Ling Kong currently felt as though he was sitting on pins and needles in his own East Striding Courtyard. The Violent Wind Gang which he had spent six years of blood, sweat, and tears to groom was actually forced to conceal themselves all over the capital after this botched attempt! This was as good as creating a good foundation to hand over to someone else! Ling Kong naturally felt the biting pain from his heart!
Never in his dreams did he realise that when Ling Tian stepped out of his house this time, he would actually be accompanied by the Blood Iron Warriors! To think that even though he was part of the core of this family, he was kept fully in the dark about this! A mob of pugilistic people, how were they supposed to go against the Blood Iron Warriors who had experienced countless battles?
The most frustrating part about this was that over twenty of his gang members were caught. This would mean that everything about his gang would have already been uncovered! This was the reason why Ling Kong had hurriedly tipped off all his aides to escape! If the Ling family were to catch wind of this, they would definitely proceed to round up the gang, and at that time, his own identity would be exposed. When the viper bites your hand, only a brave warrior would cut off their own wrist! Though Ling Kong felt tremendous pain at doing so, he also admired himself — who else would be able to have such decisiveness?
He had merely lost a Violent Wind Gang, in the future his plans would just be lacking in manpower, requiring him to map his plans out in greater detail. Ling Kong thought for a long time before realizing something that made him break out in cold sweat: If he was not informed of Ling Tian going out with the Blood Iron Warriors, was this part of a conspiracy targeted against him?
Up to here, Ling Kong had the intention to pack up his luggage and flee for his life. However, pausing to ponder, he realized that given Ling Zhan's and Ling Xiao’s tempers, if they knew that he was the one pulling the strings behind the scenes, they would have come for his blood a long time ago. Thus, even if it wasn’t him, the Ling family probably suspected the presence of spies in their place. As a result, he had unknowingly pressed the muzzle of the gun at his head.
For all he knew, he might have become a scapegoat for someone else! This annoyed Ling Kong to no end. However, since he now knew that the Ling family suspected the presence of spies, his actions next time would be more discreet.
A chilling ray of light flashed past Ling Kong’s eyes as he sat there alone in deep thought.
Old Madam Ling’s movements were immensely fast; under her one command, those under her were practically flooded with work.
First was the matter of the Ling Family Courtyard. After Ling Tian took out a blueprint of the place, Madam Ling bluntly told Ling Xiao to exploit his authority and draw out 3000 soldiers to tidy up as well as to accommodate with the restoration of the courtyard. While they said to restore, it was more of actually rebuilding the whole place. They threw away all those original items and structures, rebuilding it based on Ling Tian’s requirements. They only had 1 rule: finish the construction within four months, regardless of the amount of silvers they had to use!
The moment this sentence was spoken, the Ling family’s butler was totally overworked. With such a huge project, to finish in four months, this could be said to be a fantasy story! They could only helplessly employ more manpower to increase progress in all areas.
Under the instructions of Madam Ling, the site requirement was almost doubled from the previous King Fu’s courtyard site!
Ling Tian’s original thinking was to roughly patch up the place, such that it was barely fit for human living. So long as the training areas were not delayed, the other places were just only to serve as a base of operations. However, when he brought that up, he was instead lectured harshly by Old Madam Ling. The reason was simple: The Ling Family could not afford to throw their faces this way!
Hearing this, Ling Tian could not help but twitch.
As for the armory of the Xiao Family, Old Madam Ling did not even show half a bit of face to them. Everything was done in full swing, before Ling Zhan was even aware of anything, the entire armory had already changed hands. Except for a few tens of experienced old blacksmiths, they cleared out the excess of over eighty thousand people! All were forced to pitch tents and stay outside the capital!
When Xiao FengHan caught wind of this, he nearly went mad! If the Sky Bearing Empire were to realize that his Xiao Family had hidden over 8000 elite soldiers inside an armory inside the capital, most likely the Xiao Family would end up being incarcerated, before they swallowed the soldiers into the country’s military! This sort of tactic went beyond ordinary savageness.
However, this was indeed Ling Tian’s intentions. Ling Tian was afraid that Xiao FengHan would have bad intentions the longer he stayed, and in the event that his Grandfather would sooner or later hand over all their family possessions to him, then that would spell big trouble!
Xiao FengHan was left with no choice but to hurriedly bid farewell, and flee to salvage the situation, much like fish that slipped through a hole in the net! Before he left, he personally paid Ling Tian a visit, just that he did not speak throughout the whole session. Ling Tian was the same, remaining mute. Both were intellectually gifted, and there was no need to communicate through words. With just a look, both the old and young foxes had already came to tacit understanding.
Madam Ling’s third step was to call for Ling Xiao, and came up with a random excuse to give him a lashing out before commanding him to draw out two more sections of the Blood Iron Warriors.
Being scolded to the point he was dizzy, Ling Xiao — from start till end — did not understand how he had angered his Mother. When the vicious and lengthy lecture had ended and Old Madam Ling requested for the troops. Ling Xiao, who was desperately trying to extricate himself from the situation, did not think much before agreeing. By the time his brain managed to process this, he had already been kicked out of Old Madam Ling’s room! To go back inside and attempt to reason with his mother? Ling Xiao did not have such balls! With lingering fear, Ling Xiao wiped his spittle filled head clean of Old Madam Ling’s saliva from all her scoldings earlier.
Left without a choice, he could only helplessly sign and return to the barracks, racking his brains to come out with an excuse to explain how his troops were going to ‘disappear’. This caused him endless headaches.
Because of Madam Ling’s request, these three sections had turned into the Ling Family’s guards, with their names struck off the military registry. Ling Xiao was weighed down with anxiety over this. Temporary borrowing them was one thing; but she was actually planning on hogging them for the rest of their lives! If Ling Xiao could not come out with a suitable plan to settle it once and for all, this would leave behind traces that would cause tongues to wag. Continuously groaning and shaking his head due to his frustrations, he hurriedly rushed to fulfill his mother’s orders.
The moment Ling Xiao stepped outside, Ling Tian sneakily crept out from behind the curtain separating Madam Ling’s chambers. The grandmother and grandson both glanced at each other, grinning over the successful extortion.
A roar sounded from afar, and grandpa Ling came over with curses and condemnations. He was originally having a joyous gathering with his sworn brother. However, who knew that a disaster would strike his backyard — Xiao FengHan secretly packing up and leaving in the dead of the night. A few questions here and there revealed to him that it was a plan carried out by his own wife, which nearly drove him insane.
How could he anticipate that, just as he arrived and had yet to open his mouth, Old Madam Ling had already showered down curses towards Xiao FengHan! Stuff like how he was ungrateful, how he did not live up to his promises, being domineering and bossy, and more… To the point she finally gave Grandpa Ling an ultimatum: unless Xiao FengHan would come back immediately to reinstate the marriage, and turn everything back to normal, else an old man like you can stop bothering me!
The underlying meaning was clear; this was your brother’s fault, so this lady here asked for a workshop. This was already considered being at a disadvantage! Merely a small workshop, how could this be placed inside this lady’s eyes? Besides, I’ve already taken it so what else can you do?
Grandpa Ling came here with a belly of fire, who knew that he did not even have a chance to speak before being unceremoniously chased away. Having suffered the same ending as his son, his heart was full of grievances. He could only resentfully walk away with a face full of saliva.
As for Ling Tian who had hidden in one corner upon the arrival of his grandfather, he could only click his tongue at this scene. He gave his grandmother the thumbs up on both of his hands for a long time, filled with nothing but admiration for her.