The Old Master of the Dongcheng family arranged for Li Tianlan to stay at Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+’s house, which was actually Dongcheng Wudi’s house.

The Dongcheng family that occupied the mountain was verve and extraordinary, but actually, there were only six villas on this big mountain, namely 6 families.

The six families formed the backbone of the Dongcheng Clan, making this family, no matter from which point of view, had a kind of prosperous atmosphere, like an unattainable towering tree.

Dongcheng Wudi’s villa was close to the top of the mountain, second only to the main villa belonging to the Old Master in terms of height, and the size was basically the same as the main villa. Li Tianlan didn’t notice anything was wrong until Dongcheng Qiuchi took him into a very large bedroom on the third floor and smelled the fresh, delicate aroma.

Then Dongcheng Qiuchi told him that this was Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+’s bedroom and that it was the Old Master’s arrangement.

Li Tianlan was speechless and couldn’t figure out why the Old Master was in such a hurry. He acted as if he couldn’t wait to tuck Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+ into Li Tianlan’s bed. His eagerness even made Li Tianlan feel ridiculous.

If the Li family was still at their peak, Li Tianlan could understand what the Dongcheng Clan was doing even though it was humiliating. After all, with the status of Li family at that time, lots of rich and powerful families were eager to tie together with them, and many people could do with their granddaughter as a chip.

But now everything was different.

The Li family had declined. Although Li Tianlan had gone into the society, in the face of the extremely complex situation in the Zhongzhou State nowadays, no one was sure that this family had the hope of rising again, or that whether Li Tianlan could grow up. Normally, at this time, even if the Dongcheng family dealt with him, they at least should quickly distance themselves from him and break off the engagement.

If that happened, Li Tianlan could totally understand them and would not hold a grudge. Man is expected to live for himself. His ident.i.ty was a bomb, and anyone who had a slight a.s.sociation with him was likely to face endless hostility. How powerful the Prince Group and the Kunlun City were! How entrenched was the w.a.n.g family of Beihai?

In addition to these, families of the army of 200,000 that were wiped out because of his father’s treason case did not hate the Li family to the core?

Now, after all these years, no one was sure what social status the best of the dead soldiers’ families had. Once his ident.i.ty was revealed, his opponents, both overt and covert, would be countless. No matter how strong the Dongcheng family was, they could not handle them and even risked being crushed by the general trend.

Not admitting the engagement was a means of self-preservation and had nothing to do with n.o.bility or meanness. Li Tianlan had no intention to resent them because of this and was ready to give up the engagement.

But after he came to the Dongcheng family, the performance of the family was very different from his imagination.

The Dongcheng family not only did not plan to break the promise of marriage, but could not wait to let him marry Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+. The Old Master was so impatient that he asked him to sleep in Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+’s bedroom. Li Tianlan was both helpless and thankful. Fortunately, Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+ left early; otherwise, the Old Master might have acted absurdly by letting her sleep with Li Tianlan tonight.

He had just had s.e.x with Qin Weibai and wanted to try again. If he did share a bed with Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+, Li Tianlan could not guarantee that he would be able to control himself.

Li Tianlan instinctively tried to change the room but was turned down. When Dongcheng Qiuchi left, he hesitated and sat down on the bed. Then he called Qin Weibai and was lost in silence.

The female boudoir was usually fresh, romantic or lovely, but Li Tianlan could only feel cold and senseless in this room.

The pale gray walls s.h.i.+mmered with a sense of cold metal. The furnis.h.i.+ngs in the room were simple and monotonous. The bed was very big, soft and comfortable, but the sheet and nightstand were dark blacks without any pattern, looking staid and solemn. Beside the window was a simple table in good taste and it was also cool color. A few books were arranged neatly on the desk, and only a picture on the desk could give a little warm feeling. It seemed to be a family photo from many years ago. In the photo, Dongcheng Wudi was holding his two young daughters and smiling brightly, and a young woman, who looked very kind, put her arms around Dongcheng Wudi’s neck, looking very happy.

Li Tianlan silently looked at the family photo and then slowly lay down on the bed with a calm expression.

A delicate aroma slowly wafted into Li Tianlan’s nose. Different from Qin Weibai’s natural and strong fragrance and w.a.n.g Yuetong’s fresh fragrance, this fragrance was very elegant and mysterious, which was very impressive.

Li Tianlan closed his eyes, feeling a little sleepy, but he couldn’t sleep for a moment. His mind was filled with things about the Dongcheng Clan.

He felt that there was something wrong with the way Dongcheng Hanguang, Dongcheng Wudi and even Thunder G.o.d looked at him, but he could not tell what it was.

They were all so warm to him that he was uneasy. Dongcheng Qiuchi’s att.i.tude was relatively natural, but it was because she took him as her future brother-in-law. Li Tianlan had no contact with other members of the Dongcheng family, but the current contact with these members gradually made him feel overwhelmed.

Was it because of favor?

Li Tianlan believed that the Dongcheng family owed the Li family a favor, but that was by no means the main reason for them to be so warm to him.

Any favor was not enough to let the whole Dongcheng Clan at the risk of the entire family to accept him.

If he was just an ordinary person from a declined family, it was understandable for the Dongcheng Clan to accept the engagement due to the favor.

But behind the Li’s downfall was likely to be one of the biggest political storms of the Zhongzhou State in nearly two decades. If he and Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+ got together, and his ident.i.ty was exposed, the whole Dongcheng family would be the first target of countless people.

