Chapter 1741 — Sun Jingyan's Secret

"I see..." You Zhentian hesitated for a moment, then said, "Henceforth, in other matters, our Hidden You family can aid your Kang family in secret, and we can also refine some pills rarely seen in the secular world for you to sell, but you must never expose this connection!"

This way, it amounted to the Hidden You family finding a spokesman in the secular world — and skimming off a little silver besides. A win-win, by any reckoning.

"Naturally. When the time comes, our Kang family will form a marriage alliance with the Xiao family, and we will announce to the outside that we have the backing of the Xiao family and the Hidden Pi family. The Hidden You family will not be tied to this affair in any way." Divine Doctor Kang had not expected You Zhentian to truly grant the Kang family such benefits. In his heart, he now regarded his grandson Kang Zhaoming with even greater favor.

In truth, Kang Zhaoming had only asked on the off chance. They were partners now, after all; if he made a few more demands, whether they were granted or not, the Hidden You family would not do anything to the Kang family. So he might as well try.

Once the matter was settled, You Zhentian left the Kang household with his attendant, You San.

Meanwhile, Old Master Song reacted on behalf of the several families close to Wei Zhao — and over there, the Sun family's old master was just as eager to make his own response!

After Old Master Sun brought Sun Jingyan and Sun Yikai back to the Sun family, he convened a family council and announced two important decisions!

But would they dare? No. And so they all swallowed their anger and said nothing; toward the old master's appointments, they could only swallow their anger and say nothing.

The second important decision was that the family would no longer interfere in Sun Jingyan's marriage. She was to return to the family and could take appropriate charge of some of its businesses, and, together with Sun Yikai, serve as a liaison for the Cultivators Association!

Of course, Old Master Sun also hinted that Sun Jingyan's principal task was to cultivate a good relationship with Wei Zhao, and that as for the company in Donghai, there was no need to keep running it — selling it would do, since Sun Jingyan no longer needed to prove anything to the family.

At this decision, Sun Jingyan blushed a little, yet she was also overjoyed! At last she need not run away from home to start a company and prove herself. Within the family, she had likewise won a measure of freedom — so long as the family did not force her to marry someone she did not like, she would be content!

And for a girl to struggle out there in the world was truly too tiring. So Sun Jingyan gladly resolved to sell the company and devote herself to managing the family's business — and moreover, being sent by the family to make contact with Wei Zhao made her rather happy...

But once the happiness passed, Sun Jingyan suddenly froze. Why was she so happy?

Was it because the family had acknowledged her and granted her a measure of freedom — or was it because she could see Wei Zhao often? Could it be... that she had fallen for Wei Zhao?

Sun Jingyan felt bewildered. In the past, she had never once considered such a question; all she had thought about was how to escape the family's bonds and shake off Wu Chengtian's pestering. She had never had the time to think about her own love... But once her whole person relaxed, she could not help but ponder it...

Looking back, the way she and Wei Zhao had met was rather strange. The ever-arrogant Wu Chengtian had been put in his place before Wei Zhao, and that was the first time Sun Jingyan had been astonished by Wei Zhao! That a man could make a scion of a great house like Wu Chengtian eat humble pie, and even get the better of him by stealing his wallet — Sun Jingyan found it hardly conceivable!

When she asked Wei Zhao what he did, he actually told her he was a highway robber...

Later, as she came to know Wei Zhao better, Sun Jingyan suddenly discovered that he was far more formidable than she had imagined! And afterward, Wu Chengtian had even become Wei Zhao's lackey, astonishing her beyond measure. Only then did Sun Jingyan realize that she did not understand Wei Zhao at all!

There were still so many, many things she did not know...

And this Grand Gathering of the Great Houses had once again given Sun Jingyan a new understanding of Wei Zhao! All by himself, he had swayed the entire gathering; after taking a pill on Rainwater Star, he had turned the tide and successfully reversed the situation!

Sun Jingyan could scarcely believe her own eyes. In the blink of an eye, Wei Zhao's standing had supplanted that of the Yu family; he had become the core of these great houses, and had founded the Cultivators Association to replace the former Grand Gathering of the Great Houses!

Wonder after wonder, and all of them wrought by a "highway robber" she had met by chance in a bar — and by his own strength alone! Had Sun Jingyan not seen it with her own eyes, she truly could not have believed it!

Was this really the Wei Zhao she knew — sometimes cold and distant, sometimes given to a few jokes?

Wei Zhao's might stirred a faint, hazy feeling in Sun Jingyan's heart...

……………………

The You family's expert had arrived. The man looked utterly unremarkable, with a face that possessed no distinguishing feature at all; mingled in a crowd, he would surely be one of those whom no one could pick out! And yet such a man was an expert of mid-Earth Rank strength!

This business carried some risk. If something went wrong, he must not implicate the You family, lest they incur the censure of the Hidden Aristocratic Families Arbitration Association! But by the same token, the reward the You family had promised him was incomparably generous!

Once the matter succeeded, the Hidden You family had agreed to give him great quantities of Minor Qi-Gathering Pills to aid his cultivation! The difference between Minor Qi-Gathering Pills and Qi-Gathering Pills lay in this: the Minor Pills were impure, and each one raised one's strength only marginally, but taking them produced no other ill effects, and one could continue to absorb the spiritual qi of heaven and earth from the natural world.

A rich reward draws out the bold. So this Earth Rank expert came to the Kang family under a false name, prepared to take part in the Kang family's kidnapping scheme!

Just as the whole Kang household was rejoicing, a sinister smile flickered at the corner of Kang Zhaolong's mouth. He had waited far too long for this opportunity — but no matter; at last it had come to him!

That evening, just as the Kang family convened its council to discuss how to kidnap Guan Xin and how to demand the formula, Kang Zhaolong duly put forward his own views...