Chapter 635: The Gong family and Tianhao

“What? You can’t find Bai Shanshan?!” Xiao Lingyu was obviously surprised when she heard this. The person who reported to her was someone from the court.

“Yes, Bai Shanshan is nowhere to be found. I don’t know where she is hiding,” the person said. “Ms. Xiao…”

Xiao Lingyu nodded. “Okay, I got it. Thank you for coming over to tell me.”

After that, Xiao Lingyu invited them to have dinner at home.

The people from the court did not refuse. As long as Bai Shanshan didn’t change her name, they’d eventually find her. Since the people from the court couldn’t find her, there was a high possibility that she had gone into hiding. But as long as Xiao Lingyu didn’t withdraw the lawsuit, she’d be summoned the moment she appeared. She would see how long this Bai Shanshan could hide.

After the people from the court left, Gong Yinxiong frowned and said in confusion, “They can’t find Bai Shanshan? The court should have sent the subpoena to the Bai Family. Could it be that the Bai family is hiding her?

“But the Bai Family wouldn’t be so stupid.”

“The Bai Family?” Xiao Lingyu didn’t really understand the situation in the capital, so she naturally didn’t know the Bai Family. Of course, the others present didn’t understand either.

Gong Yingxiong said, “The Bai family used to be an ordinary family in a small county. But after Bai Lianhua of the Bai family married Gong Jianjun, with the power of the Gong family, they rose step by step from an ordinary family in a small county to a third-rate family in the capital.”

Xiao Lingyu asked in confusion, “What is the relationship between Gong Jianjun and the Gong Family?”

The Gong family that she knew were grandfather gong and Gong Tianhao. She didn’t know anything about the other members of the Gong family.

Gong Xiong thought for a moment and explained, “Sister-in-law, grandfather has a younger brother named Gong Qi. Second Elder Gong’s eldest son is Gong Jianjun. Bai Lianhua is the eldest daughter-in-law of Second Elder Gong.”

Xiao Lingyu asked curiously, “Grandfather Gong and Second Elder Gong are brothers, so they should be close. But why haven’t I heard grandfather and Tianhao mention them before? They didn’t even inform them of our marriage.”

Gong Yinxiong shook his head very seriously and said, “If Second Elder Gong didn’t do those things, or if he really treated the old master as his elder brother, then, of course, their relationship would be close.” At this point, he paused for a moment and said, “That’s not right. Let’s put it this way. Before the old master came to Taoyuan Village, the old master and Second Elder Gong were quite close.”

Everyone and Xiao Lingyu, “…”

“Oh, that’s not right. It’s the old master who thought that his relationship with Second Elder Gong was quite good.”

Everyone was even more confused. “…”

Aren’t they brothers? But based on what Gong Yinxiong said…

Xiao Lingyu asked directly, “What do you mean?”

Gong Yinxiong sighed and said, “Sister-in-law, you should know that when Tianhao was three years old, his parents passed away unexpectedly, right?”

Xiao Lingyu nodded.

“The Gong family has always been a small family. After Tianhao’s parents passed away, the main branch only had the old master and the young master, an elder and a child. Old Master Gong held a high position, and Tianhao was still young. The power and wealth of the Gong family made people envious.

“Many people were afraid of Master Gong’s authority and didn’t dare to do anything. However, after Master Gong and his wife passed away, these people’s ambitions started to surface. However, they hid it very well before Old Master Gong. On one hand, they were trying to curry favor with Old Master Gong, but on the other, they hired people to assassinate Tianhao. Fortunately, Tianhao, who was only three, was already smart and quick-witted. He has avoided all kinds of assassinations.”

Everyone sucked in a cold breath when they heard this.

“Isn’t this Second Elder too vicious and merciless?” Xiao Lingyu clenched her fists tightly. Blue veins appeared on her fair and tender hands. It was obvious how angry she was. She asked, “Grandfather is such a smart person. Don’t you know what his younger brother has done?”

She felt her heart ache when she thought about how Little Tianhao, who was only three years old, had to deal with assassination.

