Chapter 3081 — The Ancient Eastern Clan

"I did see her, but... Master, there's been a small problem on this end..." Feng Sanmang said with a bitter smile. "Miss Xu... she knows about your affairs and your identity..."

"She knows? How could that be?" Feng Tianqi was stunned for a moment, and anxiety immediately gripped his heart. He asked in a low, grim voice: "What exactly happened? How could Xiaohan have found out?"

"It happened like this..." Feng Sanmang did not dare to conceal anything. He truthfully told Feng Tianqi, point by point, about how he had mistaken Wei Zhao for someone else. He also did not dare to shift all the blame onto Wei Zhao—that was not the kind of man he was.

"Oh?" After hearing Feng Sanmang's account, Feng Tianqi was rather taken aback. He had not expected such a strange twist of fate. Still, this was not really Feng Sanmang's fault; if blame was to be laid anywhere, it was on himself for not having made things clear, for never having told Feng Sanmang that Ling Yi was Wei Zhao. But how could Feng Tianqi have anticipated so much? Yet when he heard of Xu Shilan's reaction, he still breathed a sigh of relief—and what filled his heart was mostly comfort!

For all these years, Feng Tianqi had kept the truth from Xu Shilan, never telling her what had really happened—in truth, because he did not dare to tell her. He feared that if he revealed the truth to Xu Shilan, she would hate him, would refuse to have anything to do with him! After all, Xu Shilan's mother had been harmed back then, and Feng Tianqi bore a great deal of responsibility for it. It was he who had failed to protect Xu Shilan and her mother, who had let Xu Shilan be separated from her mother since childhood. So Feng Tianqi could only quietly do things for Xu Shilan from behind the scenes, never daring to acknowledge her!

This was not, as Feng Sanmang had guessed, because Feng Tianqi feared that acknowledging Xu Shilan would displease Dongfang Xiaocui and give Feng Tianhu a chance for revenge. Whether it was Dongfang Xiaocui or Feng Tianhu, they had long since known about Xu Shilan's village—those who would be displeased would be displeased regardless, and those who would seek revenge would seek revenge regardless. It was only in Feng Tianqi's own heart that he could not get past that barrier!

Moreover, Feng Tianqi was a weak-willed, unassertive man. Given his current position, he still could not be sure that if he brought up Xu Shilan's matter, the Old Master Feng would agree to let Xu Shilan be recognized by the clan and take her rightful place. And if the old man did not agree, Feng Tianqi would be even more embarrassed. So all these years he had been working hard, but his character had doomed him—he was not the stuff of a clan head. He could endure in silence, but he was not decisive. In this respect, he was far inferior to Feng Shihua!

Feng Shihua could endure in silence, and at critical moments could also make decisive judgments—which was precisely why he had unhesitatingly recognized Wei Zhao as the leader and even declared it at the clan meeting! By comparison, Feng Shihua was the better material for a clan head. As for Feng Nitian, he was all courage and no strategy, arrogant and domineering. For a man like that, as long as he did not run into a powerful enemy, there was still room for growth through experience—but since he had been crippled for showing off, there was no chance left for him. In truth, it all came down to luck. The local tyrant had also been crippled for showing off, but his luck had been good! Moreover, he had turned back from the wrong path! If Feng Nitian had been a little smarter, had repented a little at home and stopped contending with Feng Shihua for anything, and perhaps begged Wei Zhao for mercy, Wei Zhao might have been able to heal him. But he refused to mend his ways, so he had no one to blame but himself.

"Sanhuang, it's just as well that this matter has been brought out into the open!" Feng Tianqi was deeply gratified that Xu Shilan did not bear a grudge against him, and he said: "Once this business is over, I will go see Xiaohan in person!"

"Yes, Master!" Feng Sanmang breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that Feng Tianqi was not too angry...

And so Xu Shilan stayed at Wei Zhao's villa for the time being. As for Wei Zhao, after receiving those two enormous sums, he had handed them over to Fatty Lai, and Fatty Lai's pharmaceutical company had been effectively relieved of its troubles. This situation left Wei Zhao slightly relieved—thank goodness that fool Zhen Yingjun had come to deliver money to him. But whether Yu Xiaoke's orphanage and the Liu family could be restored to their former operations would depend on whether that girl Liu Jinghan could deliver.

The Liu family's genius girl? Wei Zhao had only seen her once from afar at the great clan assembly, and she had been wearing a veil at the time, so he had not paid her much attention. Yet Han Jingyi held her in such high esteem that it seemed Liu Jinghan must have some real ability—at the very least, a little genius like Han Jingyi would never casually recommend a mediocrity. Once the business at hand was finished, Wei Zhao planned to go meet Liu Jinghan.

In truth, even though the Ancient Eastern Clan had already decided to deal with Xu Shilan, they could not set out immediately. After all, there were constraints on the ancient stratum taking action against people from the secular world—it was absolutely forbidden. Powerful as the Ancient Eastern Clan was, they did not dare openly violate these rules; they had to find a suitable pretext! Only with a pretext could they act conveniently! Of course, this pretext for entering the secular world absolutely could not be connected to Xu Shilan. Although Xu Shilan was Feng Tianqi's illegitimate daughter, that was not public knowledge, and the Feng family had not acknowledged her into the clan. If they moved against Xu Shilan, it would be an attack on someone from the secular world—a provocation of the rules governing the entire ancient stratum!

Unless the Eastern Clan sent out a few suicide warriors who would deny everything even if discovered—but that was impossible. Dongfang Buruo insisted on going personally, and that would be far more than a matter of denial and concealing one's identity. So for the past few days, the Ancient Eastern Clan had been searching for a justification. Their forces were all prepared. This time, Dongfang Jinxing had dispatched a skilled operative of the Eastern Clan, Dongfang Cha, a Heaven-rank early-stage expert who had long been renowned in the clan, rich in experience and skilled in kidnapping and extortion. The Eastern Clan was not as clean as it appeared on the surface. How could such an ancient clan support such a large household without skimming off some black money? The Eastern Clan had so many experts but no real source of income—the yearly cost of medicinal herbs and pills alone was no small sum.

"Reporting to the Young Clan Head, I have just received extremely bad news. Elder Dongfang Jian... is dead!"

Just as Dongfang Jinxing was searching for a pretext to enter the secular world, a disciple of the Eastern family came running over quickly, gasping for breath.

"What did you say?!" Dongfang Jinxing was startled and leapt up from his seat at once. Glaring at the disciple, he demanded: "Dongfang Jian is dead? Didn't Dongfang Jian go to the Cultivators' Guild to find medicinal herbs for Buruo to optimize his meridians? How could he be dead?"

"Young Clan Head, this news comes from the Cultivators' Guild itself. Elder Dongfang Jian... has fallen..." the disciple said cautiously.

"What happened? How did Dongfang Jian die? Was he murdered?" Dongfang Jinxing's expression turned incomparably dark. "Tell me every detail!"

(Fourth update! Begging for [monthly] votes!)