Gu Changhuai furrowed his brow, "Why?"
Shangguan Yi shook his head, "I haven’t figured it out yet."
Gu Changhuai’s gaze turned slightly cold as he nodded his head.
But in his heart, he knew it was probably not that simple.
He had always felt that there was something fishy about the deaths of those dozen or so traffickers in the restaurant.
And that child Mo Hua, whom he had met once—even though he looked innocent, his eyes were extremely profound.
He was both innocent and a bit... eerie.
One must not judge a book by its cover, even if it’s just a child...
Gu Changhuai had his suspicions, and also some wariness.
Yet, as he always found this cousin-in-law unpleasant, he kept these thoughts to himself and didn’t voice them...
...
In the following days, Wenren Wan busied herself securing a school spot for Mo Hua, with Shangguan Yi also helping.
Both of them not only pulled many strings within the Noble Clans but also poured in a great amount of Spirit Stones and owed significant favors.
These actions caused some dissatisfaction in both the Shangguan Family and the Wenren Family. Explore more at freewebnovel
For the Wenren Family, Wenren Wan was a daughter who had married out.
A married daughter is like spilled water.
Yet now, not only was she not helping much, but she was also pulling the wool from her own family’s lamb. This was truly difficult to justify...
And for the Shangguan Family, it was an outrage for them to help an unknown little cultivator, impacting the interests of quite a number of people.
Many disciples from the Shangguan Family’s own lineage didn’t have entrance spots to the Eight Great Gates.
And now, out of nowhere, they were supposed to give one to an outsider.
They were, of course, unhappy about it.
The quota for entering each Noble Clan is also tied to the prestige of the clan, involving some interests.
If the person who enters causes trouble or turns out to do next to nothing, it reflects badly on the Shangguan Family.
Of course, if he achieves something, it could also bring some benefits to the Shangguan Family that recommended him.
But this is Qian State. What can an average outsider accomplish after entering the storied Eight Great Gates, where prodigies abound?
They didn’t believe for a second that he could.
Therefore, many elders of the Shangguan Family criticized Shangguan Yi’s actions to the Family Head, Shang Che.
Shang Che called Shangguan Yi in public to reprimand:
"Wan’er’s handling of this matter has been excessive..."
"Since she has joined the Shangguan Family, she should prioritize the interests of the Shangguan Family first."
"You must understand the bigger picture in your actions and not let her drag you into doing something unseemly..."
Shangguan Yi didn’t argue but just bowed his head to admit fault, taking all the blame upon himself and said:
"My child will definitely pay attention next time."
Fault can be admitted, but he had no intention of changing.
"Next time for sure," meant that he would persist with this matter to the end, and he would be more careful next time...
Shang Che sighed.
His son had a shrewd mind and was eloquent in speech.
He was doing fine.
Since they had already started this, they naturally had to follow through to the end.
Giving in to pressure and changing course would make one appear weak and indecisive.
All they were doing was giving a small cultivator a chance. Giving or not giving it couldn’t be considered a major fault.
But he was too sentimental.
And ultimately, it was up to him, as the father, to clean up the mess.
Shang Che waved his hand, "You may go."
Shangguan Yi bowed and took his leave.
However, Shang Che frowned.
Because of this matter, he still had to apologize to the ancestors.
The ancestors, with their overwhelming cultivation, lay dormant and did not emerge.
They were the true masters of the Shangguan Family.
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They strategized behind the curtains, calculating the Shangguan Family’s Heavenly secret and the great causality.
The fates of the Shangguan Family, or rather all the Noble Clans of Qian State regarded as "massive entities," were in the hands of these ancestors.
Under no circumstances must he offend the ancestors.
Shang Che heaved a sigh and furrowed his brow.
But what exactly were the ancestors plotting?
And what, after all, was the fate of the Shangguan Family?
Even though his own cultivation was not weak, he could not perform Calculation, didn’t understand Heavenly secret, so he knew nothing about these matters...
Shang Che looked up at the sky to see the inscrutable Heavenly Dao, as perplexed as his own expression.
After a moment, he sighed inwardly:
"What, after all, is the Heavenly secret?"
"Why can’t I calculate it?"
"If one does not comprehend the Heavenly secret or calculate the causality, no matter how advanced one’s cultivation may be, they are just playthings in the hands of others, the ancestors, those old monsters, and even the Heavenly Dao itself..."
Shang Che’s brows grew more and more furrowed.
...
Shangguan Yi was reprimanded, but the matter of joining the sect was now out in the open.
Having already begun, the "sunk cost" meant it was unlikely to be stopped mid-way.
The other branches of the Shangguan Family only wanted Shangguan Yi to be reprimanded; they didn’t care about what he was actually doing.
Hence, Shangguan Yi hurriedly started to exploit his connections and pull strings legitimately, along with Wenren Wan, to secure an entrance spot for Mo Hua.
Days later, Wenren Wan found Mo Hua and laid out three gold-embossed invitation cards in front of him.
They bore the names of three sects:
Tai’a Sect, Rushing Void Sect, and Taixu Gate.
Mo Hua was astonished, "Aunt Wan, this is..."
"They are invitations for joining the sects. Take a look and decide which one you wish to enter; I’ll submit the invitation on your behalf. These three sects are all among the ’Eight Great Gates.’ Though they don’t compare with the ’Four Great Sects,’ they are still quite good..."
Wenren Wan spoke casually, but her eyes couldn’t hide a slight sense of pride.
Mo Hua opened his mouth widely, surprised.
"Eight Great Gates... to choose from..."
After a pause, he whispered, "Aunt Wan, these... they must be very valuable, right?"
"Just average, not worth much..."
Wenren Wan said nonchalantly, seemingly not wanting to burden Mo Hua with worry.