"Mm..." Tang Yun was caught in a small, bright surprise. In that instant she forgot every one of her worries; happiness froze right there, and Tang Yun would remember it all her life—that scene, that moment, beneath the shade of the campus trees, him slipping the ring onto her finger once again, making his heart known.

"The Gu family's troubles only look settled; in truth, nothing has been settled at all. If I left now, I wouldn't feel easy about it. And as for Yaoyao and Xiaoshu—they don't really bear you any ill will. That's simply how those two are. They were just as hostile toward me at first. Once you've spent more time around them, they'll get along with you perfectly well too..." Wei Zhao consoled her.

"Oh? Oh..." Tang Yun was slightly taken aback, unsure whether those words of Wei Zhao's were a hint of something—that having chosen the young mistress, he still would not let her go? And that he wanted her to get along well with the two of them besides?

Would she? She did not know... If Wei Zhao truly chose the young mistress, perhaps she would... or perhaps she would not... But what if she did not? Was she to hand Wei Zhao over to the young mistress? No. Would that not be granting the young mistress exactly what she wanted?

Wei Zhao had spoken without thinking, yet his words sent Tang Yun's thoughts drifting far, far away... What he had actually meant was this: once the young mistress accepted a person, she would treat that person with wholehearted warmth and goodwill.

"Heh. Once the college entrance exams are over, I'll take you home during summer break to meet my old man." Wei Zhao said with a smile.

"Mm!" Tang Yun brightened again. Whatever else, so long as she held a place in Wei Zhao's heart, that was enough—so what did the young mistress matter? If Wei Zhao did not love her, what use would it be for her to hold on to him? A little shyly, Tang Yun asked, "Then... what am I supposed to call him?"

"Hmm... call him Grandpa. Given his age, that should be about right—though I call him old man." Wei Zhao laughed. He knew perfectly well that Tang Yun could never call him old man to his face; that would be rude.

"Mm." Tang Yun nodded. "Good thing I haven't told my family about this yet. Otherwise who knows what sort of scene my mother would stir up?"

Where her mother was concerned, Tang Yun truly was a little helpless.

"Heh..." Wei Zhao smiled. He too felt rather helpless about Mother Tang, but back when he was courting Tang Yun, it had always been Mother Tang standing on his side, and Wei Zhao was grateful for that. So when it came to her damned money-grubbing demands, he never said much.

* * *

The Gu family's troubles were over. Some people's troubles were not! Every last one who harbored hostility toward the Gu family, toward Wei Zhao, began to live in fear.

The Xiao family.

Xiao Ji and Xiao Ben looked at Pi Bo on the sickbed, and for a moment neither of them knew what to say.

Complicated emergency treatment had saved Pi Bo's life, true enough—but the man himself had become a vegetable.

"You good-for-nothing woman!" Xiao Ji stared at Pi Bo, motionless on the bed, tubes running in and out of every part of him, and in a fury brought his palm down across Gou Huli's face again. "You couldn't even watch where you were driving! Now look—Pi Bo's a vegetable, and what is the Xiao family supposed to do? What are we supposed to do? Our standing among the great families was already precarious, and now, without a real expert to hold the fort, the Xiao family is finished for good!"

"Wuu... wuu..." Cowed by the blows, Gou Huli did not dare say much; she only stood there wiping her tears.

"Crying, always crying! What good does crying do?" The very sight of his wife enraged Xiao Ji. How had he ever married such a creature? The more he thought, the angrier he grew. "And still you cry? This whole mess is your doing! If you hadn't gone provoking the Gu Pengzhan family, why would we have made enemies of them? And if we hadn't made enemies of them, how would Pi Bo have been dragged into it? Even if Pi Bo was hurt, couldn't you at least have kept your eyes on the road?"

"That's enough, eldest brother!" Xiao Ben waved a hand. "This is no time to squabble. What good would beating sister-in-law to death do? What problem would that solve?"

"Then... what are we supposed to do?" Xiao Ji sighed. It was precisely because he did not know what to do that he had vented his temper on Gou Huli.

"First, to secure the Xiao family's interests, I suggest we arrange the marriage alliance with the Kang family as quickly as possible. Otherwise the Xiao family's position truly will not hold! With a financial power like the Kang family backing us, though, it still works in our favor—at the very least it will carry us through this crisis." Xiao Ben said. "Second, we try to contact Pi Bo's sect. Pi Bo has been beaten into this state—surely his sect cannot simply stand by and do nothing?"

"Mm... the alliance with the Kang family does need to be hurried along!" Xiao Ji nodded. "But as for Pi Bo's sect, we don't even know where he came from. Besides, wasn't Pi Bo hit by Gou Huli's car?"

"You don't tell, I don't tell—we say Wei Zhao did it. Who else would know?" Xiao Ben waved a hand. "Even if they learn it was sister-in-law who hit him, that's a secondary matter. How could a mid-Mystic-rank master of the external arts possibly be killed by a car? It isn't plausible, is it?"

"True enough! But what Pi Bo's background was, Father never explained to us either—he simply passed away..." Xiao Ji nodded. "And we ourselves never got around to asking Pi Bo."

"Just so." Xiao Ben frowned. "Then do this: put the word out that Pi Bo was beaten into a vegetative state by Wei Zhao..."

"Second brother, but if we do that, might the Kang family not withdraw from the marriage once word reaches them?" Xiao Ji said worriedly.

"Do you imagine this can be kept hidden?" Xiao Ben waved a hand. "My guess is it won't be long before everyone with a good information network knows that something has happened to the Xiao family."

"True—there's no hiding this, however we try." Xiao Ji nodded, and went off to contact the Kang family on one hand while spreading the news of Pi Bo's vegetative state on the other...

The Yu family of Yanjing.

Yu Shuixing looked at the body of his third brother, Yu Bide, laid out in the hall, tears streaming down his face, beside himself with grief: "Third brother, how could you leave us like this? Eldest brother isn't home—only we brothers remain in the Yu family. How could you abandon me and go?"

Yu Haitian stood to one side, not daring to speak. The Yu family had run rampant through the secular world for years, yet such a tragedy had never befallen them. Now every last member of the Yu family was at a loss.

Yu Kun sat in his wheelchair, staring blankly at the body that had been his father. He could scarcely accept the fact—his own wounds had not yet healed, and now his father was dead! Wei Zhao—how could he be so ruthless?

"Father, please let me go and cut down Wei Zhao with my own hands, to avenge Third Uncle and Eldest Brother!" Yu Feng's eyes too were filled with hatred. Though the Yu family had always harbored its petty internal rivalries, now that an outside enemy had appeared, the Yu family stood as one against him.

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