The High Council of the Su Family.
Su Liumeng had completed all the preliminary work and had already integrated all the personnel under her command.
In the beginning, there were indeed some dissenting voices.
However, times had changed.
Su Liumeng was already a powerhouse of the Selfhood Realm.
Furthermore, she was a Selfhood Realm cultivator with strength not inferior to an expert of the One Source.
The Fourth Grand Elder had candidly admitted in the dungeon that he might not necessarily be able to defeat Su Liumeng. This statement had long since spread through various unknown channels to all levels of the Su family leadership.
The most astonished person was none other than the Head of the Su Family.
That night.
He stood alone by the window for a long time.
As a supreme leader of the Su family who was particularly skilled in political maneuvering, he had always known what should be done at what time.
His era was truly coming to an end.
Su Liumeng’s generation was growing too fast.
So fast that with just a moment of distraction on his part, she had already stepped into the center of power.
Since things were as they were, there was no point in fighting it.
He would leave it to the young people to figure it out.
This massive Su family, a sprawling foundation that had remained unchanged for millions of years.
Seeing some changes occur didn’t seem like a bad thing.
The former Grand Elder, the Su Family Head, and many other experts of the older generation had already headed to the vicinity of the Boundary Stone to stand guard.
Most of the high-level members currently remaining in the Su family were considered “young” and would be the true mainstays in the years to come.
Su Liumeng was presiding over the meeting.
Su Luo sat in the center of the seating area, in a position that was neither too far forward nor too far back.
The last Young Master of the Su family also made a rare appearance.
The boy wore a pure black robe with a lightproof hood, looking like a gloomy evil cultivator.
During the entire meeting, he did not speak.
He merely held a pen and silently took notes.
Only Su Luo had a complex gaze as she watched the young woman at the head of the table.
She wasn’t actually looking at Su Liumeng; rather, she was looking through Su Liumeng at the shadow of another person.
Peeking into someone else’s life in secret.
It wasn’t an honorable thing.
However.
Su Luo had no way to control herself. As long as she saw Su Liumeng’s figure, she would uncontrollably think about how Su Liumeng and that figure who attracted her gaze interacted in private.
Even though.
The two of them already had a daughter.
That light she looked forward to might have long ago been covered in countless shadows left by someone else.
She still couldn’t curb her thoughts.
Everyone in the world loved pure and flawless lotuses.
Su Luo was no exception.
She was the firmest member of the “pure love” faction and had no way of accepting that the person she liked had a vague past with someone else.
She had a momentary flicker of confusion…
Perhaps Si Xinyan was different.
So…
‘Am I a scoundrel who covets another’s wife?’
This was a very cruel and serious question.
Su Luo twirled her gel pen, thinking seriously in her heart.
Coveting her own cousin’s partner was not something that could be brought to light.
What exactly should she do?
Su Luo was not someone who didn’t know right from wrong. It was precisely because she knew this relationship was a line she couldn’t cross that she restrained her desires time and again, keeping as far away as possible from that beautiful figure.
Otherwise, with her methods, she would have met with Si Xinyan countless times already.
How could it have been nearly two years?
With only a handful of communications.
“Cousin Su Luo.”
Suddenly being called by name, Su Luo was stunned for a moment. After snapping out of it, she saw Su Liumeng staring at her with a half-smile.
To daze off and space out during a high-level meeting—she was probably the only one who dared to do so.
“Please answer the question I just asked.”
The ripples in Su Luo’s eyes gradually took on a hint of a smile.
Is this —
‘Has she guessed what I’m thinking?’
‘Is she using a public matter to settle a private grudge now?’
She hadn’t expected the dignified Grand Elder of the Su family to be so interesting when she was jealous.
Well.
Su Liumeng was a partner witnessed by the heavens and announced to all directions.
Of course she was qualified to be jealous openly.
Unlike herself, who could only think about it secretly in her heart.
A sour feeling rose inexplicably in Su Luo’s heart, and her tone when speaking to Su Liumeng wasn’t very pleasant. “Stop worrying about what I’m doing. If you want to do something, just do it yourself. Why interfere?”
As the only little princess of the Su and Mo families.
She had plenty of confidence.
Her grandfather was the head of the Mo family, a first-class clan.
Her father was the current Head of the Su Family.
She was born with a golden spoon in her mouth, living under countless spotlights.
Su Liumeng gave a light chuckle. “I can choose not to care about what you do, but don’t spend all day thinking about my wife.”
Su Luo’s small face stiffened as she argued, “Are you talking nonsense?”
Su Liumeng spread her hands innocently. “Whether I’m talking nonsense or not can be seen from your expression. Let me think, who is it? Wearing a face of unrequited love all day, glancing at me whenever they have the chance, as if they’re afraid others won’t know I’m their love rival.”
Su Luo turned her head away, not wanting to deal with her.
Was she really that obvious?
Regarding the conflict between the two, it wasn’t as if the others were unaware.
It was a long story.
On the day of Su Liumeng’s wedding, the congratulatory gift Su Luo presented in front of everyone was just short of explicitly saying, “I want to steal your wife.”
This matter was already known to the world.
The fact that the two hadn’t come to blows afterward was what surprised everyone most.
Reasonably speaking, someone had jumped in your face and said they were going to steal your wife.
Who could tolerate that?
In fact, Su Liumeng and Su Luo had already fought once.
Both were rational people with deep calculations. They knew well that their identities represented different camps, and any slight movement could trigger a chaotic internal war within the Su family.
Therefore, both were relatively restrained with their emotions.
