12th-grade official.

"Zongming, now is not the time for trouble!"

Zhang Hongguo, the senior most present, stepped forward with his cane, glaring fiercely as he scolded.

Zhang Zongming, not showing any weakness, locked eyes with Zhang Hongguo and then bowed respectfully,

"I am not here to cause trouble, but our Zhang Family's heritage over the years, the rites and the family laws cannot be discarded!"

After finishing his statement, he stood up straight and looked towards Shangguan Xiao, who had no expression, and asked sharply,

"You publicly broke with our Zhang Family more than thirty years ago and even changed your surname to Shangguan, so on what standing do you enter the Zhang Family's gate today?!"

This question indeed touched the most critical point, which was why many people opposed Zhang Zongyang's support for Shangguan Xiao back then—

A person who publicly breaks with the family, even changing their surname from Zhang, what right do they have to still enjoy the resources of the Zhang Family?

And what right do they have to enter the Zhang Family's gate today?

"Second Uncle!"

Zhang Zedong, radiating the killing intent unique to Martial Artists, glared at Zhang Zongming, "With the current situation of our Zhang Family, must you incite infighting at this time and make us a laughingstock to outsiders?!"

"A laughingstock?"

Zhang Zongming looked back at Zhang Zedong fearlessly, "I don't care who will be the Family Head of the Zhang Family in the future, but one thing is sure, I would rather see the Zhang Family destroyed by our own than let it fall into the hands of someone who does not carry the Zhang surname!"

"You…"

Zhang Zedong glared at Zhang Zongming, yet was helpless.

Even Zhang Hongguo, who had previously scolded Zhang Zongming loudly, fell silent.

For the noble families, the heritage and honor of the family are always the top priorities. The mindset that Zhang Zongming expressed was not unique to him but shared by almost all the noble families in the world:

My own family's possessions, even if squandered by our own, must not be touched by outsiders!

The Zhang Family certainly needed the assistance of a Tao Foundation Stage powerhouse like Shangguan Xiao today, but if the end result was changing the family surname to Shangguan from then on, probably none of the Zhang Family's rulers could accept it.

Li Fei quietly watched this scene unfold, carefully observing the expressions of Zhang Zedong and Zhang Hongguo, secretly guessing if this scene might have been orchestrated in advance between the first and second branches to force Shangguan Xiao to take a stand?

It was also possible that the first branch had known in advance that the second branch would challenge them today, and they thought to take advantage of the second branch's actions to force Shangguan Xiao to declare her stance.

What would Shangguan Xiao choose?

All eyes in the room were focused on the figure in green.

Shangguan Xiao looked at Zhang Zongming with her usual cold gaze. With her temperament, she would have taken action already and barged in without listening to so much nonsense.

But today was Zhang Zongyang's funeral.

"I, Shangguan Xiao, am here today in my capacity as the daughter of Zhang Zongyang to pay my respects!"

Shangguan Xiao declared loudly.

Upon hearing this, the faces of Zhang Zedong, Zhang Hongguo, and others changed dramatically, while Zhang Zongming first froze and then relaxed.

He stepped aside to make way, "Fine, please."

With his gesture, the people from the second branch stepped aside.

"Little Sister…"

Zhang Zedong wanted to say something.

But Shangguan Xiao did not heed him and stepped through the gates of the Zhang Family.

Li Fei followed closely behind.

"Shangguan Xiao, attending the funeral—"

As Shangguan Xiao passed through the front yard, about to enter the hall where the funeral was being held, someone announced loudly.

After this announcement, it signified that Shangguan Xiao was here today purely on a personal basis to pay her respects.

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Shangguan Xiao stopped outside the main hall for a moment, pulled out a strip of black gauze she had prepared in advance, and had Li Fei help her tie it onto her left arm.

Then the two of them entered the mourning hall.

In the center of the mourning hall was placed a coffin, with Zhang Zongyang's portrait hanging in front of it.

This was a man whose eyes were sharp as swords, and even through a portrait, one could feel as if they were being stabbed by a piercing gaze!

Seeing this portrait, Li Fei immediately thought of Shangguan Xiao's cold eyes—the father and daughter's features were indeed strikingly similar.

