Chapter 2421 — New Stirrings in the Yu Family

"Good — since classmate You Panhu has contributed as well, no one needs to dig into their own pockets for meals. We'll cover it out of You Panhu's ten thousand." Bai Lingtou was fairly satisfied with You Panhu's showing; the fellow was a bit of a fop, but he was nothing if not keen on class activities.

Wei Zhao threw a cold glance at Kang Zhaolong and You Panhu. The two of them had gravitated straight to each other the moment they arrived — birds of a feather, up to no good together! No wonder Kang Zhaolong had come running back to court Wang Xinyan; so the Kang family had hooked up with the You family, had they?

That also explained those harmful prescriptions the Kang family had put out before — most likely the You family had concocted them and had the Kang family manufacture and sell them.

Just what the relationship between the Kang and You families really was, however, remained to be seen. For now the pressing question was: was he going on the winter outing or not?

Wei Zhao glanced at Wang Xinyan beside him and asked in a lowered voice, "The winter outing — are you going?"

"It's a school activity... of course I'm going..." Wang Xinyan said quietly, a little tense.

"Oh. Then I'll go too." Wei Zhao's eyes were on Wang Xinyan; if she was going, then naturally he would go. He had never had much chance to improve things between them, and if the winter outing offered an opportunity to smooth over the awkwardness, so much the better.

On the surface Wang Xinyan said nothing more, picking up her textbook with an air of perfect composure — though in truth she felt a helplessness beyond words. Now that Kang Zhaolong had actually landed in her class, the sparks between him and Wei Zhao were bound to fly at any moment; the tone Wei Zhao had taken earlier when helping her with the problem made it plain enough that he had no friendliness toward Kang Zhaolong at all.

Yet Wang Xinyan could not say so outright. For one thing, she feared wounding Wei Zhao's pride — in her estimation, Wei Zhao was a man of fierce self-respect. For another, she feared that if she told him the truth, he would move against the Kang family too soon and bring unnecessary trouble down on himself.

Just endure four years. Wang Xinyan believed that in four years, with her help and with Wei Zhao's diligent cultivation, standing above the ancient sects would be no difficult feat. Looking back over the past year's progress — Wei Zhao, who had begun as a nobody unable even to contend with a mundane family, had come all the way to a point where he could nearly hold his own against the hidden families — four years, it seemed, was really an underestimate.

Be that as it may, now was in no way the time for Wei Zhao to pit himself openly against the Xuandan Sect, and so Wang Xinyan could only choose silence, helplessly.

Bai Lingtou began the lesson, while Kang Zhaolong and You Panhu fell into a low-voiced discussion of their own.

"Brother Kang, this winter outing is a fine opportunity — if you want to win Wang Xinyan, we ought to start planning," You Panhu said.

"Naturally." Kang Zhaolong nodded. "That's exactly why I donated the money. It's a good chance — let's see how we can make use of it."

"I happen to have a rather good idea. Care to hear it, Brother Kang?" As for You Panhu's prospects with Han Jingyi, there was no chance of anything coming together in the short term — after all, he was not like Kang Zhaolong, who had a formal engagement to Wang Xinyan, while he and Han Jingyi were not even friends. So his enthusiasm for cultivating a connection with Han Jingyi during the outing was relatively faint; his donation had been purely to curry favor with Bai Lingtou.

"By all means, Brother You. When it comes to the art of wooing, I'm a rank beginner," Kang Zhaolong said, not ashamed to seek instruction.

"My idea is simple enough. The two of us go ahead to the natural ski resort in Jidun City, take a look at the place, and then think up some way to stage a few romantic incidents," You Panhu said. "Girls like romance, don't they? And Wang Xinyan is your fiancee besides — invite her along, do a few romantic things together, and I really don't see much of a problem."

"You're right!" Kang Zhaolong nodded in wholehearted agreement. "I'd thought about asking my little brother for advice, but what you say makes excellent sense, Brother You. Shall we go scout the place this afternoon, then?"

"Done! I'll go with you." You Panhu needed to cultivate ties not only with Bai Lingtou and Han Jingyi but with Kang Zhaolong as well, so he agreed readily enough.

In offering this idea, he had in fact also been angling for a chance to get closer to Kang Zhaolong.

……………………

At the hidden Yu family, Yu Yi lost no time in reporting the situation of Shen Yushu and Wei Zhao to the Yu family's Old Ancestor, Yu Xiaochen.

In the secret chamber, the Yu family's Old Ancestor knitted his brows tightly, as though weighing the feasibility of the matter. After a long while he heaved a sigh. "Enough. Since Wei Zhao cannot be killed for the time being, we won't kill him. Keeping Yushu at his side will serve as a check on him as well. So long as he does not meet Yu Ning and has no contact with her, the two of them should not be able to do anything that catches us off guard."

In truth, the Yu family's Old Ancestor was merely comforting himself. Matters had come to this pass; he had no means to do away with Wei Zhao — openly it would not work, and covertly it would not work either. He had no choice but to deceive himself, hoping that on his side he could keep a close watch on Yu Ning and keep her from meeting Wei Zhao, while Shen Yushu on the other side checked Wei Zhao, so that at the first sign of any movement he would be told at once.

"We won't make trouble for Wei Zhao, but given the rate at which he's growing, I fear Wei Zhao may make trouble for us first!" Yu Xiaochen hesitated a moment, then voiced his own view. "Wei Zhao's rate of growth is truly astonishing. When we wiped out the mundane Yu family, we did not think much of him — we assumed that once Yu Huoxing took the field, he would be dealt with. But now, in the blink of an eye, Wei Zhao has become a formidable enemy of our Yu family!"

"Indeed." Yu Yi nodded as well. "From what Miss Yushu describes, Wei Zhao is far too formidable. Poison doesn't work on him, and the herb of repose is of no use against him either. For now we can only hope that that matter arrives as quickly as possible — then we send Yu Ning and the others away, shift the conflict onto that place, and need not fear Wei Zhao coming to make trouble again."

"How could the affairs of that place be anything we can guess at?" The Yu family's Old Ancestor smiled bitterly. "Whatever they tell us to do, we can only do it! Still, if this matter succeeds, then whether or not Yu Ning and the others can return, our hidden Yu family will be counted great benefactors, and that place will not treat us shabbily."

"It seems we can only bide our time," Yu Xiaochen said with a nod.

"Quite so. As for Yushu — you've spoken with her, haven't you? She must on no account let anything happen between her and Wei Zhao?" the Yu family's Old Ancestor asked.

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