Chapter 43: Swift and Decisive
City Lord Si had always been swift and decisive. With the assistance of the Yu father and son, substantial evidence was uncovered in no time.
City Lord Si made the evidence public and compiled it together with the contents revealed in Si Er’s inner thoughts. The announcement immediately shocked the entire Ten Thousand Beasts Continent.
Who would have thought—Third Master Si was actually this kind of person?
Everyone had long known that Third Master Si was a playboy who flirted everywhere, but no one expected him to have “sown his seeds” so extensively.
And not only that—he had even swapped other people’s children. That was truly terrifying.
At first, many people were skeptical. They suspected that City Lord Si could no longer tolerate Old Master Si’s favoritism and was simply using this as an excuse to sever ties with Third Master Si.
But after some investigated the evidence themselves and found it all to be genuine, they immediately believed every word of the announcement.
Those who had been cuckolded by Third Master Si were especially furious. They directly issued kill orders against him—so long as he stepped out of Dongyao City, he would be hunted down.
Aside from Old Master Si, no one in Dongyao City wanted to protect him. After all, Third Master Si hadn’t even spared members of the Si family. Those who had not yet been harmed were terrified.
They wished they could expel him from the city immediately, lest they end up being cuckolded as well.
After lengthy discussion, the Si clan elders ultimately decided to expel Third Master Si alone from the clan. Old Master Si tried to stop them, but it was too late—he was still in Central City.
He went to seek help from City Lord Si, but City Lord Si stated that the clan elders were acting according to clan rules. Even as City Lord, he could not bend the law for personal reasons. This angered Old Master Si greatly.
Though he himself had also been cuckolded, Old Master Si still felt the punishment was too severe.
Under normal circumstances it might have been manageable, but now that several City Lords had issued kill orders against Third Master Si, expelling him from the clan at this time was no different from pushing him toward death.
City Lord Si smiled. “Father, there’s no need to worry. Third Brother may lack many abilities, but finding a woman willing to protect his life won’t be difficult.”
“Bai Lianrou has already taken him away.”
Though City Lord Si was smiling, his tone and gaze were cold.
He hadn’t expected that shortly after the expulsion notice was issued, Third Brother would disappear without a trace.
Old Master Si froze for a moment, then asked with mixed relief and worry, “What about Mu Wan and her three children?”
City Lord Si replied calmly, “After Third Brother left, Mu Wan issued a statement of separation.”
Though it was called a mutual separation, it wasn’t quite that.
Mu Wan declared that her husband was already dead. From now on, she and her children would live together as a widow and her orphans. She hoped the Si clan elders would show them some care.
If the elders found it too uncomfortable, she could return to her maiden family with the three children—as long as the Si family continued providing the shares rightfully belonging to them.
Most of the elders did find it uncomfortable. So Mu Wan directly took all the assets of the Third Branch and left with her three children—they had already set out.
The Mu family had even sent a beast-drawn carriage convoy to escort them.
City Lord Si did not mention these details to Old Master Si, lest he grow more anxious.
But Old Master Si was already frantic. Seeing that City Lord Si had no intention of helping, he summoned his mount and rushed toward Dongyao City.
He didn’t even know what he could accomplish by returning—but he felt he had to go back and see for himself.
City Lord Si merely let out a mocking laugh after watching him leave, then continued preparing things for Si Er.
What he had prepared before were simply the resources Si Er should have received over the years. Next, he would prepare what a father ought to give.
In order to sever ties cleanly with Third Master Si, Mu Wan had even transferred a soul stone mine to City Lord Si as compensation for the resources Si Ran had unjustly received.
Since Third Master Si had already fled, she had no one to seek repayment from. She could only bear the loss herself for now.
Perhaps she could reclaim it in the future. If not, she would have to accept her misfortune.
City Lord Si found the soul stone mine quite valuable, so he transferred it into Si Er’s name.
As for the resources the Third Branch owed the Si family, he would make up for them from his own private treasury.
Fire-attribute resources were not hard to find. But a large soul stone mine was rare—Mu Wan had truly suffered a heavy loss.
—
Still battling his academic papers, Si Er had no idea about the storm raging outside.
But Guagua in his arms could see everything.
Although most gossip required facial recognition to unlock, anything related to Si Er would appear immediately.
Third Master Si and Si Ran were considered Si Er’s enemies and thus warranted special attention.
Guagua was gleefully devouring their gossip and couldn’t resist sharing.
[Er’er, Si Shameless has been expelled from the clan registry! And lots of people have issued kill orders against him!]
[Such a pity—the kill orders were barely out when Bai Lianrou whisked him away. Otherwise, it would’ve been great if he’d been killed outright.]
Si Er was surprised.
Father moved that quickly?
[Yes! City Lord Si is really swift and decisive. It seems others helped too, though I can’t see who.]
[The Si clan elders were afraid of being cuckolded themselves, so they acted quickly too.]
[Too bad Bai Lianrou was quick as well…]
Si Er’s thoughts aligned with City Lord Si’s.
Third Master Si doesn’t matter much. Whether he lives or dies won’t greatly affect us.
Although the original body’s suffering largely stemmed from Third Master Si, Si Er knew the man posed little real threat to him now.
The truly dangerous one is Bai Lianrou. As long as she’s around, we could be settled with at any time.
[Er’er, don’t be afraid. Cui Cui and I will protect you.]
Okay.
Si Er rubbed Guagua’s head, feeling gratified. What a well-behaved and adorable little white rabbit.
By the way, does Si Ran know about his background now?
[Yes. He probably suspected it before. At first he was stunned, then it seemed somewhat expected.]
“Then came anger—very angry!”
I understand. He was probably thinking: Even if I’m not your biological son, how could you make it public? How could you disregard our father-son bond?
Even though I don’t treat you as my father or my two brothers as brothers, you must treat me as your real son and brother—or else you’ve wronged me.
[Exactly! That’s basically what he thought. Er’er is so smart.]
[But there were two men beside him at the time. One was Yu Feiqing, and the other I can’t see clearly yet.]
[With those two present, after his anger, he acted shocked and heartbroken.]
Guagua mimicked Si Ran in a soft, childish voice:
[No, this can’t be true! I don’t believe it! How could I be Third Uncle’s child? There must be some mistake!]
[And then—bam!—he fainted straight into the arms of the man I don’t recognize.]
Is that man named Di Lintian?
[I don’t know. Let me check again.]
[But watching remotely consumes a lot of soul power. Er’er needs to feed me more soul-nourishing Hami melons.]
Alright. After class, we’ll eat together.
