Chapter 1103 — A Perilous Gambit
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
But whatever the case, it was a good thing; whatever the other party's purpose, Old Master Chen gladly gave his consent, and in the years that followed, the Chen family did indeed secure a very solid standing among the aristocratic families thanks to that marriage alliance.
Yet so many years had passed since, and the other side had never made contact again — not even a letter. This left Old Master Chen somewhat disappointed. Had they come to regret it?
But whether they regretted it or not, Old Master Chen did not dare go and demand an accounting from them. After all, the gulf between an aristocratic family and an ancient sect was no small thing — it was the gulf between an ant and an elephant.
Uneasy as he was at heart, Old Master Chen wore the look of a man who held the world in his palm. Whether the ancient sect had contacted the Chen family again, only Old Master Chen himself knew. That others had not seen it did not mean it had not happened; so long as Old Master Chen betrayed no flaw, they could only err on the side of belief.
"Jingjing is right. You were young then, when the Chen family made that alliance, but we of the older generation all know of it. And why has the Yu family head not moved against the Chen family all these years? For that very reason!" Liu Zhenhu spoke up. "The Yu family has its doubts about such things too, but the alliance did truly exist back then, so everyone now errs on the side of belief. If one truly offended an ancient sect — never mind the Yu family, even the hidden Yu family behind them would be no match for an ancient sect!"
Liu Tianyi and Liu Tianli nodded, sighing helplessly. It seemed the Liu family's loss of its aristocratic title was already a foregone conclusion.
"Damn it! If Qiu Lingshan of the Song family had not suddenly broken through to the peak great consummation of the late Yellow rank, the Song family would have been one of those stripped of their title this time. But she broke through — and then married into the Yu family!" Liu Tianli stamped his foot in indignation.
"Jingjing, what did you mean by bringing up Wei Zhao?" Liu Tianyi was steadier than Liu Tianli. Knowing that their earlier ideas were all unworkable, he turned his gaze to his niece.
"Uncle, Father, it is really quite simple." Liu Jinghan smiled faintly. "We should look for the cause at the root of the matter. On what grounds did the Kang family rise to aristocratic rank?"
"Was it not the support of the Wu and Xiao families?" said Liu Tianli.
"Father, the support of the Xiao and Wu families is only the surface of it. If the Kang family itself lacked the capital and the strength to rise to aristocratic rank, then even the Yu family could not have arbitrarily ruled in favor of their promotion, could they?" Liu Jinghan shook her head. "What the Kang family relies on is nothing more than those miracle medicines — wound salve, deluxe wound salve, beauty-and-skin-nourishing wound salve, and the like. But Wei Zhao has all of them! He even has a life-extending detox pill far more potent than theirs! I think that if we could enter into a partnership with Wei Zhao and become his sole agent, then in future we would control the distribution of these miracle medicines! Anyone who wanted to buy them would have to go through the Liu family — and with that, our standing would rise as surely as a boat rises with the tide."
"Hmm... what you say makes sense. But our Liu family may be willing to be Wei Zhao's agent — Wei Zhao may not be willing. Whoever takes on the agency is the one who gets rich; the Yu family wanted it too, and was refused..." Liu Tianli said, somewhat troubled.