Chapter 453 - 393: What’s the Meaning of This?
Chapter 453: Chapter 393: What’s the Meaning of This?
"Since the Gongsun Family is so powerful and owes our family a favor, why didn’t they help us through our hardship when they appeared over a decade ago? It’s their fault our family ended up like this!" Bai Qingyue complained bitterly.
"Sigh, you don’t understand. Don’t talk nonsense!" Old Master Bai paused, but ultimately decided against revealing the full story.
The Gu family had a Protective Array. A fortune teller had once said it was an excellent Feng Shui Formation that not only guarded the tranquility of the entire estate but also gathered fortune and blessings to ensure the health, longevity, and prosperity of their descendants. Although the Bai and Gu families were not openly hostile, a covert rivalry had always existed between them. Over a decade ago, the Bai Family’s fortunes began to decline due to the political climate, yet the Gu family remained as stable and unshakable as ever. Old Master Bai was naturally green with envy and refused to accept it. So, when a member of the Gongsun Family passed through Beijing and offered to escort the Bai family to safety, Old Master Bai was too arrogant. He believed he could weather the political storm and rejected the plan for his family to flee the capital. Instead, he demanded that the Gongsun Family use the favor they owed him to sabotage the Gu family’s Protective Array—if the Bai family couldn’t be at peace, then the Gu family shouldn’t have it easy either!
The Gongsun Family initially refused. They argued that such an act would easily attract enmity. The Gu family’s ancestors had included Cultivators, and Cultivators were known for being direct and holding grudges. If the Gu family had anticipated such a move and left behind countermeasures, any future retribution would be disastrous.
In the end, they couldn’t refuse Old Master Bai, who was holding the favor they owed over their heads. The Gongsun Family agreed only to make a slight alteration to the Gu family’s Protective Array, not to destroy it—of course, it wasn’t something they could have destroyed on short notice anyway!
Now, over a decade had passed in the blink of an eye. Old Master Bai lamented inwardly, ’The Gongsun Clan has all that power for nothing; they’re far too cautious. They claimed that a minor alteration to the Gu family’s Protective Array would drastically affect the Gu Mansion’s feng shui and that the slightest misstep could send the Gu family into decline... What absolute nonsense! It had no effect at all. After all these years, the Gu family’s influence is at its zenith and remains unshakable. From the oldest to the youngest, every last one of them is more full of life than ever!’
Old Master Bai carefully gathered the packets of herbs. Without waiting for Doctor Jia to arrive, he ordered Bai Qingyue to go and arrange for them to be brewed. He knew in his heart that these herbs wouldn’t just treat his illness; they would undoubtedly help restore his Martial Arts Internal Power. The thought of Gu Yuanhua’s vigorous health and Tang Renqian’s youthful energy made a fire of impatience burn in his chest. ’No matter the method, I have to recover as quickly as possible! I must become as healthy and robust as they are!’
Hearing from Bai Lihua that the Wu Family elders still had a good deal of these herbs, Old Master Bai said, "That girl from the Tang family truly has incredible luck. She must have collected a huge batch of herbs infused with Spiritual Energy, or she wouldn’t have been so generous with them. How wonderful it would be if all these herbs were in our Bai Family’s possession! You can continue to stay in touch with Wu Xiaowen and try to get as many herbs from her as possible. But be careful not to stir up any trouble. She’s the Tang family’s daughter-in-law, after all, and we absolutely cannot get on the wrong side of the Tangs right now. We must not give up on the marriage alliance; we have to push for it. We could even have Xiao Fan come back early if need be. He’s undergone all sorts of training since he was a child—how much better can some foreign military academy be? Without practical application, it’s all useless! Just getting a taste of it and letting people know he’s been is enough. The top priority now is to lure that Tang girl into our family. That is what’s most important!"
