A carefree soldier king in the city

Chapter 295 Misunderstanding

"you……"

Ding Jichun jumped up and shouted angrily, "Kid, didn't your parents teach you what 'respect' means?"

Chao Bufan changed his leg-crossing posture, then smiled slightly and said, "Excuse me, I don't know what 'respect' means. If you don't like it, then go back to sleep."

Aside from He Linfeng, probably no one present could tolerate Chao Bufan's unruly and arrogant behavior. Even the family head, He Jingde, had been holding back, and when Ding Jichun spoke up to reprimand him, he didn't stop him. Ding Jichun was known for his fiery temper among the eight great families; once he got angry, nothing could quell it. Hearing Chao Bufan's overbearing and aggressive words, he immediately retorted angrily, "Fine, fine, then I'll teach you a lesson on behalf of your parents, you arrogant brat, and show you how to behave."

As he spoke, Ding Jichun rushed in front of Chao Bufan and raised his hand to slap him hard.

"Snapped!"

In the silent hall, under everyone's watchful eyes, a resounding slap rang out, startling everyone. A look of astonishment crossed their faces. However, the most astonished was Murong Jinshui. He stared in disbelief at Ding Jichun, a large, swollen, and purplish-red patch on his left cheek. The slap had landed squarely on his face. After a brief moment of shock, his expression turned icy, and he leaped into a rage, pointing at Ding Jichun and shouting, "Ding Jichun, what do you mean by this?"

Ding Jichun stared blankly at Murong Jinshui's injured left cheek. Hearing Murong Jinshui's angry shout, he immediately snapped out of his daze, trembled, and quickly said with a forced smile, "Senior Brother Jinshui, I..."

Damn, how can you hit someone and still laugh as if it's perfectly justified?

The dignified Grand Elder of the Murong family was slapped in front of everyone by the Grand Elder of the Ding family. If word got out, how could he ever face anyone again? This wasn't just a matter of face, but also of the entire family's reputation. The two families already had some friction, and Ding Jichun's slap immediately ignited their long-standing resentment, making it impossible to control.

Murong Jinshui also had a fiery temper. Seeing that Ding Jichun had hit him and was still grinning maliciously, he immediately roared, "Ding Jichun, I'm not done with you yet!"

As he spoke, he suddenly struck out, hitting Ding Jichun in the chest with a palm. With a muffled thud, Ding Jichun was caught off guard and took a blow from Murong Jinshui. He immediately spat out a mouthful of blood and flew backward before crashing to the ground.

The sudden turn of events surprised everyone in the hall, and their expressions changed.

After Ding Jichun fell to the ground, he quickly stood up. Just as he was about to get angry, Murong Jinshui walked up to him and said angrily with a cold face, "Hmph, Ding Jichun, I have no grudge against you, yet you slapped me in front of so many people. What do you mean by that? Do you think my Murong family is easy to bully?"

This was an insult, a tremendous insult. For Murong Jinshui, whose temper was no better, it was something he had never expected and could never accept.

Ding Jichun wanted to get angry, but he had no choice but to suffer in silence. He was indeed in the wrong. He had intended to teach that arrogant brat a lesson, but he had been careless and slapped the wrong person. He had to suppress his bloodlust and said, "Senior Brother Jinshui, it's a misunderstanding. It really is a misunderstanding."

"Misunderstanding?" Murong Jinshui roared, "Ding Jichun, can I slap you and then tell you it's a misunderstanding?"

"This……"

Ding Jichun was speechless for a moment, but seeing Murong Jinshui's aggressive attitude, as if he wanted to kill him, he angrily said, "Senior Brother Jinshui, I accidentally hit you, I didn't mean to. I apologized to you and let you return the favor. What more do you want?"

Murong Jinshui said coldly, "Hmph, what do you want? How about I slap you and say sorry?"

"you……"

The atmosphere in the hall was tense. After everyone realized what was happening, He Huacheng and the other elders of the families quickly stepped forward to stop them. Situ Yuting, the elder of the Situ family, stood between the two and said, "Senior brothers, what are you doing? Why are you arguing?"

Chao Bufan sat there with his legs crossed, looking completely nonchalant, but inwardly he was laughing heartily.

Murong Jinshui angrily said, "Ask him."

Knowing he was in the wrong, Ding Jichun smiled bitterly and said, "Senior Brother Yuting, I... I really didn't mean it. I just wanted to teach that kid a lesson, but somehow the slap landed on Senior Brother Jinshui's face."

He Huacheng frowned, turned to face Chao Bufan, and said, "Young brother, shouldn't you come out and explain yourself?"

Upon hearing this, Chao Bufan pointed at himself with a surprised expression and said, "Me?"

At this moment, He Jingde also got up from his seat and came to Chao Bufan. He squinted and looked Chao Bufan up and down and said, "Young Master Chao, go over and explain! So as not to hurt the harmony between the two families."

Many people looked surprised. How did they get back? Elder Ding was the one who slapped Elder Murong. What could an outsider like him explain?

Therefore, everyone in the hall, including Ding Jichun and Murong Jinshui, turned their attention to Chao Bufan.

Chao Bufan asked in bewilderment, "Patriarch He, what do you mean by this? It was clearly the elder of the Ding family who slapped the elder of the Murong family. Everyone saw it. I was sitting there without moving. What do you want me to explain?"

Chao Bufan was telling the truth; he did indeed sit there without moving, and everyone did see Elder Ding slap Elder Murong across the face.

Ding Jichun then sensed something was wrong, raised an eyebrow, and angrily said, "Kid, were you playing tricks just now?"

"puff!"

Chao Bufan chuckled and said, "Old man, you're really funny. You say I'm playing tricks? Then let me ask you, which eye of yours saw me playing tricks? It's obvious that you just don't like Elder Murong. You're pretending to hit me, but you really want to hit him."

"you……"

"What do you mean, 'what do you mean, 'what do you mean'? Everyone has seen it for themselves, old man. I've already said it, this is just my natural temper. If you can't stand it, then don't watch. There's no need to use me to slap Elder Murong. I really admire your veiled attack!"

"enough."

Ding Jichun roared, his face a deep, liver-colored shoehorn, and shouted, "Boy, don't make false accusations! I did accidentally slap Senior Brother Jinshui just now..."

At that moment, unnoticed by the crowd, Murong Jinshui's expression changed drastically, becoming increasingly ugly. Before Ding Jichun could speak, he roared, "Ding Jichun, shut your mouth!"