The lake was very quiet before, not because there was no one at the lake. On the contrary, there had been many people by the lake all along.
It was because the news that Song Lian divulged before was too shocking. The students were rendered speechless with shock while the others were musing over this matter. No one spoke, so it made people feel that there was nobody by the lake.
At this moment, hearing that Song Lian actually wanted to take Chen Chao away just like that, there would naturally be someone who would walk out of their thoughts and speak up to stop him.
The one who spoke was not very tall, he was even somewhat fat. There was even a comical-looking mustache on his round face. One could not link him to a cultivation powerhouse no matter how they looked at him, but unfortunately, this man talking was a cultivation powerhouse.
He came from the Heavenly Imperial Institution and was called Xu Tong; one of the several vice-chairmen.
In the Great Liang Dynasty, the Heavenly Imperial Institution and Warden Office were important places that were equal in name. The Warden Office was responsible for guarding the various prefectures and counties of the Great Liang Dynasty, while the Heavenly Imperial Institution was responsible for guarding those places related to cultivation and was in charge of dealing with foreign cultivators. If really talking about it, the Heavenly Imperial Institution was even more important than the Warden Office to a certain degree.
Xu Tong looked at Chen Chao's eyes and smiled slightly. That round face looked extremely amiable and approachable. It was just that Chen Chao knew that it must be a false image. The more a figure like this behaved amiable and approachable, then the more dangerous they were.
"Warden Chen, my chairman would also like to invite you."
There were two chairmen (dean) in the world. Although the two could not be mentioned in the same breath, who in the Great Liang Dynasty would dare say that the chairman of the Heavenly Imperial Institution was not an important person?
Chen Chao looked at this Heavenly Imperial Institution vice-chairman who looked amiable like a tycoon. Actually, he felt very helpless in his heart. He chose to hide in the academy because he thought that there would be this situation. When he was talking with Xie Nandu last night, even though he looked calm and collected, in reality, he had not figured out how he should resolve things if he were to really encounter such a situation.
Without waiting for Chen Chao to speak, Song Lian frowned and said, "He's Tianqing County's warden, he's of my warden faction in the first place. Now that he's here in the Divine Capital, he's under the Warden Office's jurisdiction too."
"What do you want? Snatching people? How do you have the face?"
Xu Tong did not get angry when he heard this either, he just said, "Commander Song, since Warden Chen is your Warden Office's official, why didn’t I see you all do anything when he was in the Court of Judicial Review these few days?"
"If I were Warden Chen, my heart would probably have long turned cold with disappointment."
Song Lian's expression changed slightly and he said angrily, "Xu Tong, don't you indulge in the gossip!"
Xu Tong did not care at all, he just said softly, "It's merely telling some truth based on facts. Since Commander Song isn't willing to listen, then I won't say anymore."
After saying that, Xu Tong looked at Chen Chao and said with a slight smile, "Warden Chen, I already went to check your files this morning. Only then, did I discover that it turns out that you're no longer in the ranks of wardens anymore. At present, you don't need to be managed by the Warden Office anymore too."
When Song Lian heard this, his expression changed slightly and he pressed on, "What are you talking about?!"
Although Chen Chao had no reaction, he was also trying hard to mentally deduce the cause and effect of things. He was originally Tianqing County's warden. Now that the Three Judicial Chief Ministries trial was concluded, if there was no arrangement on the part of the Divine Capital, then he should be returning to Tianqing County in these few days to continue serving as a warden. But at present, his official position has already been stripped away, which proved that he could stay in the Divine Capital and did not need to leave.
It was just that the Warden Office definitely would not agree to this sort of thing. Then, there was only one person who had the power to ignore what the Warden Office thought.
Thinking about how that Great Liang Dynasty's emperor might have already read his files, Chen Chao inexplicably began to worry.
Xu Tong ignored Song Lian and said with a slight smile, "Therefore, you can think properly about your future options. If you come to my Heavenly Imperial Institution, my Heavenly Imperial Institution will naturally groom you with all our power. My Heavenly Imperial Institution doesn't only have martial artists like the Warden Office. With your talent, I believe that even if you don't walk the path of a martial artist, you'll be extremely brilliant too. But if you have this idea, how can the Warden Office satisfy you?"
Hearing how Xu Tong had already talked up to here, if he still did not say anything, he would definitely suffer a crushing defeat. Song Lian hurriedly opened his mouth, "Kid, it was inconvenient for the Warden Office to intervene previously in the Court of Judicial Review. There were too many things involved. If there's a chance, I'll explain to you properly."
"Plus, you're walking the path of a martial artist. Other than the northern frontier army, could there be a better place in the world than the Warden Office?"
