Chapter 1075 - 1071: Country Bumpkin Comes to Town

The servant behind him suddenly lifted his head, both eyes filled with disbelief, and hurriedly said, "As long as the old master is still here, the Qian Family will stand tall forever!" The tone of this sentence was utterly certain, leaving no doubt it came from the heart, without a trace of falseness.

"Heh heh…" The old man gave a bitter smile, then sighed again. "What kind of 'forever' is there in this world? Even if I could live another fifty years, the Qian Family would still decline all the same. With just me alone, how long can I really hold it up?"

"For a noble house to endure and develop over the long term without falling, in the end it depends on the youngest generation. They represent the future of a clan."

"But in today's younger generation, I can't see any future for the Qian Family."

These words were cruel to the extreme, a complete denial of the younger generation's worth. Yet the servant behind him understood that everything the old man said was the truth. Whether he liked it or not, among today's Qian youngsters, the useless ones made up the overwhelming majority.

Occasionally you might find one or two who were slightly better, but they were still mediocre types. Even maintaining the family estate was uncertain for them, let alone talking about development, expansion, or reaching greater glory.

After a while, the servant, unable to bear the heavy atmosphere, had no choice but to speak and break the silence. "Old Master, in your opinion, now that that Zhong brat has come knocking on our door this time, should we…"

At this point the servant wisely stopped, waiting for the old man to give his view on the matter.

After pondering for a moment, the old man's face grew solemn. He shook his head and said in a deep voice, "No. Absolutely not. On the surface it looks like they're few and we're many, and wiping them out wouldn't be impossible. But once we lay a hand on that boy, the Zhong Family and the Xiao Family will definitely go mad in retaliation. At that time, even if I step out personally, I won't be able to suppress it."

The servant grew anxious. "Old Master, you can't put it like that. Think about it: that Zhong boy came this time with that little princess of the royal family at his side."

"Since he's brought the little princess, their entire journey must be under cover, hidden from prying eyes. No one knows about it. Even if we do make a move, who would ever find out?"

"Even if the Zhong Family and the Xiao Family suspect us, what proof could they possibly produce?"

This long argument instantly drew the old man's gaze. His eyes narrowed slightly; the muddy pupils suddenly turned bright, a dangerous gleam flashing out as he said coldly, "Looks like I truly am getting old. Even you… have started to contradict me."

The servant jolted in fright, cold sweat surging uncontrollably down his back. His legs trembled, then with a thud he knelt to the ground, kowtowing like pounding garlic, his voice shaking. "Please quell your anger, Old Master. I was only considering the overall interests of the family."

"Ha, for the overall interests of the family?" The old man clearly didn't buy it. "What I see is you're hoping the Qian Family collapses sooner."

Hearing this, the servant's body visibly shuddered. In the blink of an eye his forehead was beaded with cold sweat, which slid along his eyelids onto his lashes and then into his eyes. Only after a stab of pain did he snap back to himself.

At this moment, the servant abruptly lowered his head, then drew a dagger from his waist. He squeezed his eyes shut, clenched his jaw, and swung the blade toward his own left arm, the speed so fast it was almost beyond imagination.

If he treated an enemy so ruthlessly, that would be one thing; but to strike at himself with such cruelty was truly rare.

Yet the servant understood that if he didn't do this, his fate would likely be even worse.

Even so, whether this would be enough to satisfy the old man was still entirely uncertain…

"Clang!"

A metallic crash rang in his ears. Immediately after, the servant felt a tearing pain at the base of his thumb, and his whole forearm went numb. His left arm, which should have been stabbed and screaming in pain, felt nothing at all.

Slowly opening his eyes, the servant saw the dagger had been knocked flying and lay some distance away. Looking down at his completely intact left arm, he instantly understood what had happened. He again lowered his head to the ground and said, full of gratitude, "Thank you, Old Master, for your great magnanimity!"

A trace of unnatural desolation appeared on the old man's face. "Great magnanimity" — once upon a time, that phrase was so distant from him; yet now he had no choice but to show magnanimity.

After a long while, the old man placed both hands atop his cane, his tone leveling out. "Perhaps you've been living too comfortably these years. Your thinking has grown naïve. You imagine that if we strike at that Zhong boy right now, the Zhong Family and the Xiao Family will refrain from acting as long as they can't find hard evidence?"

"Ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous."

"In the eyes of the strong, what need is there for evidence? A single thought, even just a sliver of possibility, is already more than enough."

At this point, the old man let out a long sigh and gazed into the distance. "Evidence is merely the weak's final plea to the strong when they've reached a dead end…"

The servant slowly rose to his feet and cupped his hands. "Thank you for your guidance, Old Master. My thinking truly was too presumptuous."

Seeing that the old man didn't reply, and instead walked off on his own toward the distance, the servant couldn't help but ask, "Old Master, then what next?"

The old man didn't slow his pace or turn his head. "Let things take their course. If that Zhong boy wants us to stay silent, we'll see whether he has the ability to make that happen."

...

Only after the old man had been gone for a long time did the servant finally get up from the ground. The conversation just now had made him understand many things, especially the old man's attitude toward this matter, which struck him as highly unusual.

As for Qian Gaochang being beaten, the old man hadn't mentioned it even once from beginning to end. That alone showed that his heart was truly as good as dead.

Otherwise, given the old man's temperament, he would never ignore it so completely. If Qian Gaochang had been able to show even a glimmer of hope in his eyes, things would never have come to this.

As he thought, the servant seemed to feel a trace of desolation rise in his own heart. But he knew that this faint desolation of his was not even one ten-thousandth of what lay in the old master's heart.

He let out a deep sigh inwardly, then murmured, "I'd like to see just how outstanding the Zhong descendants can be."

With that, his figure flickered, and in the blink of an eye he vanished from the top-floor balcony.

...

After unhurriedly stepping into the Qian Family's reception hall, Xiao Tian behaved like a country bumpkin entering the city: looking here and touching there, as if he found everything around him novel.

This conduct made all the Qian Family's attendants feel contempt: So this is the so-called Young Master of the Zhong Family? He's clearly just a silly brat who's never seen the world!

Seeing the Qian servants in front of him struggling not to laugh, Xiao Tian paused and asked, "Such grand decoration — this really is my first time seeing something like it."

Hearing Xiao Tian speak like this, the servant opposite straightened his back, lifted his nose proudly and snorted, "Naturally."

"Your Qian Family must have embezzled quite a lot of money, right?" Xiao Tian swept his gaze around, clicking his tongue in apparent amazement. "An estate this large, and decorated so lavishly inside — relying on a fixed salary alone, even one or two hundred years wouldn't be enough."

"Tell me, how much in bribes have you taken?"

The servant with his nose in the air quickly put on a stern face. "Utter nonsense!"