Chapter 1634 — The Invitation Letter

Xiao Ming was briefly taken aback, but in an instant she understood what Bing Tang meant. Yes, her own daughter was different from Bing Tang. Bing Tang had grown up without parents, so being reunited with them would surely bring her great happiness.

But her own daughter had always regarded her sister and brother-in-law as her true parents. If she asked the girl to leave them and come to her side, would she be willing? And even if she was, would her sister and brother-in-law agree?

They might not be related by blood, but after all these years, how could human beings remain without feeling? Even without a blood tie, they had long since become as close as real parents and child.

Thinking of all this, Xiao Ming fell silent as well. "Yes, I was thinking far too simply. I even wanted her to come back to me, but now that I look at it, she certainly would not be willing..."

"Auntie, we should not dwell on this any longer. We ought to respect their wishes. I only want to see my birth parents and fulfill my duty as their daughter. As for my identity, there is no way I could return to their side anyway!" Bing Tang said. "As for you... Of course you may acknowledge your daughter, but you must never force her. Otherwise, no one will be happy."

"I understand..." Xiao Ming nodded. "I will be content if I can see her once in a while. As long as I know she is living well, that will be enough. As for anything else, I will not force the matter..."

Meanwhile, in the Tang family's conference room, Old Master Tang and the rest of the Tang family had begun discussing Tang Jucheng once more.

"Since Tang Jucheng is the Ice Palace Mistress's biological father, why not invite his entire family to Father's eightieth birthday celebration?" Tang Litou suggested. "That would also help us curry favor with the Ice Palace Mistress. Whether she acknowledges them or not is none of our concern. We will have done all we can."

"Excellent. That is a very good suggestion, Litou!" Old Master Tang said with a nod. "Second, do you have anything to add?"

"Father, since the Ice Palace Mistress is not Xiao Ming's daughter, Tang Jucheng's daughter must be Eldest Brother's flesh and blood. Should we not have her acknowledge her ancestors and return to the Tang family?" Tang Er's words were plainly meant to needle Tang Litou. For days, Litou had been rushing about, preparing to acknowledge the Ice Palace Mistress's daughter. Now all his efforts had come to nothing. But he had not lost his daughter either; they had found her at last. So should he not acknowledge her as well?

Old Master Tang frowned. He had heard the implication hidden in Tang Er's words, but said nothing. Instead, he turned to Tang Litou.

"Acknowledge her? What for? Absolutely not!" Tang Litou immediately shook his head. Now that he had lost his backing, it was obvious that the Ice Palace Mistress did not even regard him as her uncle by marriage. He still had to rely on the support of the Hidden You family, so how could he casually acknowledge another daughter? Besides, she was merely the daughter of an ordinary poor man. What use would acknowledging her be?

"Dad, she is my sister too. Why can't we acknowledge her? If you are worried that Mother will be unhappy, I will speak to her..." Tang Yuyi, however, felt that having another sister was not a bad thing.

"No! Absolutely not!" His son had struck Tang Litou where it hurt, and he immediately flew into a rage. "What is there to acknowledge in the daughter of a pauper? Shut your mouth!"

Tang Er merely watched the spectacle from the side with a broad smile.

"Acknowledging her would be acceptable, but there is no need to bring her back here," Old Master Tang declared. "After all, she is the Ice Palace Mistress's sister. We must at least make a show of goodwill. But if we forcibly bring her into the Tang family, would that not destroy the happiness of the family she already has?"

"Father is absolutely right!" Tang Litou was overjoyed that his father had come to his rescue and offered such an excellent solution. He hurriedly agreed. Inwardly, he marveled at the old man's cunning. With a single turn of phrase, the Tang family had gone from refusing to acknowledge the girl to supposedly protecting her family's happiness.

Old Master Tang had presumably thought of it as well. Now that the relationship with the Ice Palace had become one of subordination, they could not afford to lose the support of the Hidden You family. At a time like this, they absolutely could not bring that girl home.

The matter was settled with astonishing ease. For Old Master Tang's eightieth birthday, the Hidden Tang family would invite every collateral member of the clan to attend. Tang Jucheng naturally received an invitation as well.

Tang Jucheng was utterly perplexed when the Hidden Tang family, with whom he had had no contact for years, suddenly sent him a letter. His mother was equally baffled.

"Jucheng, why has the Tang family suddenly invited us to their birthday banquet?" Tang's mother stared at the invitation in her hands, suspicious. "Could they have heard that I found myself a wealthy son-in-law and decided they wanted to win us over? Otherwise, a family that has not contacted us in centuries suddenly coming to us like this makes no sense at all!"

"That can't be it, can it? The Tang family has enormous wealth and influence. Why would they care about what Wei Zhao owns?" Tang Jucheng frowned, finding it strange as well. "Besides, how would they even know?"

"How should I know? But Tang Jucheng, you really are a fool. What do you mean, 'what Wei Zhao owns'? Do you have any idea how much property Wei Zhao has, or what he is capable of?" Tang's mother curled her lip. "You know Lai Pangzi, right? The general manager of Guan Dafu Pharmaceuticals? He is Wei Zhao's underling! Guan Dafu Pharmaceuticals belongs to Wei Zhao. And it seems Wei Zhao also owns shares in the Gu Corporation. You know those great families, don't you? The Liu family, the Wu family, and the rest? They have all gone running to become Wei Zhao's underlings. With someone that influential, the Tang family must be trying to win him over!"

"What? Really?" Tang Jucheng had known none of this. But his mother was a keen gossip who was clever at coaxing information out of her daughter. Between her guesses and half-understood rumors, she had learned quite a lot about Wei Zhao.

"Of course!" Tang's mother said. "That is why we absolutely must go, and we must go in grand style! When your legs were ruined, I wrote to my younger sister and asked to borrow some money, but I never even received a reply. I suppose she had climbed to a higher branch and no longer cared to acknowledge us. This time, we will show them how impressive my son-in-law is! We are returning in glory, and we are going to make a proper display!"

"..." Tang Jucheng was at a loss for words. "Xiao Ming has her difficulties too. In the Tang family, she is only a concubine. What right does she have to speak? Otherwise, she would not have gone so long without contacting us. I imagine she simply had no way to reach out."

"Hmph! Do not make excuses for her. Who knows what the truth is? With all those snobs in the Tang family, I am going there this time to see the looks on their faces when they realize how badly they misjudged us!" Tang's mother snorted.

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