Chapter 1417 — The Goings-On of Each Family, Part 2

So it was that Chen Yutian, who had been the wronged party, found not a soul taking his side; everyone instead pronounced him to have gotten exactly what he deserved. This was the Yu family's handiwork — brushing every share of responsibility clean off their own shoulders until the whole of it settled on Chen Yutian as a retribution he had brought upon himself.

The Wu family, for its part, was one of the weakest of the great families, every member of it a practitioner of the outer arts, the most formidable among them merely at the middle Profound rank and only recently broken through. Their foundations were far too thin. Especially of late — word had it that Wu Chengtian had also offended the Xiao brothers — and at this clan assembly, the Xiao family, as the rising power among the great families, would certainly move against the Wu family.

"Jingjing, what do you make of it?" Liu Zhenhu offered no judgment on what Liu Tianyi and Liu Tianli had said. Instead he turned to Liu Jinghan and asked.

"Grandfather, I believe that this time our Liu family is in the greatest danger." Liu Jinghan pondered for a moment, and then raised an opposing view.

"The greatest danger?" Liu Tianli — and Liu Tianyi as well — was taken aback. They had not imagined Liu Jinghan would say such a thing.

"Why do you say that? Give us your reasons." Liu Zhenhu merely nodded, still passing no judgment, his expression as unmoved as ever, not a ripple of feeling in it. When it came to the Liu family, Liu Zhenhu was truly a man of stature, a remarkably shrewd old man who every single time seized upon the heart of the matter and found the way out.

No wonder the people of the Liu family had been so overjoyed when Liu Zhenhu learned he still had ten years left to live. Otherwise, the two brothers Liu Tianyi and Liu Tianli would never have been up to it — they could not have held up the whole Liu family. Liu Tianyi, though steady and rather broad in vision, was somewhat short on cunning; and Liu Tianli was narrow of outlook — fine for keeping a business going, but hard pressed to advance it.

The one solace Liu Zhenhu took was this granddaughter; and the one regret he nursed was that Liu Jinghan was only a granddaughter and not a grandson. Liu Tianyi's son was still far too young to have come into his own — if he could one day grow to be like Liu Jinghan, that would be comfort enough for Liu Zhenhu in his old age.

"I keep feeling that this clan assembly will not pass in peace," Liu Jinghan said evenly. "The Chen family may look as though it has sunk to the point of no return, yet it still holds two lifesaving cards in reserve."

"Oh?" Liu Tianyi and Liu Tianli both started. They had not supposed the Chen family still possessed two such lifesaving cards — wasn't that going a shade too far?

"The first is the betrothal with the ancient sect, which we all know about. It may seem as insubstantial as mist, as though it had already ceased to exist, but in truth, so long as the ancient sect has not asked to dissolve it, it still stands," Liu Jinghan said.

Only then did Liu Tianyi and Liu Tianli suddenly recall that the Chen family still had such a lifesaving card. Yes — until the ancient sect explicitly declared the betrothal annulled, the Chen family remained kin to that ancient sect! And what a fearsome existence the ancient sect was! Even the hidden families did not dare lay a finger on them, let alone the ordinary ones.

If the Yu family really did downgrade the Chen family and drive them out of the ranks of the great families, and the ancient sect later came around to make trouble, then matters would truly be dire.

"The second card is Wei Zhao." Liu Jinghan went on. "And it is the one I consider most likely to be played."

"Wei Zhao? Wei Zhao and the Chen family..." Liu Tianyi froze for an instant, then said: "That's right — the Chen family's little granddaughter, Shen Yushu, is the best friend who lives with Gu Mengyao, and her ties to Wei Zhao do seem quite close..."

"Wei Zhao's protectiveness of his own is known to all the world. Anyone who dares touch the people close to him ends up dead or crippled — never mind the Yu family; even the hidden Pi family and the hidden Zhao family are given not a scrap of face," Liu Jinghan said. "If Wei Zhao truly took this matter in hand, then the Chen family would most likely come through safe and sound."

"Wei Zhao... yes, if Wei Zhao intervened, this matter would indeed become a great deal easier." Liu Tianyi nodded, voicing his agreement. "What Jingjing means is that Wei Zhao is very likely to take up the Chen family's affair?"

"Not likely. If Shen Yushu opened her mouth, it would be a hundred percent certain," Liu Jinghan said. "As far as I know, the bond between Shen Yushu and Wei Zhao is absurdly close."

"Then what of the Wu family... Ah, I see — it's Wei Zhao again!" Spurred on by Liu Jinghan, Liu Tianyi had worked several things out for himself. "Word has it that Wu Chengtian has taken one of Wei Zhao's underlings as his boss. In that case, Wei Zhao will naturally not sit idly by while the Wu family's affairs unfold..."

"Exactly. So right now the most exposed family is our own. Fortunately, the Kang family has already fallen on hard times, and has now turned enemies with the Xiao family. If the Kang family sought promotion among the great families, the first to object would surely be the Xiao family. The Yu family will not offend the Xiao family — riding the high tide as it is, with the backing of the hidden Pi family — over that; so the Kang family poses no great threat to us." Liu Jinghan paused. "But neither may we drop our guard. Who knows what tricks the Yu family might play?"

Liu Tianyi and Liu Tianli both nodded in agreement, and old Master Liu Zhenhu finally spoke: "Is it all clear now? Do your own duties as you ought. The Liu family, in theory, is in no danger this time — though unknowns remain. Still, as Jingjing has said, if Wei Zhao truly intervened in the Wu family's and the Chen family's affairs, he might not decline to concern himself with ours either. Recently, on Jingjing's advice, relations between our Liu family and Wei Zhao have been in their honeymoon."

"Understood!" Liu Tianyi and Liu Tianli both nodded...

Meanwhile, only Old Master Chen wore a shadowed look upon his face. At this coming clan assembly, the odds were truly stacked against him. How was he to answer it? But whatever the case, attend he must. Not to go would mean voluntarily surrendering the family's name as a great house — and would that not suit the Yu family's wishes to perfection?

Chen Yutian's proposal had genuinely tempted Old Master Chen as well: let Shen Yushu and Wei Zhao be joined in marriage, and the Chen family's present crisis could naturally be defused. With Wei Zhao in his current ascendant posture, even if the Yu family ground its teeth in fury, there was nothing it could do to him!

Yet the key problem remained the ancient sect. Old Master Chen did not dare dissolve the betrothal with the ancient sect. Once he took it upon himself to betroth Shen Yushu to another man, and the ancient sect truly came to call him to account, the one blamed would not be him alone — Shen Yushu would suffer too.

For now, at worst, they would lose their standing among the great families, while the Chen family's lives and fortunes stayed secure. And in the future, should the ancient sect once more come to propose a match, the Chen family would recover its former glory. So for the sake of the Chen family, Old Master Chen had no choice but to adopt a conservative course and endure in silence for the time being.

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