Chapter 1433 — Yu Ning's Worry

"I understand, Father. I already instructed Li Cihua earlier that we must keep a lower profile," Zhao Guangyin said with a nod.

With Old Master Zhao's approval, Zhao Qibing naturally took up formal residence in the Zhao household. Though doubts murmured on every side of the family, Old Master Zhao had already entered seclusion; dissatisfied as they might be, they had no way to raise an objection—and in any case, what Old Master Zhao had decided admitted no questioning.

That, of course, was not all. The news that Old Bi had taken Zhao Qibing as a disciple struck the others' ears like a thunderclap, and only then did Yu Xiaojin begin to feel the danger. Zhao Qibing's return to the Zhao family was, plainly speaking, no great matter; at worst it would leave Yu Xiaojin uneasy, and it would change nothing.

But Old Bi taking Zhao Qibing as a disciple revealed something far more intriguing. Could it be that Old Master Zhao intended to make Zhao Qibing the heir of the Zhao family?

Yu Xiaojin erupted the very night Zhao Guangyin came back to their rooms. She had to get to the bottom of it—just what had this Zhao Qibing come here for?

"Zhao Guangyin! You had better explain yourself clearly—what do you mean by bringing this bastard back?" Yu Xiaojin had backing of her own, so she had no need to be humble in the Zhao household. "And having Old Bi take him as a disciple—is it your plan to make him the next head of the family? Let me tell you now, that is impossible. The head of this family must be a child of mine and yours!"

Yu Xiaojin had never been a shrew, but this matter had gone beyond anything she had foreseen, and she had to understand it.

"Xiaojin, it was Father who asked Xiaobing to come back, and as for the apprenticeship, Old Bi raised it himself!" Zhao Guangyin said. "Do not shout at me. Even I do not know the inside story—this is no secret, and if you do not believe me, go ask Old Bi yourself. Enough. I am tired; I want to rest."

It was the first time Zhao Guangyin had been so cold to Yu Xiaojin. Between the two of them there was not much to speak of in the way of affection; Zhao Guangyin had enjoyed countless women in his life, and his union with Yu Xiaojin was nothing but a joining of interests. In the past he had given way to her because the Zhao family needed the Yu family's influence—but now that his father was about to become a Heaven-rank expert, they stood on equal footing with the Yu family, and there was no longer any need to indulge Yu Xiaojin's temper.

Besides, when it came to Zhao Qibing, Zhao Guangyin truly had no way to explain anything to Yu Xiaojin. The pill had been seized from the Yu family's hands to begin with; the more he said, the more he would give away. So Zhao Guangyin simply kept silent.

Yu Xiaojin was visibly taken aback by Zhao Guangyin's attitude. But she too had come from a great family, and it suddenly struck her how very strange this whole affair was—how contrary to all reason. And if Zhao Guangyin would not speak to her, then she would not keep making a scene either; that would only make things between them more awkward and more unbearable.

Yu Xiaojin decided she would call her elder brother after all. Their father spent his years in seclusion, a figure who served as the Yu family's patron deity and rarely emerged; at present the affairs of the Yu family were all decided by Yu Xiaojin's elder brother, Yu Xiaochen.

"Hello? Who is this?" The call was picked up—but the voice on the other end belonged to a young girl.

"Is that little Ning? This is your aunt!" Recognizing Yu Ning's voice, Yu Xiaojin smiled. "Is your father there? I have something I need to discuss with him."

"Auntie, would you wait a moment? Father is receiving his subordinates and discussing business. When he comes back, shall I have him call you?" Yu Ning asked.

"That will do. When he returns, have him call me—on my mobile, mind you. Whatever you do, do not call the house phone," Yu Xiaojin said.

"All right." Yu Ning was a little puzzled—had something happened to her aunt in the Zhao household? But she did not ask. She truly did not want to be drawn into the affairs between the families, nor to carry any mission for the Yu family; she only wanted to be an ordinary girl...

"Xiaoning, who was that on the phone?" A boy about Yu Ning's age walked over.

"Brother, it was Auntie. She has something to discuss with Father..." Yu Ning said. "Good timing, you are here. I am going back to my room—you can tell Father in a little while."

"All right." Yu Ning's brother gave a wry smile. "Off to paint again?"

"No, not painting." Yu Ning shook her head. "Still no word of him?"

"There is... but there are some things that are hard to speak of..." Though Yu Ning had not named who "he" was, her brother understood well enough: the person was Wei Zhao. Before, there had been no news of Wei Zhao at all; now there was news of him, and a great deal of it. Yet he did not know how to tell Yu Ning.

Wei Zhao had turned out to be a mortal enemy of the Yu family in the mundane world, and the Yu family's stance would of course place them behind that mundane Yu family. Yu Ning could not possibly sway any of it—and that being so, he feared his sister might do something rash. So he had not yet decided whether to speak plainly with her.

As the next family head the Yu family had chosen to groom, Yu Bing naturally had access to the Yu family's channels of information. Of late there had been more and more news of Wei Zhao, which delighted him and at the same time left him caught in a dilemma.

He did not want a conflict between the Yu family and Wei Zhao—neither for his own sake nor for his little sister's, he did not want the Yu family to become Wei Zhao's enemy. But the Yu family was not his to command: its head was their father, Yu Xiaochen, and over the years the mundane Yu family had earned no small amount of money for them. Though the hidden Yu family had never looked upon the mundane Yu family as anything of consequence, now that the mundane Yu family had run into trouble, the hidden Yu family could not simply stand by and watch—otherwise, who would earn money for them in the future?

And so Yu Bing had been working to play down the negative news about Wei Zhao, steering his father's attention toward word of the Qi Gathering Pill. His father was already a peak late-stage Earth-rank expert, one step from Heaven rank; with a Qi Gathering Pill, entering Heaven rank would be no dream.

"Brother, there really is news of him? Then why did you not tell me?" Delighted, Yu Ning seized her brother's arm and shook it. "Tell me, quickly!"

"He... has lately made a great enemy of the mundane Yu family..." Yu Bing hesitated, then decided to speak the truth—otherwise his sister would only fret the more.

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