Chapter 3081 — The Ancient Eastern Clan
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
"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.