Chapter 2652 — Ulterior Motives

To fall in a single stroke from a cultivator and contender for the position of young heir to a cripple and a castoff—no one could take that well.

"One day, sure—of course, no problem at all!" Zhao Qibing breathed a sigh of relief and agreed readily. There was no need for Yushan to talk him into it; even if Yushan had said nothing, would Zhao Qibing, now possessed of such strength, ever let Wei Zhao off the hook?

"Fine. Then I'll take the risk and help you this once. But afterward you mustn't give me away—you'll have to shoulder all the blame yourself!" Yushan said.

"Done, no problem!" Zhao Qibing agreed without a moment's thought. After forcing himself on her, he would have to lay his cards on the table with the Yu Family anyway; better to bear the consequences alone than drag Yushan into it. To him the outcome was the same either way—but for Yushan it would certainly mean ruin.

"In that case, let me think of something. I'll see whether, after a meal in the next couple of days, I can invite Yuning out for a walk. Then you bring some men, knock us both unconscious, and carry Yuning straight off—and your plan can go forward," Yushan said. This was in fact a plan he had worked out long before, but had he gone straight to Zhao Qibing and proposed it, Zhao Qibing would surely have grown suspicious, might even have reported his scheme to the Yu Family. By leading the conversation out of the matter of Zhao Qijiu, step by step, it no longer seemed abrupt; and in the end it looked as though Zhao Qibing had made the demand himself, with Yushan reluctantly agreeing.

"Fine. Tell me in advance when the time comes—it takes more than three hours to drive from here to the Hidden Yu Family, so I'll need to get ready ahead of time!" Zhao Qibing nodded.

"What's there to prepare? Why not just come over today and wait around?" Yushan said.

"That works too. I'll be right over!" Zhao Qibing answered hastily.

After hanging up, Zhao Qibing was in a fever of excitement. The scheme was a little despicable, but in his eyes it carried not the slightest danger—for he knew nothing of Yuning being an Inheritor, nor of how vital she was to the Yu Family and to that place. That was why a few words from Yushan had been enough to hook him.

Had he known what astonishing power stood behind Yuning, he would have been scared out of his wits.

But that is how things usually go: ignorance breeds daring. Zhao Qibing believed that once he and Yuning had crossed the line, even if Old Master Yu was unwilling, he would have no choice but to accept his proposal; and he, Zhao Qibing, was at any rate the future young heir of the Hidden Zhao Family, so Yuning would hardly be marrying beneath herself.

Yet Zhao Qibing had not lost his reason. Once the excitement passed, he did not act on his own but went to Old Master Zhao's residence.

"Young Master Bing, looking for the old master?" Elder Mian regarded Zhao Qibing with a smile. He lacked Elder Bi's seniority, and so could never command the same weight—under Elder Bi's backing, whomever he supported had hope of inheriting the position of head of household. Elder Mian, by contrast, curried favor with Zhao Qibing for the sake of his own standing.

"Yes, Elder Mian. Is my grandfather in?" Zhao Qibing asked with a nod.

"He is. The old master has just finished cultivating; you may go straight in, Young Master Bing," Elder Mian said.

"Good. Thank you, Elder Mian." Zhao Qibing nodded and entered the courtyard where Old Master Zhao cultivated.

Old Master Zhao had just finished his cultivation. Hearing the sound at the door, he spoke up: "Qibing? Didn't you just break your leg? Why are you wandering about?"

"Oh, I took a Small Return Pill, Grandfather—it's no longer any trouble," Zhao Qibing said. "Grandfather, I've come because there's an important matter I'd like your advice on. Tell me whether it can be done or not..."

"Oh? What matter? Let's hear it," Old Master Zhao said, motioning for him to go on.

"It's like this..." Zhao Qibing then told Old Master Zhao the whole of it: how Zhao Qijiu had had the devil's own luck and found a hundred-thousand-year heavenly treasure and obtained cultivation pills, and how he himself wished to win the Yu Family's support by forcing himself on Yuning.

"What? You mean Zhao Qijiu is advancing on the Heaven Rank?" Old Master Zhao was startled to the core. Never had he imagined Zhao Qijiu would meet with such fortune—it was utterly beyond anything he had anticipated! For a moment he even felt a trace of regret; he should not have treated Zhao Qitan that way. Had he given up on Zhao Qibing and backed Zhao Qitan instead, the Hidden Zhao Family would have had two Heaven Rank experts in the days to come!

But then that would have been rather unfair to Zhao Qibing—after all, his own Heaven Rank had been Zhao Qibing's gift to him. And matters had come to this pass; the arrow loosed cannot be recalled. The Hidden Zhao Family had already entered Zhao Qitan's name for the Mystic Pill Sect's trial, and there was no taking that back now. He could only grit his teeth and carry on down the wrong road.

So the pressing task now was to bind the Hidden Yu Family to Zhao Qibing's chariot. So long as the Hidden Yu Family backed Zhao Qibing, even a Heaven Rank expert like Zhao Qijiu would be useless; the Yu Family had two Heaven Rank experts, one of them at the peak of the early Heaven Rank, and Zhao Qijiu could stir up no storm at all.

Therefore, as for what Zhao Qibing had said about forcing himself on Yuning, Old Master Zhao might think it did the Zhao Family's reputation no good, but from the standpoint of advantage, it was still worth doing.

The marriage between Zhao Guangyin and Yu Xiaojin had brought the Hidden Zhao Family no small benefit over the years. In former days the Hidden Zhao Family had no Heaven Rank experts at all, and among the hidden families could only be reckoned third-rate—a cut above the Hidden Han Family and no more.

But with the Yu Family's help, the Zhao Family's standing had slowly risen. And though Old Master Zhao was himself a Heaven Rank expert now, compared with the Hidden Yu Family, the Hidden Zhao Family was still far weaker.

Because of the Qi Gathering Pill affair, relations between the Zhao and Yu families had sunk to freezing point. If Zhao Qibing could win the beauty, the two families would be reconciled—and for the Hidden Zhao Family that would be a very good thing indeed.

The only thing that worried Old Master Zhao was Yushan's motive. Old Master Zhao was old and cunning, and he naturally did not believe Yushan would be so kind as to tip Zhao Qibing off—and so kind as to help him into the bargain. It simply did not ring true!

"Yushan—that's what he told you? I keep feeling his purpose is anything but pure!" Old Master Zhao said. "His informing on Zhao Qijiu to you reeks of something strange. He didn't know you at all before—you'd met only once. If you were in his shoes, would you have done such a thing?"

"I wouldn't..." Zhao Qibing shook his head hesitantly, then went on: "But that's only the present me. If it were the old me, and I had the chance to curry favor with the young heir of another hidden family, then yes, I'd have tipped him off too..."

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