Chapter 1994 — You Like Her?

It has to be said that Feng Tianlin's undoing lay in marrying such a brainless, shrewish woman. Her family's backing had been the whole point of the match, yet she never lifted a finger to help him—she only ever made trouble for him.

Among the young heir-apparents of ancient clans like Feng Tianlin, who did not keep three wives and four concubines? Yet the flesh and blood of his own true first love had to be hidden away, never to be seen—and that chafed at Feng Tianlin bitterly.

He rather envied the choice his elder brother had made back then: heedless of everything, the man had simply fled the marriage, taken a woman from the secular world outside, and cut all ties with the ancient Feng family. Feng Tianlin, by contrast, to keep from disappointing his father and to keep his brother alive, had married the woman who by rights should have been betrothed to his brother.

What Feng Tianlin had never expected was just how shrewish, willful, and jealous the woman truly was. Somehow she got wind that he had a woman and a daughter outside, and she brought her people to the door to kill. His wife vanished without a trace, and it was years later before he managed, at great pains and through many hands, to find his daughter again...

When Feng Tianlin learned that his wife had gone there to kill, he did not explode; he chose to swallow it. For he knew the affair was nine parts likely the work of his third brother, Feng Tianhu, who had long coveted the position of young heir. Such detailed information could have come from none but a few close brothers about him.

Yet as Feng Tianhu's son Feng Nitian gradually revealed his cultivation talent, the old man placed ever more weight on Feng Tianhu, and Feng Tianhu's power within the Feng family grew with it. That made Feng Tianlin all the more afraid to make a rash move; he could only go on enduring in silence—enduring until the day he truly held the Feng family in his hand.

By then he would fear no one. For the sake of years of married life and of their son, Feng Tianlin would not harm his wife, but neither would he spend every day forcing a smile and waiting on her as he did now.

The first thing Feng Tianlin would do once he took the seat of family head was bring his daughter home and declare to the world that she was Feng Tianlin's daughter. And he would bring his elder brother back too, restore him to the Feng family. His father had cast his brother out, but a new sovereign brings new ministers: his father had been family head then; now Feng Tianlin was.

Feng Tianlin and his elder brother were the closest of all. Though they were not sons of the same mother, they were closer than full brothers—and that was one weighty reason why Feng Tianlin had married his brother's intended wife in his stead.

If he too had refused, his father would surely have blamed his brother all the more; he might even have killed him.

And that was precisely what Feng Tianhu wanted: for the alliance marriage to break, for his father to kill the eldest, for the second to plead on his behalf—and then both would lose their father's trust, both would be finished, and he, the third, would rise to the place as a matter of course.

So for his brother's sake, and to keep the third's scheme from succeeding, Feng Tianlin had gritted his teeth and held on all these years. But Feng Tianhu, thanks to his son Feng Nitian, now stood on the verge of matching him blow for blow—and Feng Tianlin's days grew harder and harder.

Then, not long before, Feng Tianlin received news that was heaven-sent: Feng Tianhu's son had put on airs at the Ice Palace trials, and relying on his title of "first among those below the Earth Rank," he had been beaten into a cripple by a still stronger "first among those below the Earth Rank."

Feng Tianlin knew his chance had come again. For the Feng family, Feng Nitian's fall was no good thing—but for Feng Tianlin himself, it was.

Only, Feng Tianlin did not yet know that his wife had thrown in her lot with Feng Tianhu, and that the two meant to strike at Xu Shilan together.

So when Feng Sanhuang's call came through, Feng Tianlin was struck dumb.

"What did you say? Someone on the airport expressway tried to go after Xiaohan?" Feng Tianlin was instantly frantic.

"Yes, Master. But Miss Xu's friend took care of it—a formidable hand at the peak of the late Mystic Rank..." And Feng Sanhuang recounted the whole business to him.

"What! Peak of the late Mystic Rank?" Feng Tianlin was more shaken still. This was the first time Xu Shilan had been attacked by a cultivator of such strength. There had been kidnappings and robberies before, but those had been the work of small, blind gangs and local thugs. This was plainly nothing so ordinary.

And after failing, the black-clad men had chosen to take their own lives in so cruel a manner—clearly to keep from revealing who they were. Who, then, had sent them?

Could it be... his wife? Or his third brother?

At the thought, Feng Tianlin's heart gave a heavy thud. Xu Shilan's identity was a secret; he had found her, but he had never acknowledged her. So how did his wife and his brother know?

"Do you know who did it?" Feng Tianlin asked.

"Not yet. I've only just reached Donghai City. The bodies, I hear, have already been carted off by the Mystery Investigation Bureau. I'll have to find someone I know there—no telling whether I'll be allowed to see them," Feng Sanhuang said.

Ancient families carried absolute authority, but the Mystery Investigation Bureau would not necessarily bow to them; it was a rather complicated institution.

"If it truly can't be done... never mind..." Feng Tianlin wanted to say something more, then shook his head. In these circumstances, until he had a firm footing, he could not contact that person. If he did, it would violate the family rules, and then Feng Tianhu would have all the ammunition he needed.

"Understood, Master. I'll do my best," Feng Sanhuang said.

When Wei Zhao reached the Xueshang Hotel, Feng Sanhuang had arrived as well. He was driving a Buick GL8 minivan, and when he saw Wei Zhao he jumped down from the car.

"Brother Lin, thank you for today!" This time Feng Sanhuang actually bowed to Wei Zhao.

"?" Wei Zhao was slightly taken aback. He had thought before that Feng Sanhuang's words went beyond those of an ordinary close guard. Even as Xu Shilan's guard, there was no need for such a fuss and such a grand courtesy. "Mr. Feng, Xiaohan came to me; it is only right that I keep her safe. Thanks are unnecessary. But you—you seem to care a great deal for Xu Shilan. Do you like her?"

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