The very person being schemed against, Xiao Man, was in her family’s backyard vegetable patch picking vegetables with her grandparents. A sudden shiver ran down her spine. She glanced around and then looked up at the sky. It was clear and cloudless, with the sun shining brightly. Where could that chill have come from? She shrugged it off, thinking nothing of it.
With her current Combat Power, she had no need to fear danger from ordinary people. However, if she had known that the herbs she’d prepared for the Wu Family—out of a moment of misplaced kindness, feeling sorry for Hao Hao and not wanting him to be miserably caught in the middle—had been generously gifted away by Wu Xiaowen, and to the Bai Family of all people, stoking Old Master Bai’s even greater greed, she probably would have been angry enough to spit blood.
The Tang family’s housekeeper had Sundays off, so the kitchen became Xiao Man’s domain. For lunch, she cooked her usual feast—so much food that even with the two security guards eating, there were leftovers. Xiao Man deliberately set a few dishes aside in the kitchen, planning to pack two lunch boxes later: one to drop off at the mall for Weiwei, and the other to take back to school for her roommates.
Unexpectedly, just as they were about to start eating, a car horn sounded outside. A moment later, Gu Shaozhen, Gu Shaoqin, and the Zheng twins walked in. "It smells amazing! Our timing is perfect!" Gu Shaozhen exclaimed as he entered. Grandpa Tang and Grandma Tang smiled and told them to hurry and wash their hands while Xiao Man and Tang Haocheng set out bowls and chopsticks for them. Everyone then gathered around the table to eat.
Once they’d eaten their fill, the men moved to the living room to watch TV and chat about anything and everything. Grandma Tang helped Xiao Man clear the table and wash the dishes, then washed and sliced some fruit to bring out before joining their lively conversation.
Gu Shaozhen had just gotten back from the south, and Grandma Tang knew what he’d been busy with there recently, so she sat beside Grandpa Tang to listen to the men chat. Zheng Shaolian, however, pulled Xiao Man over to a seat a bit further away, the two of them settling into their own private conversation.
"Weren’t you just gone for a week? Why are you back already? Aren’t you tired, running back and forth like this? You need to be careful. Don’t drive yourself; take a driver with you."
"Tch, you think I’m some kind of wimp? Getting tired just from driving?"
"I know you’re capable, but even the strongest tiger needs a nap sometimes. You’re a company executive and a leader now; it’s not like before. You have a huge workload every day, and it’s mentally and physically draining. Getting tired is unavoidable. Don’t think you can just power through it because you’re young. You have to learn to take care of yourself."
"Alright, alright, you little old lady. I’ll take a driver from now on." Zheng Shaolian reached out and gave Xiao Man’s ponytail a little tug, grinning. "You didn’t call me once all week. And whenever I called, I could never get ahold of you. What were you up to? Can a student really be that busy? You’ve completely forgotten all about your big brother!"
"You’re not my real brother."
"Hiss... I dare you to say that again."
Xiao Man swatted his hand away. "Can’t you act a little more proper? You’re a big-shot CEO, you have an image to maintain."
"Don’t change the subject. Answer my question: what kind of trouble were you getting into at school last week?"
"I’m a good student. How could I possibly get into trouble?"
"Oh, really? Then why did someone tell me there’s a new guy who’s suddenly always with you? That you two are inseparable? You used to refuse the food we sent from home, saying you didn’t want your classmates to see you getting special treatment. But this guy brings you breakfast every day, and you take it without a second thought. What’s that all about?"
Xiao Man was speechless. ’What’s that all about? I’d like to ask the same question.’
"Who’s being so nosy? He’s just a classmate. We walk to and from class together, and that’s ’inseparable’? By that logic, I’m inseparable from a lot of people! As for the breakfast, he brings it all the way for me. It would be a waste not to eat it, wouldn’t it?"
’Besides, I’m teaching him so much; the breakfast is just his way of showing his appreciation. Plus, his family’s chef has quite the pedigree—a descendant of an imperial cook. The traditional Chinese pastries and snacks he makes are authentic and delicious. I’d be a fool not to eat them.’