Chapter 1724 - 312_2

Lin Shuyou: "I don't know, when I was in Nantong, I called home, but neither my master nor my grandfather mentioned anything to me."

Tan Wenbin heard this, smiled, and nodded.

Placing his bowl and chopsticks on the stone table, Tan Wenbin spoke:

"Beforehand, I had some suspicions, but when I saw Zhao Yi truly returning to the Zhao family under his own identity, I instead felt that my previous worries seemed insignificant. Originally, having the enemy in the dark while we are in the open was a disadvantage. However, if we know where the enemy in the dark is, then being in the open actually becomes an advantage."

Lin Shuyou put down his bowl and spoon, saying, "They don't even dare reveal their identities in front of Three-eyed; it's their turn to start feeling anxious and uneasy."

Tan Wenbin: "This is Jiujiang, Zhao family's territory. Zhao Yi has the natural home field advantage here. Tomorrow morning, we are leaving from the outer residence to go to the ancestral home in the mountains for ancestral rites. I believe Zhao Yi will act against them soon."

Li Zhiyuan said: "Who are 'they'?"

Tan Wenbin was stunned, then fell into deep thought.

Lin Shuyou: "It's the group of people sitting at the table during today's family banquet."

Li Zhiyuan: "Didn't the two of you also sit at the table?"

Lin Shuyou: "But how could Three-eyed possibly..."

Tan Wenbin: "Brother Xiao Yuan, do you mean Zhao Yi might treat us the same way?"

Lin Shuyou: "But, it was Three-eyed who invited us to Jiujiang to help him..."

"I don't think Zhao Yi would do that, but the current Zhao Yi has the motive to do so." Li Zhiyuan walked over to the lotus pond, placed his hand into the water, and the white cold air began to recede. The youth continued, "He plans to set the Zhao family ablaze himself, burning it down while also eliminating those who infiltrated the Zhao family."

Ice crystals formed on the surface of the pond, and as the youth's palm moved upward, the ice crystals rose with it, forming an ice lotus flower.

Li Zhiyuan: "We didn't come to Jiujiang just to help him. All along, Zhao Yi and I have had our own interests, including this visit to Jiujiang because I have my eyes on the Zhao Family Treasure Vault.

If the decayed wood of the Zhao family still has a significant amount of burnable material after those guys are burnt to death, from Zhao Yi's perspective, he might also consider whether to conveniently get rid of us as well."

In the dark corner, Run Sheng's eyes flashed with green light, then faded away.

Li Zhiyuan looked at Lin Shuyou: "On Qingcheng Mountain, you beat up Xu Ming, and the aim was to preemptively warn Zhao Yi to achieve better cooperation moving forward.

I don't want to sow discord between your relations. Zhao Yi and we have been familiar for so long. It's normal to develop feelings and trust.

But this is On the River; we are riding the waves, and any partnership must be reconsidered with changing circumstances.

Starting now,

take this wave seriously, and don't regard the Zhao Family Treasure Vault as our main goal. 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂

And don't feel like we are helping Zhao Yi, or bestowing favors upon him from above.

Maintain an appropriate distance, keep a sense of measure, and regard Zhao Yi as another team in this wave; reforge connections, seek common ground while reserving differences, and strive for cooperation."

"Understood!"

"Understood!"

After giving Tan Wenbin one last glance, Li Zhiyuan went back inside to rest, with Run Sheng following behind.

Lin Shuyou bit his lip, frowning and looking melancholic at times.

Tan Wenbin reached out and placed his arm around Lin Shuyou's shoulder, gently patting him.

Lin Shuyou: "Brother Bin, will Three-eyed really set fire to us?"

Tan Wenbin: "You've misunderstood Brother Xiao Yuan's words. Didn't you hear Brother Xiao Yuan say, even he doesn't believe Zhao Yi would act against us?"

Lin Shuyou: "Then..."

Tan Wenbin: "Initially, Zhao Yi wanted to streamline the Zhao family to easily take control upon its resurgence. Now the situation has escalated, and the nature has changed. The entire Zhao family might cease to exist, transforming Zhao Yi from someone who wanted to protect the broken pot to someone who wants to smash it himself.

What Brother Xiao Yuan was just discussing is actually a kind of interpersonal relationship; the childhood friends who played in mud with their open trousers, as each of their statuses change, you wouldn't throw mud at him as soon as you meet, right?

At this moment, adjusting and changing the way of interactions is not about intentionally distancing them, but precisely in order to better maintain their initial relationship."

Lin Shuyou: "I understand."

Tan Wenbin: "Really understand?"

Lin Shuyou said resolutely: "If Three-eyed dares to act against us, my golden mace will crush his eyes."

Tan Wenbin: "Sigh, you should discuss such matters with Run Sheng next time."

Leaving this remark, Tan Wenbin also went back inside to sleep.

Lin Shuyou stood still, looking up at the moon above the courtyard.

He originally disliked Three-eyed the most, but upon hearing Brother Xiao Yuan said Three-eyed might also act against them, Lin Shuyou's heart was most complex.

"Child, Old Tian of Three-eyed is still living in Nantong..."

"That's why he likes you so much, the more a person lacks, the more they yearn for it."

"Swish swoosh!"

Lin Shuyou turned his head toward the lotus pond.

On the surface of the pond, the ice lotus flower Brother Xiao Yuan casually created earlier crumbled apart.

...

Zhao Yi returned to his small courtyard.

At the moment, he stood at the entrance of the courtyard, with Zhao Heming and Chen Cui'er outside.

Choosing the third branch as a replacement was originally the simplest choice.

The third branch held an exalted status, one only knew how to be a sycophant, the other lamented at the passing of seasons all day long.

But never expected, during the act, "his own" son returned.

If it had been ordinary third-generation children from other branches, then it would have been a simple matter to squash and replace them, or even bury them.