Reaction

Elsewhere, after Lu Shun left the Western Residence, he headed toward the North Garden with a heavy heart.

Along the way, he encountered servants, attendants, and patrolling guards who greeted him, but he had no mind to respond. This left many people puzzled, making them think something major had happened.

Within the North Garden, a temporary stage had been set up in what had once been an empty courtyard. Several actors in costume stood atop it, carefully shaping their voices as they vividly performed a play about a son inheriting the family business, carrying it forward to greater heights, and winning praise and recognition from the outside world.

Meng Xi sat reclining in a grandmaster's chair with one leg crossed over the other, stroking a plump white cat in his arms. His eyes were narrowed as he watched the play with great interest.

He loved opera; it was one of his hobbies. Thus, he often hired troupes to set up stages and perform at the Meng Mansion.

This particular play had been specially commissioned by him, arranged and performed specifically for his viewing.

It greatly satisfied Meng Xi's personal desires. What he dreamed of day and night was inheriting Earl of Nan'an's title, becoming the true master of the Meng Family, leading the Meng Family into a great clan comparable to the Nine Surnames, and surpassing his ancestor, Meng Shentong.

The Nine Surnames broadly referred to the nine most illustrious and powerful families in the world today. All of them had risen to prominence during the Mount Tai Alliance that had quelled the chaos of that turbulent age.

They included the imperial Beitang Clan, the Kong Clan of the Sage Family, the Jinling Shen Family, which had once risen during the years of war to contend with the Beitang Family for the realm, and the Xuzhou Li Clan, suspected to be a surviving branch of the medieval Great Tang, among others.

Not only did they possess supreme martial arts inheritances and profound foundations, they also wielded enormous influence in the imperial court. They were true top-tier aristocratic houses that had feasted on the fruits of the dynasty's founding.

By comparison, the Meng Family had some renown throughout the realm, but it was still only second-rate.

Only within Ji Prefecture did it rank among the notable powers. Naturally, it had to strive in that direction.

Nor was Meng Xi merely reaching beyond his grasp. His mother was a noble daughter of the Kong Clan, and her marriage to Meng Jizu had been a political union. Over the years, the Meng Family had received no small amount of help.

That was why Meng Xi could be so overbearing at times. His paternal clan was formidable, but his maternal clan was even stronger.

If not for the fact that his second brother had been born of the same mother, what right would he have to contend with him?

When Lu Shun arrived, Meng Xi was thoroughly engrossed in the play, smiling broadly. Clearly, he was in an excellent mood.

Upon seeing Lu Shun approach, Meng Xi smoothed the soft fur of the fat cat in his arms and called out,

"You're here. Good timing—I was finding it a little dull watching alone. Sit down and watch with me."

Meng Xi did not treat Lu Shun with the same warmth and easygoing manner Meng Zhao showed Lü Yue. This was already rare preferential treatment.

Yet Lu Shun had something weighing on his mind. His expression was troubled. After thinking it over again and again, he finally gritted his teeth and said,

"This servant begs Young Master to dismiss the others. This servant has an urgent matter to report to Young Master."

Meng Xi's expression immediately changed. What he hated most was being interrupted while watching a play. It felt like being stopped halfway through relieving himself—stifling, neither up nor down.

If an ordinary servant dared act so presumptuously and disregard the rules, Meng Xi would not waste a word before having him dragged away for a vicious beating.

But Lu Shun was different. He was a personal attendant who had grown up alongside him. Not only was he highly capable, he also understood Meng Xi's habits and temperament extremely well.

If it were not truly urgent, he would never have done such a thing.

Thus, Meng Xi waved his hand. The burly black-clad men behind him, sabers at their waists, strode forward and drove the troupe from both the stage and backstage. Then they themselves exited the courtyard and stood to one side of the gate.

Only Meng Xi and Lu Shun remained in the courtyard.

Seeing that there were no outsiders left, Lu Shun immediately dropped to both knees, pressed his forehead to the ground, braced himself with both hands, and recounted to Meng Xi what had happened when he went to see Meng Zhao.

He spoke plainly and concisely, without embellishment or exaggeration.

Whatever the facts were, that was how he described them.

From the beginning, Meng Xi had already felt a bad premonition. If it had been good news, Lu Shun should have waited until he finished listening to the play, allowing him a double dose of joy.

But he had never expected Lu Shun to deliver such a tremendous shock, with not a shred of joy in it.

Meng Xi found it hard to believe. In his agitation, he tightened his grip and tore out a great clump of the fat white cat's fur.

The pain made the cat wail like a baby.

With a struggle, it leaped from Meng Xi's lap and fled far away.

"Lu Shun, are you certain Fourth Sister has such audacity? Forget me—even Father cannot change his mind?"

Lu Shun nodded with a complicated expression and replied,

"That is so. Perhaps we truly overlooked the special nature of the Red Leaf Ginseng and Wolfsbane Grass.

That is likely why Young Master was refused several times when asking Master for those two businesses belonging to the second branch."

Meng Xi had not spent much time with Meng Zhengan and held little affection for him.

But Meng Jizu was different. As the eldest brother, he had deep feelings for his two younger brothers. He especially missed Meng Zhengan, who had died young, at all times.

Meng Xi's eyes widened. With a backhanded slap, he smashed the wooden tea table beside him to pieces, scattering the fruit and pastries on the trays into a complete mess across the ground.

The splintered fragments of the table bore faint scorched marks, as if they had been seared by blazing fire. This showed just how forceful and scorching his inner power was.

His gaze was cold and gloomy, flashing with vicious light. He lowered his voice, but his tone was filled with fury.

"Good. Good. Good!

"Who would have thought that after spending so long in that monk's temple, Fourth Sister had learned nothing else, yet developed quite the temper and airs.

"Now that he is some damned Heavenly Gang Guard, he no longer even respects my father and me.

"Red Leaf Mountain and Wolfsbane Grass.

"Since I cannot have them, he can forget about keeping them in his hands either.

"Lu Shun, immediately have our people get to work. Destroy those two businesses for me.

"I want to see how he will face my dead second uncle in the future without Red Leaf Ginseng and Wolfsbane Grass."

Meng Xi was truly enraged. Since childhood, there had never been anything he wanted that he could not obtain.

Thus, he had always been spoiled, arrogant, and domineering, accustomed to ordering others about and treating himself as the sole supreme authority.

The only people who could truly make him suffer a setback, aside from his elders, were his own full-blooded brother.

As for anyone else, were they worthy?

Meng Zhao, a fellow whose parents were both dead and who stood alone with little support, actually dared defy him?

Then provoking him meant paying a price—and a price one could not bear.

Meng Zhao's reply had been aggressive, while Meng Xi's retaliation was even more aggressive.

That was how he conducted himself.

Lu Shun hesitated for a moment, then shook his head.

In the past, he had obeyed Meng Xi's every command without question. Yet this time, he unusually stood firm and urged,

"Young Master, this servant advises you to abandon this idea.

"Although we spoke only a few short sentences, this servant could tell that Fourth Young Master was humble on the outside but proud within, a man of deep schemes. He is certainly no easy opponent.

"If you carry this matter to the bitter end, it will be no different from directly offending Fourth Young Master. This absolutely must not be done."