Chapter 1416 — Movements of the Various Families, Part One: "Grandfather... there is something I don't know whether I should say..." Chen Yutian deliberated a moment, then spoke.

The Chen family had come to the hour of its life or death. There were things Chen Yutian had to say, or the Chen family would truly be finished.

"What is it? Yutian, what is there left that you cannot say?" Old Master Chen sighed.

"If the Chen family is to grow, even to climb a step higher, all is not lost..." Chen Yutian said. "The question is whether we dare to gamble!"

"Hope of what?" Old Master Chen caught at his grandson's words the way a drowning man catches at a straw; all at once his spirit came back to him, and he pressed the question eagerly.

"Have Xiaoshu marry Wei Zhao!" Chen Yutian said. "It is plain to see that Xiaoshu seems to like Wei Zhao, and Wei Zhao does not seem to treat her badly either — at least... better than he treats Lingshan. I know it is rather unfair to Lingshan, but Wei Zhao has several girlfriends and Lingshan doesn't seem to mind. She comes from a great family herself; there should be no problem."

"What?" Old Master Chen stared. "Have Xiaoshu marry Wei Zhao? That will never do!"

"Why?" Chen Yutian was taken aback, and said urgently: "With Wei Zhao joined to our family, the Chen family could plant its feet firm at the Assembly of the Great Families; even the Yu family would not be able to do us harm. And Wei Zhao could raise Xiaoshu's strength — even yours, Grandfather — to the early Profound rank. With that, the Chen family would stand unshaken; and a cripple like me would make no difference, whether I am here or not!"

"Yutian, you do know about Xiaoshu's betrothal, don't you?" Old Master Chen sighed. "I grant that what you propose is a good plan — but to break faith with an ancient sect? How dare our Chen family?"

"I know something of it... but it has been so long, so many years, and never a whisper of news. Does that betrothal still bind?" Never having expected so firm a reaction from his grandfather, Chen Yutian was puzzled. "If that ancient sect truly meant to take Xiaoshu as their bride, they could not have gone all these years without a word, could they? Xiaoshu is past eighteen already, and no one has come to propose. More likely than not, the matter is dead."

"Ah! And who can tell? The ways of an ancient sect are not for ordinary families like ours to guess at. True, there has been no news in all these years — but I fear that if we did break the betrothal and give Xiaoshu to another man, the thunderous wrath of an ancient sect is not something we could bear. If they came for their revenge, would that not be Xiaoshu's ruin?" Old Master Chen smiled bitterly. "It is not that it cannot be done — we dare not!"

Hearing his grandfather out, Chen Yutian fell silent. He had never imagined that a betrothal to an ancient sect would bind them so tight — it was like a tightening circlet, once on the head that no hand could pry off!

"Can we not reach them at all?" Chen Yutian asked.

"No. In the beginning they left behind nothing but the written betrothal, and then they went away. In all these years they have never come again..." Old Master Chen said, helpless. "What you propose is simply out of the question. We cannot take that risk."

"But Xiaoshu..." At the thought of her, Chen Yutian felt a pang of sympathy. "Xiaoshu may not want this betrothal at all..."

"There are things that are not ours to decide," Old Master Chen said.

"Very well... Grandfather, keep your grief in check and accept what must be accepted. It is your unfilial grandson who has brought this trouble down on your head." Chen Yutian could say nothing else.

"It is nothing. Rest and mend in peace, and let your grandfather think it over... think over what lies ahead for our Chen family after this Assembly..." Old Master Chen had no heart to blame him further, and offered only a word of comfort.

"All right, Grandfather..." Chen Yutian too had grown drowsy; he wanted to sleep, for once asleep he could forget every trouble!

No sooner had Yu Feng returned to the Yu family than the invitations to the Assembly of the Great Families went out from the Yu household and arrived at the other eight great families!

Those eight families were the Song, the Chen, the Sun, the Wu, the Liu, the Xiao, the An, and the Yang!

This Assembly had two aims. The first was to settle the grievances between one family and another; the second, to redraw the ranking of the Four Great Families and the Five Lesser Families. And of course it was possible that some family would be struck from the ranks for being too weak — and equally possible that some more vigorous clan would be propped up to become one of the new great families!

Among the families that received their invitations, some rejoiced and some despaired.

Old Master Song was somewhat troubled by the collapse of the marriage alliance between Qiu Lingshan and Yu Feng, but on the whole he had little to be anxious about. After all, the Song family still had abroad a master wandering the world at the peak of the late Profound rank! No news was no news — but until word of his death arrived for certain, no one dared belittle the Song family. And besides, Qiu Lingshan had advanced to the early Profound rank; even without the alliance with the Yu family, the Song family could not be struck from the ranks!

The Sun, the Yang and the An, for their part, were perfectly composed. These families did not aspire to shine, nor would they be struck from the ranks; every Assembly had been the same, with nothing to make one hold one's breath. As for the Xiao family, its former worries had gone up in smoke the moment it won the support of the hidden Pi family! Among all the families, none stood so sure of itself as the Xiao family does now. Two of the Pi family's experts had died, true — but the Pi family simply sent more, and the Xiao family had lost nothing!

The Liu family, too, seemed to sense the crisis in this Assembly. In the study of Liu Zhenhu, head of the Liu family, stood the two brothers Liu Tianyi and Liu Tianli; behind Liu Zhenhu stood Liu Jinghan, the Liu family's little strategist.

"The Assembly is nearly here. What do you make of it?" Liu Zhenhu laid the invitation on the desk and looked up. "Does our Liu family have any hope of keeping its place at this Assembly? I hear the Yu family means to make the Kang family one of the new great families?"

"As matters stand, our Liu family is in no danger. We have become the sole distributor of the wound medicine, and of the painkiller that is about to hit the market. Neither the resources nor the channels in our hands are things the Kang family can match — so our Liu family should have nothing to worry about," Liu Tianyi said.

Liu Zhenhu nodded. "And you, Tianli? What do you say?"

"Big brother is right!" Liu Tianli too nodded, and said with pride: "The sales themselves bring little profit, but the standing and the reputation of our Liu family in the business world have climbed to the very top. Every merchant who wants the wound medicine comes fawning on us. This line of selling may not make us money, but our other trading has filled our pots to the brim! The ones with the biggest headaches now, I'd say, are not our Liu family — but the Chen family and the Wu family!"

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