Gu Shang was wasn't surprised by their attitude, he had long expected this sort of reaction from the Liu Clan members.
The atmosphere within the hall became oppressive as the Liu Clan members coldly size up Gu Shang with hostile gazes.
There was also confusion on their faces, all of them had believed that Gu Shang had perished in the battle seven years ago, so they were surprised to see him suddenly appear seemingly out of nowhere.
Liu Feiefei father and uncle couldn't help but frown upon seeing Gu Shang, wasn't he supposed to be dead?
A young man who was a year or two older than Gu Shang couldn't take it anymore as he stood up and approached Gu Shang with his fist clenched. He was a handsome and refined young man with a tall frame.
The young man was Liu Feiefei's eldest brother and the one who had looked at Gu Shang with killing intent when he first walked in.
The young man immediately threw a punch towards Gu Shang but before he could make a move, Liu Feiefei stood in front and easily dealt with the punch.
Though the young man was at the second stage of the Qi gathering realm, there was no Qi in his attack. He had held back almost ninety five percent of his attack, the remaining five percent could easily deal with Gu Shang since he wasn't a cultivator.
"Behave!" Liu Feiefei warned her brother with a frown.
What was wrong with Liu Xie today? He was always the calm one among the Liu Clan younger generation and rarely ever let his emotions cloud his judgement.
"Gu Shang you coward, are you even a man? Don't you feel embarrassed hiding behind a woman?!"Liu Xie asked with a cold voice.
"And you Junior sister, why are you protecting that bastard? Have you forgotten the humiliation you've had to deal with because of that bastard?
Have you forgotten how he made us the laughing stock of the capital? Liu Xie asked with a seething voice.
The atmosphere in the dining hall became gloomy, seven years ago not only did the Gu Clan embarrass them by marrying off Gu Shang instead of their young master, but the scandal that followed after the wedding was even more embarrassing.
Gu Shang was accused of murdering a mother and daughter pair while drunk, this news immediately spread causing an outrage within the capital.
Commoners and scholars alike had all demanded Gu Shang's execution for such a depraved act.
The Gu Clan had provided evidence of Gu Shang's crime and after that, had even apologized to the public and victim's family.
Though Gu Shang denied his involvement in the crime, the Gu Clan admittance condemned him as guilty since his own clan came out with the evidence and compensation.
The Liu Clan also suffered the backlash of this incident further pushing them into dire straits, they had gone to seek help from the Gu Clan but instead of receiving help, they were rather put in a precarious situation.
Gu Shang's innocence was proven a year after his alleged death on the battlefield, at this point it was revealed that the Gu Clan orchestrated the incident then.
But no one held them accountable to anything, everyone had turned a blind eye to it after the truth was revealed.
Within that one year, the Liu Clan suffered the most, and so the younger generation hated the Gu Clan to their core.
To them Gu Shang was no different than the other members of the Gu Clan.
Liu Xie believed that his sister deserved someone better, Gu Shang on the other hand was nothing more than a pathetic useless being.
Not only was he useless in cultivation, but he was also a coward who couldn't amount to anything. How was such a person a match for his sister?
At first they thought it was a blessing that he had died on the battlefield, but it turned out that he was still alive.
The thought of his sister being tied down to Gu Shang a useless nobody infuriated him.
He punched a table nearby to vent his anger, the table immediately turned to dust after coming into contact with his punch.
"Enough!" An authoritative voice came from the main seat in the dining hall.
An old man with grey hair suddenly commanded.
The old man looked to be in his seventies, he had a few wrinkles on his face, but that did not make him look old at all.
He had sharp eyes which seemed to pierce through everything, besides one could feel vigorous energy coming from him.
Anyone who had been on the battlefield could feel an oppressive blood lust coming from him.
Gu Shang cupped his hands and bowed, ''This unfilial son-in-law of the Liu Clan pays his respect to the Liu Clan and the Clan head!"
The old man laughed after hearing Gu Shang, "So you do know, you've been unfilial!" His voice was loud.
"Someone offer him a seat, he's part of our family" The old man gestured to one of the maids on standby who immediately got to work.
All the members of the Gu Clan frowned upon hearing the old man but didn't dare to object.
On the dining table were seated all the core members of the Liu Clan.
They included the Clan head of the Liu Clan who was at the peak of the Qi gathering realm and just a step away from entering the foundation establishment realm.
Then his two sons Liu Fan and Liu Jun along with their wife's.
