Chapter 1644 — Feng Xiaoxiao's Return
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
As for Xiaoming, he was no longer so keen on her either. Xiaoming, after all, was only Bingtang's aunt. For him to go courting Xiaoming's favor would be of little use at all—Bingtang did not even acknowledge him as her uncle-in-law!
Between father and uncle-in-law lay a world of difference. If Bingtang did not acknowledge him as her father, there was still a chance to slowly mend the bond—they were father and daughter, after all! But as an uncle-in-law, there was simply no hope at all.
So Chief Tang was rather relieved that Xiaoming had left. Gone was gone. And this time he had a reason to bring Right Xiaoxin out of the cold palace!
"Chief Tang, tell me, how can we keep the Ice Palace's mistress looking out for our Hidden Tang family? The duck that was all but cooked has flown away. As things stand, we are little better than vassals of the Ice Palace—they treat us as their eyes and ears, not as trusted confidants, to be cast off whenever they please. Such a relationship is far too unstable!" Old Master Tang was a clear-sighted man. "Between the Ice Palace and us there are no ties of profit, no **. It would be all too easy for us to go our separate ways..."
"Father, that... there's nothing I can do about it!" Chief Tang said with a bitter smile. "Heaven will rain and a mother will remarry—such has been the way since ancient times. Bingtang's ties with our Tang family are not much now, and it's hardly realistic to expect her to keep looking out for us. And the Ice Palace seems not to lack for money, nor does it need our Hidden Tang family to manage its business. It's truly difficult!"
"Elder Brother, those words are mistaken!" Before Old Master Tang could speak, the second Tang son had already opened his mouth. "Isn't that Tang Jucheng a collateral branch of our Tang family? That makes him one of ours as well. We can present him with a villa hereabouts, so that his whole family moves over. When the Ice Palace's mistress misses her parents, she will come back here to visit them—and in this way her chances of coming into contact with our Hidden Tang family will increase. Would not this relationship, little by little, be cultivated?"
"There is sense in that!" Old Master Tang nodded after hearing the second son's words. "Well done, Second Son, you have some brains. Then it is settled!"
"Father, the villas around here cost tens of millions apiece, even a hundred million. Such a vast investment..." Chief Tang's private purse was never large; though he was family head, Old Master Tang stood above him, so his yearly allowance was but a few million. To spend tens of millions, even a hundred million, buying a villa for Tang Jucheng—that struck him as rather a loss!
"Compared with the Ice Palace's mistress favoring us with a special regard, what is a hundred million? Buy it!" Old Master Tang struck the table and declared.
Meanwhile, as Wei Zhao and Tang Zhi's household made ready to pack their belongings and set out, several uninvited guests arrived at the Gu family villa—and one of them gave Wei Zhao quite a surprise! When Wei Zhao opened the door and Feng Xiaoxiao flung herself into his arms, he was somewhat struck dumb.
"Xiaoxiao? You're back?" Though Wei Zhao was at present only a first-rate master at the peak of the late Yellow Rank, dodging Feng Xiaoxiao's pounce would have been a simple matter—and he had not dodged because he had already recognized her.