Gong Yinxiong was silent for a moment before saying, “Back then, the old master was busy with military affairs. Since Second Elder Gong was his family, he thought his younger brother’s family could help him take care of the child.

“Therefore, he entrusted them to take care of Tianhao. The old master was really busy. Sometimes, Tianhao wouldn’t see him for a long time.

“Whenever the old master asked how the child was doing, the second elder would say that he was doing well. Whenever the old master wanted to see him, they’d say he was busy studying to prevent them from meeting.

“At that time, the old master didn’t think too much. He also didn’t think that his own brother wanted to hurt his own grandson.

“Occasionally, when the grandfather and grandson met, they were all in a hurry. Tianhao didn’t have the chance to complain at all.

“That was why the Second Elder Gong had the chance to deal with Tianhao.

“However, there was finally a time when the old master accidentally met his own grandson, who was covered in injuries. Only then did he know that his brother’s family had been so cruel to Tianhao.

“In his anger, he took back more than half of the power and wealth that he had given to Second Elder Gong. With regards to the assassinations, Second Elder Gong pushed out his youngest son’s family as the scapegoats.”

“So, this matter is settled just like that?” Xiao Lingyu was obviously indignant, but at the same time, she was also very angry. Grandfather was too muddle-headed. His brother was about to kill his grandson and he let them off?

The others also looked at Gong Yinxiong in puzzlement and were slightly dissatisfied with grandfather Gong’s actions.

Gong Yinxiong said, “At the time, the old master was in a bind. The main Gong family only had two people left. Furthermore, Second Elder Gong was still his brother. How could he kill his own brother?”

The others were silent.

“After that, the old master immediately brought Tianhao back to his side. Even if he didn’t have the time, he would still send people to protect Tianhao.

“After the Second Elder’s family was warned by the old master, they didn’t dare to make any rash moves. Just like that, under the old man’s protection, Tianhao grew up safely.

“Tianhao developed a business talent. After the old master agreed, he resigned from his post in the army and became a businessman.

“He is indeed very talented as a businessman. In just ten years, the gong group that he founded went from an unremarkable small company to becoming the leading company in the country. He became the richest person in the country.”

As for the hardships of doing business, even if Gong Yinxiong did not mention it, Xiao Lingyu understood it.

“As the old master grew older, he became more family-orientated. In this world, the person he was closest to, apart from his grandson, was his younger brother.

“In the past years, no matter how much the second gong family tried to curry favor with him, old master gong treated them indifferently. It wasn’t until he grew older and knew that he wasn’t in good health that he started to get closer to the second gong family.

“The Second Gong family was like ungrateful wolves. They only saw this as a chance to get to the top. After they knew Old Master Gong started to value family ties, they started to curry favors with him to get some benefits from him.

“Tianhao had always hated them since he was young, so he naturally wasn’t willing to pay attention to them. However, to indulge his grandfather, he still allowed these people to come to see Old Master Gong.

“However, just before Old Master Gong came to Taoyuan Village, the second Gong Family came and caused a ruckus. Gong Tianhao exploded and decided to separate his grandfather from the rest of the family.”

“Is it related to the Bai Family?” Xiao Lingyu asked.

“Yes!” Gong Yinxiong said. “These people still want to take over the Gong Family’s power and wealth, but they knew assassination wouldn’t work anymore.

“Therefore, the only solution was to control Tianhao’s marriage. Therefore, Bai Lianhao wanted to arrange for Tianhao to marry her niece from the Bai Family.

“Marriage was a serious business. Also, the Old Master wasn’t dumb. He obviously wouldn’t agree. Therefore, the second Gong family kept provoking the old master and even used the rumors and slanders spread in the capital to provoke the old man.

“In a fit of anger, Tianhao began to get people to suppress the Bai family’s property. Then, he got people to locate a place where he could set up Old Master Gong away from those ingrates. That was how he found Taoyuan Village.”

Xiao Lingyu smiled, “So, I assume Bai Shanshan is the niece Bai Lianhua has arranged to be Gong Tianhao’s wife?”