A philosopher in the neighboring world, who clearly had nothing better to do, once said something fucking ridiculous: a butterfly flapping its wings on the western shore of the Pacific Ocean could whip up a tornado on its eastern shore.
That theory applied in this world, too.
At least, it applied to the Li Family of Xihe.
The Li Family of Xihe was Li Chengnian's own family.
This aristocratic clan carried considerable weight in the Xihe region. They had fields, servants, money in their vaults, disciples in the sects, and connections in the Capital City. And now?
They actually had an official at court?
Li Lao'er paced circles around his courtyard, that explosive rumor continually feeding the excitement dancing through his mind.
He was Li Chengnian's father.
When news had arrived from the Capital City yesterday, it had nearly hurled the Li Family into the eighteenth level of hell: the Crown Prince had been arrested, and the Heart Pavilion in the Capital City had been destroyed.
Li Lao'er had almost failed to catch his breath.
With the Crown Prince gone, hadn't all the resources the Li Family had poured into kissing his stinking feet over the years gone down the drain? Worse, they might draw the flames onto themselves and make His Majesty want the Li Family dead.
Besides, his own son, Li Chengnian, was a Heart Pavilion deacon. The higher he had climbed before, the greater his chances of dying now.
One son wasn't such a big deal. He had plenty of concubines and several children. But this son was different from the others! This son was the link connecting them to a great clan of Qingqiu. If he died, would that alliance survive? If they hastily substituted another son, who knew whether the other side would accept him?