Chapter 216: Fifty Thousand Stones and One Lonely Goat...

"Father..." Gu Bao sobbed pathetically, looking up at the Patriarch with bloodshot, tear-filled eyes as he desperately tried to crawl forward, "Father, please... you have to believe me... it was a trap..."

Gu Yangtian waved his hand with such terrifying force that the wave blasted Gu Bao backward, sending him skidding across the jade floor before his back struck a pillar.

BOOM!

His dirty blanket slipped off his body and every elder in the room immediately turned their heads away.

"Cover yourself!"

"I AM TRYING!"

Gu Bao desperately wrapped the blanket around himself again.

"SILENCE!"

"Silence you piece of shit!" Gu Yangtian’s angry voice echoed through the Audience Hall, "Don’t you dare call me your father."

"You sick, depraved animal!" Gu Yangtian screamed, pointing his shaking finger directly at Gu Bao’s face, "You... You... You had fifty thousand spirit stones? You had enough resources to help the clan?"

"And you threw them away to fuck a farm animal in front of the entire town?!"

"It wasn’t an animal!" Gu Bao shrieked frantically, hitting his head against the floor in total desperation, "They... All of them... They tricked me! They must have drugged me. Believe me! I thought it was a peerless Jade Beauty from the Central Continent! I swear it!"

"Do you think anyone cares what you thought you were fucking?!" the First Elder roared furiously, aggressively stepping forward and slamming his cane into the floor, "The entire town watched you thrust yourself into a bleating goat!"

"They are already taking bets on whether the beast will give birth to the next Gu Clan heir!"

"You have turned our sacred bloodline into the absolute biggest, most disgusting joke in the history of the southern regions!" another elder spat viciously, glaring at Gu Bao as if he were a pile of rotting trash.

BANG!

"Enought," The First Elder’s cane struck the floor, "Whether he saw a Jade Beauty, a fairy, a demoness or the fucking Moon Goddess herself is irrelevant!"

The old man’s beard trembled, "Those fifty thousand spirit stones were entrusted to him for clan affairs!"

Another elder immediately joined in, "And now every tavern in Poison Valley Town is singing about it!"

Gu Bao looked up, "...Singing?"

Nobody answered, and Gu Bao’s face became paler, "What song?"

The elders avoided his eyes.

Gu Bao’s breathing accelerated, "I asked what fucking song?!"

A young servant near the entrance flinched and instinctively whispered, "Fifty Thousand Stones and One Lonely Goat..."

Gu Bao stared at him.

"PFFFFT!" Someone laughed and everyone turned towards the source of the sound. It was actually the fifth elder who immediately started coughing.

"Apologies," He thumped his chest ans put on a serious face, "Old illness."

The Third Elder slammed his palm against his chair.

"This is not funny!" Unfortunately, saying that while visibly fighting a smile did not help, "The Gu Clan has spent generations establishing its reputation!"

"And you destroyed it in one afternoon!" The Fourth Elder pointed angrily at Gu Bao, "Do you know what is happening outside the eastern market?"

Before anyone could ask what, he continued, "They are selling goat saving charms!"

"They..." Gu Bao looked ready to explode, his body trembled and he desperately turned his head to look at the seat positioned slightly below the Patriarch, hoping to find his ultimate savior.

"Mother... Mother, please help me," Gu Bao wept, reaching a dirty, shaking hand out toward Madam Li, "Tell them I was set up... you know I would never..."

But Madam Li didn’t even look at him.

She sat rigidly in her ornate chair, wearing her expensive purple silk robes, but her face was completely turned away from him, her eyes tightly squeezed shut as she pressed a silk handkerchief.

She looked even worse.

She wasn’t angry.

Anger would have been better.

She looked exhausted.

She had spent years meticulously plotting to place him on the Patriarch’s throne, thinning out his competition, securing him the Li Clan’s backing and showering him with endless resources, but this imbecile brought to her doorsteps this sheer depravity which was completely beyond any political saving.

She couldn’t defend a goat-fucker without destroying her own hard-earned authority.

This time, she could do nothng but abandon her beloved son to his own fate.

"Mother?!" Gu Bao gasped in horror, his heart completely shattering into dust as he realized he had lost his absolute strongest shield.

"Do not dare speak to your mother after bringing such filth!" Gu Yangtian snarled aggressively, walking down the steps of the dais to stand directly over Gu Bao, his eyes burning with pure hatred.

"You publicly disgraced yourself."

"You disgraced your mother."

"You disgraced me."

"You disgraced the elders."

"You disgraced the Gu Clan."

Gu Bao trembled.

"And somehow..." Gu Yangtian’s face twitched as he spoke, "You even disgraced a completely innocent goat."

Several elders immediately lowered their heads.

Gu Fan bit the inside of his cheek.

Gu Bao looked close to death.

"Father..."

"From this moment onward, you are stripped of your privileges as Second Young Master," Gu Yangtian declared ruthlessly, his cold voice echoing with absolute finality as he stripped Gu Bao of his entire future.

Gu Bao’s head snapped upward, "What?"

"Your monthly cultivation resources are suspended."

"No..."

"Your personal guards will be reassigned."

"Father..."

"Your courtyard will be sealed."

"NO!" Gu Bao lunged forward.

"If you dare disobey my authority, I will personally break both of your legs!"

"No! Father, please!" Gu Bao screamed hysterically, thrashing against the floor as the guards immediately rushed forward, grabbing his arms to drag him away, "I am the future of the clan! You can’t do this to me!"

Gu Yangtian’s expression remained cold, "Then perhaps manual labour will help stabilise your foundation."

Gu Yangtian looked toward the guards, "Take him to the outer servant quarters."

Gu Bao’s face turned white, "He will work there until I decide what to do with him."

The First Elder nodded, "A wise punishment."

"Get this sick animal out of my sight!" Gu Yangtian waved his hand, turning his back on his son in total disgust.

"WAIT!"

The guards dragged Gu Bao backwards.

"FATHER!"

Gu Yangtian ignored every single cry.

"I AM YOUR SON!"

"YOU CAN’T MAKE YOUR SON CLEAN TOILETS!"