Chapter 1103 — A Perilous Gambit
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
"Father, everything has two sides. An agent can make money, and an agent can also make no money! Our Liu family can be an agent that makes no money! We hand over every cent of profit from the agency, keeping nothing back, and bear the operating costs ourselves!" Liu Jinghan said. "Moreover, we will make no decisions in any matter concerning the agency — all authority goes to Wei Zhao!"
A strange light flickered in Liu Tianyi's eyes; he had not expected his niece to hit upon such an idea. In this way the Liu family would become an unpaid laborer, gaining not a shred of power or profit, and having to sink in a great deal of manpower and money besides. On the surface, the Liu family lost heavily; but in truth, what the Liu family gained was a name — and, more than that, an excellent relationship with Wei Zhao. Should trouble come to the Liu family in future, they would have Wei Zhao to turn to.
Liu Zhenhu nodded in approval as well. This granddaughter's ideas were always so unexpected! To position the entire Liu family as Wei Zhao's "underling" — bold, perhaps, but once it succeeded, the returns would be beyond imagining.
Liu Zhenhu had long since seen that Wei Zhao was no ordinary man; and now, having left the Yu and Xiao families with one dead and two wounded, Wei Zhao had displayed his strength all the more.
And the Liu family, at this very moment, was seeking breakthrough and transformation. To define themselves as Wei Zhao's "underling" might well be a good way out! It looked like a lowering of status, perhaps, but was the Yu family anything other than an underling before the hidden Yu family? And take the Xiao family, so pleased with themselves of late — were they not the underlings of the hidden Pi family?
So whether an underling cuts a fine figure depends entirely on the strength of the one at the head. If Wei Zhao was a man who did not even deign to regard the hidden families, then the Liu family would become an aristocratic family standing above even the Yu and Xiao families!
Of course, all of this rested on conjecture and on a gamble. No one knew whether there was a greater power behind Wei Zhao, and no one knew whether Wei Zhao would go further still.
Liu Tianli understood his daughter's words as well, but fell into deep thought. After a long while he said, "Jingjing, that Wei Zhao may look very strong, but he is, after all, the sworn enemy of the Yu family. If our Liu family willingly lowers itself, that amounts to standing on the opposite side from the Yu family. If Wei Zhao can settle the Yu family, well and good — but what if he cannot? I hear his enemy Jin Wudi, to avenge his disciple Ma Zhu, has already applied to the Hidden Family Arbitration Association for permission to leave seclusion and seek Wei Zhao out. He is an Earth-rank expert! A being without equal. I fear that before we have time to rejoice, Wei Zhao will be killed by Jin Wudi!"
"Yes, Jingjing, this is a perilous gambit — succeed or perish! As things stand, the worst our Liu family faces is being pushed out of the ranks of the aristocratic families; we would lose nothing, only the glory we once had. But if we throw in our lot with Divine Physician Lin and it fails, the Liu family will face a joint attack from the Yu family and the other aristocratic families — and then we will be hard put even to preserve the Liu family!" Liu Tianyi voiced his own worries.