When Shangguan Xiao saw the portrait of Zhang Zongyang, her body trembled slightly, and the frost on her face instantly melted away.

"Young sister... come and pay your respects."

A man with some white in his hair, looking worn out, stood by the coffin and spoke to Shangguan Xiao.

He was Zhang Zongyang's eldest son, Zhang Zezheng, and was also the legitimate eldest son of the Zhang Family. However, he had neither the aptitude to become a martial artist nor any particular talent. Eventually, he was left to manage some of the Zhang Family's business, and almost no one believed he could take over the position of the Zhang Family head.

Shangguan Xiao did not reply to Zhang Zezheng; her mind had already gone blank, as if her soul had departed. She took step by step forward until she reached the coffin. This powerful practitioner at the Tao Foundation Stage suddenly lost all her strength and fell to her knees with a thud.

"..."

Shangguan Xiao opened her mouth; she was not even aware tears had already started flowing. She tried with all her might to say something, but couldn't make a sound.

After a long time, she managed to squeeze out a sentence from her throat:

"Dad, Xiao'er is back—"

Once finished, she bowed deeply, her body beginning to shake.

At that moment, scenes from the past decades all flashed through Shangguan Xiao's mind:

Zhang Zongyang had never officially married her mother, which meant she was the illegitimate child of the Zhang Family.

But at the age of seven, Zhang Zongyang took her by the hand and led her into the Zhang Family door in broad daylight.

After that, her treatment at home was in no way inferior to that of Zhang Zongyang's other three children.

At the age of nine, when she was sent away by Zhang Zongyang to study martial arts, she initially thought he didn't like her and didn't want her to stay at the Zhang Family, filling her heart with resentment.

It wasn't until later that she came to understand the deep love behind his actions.

At nineteen, she chose to break with her family over the matter of Hao Yi and changed her surname to Shangguan. At that time, the entire Zhang Family scolded her, but only Zhang Zongyang never uttered a word about the matter from beginning to end.

Later, when she went to Xing City to establish Qingyuan Fist Village, she easily obtained a channel for purchasing elixirs and implants. She was initially surprised, only to later realize that this was also Zhang Zongyang helping her in secret, using the Zhang Family's connections.

Half a year ago, she took the initiative to contact Zhang Zongyang, expressing her wish to enter the court. Without a word, Zhang Zongyang overruled all objections and used the family's resources to pave the way for her, smoothly securing her position as the Chief of Zhi Ge Court in Xing City.

So many actions, perhaps not without the foresight of a Family Head, but also, a father's love for his daughter was certainly interwoven within.

In fact, when Shangguan Xiao chose to take the position of Chief of Zhi Ge Court in Xing City, she had already decided to repay the family according to Zhang Zongyang's wishes in the future.

But Zhang Zongyang did not live to see her repayment.

So many years had passed, and she had harbored many words in her heart that she wanted to say to her father.

But now, they would have to remain in her heart forever.

Shangguan Xiao remained kneeling on the ground for a very long time...

"Helmsman Chu Po from Zhi Ge General Hospital has come to pay tribute—"

It was only after hearing this announcement from outside the mourning hall that Shangguan Xiao slowly got up, wiped her face, and stood from the ground.

When she turned around, her eyes had once again reverted to their cool detachment.

Li Fei turned around and looked towards the entrance of the mourning hall.

He had obtained information about the Zhang Family in advance from Lu Mengyang and had clarified many of the Zhang Family's relationships.

Among them were friends of the Zhang Family and enemies as well.

There were three Helmsmen at Zhi Ge General Hospital. Zhang Zongyang and Fu Lang were friends, but the relationship with the remaining Helmsman, Chu Po, was poor.

The enmity between the Zhang Family and the Chu Family had persisted for many years. Chu Po's only son once fell into Zhang Zongyang's scheme and ultimately died in a siege by Zhi Ge General Hospital.

Thus, the two families shared an unresolvable blood feud!

Today was Zhang Zongyang's funeral, and Chu Po personally came to pay his respects—anyone could guess that his intentions were not kind.

Before long, a stern man dressed in the black martial arts clothes of the Zhi Ge Court stepped into the mourning hall first.

He looked up at Zhang Zongyang's portrait and then let out an undisguised sneer.

An unwelcome guest had arrived!

...