Chen Chao looked at Song Lian who was in front of him and was silent.
The others by the lake remained quiet.
Actually, as early as when these two came here, the various representatives of those major families already knew that they came in vain today. It was just that since they already came in vain, they were not willing to leave like this. Hence, they stayed quiet all along and did not speak. They just watched silently.
Only up until this moment, did a steward-looking man pass through the crowd and come over here. He looked at Chen Chao with a slight smile and said, "I represent the Xie Family. Warden Chen, please make a trip to the Xie Family when you're free."
If it was elsewhere, Chen Chao would reject it. But the Xie Family had been helping him quite a bit these few days. Regardless of the reason, he had to remember this kindness.
"That's of course." Chen Chao solemnly returned the greeting.
Hearing this, those big shots on the horse carriages shook their heads silently and no longer hesitated. The horse carriages turned around one after another and left.
When they came, they only say one sentence. Now, when they left, they did not even say a word.
It seemed impolite, but everyone knew that these people came for nothing more than profit and would return if there was no profit.
Seeing how Chen Chao was, Song Lian hurriedly said, "You owe me a favor when I delivered the letter. At this moment, you have to go to the Warden Office first no matter what before saying anything else!"
Chen Chao was very annoyed when he mentioned this matter. He thought to himself: if it was not for you, how could I be in such a situation?
But be that as it may, favors granted had to be repaid. Plus, he came from the warden faction in the first place. If he had to choose these things, it was actually very easy to choose too.
It was just that the Heavenly Imperial Institution's vice-chairman was currently here and it was not convenient for Chen Chao to choose.
Xu Tong saw through his difficulty and said with a smile, "Since Warden Chen still holds onto old friendships, it shows that my Heavenly Imperial Institution didn't misjudge people. However, Warden Chen can go over to the Warden there to take a look first. I also hope that when Warden Chen returns, you can make a trip to my Heavenly Imperial Institution too. After all, my chairman thinks very highly of Warden Chen too."
After saying this, this vice-chairman clasped his hand in salute, turned around, and left. He seemed to be withdrawing from the ranks of snatching people just like that, but there was also an additional touch of casualness.
Song Lian looked at the back view of that vice-chairman and muttered, "This guy must know that he can't fight with my Warden Office, that's why he said these seemingly magnanimous words."
Chen Chao smiled helplessly and did not say anything either.
Song Lian did not think too much as well. He quickly opened his mouth and said, "Come on, there's really someone waiting for you in the Warden Office."
Chen Chao furrowed his brows and asked to wait for a minute. He then walked towards the courtyard.
The people by the lake had not scattered yet at this moment. Xie Nandu was still standing over at the courtyard.
When he walked back to the courtyard door, the eyes of the students by the lake fell on the two.
With what Song Lian said before, those people felt mixed feelings in their hearts when they looked at this scene again now.
Chen Chao returned to the courtyard entrance and looked at this Xie Family girl with some apology in his eyes, "Really sorry about it."
But, if Xie Nandu cared about this sort of trivial thing, why would she have her temperament?
Hence, she shook her head and said indifferently, "It's just some gossip and rumors, what does it matter?"
Chen Chao listened to this and could not help saying emotionally, "Your temperament is really as light as water."
"Your temperament seems to be fiercer? Coming to blows in the academy, have you thought about the consequences?"
Xie Nandu looked at Chen Chao's eyes and said with a smile, "However, it seems like I can only listen to cicada cries from now on. That's a good thing too."
She was so smart, how could she not know that Chen Chao did not act previously because of the words uncouth martial artist?
With her understanding of this person, he would not care at all whether others said that he was an uncouth martial artist or something else.
If he were really angry, he probably would not just knock the person into the water, but directly kill that person like how he dealt with those four qi refiners.
"Actually, I was a little happy when I saw him."
Chen Chao touched his head and said something that made no sense.
"Your face isn't red despite telling nonsense in front of so many people."
Xie Nandu recalled the scene before and could not help but recollect the aftertaste.
Chen Chao shook his head and said, "Although I don't mind, what I said was true."
Xie Nandu smiled slightly when she heard that and did not want to say anymore. She just said, "Go on, that Warden is waiting for you. Just remember to come back, I'm waiting here for you."
Although her words were very nonchalant, they sounded like there was some other meaning. It was easy to make people have other ideas.
Chen Chao's heart warmed up.
It was just that without waiting for him to speak, Xie Nandu turned around on her own and walked back into the courtyard. Liu Ye followed her in.
That Xie Family girl just left behind a sentence.
"The sweet potato that you roast is still pretty good. Roast a few more at night."
Chen Chao thought to himself: this meant that he was not allowed to spend the night outside.
