Taishu Yong's gaze suddenly grew distant and profound. He sighed softly. "The world is changing at a truly unexpected pace. The Federation is now torn apart, with the Six Great Academies each ruling their own territory and Faya lurking in the shadows. Chaos reigns. Although our Taishu Family wishes to restore our Lineage's former glory, we know our own weight. Any ambition to contend for dominion over the world would be nothing but a joke for us. Yet even preserving ourselves in these troubled times is no easy task."
Chen Mu patiently listened to Taishu Yong's seemingly irrelevant remarks. Inwardly, however, he felt the old man was not wrong. Times had changed. This era belonged to the Six Great Academies and Faya, not to declining aristocratic families like theirs.
The old man suddenly stopped and turned to Taishu Cheng. "Go fetch Ying."
Taishu Cheng froze, then hastily nodded once he recovered. "Yes, yes, of course!"
"Please don't be impatient, Mr. Qiao. Let's have some tea first," the old man said with a smile.
Had it been anyone else, Chen Mu would already have resorted to force. Facing a gray-haired old man, however, he felt somewhat hamstrung. Besides, this old fox constantly gave him an unfathomable impression that made him deeply wary. That look of absolute confidence convinced him the old man must have some trump card up his sleeve. Otherwise, he would never have risked coming to meet him in person.
Connally was nothing to fear, but the old man certainly had more than this tiny scrap of strength at his disposal, no matter how poorly outsiders spoke of the Taishu Family.
Even Tang Hanpei could not wipe out an aristocratic family single-handedly. However powerful a Card Adept might be, he could not fight thousands upon thousands of Card Adepts