Chapter 1713 — Call Me Brother-in-Law
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
Wu Chendi could not fathom why fortune should favor Wu Chengtian so, or why fate should be so unfair. He wanted to turn it all around, but as things stood he could only swallow his rage for the time being, put on a cheerful air, and plaster a false smile across his face.
"Our Chen family has nothing to say against it. Yutian has grown up — let him take charge." Chen Kuanglan was delighted today. This sudden turn had made him realize that not only had his grandson grown and matured; most importantly of all, he had found himself a patron. At last the old man could set his heart at ease.
"The men of our Song family are not grown yet," Song Xiangwen said, lending his support as well, "but for the time being, Shanshan can make the decisions."
By now even a fool could see it: Wei Zhao's Cultivators' Association was in truth much the same as the great houses of old, only under a different name. Any family that belonged to it would likely remain as before — indeed, sheltered by Wei Zhao as its founder, it would shine brighter than ever, and its numbers and strength would climb higher with every passing year.
"We have no objections either. Our family has no cultivators, but if Divine Doctor Lin does not disdain us, we are willing to join as well." Liu Zhenhu declared with a smile. "Divine Doctor Lin is on excellent private terms with our family head, Liu Tianyi; I trust there will be no difficulty in coming to an understanding."
"The Yang family has no objections either. In future, let Yang Huaijun make the decisions — this old man ought to retire," said Yang Daocha.
That left only the Sun family. The old master of the Suns was very much in favor in his heart, but as each house had spoken, each had put forward a link that could keep up ties with Wei Zhao — plainly, a spokesman for the family within the Cultivators' Association, a figure equal in standing to the head of the house itself.
But whom the Suns should put in that role, the old master could not quite decide. Sun Jingyan bore the Sun name, yet she was in truth of another blood, and she was not placed as Qiu Lingshan was. The Song men were too young to shoulder the burden, and so Qiu Lingshan was standing in for the time being. But the Suns had two males, one elder and one younger, neither of them children; if Sun Jingyan were given the role now, there would be no reason ever to replace her afterwards.
This put the old master of the Suns in a quandary. For a moment he could not make up his mind, and he raised his head to look at Sun Jingyan.
Sun Jingyan had more or less guessed her grandfather's difficulty, and she did not mind it in the least. Nor had she any wish to hold the Sun family in her hand. So she smiled slightly and said, "Yikai, haven't you already met Wei Zhao, and got on well with him? You can handle the liaison for the Sun family from now on. There is too much going on at my company; I doubt I shall have the time."
"All right!" Sun Yikai was overjoyed. He had not expected Sun Jingyan to put in a word for him at such a moment. In truth his position in the Sun family was rather awkward: he had an elder brother above him, and his blunt, straight-shooting nature ill suited him to be head of the house. But now a single sentence from Sun Jingyan had dissolved the awkwardness.
"Sun Yikai, this is the third time we have met, is it not?" Wei Zhao said with a faint smile.
"It is. So what am I to call you from now on? Brother-in-law?" Sun Yikai said with a laugh. It really was funny when he thought about it. The first time he had laid eyes on Wei Zhao, he had said he would look out for him and told him to come to him if he ever ran into trouble; and in the blink of an eye, Wei Zhao had become the foremost cultivator of the secular world, supplanting even the Yu family.