It was impossible that Dongcheng Hanguang didn’t know this. But he still insisted on marrying his granddaughter to Li Tianlan with a resolute manner. Li Tianlan wouldn’t believe it just because of the favor and the engagement even if he was a fool.

What was the purpose behind this series of moves of the Dongcheng family?

What value did he have that he hadn’t discovered?

The incredibly pa.s.sionate Dongcheng Clan…

Were they friends or enemies?

Li Tianlan wondered and finally fell asleep.

Li Tianlan did not know how long he had slept before he was woken up by a light knock on the door. Then Dongcheng Qiuchi’s gentle voice sounded out the door, “Tianlan, are you awake?”

Li Tianlan, who was more vigilant because of the Dongcheng Clan’s enthusiasm instead of relaxing, sat up for the first time, and answered before he washed his face in the bathroom and opened the door.

“They are still at my grandpa’s house, so it’s just the two of us here at noon. I’ve made lunch. Will you join me?”

Dongcheng Qiuchi said, standing in the doorway with a bright smile.

“Okay,” Li Tianlan nodded, and then casually asked, “Sister Qiuchi, do you live here, too?”

“I just moved out last year and now I’m living with my husband when I come back. My house is also on the mountain, the villa down at the bottom,” Dongcheng Qiuchi replied softly.

It was clear that she and her husband loved each other very much, for she smiled sweetly at the mention of her husband.

“What does your husband do? A soldier?”

Li Tianlan inquired as he followed Dongcheng Qiuchi downstairs.

“He is the mayor of Luojing. A very capable man. Uncle Zou said he was expected to take over the Zou family.”

Dongcheng Qiuchi then cast a glance at Li Tianlan with her gentle and beautiful eyes and said significantly, “Arrange marriage is not necessarily unhappy. I have a good relations.h.i.+p with my husband, right?”

Li Tianlan paused for a moment and then realized that she should have heard from the Old Master that he had some resistance to the engagement and that she was trying to persuade him.

The Zou family?

He knew little about the Six. The Zou family seemed to be the backbone of the Giant Group, and together with the Dongcheng family and the Bai family, formed the three giants of the Giant Group. All the voices of the Giant Group were basically from the three giants.

Dongcheng Qiuchi’s marriage to the Zou family’s heir was a win-win situation for both parties and also good for Dongcheng Qiuchi herself.

Luojing was one of the vice-provincial cities of the Zhongzhou State, which had just applied a few years ago. As the mayor of Luojing, the Zou family’s heir would have a bright future. By contrast, Dongcheng Qiuchi shared the same rank as her husband now, but there was no doubt that her husband’s path was smoother than hers.

“Sister Qiuchi, I agree with you. I’m much honored and even a little pleased to have Dongcheng family to think highly of me, but I have a girlfriend, I said I would marry her. I must keep my promise.”

Li Tianlan replied earnestly with a wry smile.

“Is your girlfriend Little Bai?”

Dongcheng Qiuchi asked suddenly, in a playful and weird tone.

Li Tianlan suddenly remembered that Qin Weibai had told him that she had a best friend who was a core member of the Dongcheng family.

Was Qin Weibai’s best friend Dongcheng Qiuchi?

With his mouth twitching, Li Tianlan nodded, and stressed, “I’ll marry her.”

With a chuckle, Dongcheng Qiuchi hurried downstairs and said, “You silly boy, even a married woman like me will be attracted to a lady like Little Bai, let alone a man. Whether she will marry you is uncertain.”

Li Tianlan didn’t agree, but he wouldn’t retort it. Walking to the dining room and sitting down, he looked at some delicate dishes on the table and had a taste. “It tastes good,” he praised, smiling.

“Rus.h.i.+’s cooking is much better than mine. If you like, let her cook for you in the future.”

Dongcheng Qiuchi tried to praise her sister in front of Li Tianlan.

Li Tianlan looked slightly embarra.s.sed, eating without speaking.

Dongcheng Qiuchi smiled and dropped the subject. Some things needed to be done gradually; otherwise impatience would only backfire. As a high official in the political circle, Dongcheng Qiuchi handled it perfectly.

“I went downtown to buy you some clothes while you were sleeping. Since I don’t know your size, I bought one set for each size. You can try them all later. Old Master said he would take you to the ancestral temple after lunch.”

Dongcheng Qiuchi took a bite of the food and told him in a soft tone.

Li Tianlan couldn’t help but look at his clothes. He had hardly got out of Qin Weibai’s bed when he hurried out last night. Besides, Dongcheng Wudi was more urgent than him that made him have no time to change his clothes before he led him across thousands of miles to the Dongcheng family. As a result, he was still wearing his bluish white silk pajamas. Li Tianlan didn’t realize anything before, and now he looked at his costume and felt like a fool.

“Thank you.”

He touched his nose, and did not refuse. Not everyone had the courage to strut around in the pajamas.

Dongcheng Qiuchi smiled without speaking.

Li Tianlan silently lowered his head to eat while thinking about Dongcheng Qiuchi’s words.

The Old Master was taking him to their ancestral temple?

It seemed that he was really determined to get him into the Dongcheng Clan.

He frowned slightly.

It became increasingly unclear to him what the Dongcheng family intended.

This was a bizarre era with things covering by countless appearances.

It seemed that everything, including good and evil, right and wrong, could be put on a seemingly beautiful coat.

People’s mind was unpredictable.

Why was the Dongcheng Clan so eager for him to marry Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+?

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