Chapter 40 Making Up One's Mind

Zhang Zihe expressed his inner thoughts. As it turned out, he simply felt that although the two of them were truly in love, acting so recklessly and heedlessly to force the matter was perhaps going a bit too far.

Upon hearing this, Ning Ye also realized that his own thoughts had indeed been somewhat overly idealistic; being too wishful about certain matters was rarely a good thing.

While they could certainly make a clean break, doing so would leave Miss Sun with absolutely no way out and no foothold in society.

"You make a valid point. I was being too hasty in this matter. Since that is the case, I will find another way for you."

Zhang Zihe looked pleasantly surprised. "Young Master, is there really another way?"

"I only just thought of it. Since you do not wish to handle this matter so ruthlessly, our only remaining option is to sound out the head of the household himself. I intend to pay a visit to the master of the Sun family."

"Young Master, when I went there previously, they had no intention of seeing me at all. Even if you go yourself, while they might grant an audience, I still feel the hope is rather slim."

Ning Ye smiled with confidence. "Your approach was simply wrong. I am merely planning to go and discuss a business venture with the Sun family—surely they would not refuse that."

Zhang Zihe wore a happy expression. This was a method only Ning Ye could employ, seeing as the Sun family was certainly familiar with his face.

Early the next morning, Ning Ye made a special trip to a tailor's shop to purchase fine new outfits for himself and his companions before swaggering toward the Sun family estate.

To accompany him, Zhang Zihe had specifically tied a piece of cloth over his face. If anyone asked, he would simply claim his complexion was disfigured and unfit to be seen in public.

Ning Ye walked at the very front. Upon arriving outside the grand gates of the Sun family residence, he signaled for his guards to step forward and knock.

Before long, a servant opened the door, glanced at Ning Ye and the others outside, and asked uncertainly, "Which young master are you here to see?"

Ning Ye flicked his folding fan with a flamboyant flourish. "I am here today specifically to discuss business with the Sun family. Please announce my presence at once."

Zhang Zihe also pulled a silver coin from his tunic. "Do be quick about it, my good man. My young master's temper is not very pleasant."

After pocketing the silver, the servant beamed with a fawning expression. "May I ask the honorable name of the young master? I shall go and announce you right away, though whether our family head chooses to see you or not is not something I can decide."

Not long after, the aforementioned servant ran back, accompanied this time by a steward dressed in somewhat finer attire. "Our family head invites you in. However, he is currently attending to matters, so we ask that you wait in the reception hall for a moment."

Ning Ye gave a slight nod. "Lead the way."

The steward made a gesture of invitation and turned to guide them. Entering the grand Sun family estate for the first time, Ning Ye observed his surroundings carefully and noted that it was indeed far superior to his own residence.

"The young master does not appear to be from our Jiangyang City, otherwise you surely would not travel with so many guards in tow."

Ning Ye replied calmly, "I have long heard that the Sun family's Ripple Brocade is peerless, yet you also dabble in other fine silks and satins. Therefore, I have come specifically to seek a partnership."

"So that is it. The young master certainly has a discerning eye. However, my master is currently meeting with an important guest, so I must ask you to wait a little longer in the reception hall. Fine tea has already been prepared."

Upon reaching the reception hall, the steward permitted only Ning Ye and Zhang Zihe to enter, while the remaining guards were left to wait quietly outside.

Ning Ye picked up his teacup and took a gentle sip. "Please ask your family head to hurry; do not keep me waiting too long."

"That is not something I can promise, but should the guest have any needs, please let me know and I will do my utmost to accommodate you."

With that, the steward walked deeper into the interior. At that exact moment, Ning Ye flicked a tiny listening device onto the steward's garments.

Before long, the sound of conversation began to drift through the earpiece, and the discussion sounded quite heated.

At that moment, looking at his uncles and elders, Sun Liancheng felt a splitting headache coming on.

"Gentlemen, I am well aware that the Heir Apparent has taken an interest in my Qingyu, and that it is indeed a match above our station. But are you gentlemen truly unaware of how the Heir Apparent conducts himself?"

The Third Great-Uncle spoke up. "That matter is of little importance to our family. As long as a marriage alliance is formed, the Sun family will be able to rise to even greater heights no matter what. Can you not comprehend what that means for the entire Sun family?"

The Sun family's eldest brother also chimed in. "Second Brother, I know you have done a great deal for the Sun family over the years, but you must not sever the family's future at a time like this."

Sun Liancheng gripped the armrests of his chair tightly. Among these kinsmen of his, not a single one spare even the slightest thought for his poor daughter.

Looking at the crowd gathered in the hall, Sun Liancheng knew these fellows would not let the matter rest easily; today was merely the beginning.

As long as he refused to relent, these people would never give up.

Yet Sun Liancheng also knew he could not take a single step backward, for to do so would be to fail utterly as a father.

"Gentlemen, Qingyu is my daughter, not yours. As long as I draw breath, I will never agree to this."

The Third Great-Uncle gazed coldly at Sun Liancheng. "Do you imagine that being the family head gives you the right to decide everything? If you continue to refuse, our branches can simply vote to depose you and install someone else as the head of the house."

Sun Liancheng stood up abruptly. "The Sun family owes its current status to my years of hard work, and the secret technique for making the Ripple Brocade is known to me alone. If that is cut off, have you gentlemen ever considered the consequences?"

The expressions of the assembled Sun family members turned somewhat ugly. This was indeed Sun Liancheng's greatest trump card; after all, the Ripple Brocade could only be passed down to the family head in each generation.

By ancestral precept, no outsider had ever been permitted to learn the method over all these years, unless the previous head had passed away.

In this world, no two people could ever know the manufacturing method of the Ripple Brocade simultaneously.

Yet the eldest brother of the Sun family sneered, "It matters not. As long as all the clansmen vote to depose you as family head, you will still be forced to hand over the production method, or else you will stand condemned before our ancestors. And that day may not be far off."

Sun Liancheng replied with equal backbone, "I do not believe the people under my command will betray me. It will not be so easy for you to overthrow me on a mere whim."

Seeing that any further discussion today would yield no results, the Third Great-Uncle cut the meeting short, merely telling Sun Liancheng to think carefully about which matters were truly of greater weight.