All the three served in the Imperial court as generals and though their influence in the military had been weakened, it still existed.
They controlled quite a number of troops themselves, but in the capital that wasn't enough.
Liu Fan was the oldest and he had two sons,the two sons were named Liu Ren and Liu Yi, they were both at the ninth and tenth stage of the Body Refinement Realm respectively.
Liu Jun was the youngest son of the clan head and also the father of Liu Feiefei and Liu Xie.
The two brothers looked at Gu Shang as they contemplated their next move, the appearance of Gu Shang was going to be a problem to their plan.
"Where have you been these past few seven years?" The old man asked as Gu Shang and Liu Feiefei took their seats.
Liu Feiefei and the rest of her family perked up their ears, they were very interested to know where he's been and why he was reported dead seven years ago.
For the past seven years I've been fighting on the battlefield along with all the other soldiers.
Liu Ren sneered, "You? Fighting on the battlefield? Don't make me laugh.
How can someone who can't even cultivate participate in a battle, humph who do you think you are bluffing? Liu Ren said disdainfully.
He looked down on Gu Shang even more, if it was true that Gu Shang really fought on the battlefield he would have died a thousand times over. The battlefield was filled with cultivators in different stages and realms, how could a mere mortal survive for seven years?
Gu Shang was probably lying to look impressive, and he hated those kind of men.
But the old clan head, Liu Fan, Liu Jun and Liu Xie had different views on the matter.
Now that they suddenly calmed down, they begun to notice that they had overlooked something crucial.
From the moment Gu Shang walked in till now, there's never been a moment where he was intimidated by their aura.
Any regular mortal wouldn't have been able to keep their composure when they were locked onto by cultivators.
But Gu Shang was unfazed and it seemed that none of their aura could affect him.
The aura they emitted was enough to suffocate any mortal to death, but Gu Shang was still unaffected.
Not even the aura of a peak Qi gathering realm expert like the clan head could harm him.
Before Gu Shang could clarify anything, the clan head gave Liu Ren a hard stare which scared the latter into shutting his mouth.
"So does that mean you are now part of the Grand General Army? The old man asked with narrowed eyes.
Since the Grand General took charge of the army, he had completely rearranged and reorganized the army.
This reorganization was kept secret from everyone, not even the imperial court knew the composition of the army now or how strong they were.
All that the Imperial court knew were the famous division and the significant battles they each won, but apart from they knew nothing else.
All they knew was that the empire had a strong army, how strong the army was? No one had a single idea.
Gu Shang nodded, "I'm indeed part of the Grand General's Army"
"Which division do you belong to then?" Liu Xie asked.
Gu Shang paused for a while before answering, "I'm not part of any of the divisions" he said with a shake of his head.
How was he supposed to be a part of the divisions when he was the commander of all the divisions?
Liu Feiefei couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, not only her but all the people on the table couldn't help but frown.
Was Gu Shang messing with them?
"Gu Shang, are you playing around with us? How can you be part of the army without being in any division?" Liu Xie asked with narrowed eyes.
"Who says I can't be part of the grand army without joining any division?" Gu Shang asked with an eyebrow raised as he began eating with his chopsticks.
Everyone's frown couldn't help but deepen, they were now certain that Gu Shang was messing with them.
The old clan head felt a bit disappointed, he had hoped for Gu Shang to be part of one of the divisions in the Grand General's army, that would've at least brought them some face, since the army under the Grand General was the most respected and feared army in the eastern continent, but alas..
"Liu Feiefei was also frowning by Gu Shang's side, but sensing the growing annoyance on the table had to intervene for Gu Shang.
"Gu Shang, you are I, Liu Feiefei's husband. No matter who you are or what you've done you'll always be the man that I chose to marry.
You don't have to fake who you are for me or my family, to me as long as you stay true to yourself and have ambition.
I'll believe and always support you"
Liu Feiefei said in a firm tone.
Gu Shang felt his heart beat wildly again as he glanced at Liu Feiefei's beautiful face.
At this moment, he made a silent promise to never disappoint her in this or any other life.
The old clan head laughed out loudly as he glanced at his granddaughter proudly.
"The rest of the people on the table all looked like they had swallowed something very unpleasant.
''I wasn't lying or messing around, I'm not part of the any division in the army because I don't need to''
Why? Liu Feiefei asked with a frown
I'm the Grand General, why would I need to be limited to one division?!
"What did you just say?!"