Chapter 1632 — Matters of Bygone Years

"This... what are we to do now!" Old Master Tang suddenly found himself nursing a splitting headache. The duck he had cooked so nicely had actually flown off? The Hidden Tang family's backer was gone, just like that? What rotten luck! How had this whole business turned into something out of a mystery drama?

Though the expression on Tang the Head's face had eased considerably—at least he had not been made a cuckold—the problem that followed was an even worse headache: Bing Tang's parents were not in the Hidden Tang family at all!

"Da Bo, are you certain of what you say?" Old Master Tang stared gravely at Da Bo and demanded. This was no joking matter; one careless step and the Hidden Tang family would be doomed beyond salvation!

"Old Master, in a matter this grave, how would your old servant dare to deceive you?" Da Bo said with a bitter smile. "Every fault, every single one, is mine. Please, Head, deal with this old servant as you see fit..."

"There is no need for that. If you had not made the swap back then, the Palace Master of the Ice Palace would not be one of the Hidden Tang family, and this stroke of fortune would never have fallen to us," said Old Master Tang, a man who saw things clearly. Da Bo had little to do with it. Even without his meddling, at worst his own family's child would have died, and Bing Tang would still be the daughter of that Tang branch kinsman!

"Yes, Da Bo, this is not your fault either! The pressing matter is to find a way out of this at once. The Palace Master of the Ice Palace has already come at our invitation; surely we cannot tell her that she is not, in fact, of the Hidden Tang family?" Tang the Head said with a frown.

"Who says she is not? Even if she carries the blood of a Tang branch, she is still a member of our Hidden Tang family!" How could Old Master Tang, who had gone to such lengths to claim the kinship, give it up so easily?

Old Master Tang's words woke the others in the room. Yes—Bing Tang had the blood of the Hidden Tang family in her veins. That was an indisputable fact!

"Father is right. I think we should *** the news and keep it hidden, let Bing Tang believe she is Xiao Ming's daughter. As for who her father is, we can simply make someone up and have Xiao Ming play along," Tang the Head said after a moment's thought. "Second Brother, shall we say she is the child you had with Xiao Ming years ago?"

Tang the Second's expression shifted slightly, but since this concerned a great matter of the Tang family, he did not presume to speak for himself, and instead looked toward Old Master Tang.

"Exactly. We must *** the news! Otherwise, without Xiao Ming to hold her back in the middle, why would Bing Tang ever acknowledge the Hidden Tang family?" Old Master Tang said. "So this news must never reach Bing Tang's ears; otherwise, would all the Hidden Tang family's efforts not be wasted?"

"Grandfather, this concerns her origins—a matter of the greatest importance. I think if we speak to the Palace Master of the Ice Palace honestly, she will understand. How can we lie to her?" Tang Yu, however, offered a different opinion. "You said it yourself: Palace Master Bing Tang also carries the blood of our Hidden Tang family, and she will lend us a hand to some degree. If we deceive her and she learns the truth, will she not be furious beyond measure?"

"Tang Yu, what do you know!" Tang the Head shot his son an irritated look. Why must this son of his be so honest and upright? Not a trace of his own temperament—though he had both wit and ability, his heart was too kind. How could such a man ever succeed to the position of clan head?

"I..." Tang Yu flushed red under his father's rebuke, yet he knew his word carried no weight and that nothing he said would change anything, so he could only shut his mouth in sullen silence.

As for Xiao Ming, she looked somewhat dazed. Bing Tang was not her daughter—then where was her own daughter? And why, then, did she share a blood tie with Bing Tang?

This tangle of doubts left Xiao Ming deeply dispirited. At this family council she had no say at all; listening to one voice after another, she heard only concern for the interests of the Hidden Tang family. As for where her own child might be, not one of them had even asked!

"Enough, then it is settled! Let every member of the Hidden Tang family hear this clearly: not a single word of this is to leave this room!" Old Master Tang said sternly. "From now on, Bing Tang is the daughter of the Second and Xiao Ming..."

"Bang!" A tremendous crash—no sooner had Old Master Tang finished speaking than the door of the meeting hall was kicked open, bursting into a shower of splintered wood that scattered across the floor. There stood Bing Tang at the doorway, her face cold, gazing icily at Old Master Tang: "Not a word to whom?"

"This... I..." Under Bing Tang's chilling gaze, cold sweat broke out at once on Old Master Tang's brow. Though he was an early Heaven-tier expert, before a peak late Heaven-tier existence like Bing Tang, he dared not presume in the slightest.

He had not expected that his own words would be overheard by Bing Tang; and only at this moment did he recall that she was a peak late Heaven-tier expert whose spiritual sense could eavesdrop on the Hidden Tang family's council with the greatest of ease. And with Old Master Tang's strength, he could not sense another's eavesdropping at all.

Earlier, when Old Master Tang had convened the family council, he had never taken this factor into account, and so this time he had overlooked Bing Tang's presence.

"For Aunt Xiao Ming's sake, I will not kill you." Bing Tang looked coldly at Old Master Tang. "As for the Hidden Tang family... I know well what you are scheming. You simply wish to borrow the power of the Ice Palace, do you not? Very well, then I shall satisfy you. Aunt Qing, tell them."

Cold as Bing Tang appeared, in truth she was no longer very angry—especially on hearing that she was not the daughter of Tang the Head, nor abandoned by her parents, but swapped in without her true parents' knowledge. In an instant, the knot of resentment in her heart toward her parents had come undone.

If anything, Bing Tang ought to thank Da Bo for telling the truth; otherwise, kind as Xiao Ming was, to have a father worse than a wolf or a dog would have left Bing Tang unhappy all her life. But now all was well. What remained between her and the Hidden Tang family was no more than a thin thread of blood. Bing Tang could therefore calm herself and let Xiao Qing speak openly with the Hidden Tang family, turning them into the eyes, ears, and subordinates of the Ice Palace—with no burden on her conscience at all.

Yet one question remained unresolved in Bing Tang's mind: why was her DNA also similar to Xiao Ming's? She had been born of a Tang branch kinsman, so it was normal for Tang blood to run in her veins—but Xiao Ming's blood as well? That was rather strange...

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