Chapter 67: I’m no longer your elder

Only then did people in high society realize that the Hou family had indeed come from the underworld and must not be casually offended.

It was only thanks to the old man’s influence, the fact that the sentence had not been manipulated by the parties involved, and Hou Yizhen’s good behavior while serving his time in prison that he was finally released after serving only a little over two years of his sentence.

After all, it had been an accidental killing committed in self-defense.

After that, not a single person in aristocratic circles dared to offend the wolves of the Hou family.

Lin Feng listened to Hou Yizhen talk casually about his background, his amber eyes wide.

"You’re so powerful," he praised afterward.

"..." The man paused, his black eyes showing a hint of surprise. "You’re not scared?"

Anyone who learned that he had killed people, been in jail, and was part of the infamous Hou family would feel fear. But this delicate and pure-looking boy seemed to be admiring and praising him instead?

Lin Feng was confused. "Why should I be scared?"

In his previous life, Madam Lin’s husband had killed countless people. Even when he returned home after many years on the battlefield, he still exuded the murderous aura of a battle fiend.

But to Madam Lin, all that mattered was that her husband was back.

Madam Lin herself had even ordered someone to be beaten to death.

Back then, her husband’s political enemies in officialdom had sent a spy to the kitchen, and the poisoned food had almost been eaten by her son.

Fortunately, the old madam was wise and consistently used silver-lined utensils. If they had not detected the poison, Madam Lin’s son would have been in great trouble.

So, after her husband had interrogated the maid, Madam Lin asked if she could have the maid beaten to death. Both her husband and the old madam agreed.

So Lin Feng did not think there was anything wrong with what Hou Yizhen had done.

Those people were the ones who had gone too far, yet Hou Yizhen still had to be punished. Lin Feng could only feel that the law was cruel.

It was precisely because of this that, during the festival, after realizing that he had almost been disfigured, Lin Feng, who had initially felt horrified by the torturous methods of punishment he had thought up, soon got over this hurdle and embraced the realization that the so-called pure and innocent lady he had once thought himself to be was not actually so pure.

Hou Yizhen stared at the innocent eyes of the boy, who still looked confused. Slowly, the corners of the man’s lips curled up.

He had heard people say before that sometimes, the most innocent ones were actually the cruelest in their innocence.

"Good boy," he praised in return, feeling both amused and happy at this sudden discovery. "That’s right. Why should you be scared?"

At the same time, the tender, limp white dodder flower in his arms became tinged with a beautiful red hue. Its petals unfurled from the core, revealing a hint of a red stamen. It was no longer just plain white.

It was now even more vibrant, blooming quietly with innocent cruelty.

Feeling the tremors of laughter in the man’s chest, Lin Feng felt even more confused.

They were just talking about his family, so why was he laughing?

Since Lin Feng could not understand why, he steered the conversation back to the topic. "Will things really be alright?"

Hou Yizhen nodded and casually dropped a bombshell. "Your old man severed the sworn-sibling relationship between your mother and me earlier, so I’m no longer your elder, strictly speaking."

Lin Feng’s eyes flew wide open. "When?"

"When you were sleeping earlier, during breakfast."

The words were calm and lighthearted, but Lin Feng’s mouth fell open in shock. He could imagine how severe the earlier confrontation between his grandfather and Hou Yizhen must have been to lead to such a declaration.

Grandpa Bai: "Achoo!"

He looked at the door.

Is someone talking badly about me? Did that Hou brat badmouth me in front of my grandson?

He had just finished speaking to his son, asking him to prepare a large, spacious room for Lin Feng at the ancestral house.

After the former matriarch and her daughter had been removed from the family registry and swept out of the house, the large ancestral house had become empty and quiet.

Despite the patriarch’s insistence that he did not need company, Bai Tingyu had still moved back home with his wife, Wei Ranmiao, and their three children, finally filling the stifling silence in the house.

It was good this way. At least Lin Feng would not feel lonely.

The house was finally beginning to feel like a home again.

After hanging up the phone, Bai Tingyu looked at his wife, Wei Ranmiao. "We should tell the children not to speak nonsense. I’m worried their prejudice will get the better of them and cause trouble."

Wei Ranmiao rolled her eyes. "The child is pitiful indeed, but my children are pitiful too. They had to stay here and endure everyone’s pointing fingers, and now that your nephew has returned, another scandal has erupted. Don’t worry, I’m not an unreasonable person. I won’t make things difficult for him."

Bai Tingyu rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Dear..."

"Don’t blame me for being too harsh with my words, Tingyu. I really do like Ah Feng. He’s a good boy. But what he did... You know well how terrible things have been for the company over the past few months. Even now, we still haven’t fully recovered." Wei Ranmiao sighed. "Our children didn’t dare leave the house for a whole month. And then there’s the Lin and Tang families."

Bai Tingyu sighed. "Ah Feng definitely didn’t do it on purpose. With Feifei suddenly..." His words trailed off.

Even now, he still could not accept that his beloved sister had died.

Wei Ranmiao saw her husband’s grief, and her eyes reddened too.

She had had a very good relationship with Bai Yufei. Bai Yufei had been a gentle and soft-spoken person, but she was no pushover. She had a quiet strength that Wei Ranmiao had always admired. Yet, in the end...

She sighed. "That’s why I told you I’m not unreasonable. I also know that he must have suffered a lot after the old matriarch sent those human traffickers to kidnap him and take him into the mountains. And then there’s that sulfuric acid incident recently. I still have a conscience, and I won’t take it out on the kid."

Still, she looked seriously at her husband. "But please don’t ask our kids to endure this again and again. They’re all juniors of the same generation. One person shouldn’t always have to bear the troubles caused by another."

Bai Tingyu was silent. He closed his eyes, feeling exhausted. "I understand. Let the children solve their own troubles."

Unbeknownst to them, a young girl of about fifteen was standing outside the door, pressing her ear against it and eavesdropping on their conversation.

Hearing everything, the girl’s eyes widened, and she pressed a hand over her mouth to stifle her shocked exclamation. Then she turned around and ran to her second brother’s room.

She did not bother knocking. Instead, she simply swung the door open before diving onto the still-sleeping figure on the bed.

"Uhk!" The boy sleeping under the covers was almost crushed to death when her weight landed on his waist.

"Second brother! Second brother, wake up! Big news!"