Chapter 29 : Chapter 29
Chapter 29: Everything for the Family
After returning to Qingfeng Valley, Li Xingge summoned the Grand Elder that very night.
He informed him of the Zheng family’s intention to form a marriage alliance with the Li family.
When the Grand Elder heard the news, he said with a cheerful smile, “Family Head, this is a good thing. A great thing for our Li family.”
Who would not want to climb the branch of Baihe County’s number one great family?
“The one I chose for the marriage alliance is Xingcong.”
The Grand Elder’s expression froze ever so slightly.
It vanished in an instant.
But Li Xingge still caught it clearly.
Li Xingge did not say any of that nonsense about refusing if one disagreed. He merely looked at the Grand Elder with calm eyes.
“This old man has no objections,” the Grand Elder said indifferently.
“It is just that I have wronged Elder Cousin.”
“Family Head, you overstate it. What wrong is there? For a direct-line daughter of the Zheng family to marry Xingcong, that counts as marrying beneath her status. This old man should be delighted.”
“Other than Xingcong, there truly is no suitable candidate for marriage in the clan. Either their status is too low, or their talent is insufficient. I have no other choice. We still cannot afford to offend the Zheng family. Besides, this matter is a good thing for the family.”
Li Xingge rarely bothered to explain himself, but this time he did.
Toward the Grand Elder, he genuinely felt respect from the bottom of his heart.
Without the Grand Elder’s full support, his position as Family Head would not have been nearly so secure.
“Family Head, you need not say anything more. I understand your difficulties. Everything, for the family.”
“Yes. Everything, for the family!”
The two looked at one another and smiled.
.......
In Qingfeng Valley, at the central core of the Li family grounds, there stood a large courtyard. It was the Grand Elder’s residence.
After returning to the courtyard, the Grand Elder instructed the steward beside him, “Go and call Xingcong here.”
“Yes.”
Not long afterward,
a refined and elegant young man with an extraordinary bearing walked in under the old steward’s guidance.
“A’Fu, withdraw first.”
“Yes, Master.”
The old steward closed the door behind him and respectfully withdrew.
Inside the room, only the Grand Elder and Li Xingcong remained.
“Grandfather, you summoned your grandson so late at night. Is there something the matter?”
Li Xingcong asked in puzzlement.
“There is indeed something I need to tell you.”
“Please speak, Grandfather.”
“There is no rush. Looking at you... it seems you are about to break through?”
Sensing the sharp aura around Li Xingcong, the Grand Elder asked.
When his grandfather asked about this, Li Xingcong smiled and said, “I have finally not disappointed your expectations. In less than a month, your grandson is confident he can break through to the Physical Body Realm.”
The Grand Elder nodded in satisfaction.
Toward this grandson, whether in terms of talent or conduct, he had always been extremely pleased. The importance he placed on him even exceeded that of several of his own sons.
If properly nurtured, then in the future, he might well become the Family Head’s right-hand man.
In the end, he himself was already old.
“It is a good thing that you are about to break through, but remember this well: in cultivation, you must not be impatient, nor must you become arrogant and self-satisfied.”
“Your grandson will bear Grandfather’s teaching firmly in mind.”
Li Xingcong’s tone was solemn.
“That is good.”
“On the way here, I heard from Uncle Fu that the Family Head had just summoned you?”
Li Xingcong asked curiously.
At the mention of the Family Head, an excited light burst forth in Li Xingcong’s eyes.
Under normal circumstances, the Grand Elder would surely have rebuked him a few times, but today, he was strangely calm.
“That is correct. After the Family Head returned from the Zheng family, he told me of a matter. This matter concerns you.”
The Grand Elder’s tone turned serious.
“Concerns me?”
Li Xingcong was startled. He thought to himself that he had been cultivating peacefully these past days and had not committed any mistake.
So what matter could possibly concern him?
What could be serious enough for the two greatest figures of the Li family to discuss it overnight?
A sudden sense of unease rose in Li Xingcong’s heart.
“The Family Head has arranged a marriage for you. It is with a direct-line daughter of the Zheng family.”
The Grand Elder spoke in a flat tone.
Li Xingcong’s expression froze, and he stood there in a daze.
Only after a long while
did Li Xingcong recover. His eyes were slightly red as he said, “There are so many sons of the clan. Why was I chosen?”
“Because your status is high and your talent is good. Only you would not disgrace the Zheng family’s standing.”
“Grandfather, but I am in love with the Qi family’s Eldest Miss. She and I share our hearts. In my heart, there is only her.”
The Grand Elder’s gaze suddenly turned cold.
In an angry voice, he rebuked him, “The men of my Li family do not have the luxury of being lovesick fools!”
The Grand Elder’s fury caught Li Xingcong completely off guard.
For so many years, although the Grand Elder had always been strict with him, never once had he lost his temper so violently.
He knew that his grandfather was truly enraged.
With a thud, Li Xingcong dropped to his knees.
“Grandfather, please calm your anger. Your grandson knows he was wrong.”
Seeing his most beloved grandson in such a state, a trace of reluctance flashed through the Grand Elder’s heart.
But very quickly, he suppressed that trace of softness.
“This is the Family Head’s will. Cong’er, in the Li family, no one may defy it.”
“Not even you?”
Li Xingcong let out a miserable laugh.
“Not even me.”
The Grand Elder spoke blandly.
Kneeling on the floor, Li Xingcong thought of that youth who was even younger than himself, and his heart turned cold.
That boy, who was clearly his younger cousin, had now already reached a height far beyond his grasp.
Even his grandfather, whom he regarded as so powerful and revered so deeply, did not dare disobey his words.
“What if I refuse?”
Li Xingcong’s voice trembled.
“Then I will turn the Qi family into a field of ruins.”
The Grand Elder replied coldly.
Li Xingcong’s heart shuddered. He stared at the Grand Elder in disbelief. At that moment, he suddenly found his grandfather to be a complete stranger.“Do not blame me, and do not blame the Family Head.”
The Grand Elder rose, clasped his hands behind his back, and slowly walked in front of Li Xingcong.
“You were born into the Li family. From the moment of your birth, you possessed wealth and privilege that ordinary people could never exhaust in a lifetime. And where did the Li family’s wealth and privilege come from? It came from generations of Li family ancestors sacrificing themselves!”
“The cultivation resources you enjoy now—where did they come from? My Li family seized them with sabers, with swords, with blood, by staking our lives!”
“In the battle against the Mangshan Su Clan, dozens died. Were they not members of my Li family as well? Were they not the children of others, the parents of others?”
“Now look at the Family Head. He is even two years younger than you, yet he has already passed through one life-and-death battle after another. For whose sake is he doing that? For himself?”
“No! He does it for the Li family. With his talent, how vast the world is—where could he not go?”
“What the Li family has given him is not glory and wealth, but burdens!”
As he spoke, the Grand Elder’s eyes had reddened at some unknown moment.
He thought of those clansmen who had died one after another for the sake of the Li family.
Among them were his elders, his brothers and sisters, his nephews and nieces.
Those familiar people could now only lie silently in the ancestral land.
And some of them had not even left behind a single bone.
“Without them, perhaps my Li family would already have fallen. Perhaps you would now be nothing more than a dry skeleton in a heap of wild grass. What right do you have to sit here so calmly indulging in this romance between man and woman?”
That single sentence seemed to drain all the Grand Elder’s strength.
His waist bent at once, stooping much more heavily than before.
Li Xingcong knelt on the ground without moving, like a statue.
Inside the residence, a strange silence fell.
After a long while,
a hoarse voice sounded out.
“Grandfather, I am sorry. I was wrong.”