Plus, Su Luo had never truly overstepped her bounds.
This was what allowed the two to live in peace.
Su Liumeng wasn’t unreasonable either.
In all seriousness.
Aside from that one time she sent the gift, Su Luo really hadn’t done anything excessive. On the contrary, she had helped Si Xinyan many times.
This left Su Liumeng with no legitimate reason to protect her wife aggressively; if she went too far, she wouldn’t even be able to get past Si Xinyan.
If she showed herself to be narrow-minded and marginalized Su Luo in front of Si Xinyan every day, she would instead fall into the enemy’s trap.
Su Liumeng had only one thing to say.
Trying to drive a wedge between her and her darling was impossible.
One could put it this way.
The clash between the two had never happened, yet it was always ongoing.
The meeting fell silent for a moment.
Su Luo lay on the table, not answering Su Liumeng’s questioning.
What else could the others say?
Su Liumeng withdrew her gaze and snorted coldly in her heart.
‘Watch, watch all you want.’
‘She’s mine to look at for a lifetime.’
‘The more you watch, the more depressed you’ll get.’
Seeing Su Luo’s depressed appearance gave Su Liumeng a secret sense of satisfaction.
Her mood brightened instantly, and the gloom from not seeing her darling for two days and two nights was swept away.
“The meeting will continue,” Su Liumeng said, the corners of her mouth curling up in an uncontrollable smile.
Su Luo glanced up inadvertently and caught Su Liumeng’s smile, which only made her more frustrated.
She swore that if she ever attended another meeting held by Su Liumeng.
She would be a dog.
Ptooey, ptooey.
What was she saying? Who would compare themselves to a dog?
Given Su Luo’s status and position, there was no one in the world born more noble than her. What kind of pure little flower couldn’t she find? Why hang herself on a single tree?
But.
There didn’t seem to be anyone more beautiful than her.
Even if there were someone more beautiful, they wouldn’t have that unique temperament that was so attractive.
Su Luo wasn’t depressed for long before she immediately became excited again.
‘As long as the hammer is swung well, no wall is too thick to break.’
Who said she, Su Luo, couldn’t fight and snatch?
Only…
Did she really like her sister-in-law?
Maybe, just maybe, it was just a temporary interest?
Su Luo’s enthusiasm was like being drenched with a bucket of cold water. She turned listless again, lying dejectedly on the table.
Until —
The entire meeting room suddenly erupted into a fierce argument.
Only then did she raise her head with a look of confusion.
“Grand Elder, this is wrong.”
“Ancestral rules are the foundation of our Su family’s ten thousand generations. How can they be changed so easily?”
“Is this not a joke?”
“The Master of the Sixth Branch is absolutely right. This concerns the fate and future of our Su family. We will never yield easily!”
At the conference table, the atmosphere was tense.
As Su Liumeng’s core base, some in the elders’ seats remained silent and watchful.
The girl rubbed her brow with some exhaustion. “The voting will now begin.”
“Hands up if you agree.”
Only a few scattered elders raised their hands in agreement.
Su Luo looked at the people nearby. Many from the Family Head’s lineage were waiting for her stance.
Su Luo: “…”
‘What are you all looking at me for?’
Could she say she hadn’t heard a single thing?
Thus, following her lead, the members of the Family Head’s lineage all cast abstention votes.
“The proposal has failed to pass.”
“Meeting adjourned.”
The meeting ended. Su Liumeng sat alone in the main seat, feeling slightly irritable.
It was something she had long anticipated.
She had only just put forward a suggestion, and it had already faced opposition from countless people.
The situation in the Su family was already very clear.
The wavering of the neutral party was actually the easiest part to win over.
The stubborn opposition had always existed.
To force the proposal through, she would need Su Luo to stand firmly on her side.
Su Liumeng slowly stood up.
Pushing for reforms in the Su family was not something that could be achieved overnight.
Today, she was just testing the waters to see who would openly oppose her.
On the training square.
Many twelve- or thirteen-year-old youths were undergoing intensive training.
Su Liumeng had once been one of them.
A burly man was holding a spiked whip, supervising the group as they practiced horse stances.
*Snap* —
“Haven’t you eaten? Put some strength into your waist!”
“Those who can’t pass this test can pack their bags and leave.”
“The Su family never raises trash.”
“If you can’t bring benefits to the Su family, then in the future, the only path is to be used as waste. The day you become adults will be the day you pieces of trash marry off or marry into another family!”
Who would want to live a lifetime with someone they didn’t know?
In the Su family, there were never divorces, only widowhood.
No matter how unbearable the other half was, one could only endure it alone.
To be able to live in the Su family’s ancestral home meant these people were already direct descendants of the Su family. Their treatment was already this low, let alone those scattered around the world.
In places Su Liumeng couldn’t see, countless even more cruel scenes were replaying.
Countless reflections similar to the former Si Xinyan.
They were undergoing test after test, and only after passing could they be granted the surname Su.
Su Liumeng wanted to redeem these people; she was also redeeming her former self and saving the former Si Xinyan.
How to come up with a balance that would not affect the Su family’s strength while also avoiding these tests that bordered on forced behavior was a point of equilibrium Su Liumeng could never find in her heart.
Suddenly.
A person in black appeared behind Su Liumeng, respectfully kneeling on one knee. “Grand Elder, these are the results of the investigation into what happened before Madam entered the orphanage.”
Su Liumeng withdrew her dazed gaze and slowly took the documents held in the black-clad man’s hands. For the first time that day, an emotional change appeared in her eyes.