Long Family’s Second Son (1)
Translator: Mr Voltaire
Editor: Allenwa
“I thought only a madman would be able to say the words that you just said,” Ling Chen said as he looked at Li Xiao Xue.
Li Xiao Xue smiled and met his gaze easily as she replied, “Just think of me as a mad person then.”
“Why do you think I’ll help you? And why do you think I’ll be able to help you fulfil your desire? Just because I could send the Long family into chaos? With your intelligence, you should know those are completely different things,” Ling Chen said with a cold expression.
“Oh?” Li Xiao Xue looked at him in amusement as she replied, “Surely you’re not thinking that I want to use your power and your hatred of the Long family to destroy them? Hehehe… darling, your ideas are so cute. A woman like me wouldn’t dare to have such thoughts- the Long family is China’s political pillar, and as a Chinese citizen, I want the Long family to be as powerful as possible. Why would I have such a crazy idea?”
Ling Chen felt a bit surprised. Before, he had thought that she wanted the Li family to have the Long family’s position. After all, if the Li family wielded the most power in China, they would not be controlled or influenced by anyone else. The Li family would be able to have the greatest wealth and power in China. In order to achieve this, the Long family would have to be destroyed, or greatly suppressed. Li Xiao Xue knew that Ling Chen completely hated the Long family, and had singlehandedly caused them to suffer a catastrophe. As such, Ling Chen had thought that she wanted to use him to deal with them.
As such, he had been quite shocked when Li Xiao Xue refuted this.
Li Xiao Xue smiled as she continued to speak, “Is the only way not to be under the Long family to destroy them or suppress them? Let alone how crazy this idea is, do you really think the Long family, which has existed for more than a thousand years, can be taken down so easily? If it really was so simple, they would have been destroyed long ago. The Long family has an incredibly deep foundation, and has many cards up their sleeves- this is something outsiders cannot even imagine. On the surface, it seems that the Long family only has the Xuanyuan family and the seven main forces protecting them. However, there are still 3 names that less than 10 people in China know about.
“What do you mean?” Ling Chen asked.
“Dragon Claw, Dragon Scale, Dragon Blood.” Li Xiao Xue’s smile disappeared as her tone became serious. [TLN: Just a reminder that the surname ‘Long’ means ‘dragon’]
“The Long family’s secret forces?”
“Precisely speaking, they’re the Long family’s trump cards. They’re either 3 armies, or 3 organisations, or 3 people, or 3 weapons… Despite spending a lot of effort, I still don’t know what they are, and only know the names. Even within the Long family, only Long Zheng Yang truly knows what they are – even Long Tian Yun would have no idea. It’s said they’re hidden under the ‘Dragon Lifeline’ under the Long family, and will not appear under normal circumstances. However, when the Dragon Lifeline starts to crack, that means the Long family is facing complete annihilation, and only then will they act.
“Over the past thousand years, countless large and small families have disappeared, and yet the Long family, despite having so many enemies, has stood firmly all this time. This is because they not only have the Xuanyuan family and seven main forces supporting them, but also Dragon Claw, Dragon Scale and Dragon Blood protecting them. Our small Li family, which has developed for less than 100 years, attacking them would be like dashing an egg against rocks. It would be equivalent to suicide.”
Dragon Claw, Dragon Scale, Dragon Blood…
Although there were less than 100 Reapers, they were all deathgods who had walked out of Hell, and their espionage skills were all top-notch. 2 or 3 of them were enough to create an intelligence net that covered an entire city. After returning to China, they had done much investigating on the Long family, but they had never heard these 3 names before.
Li Xiao Xue had told him about these 3 mysterious names not to rebut his words, but rather to give him a warning. She knew that with the mysterious organisation behind him, Ling Chen would be able to force the Long family into despair. However, he had to be wary of those 3 mysterious trump cards they had hidden away.
Ling Chen could tell that Li Xiao Xue was warning him. In order to obtain such secret information, the Li family must have taken a great risk and paid a massive price. For her to tell him so openly about this, it was a massive favour. Ling Chen committed these 3 names to memory and his expression relaxed, “Thank you for telling me this. Please continue.”
“I’m already yours; do you really need to thank me for this?” Li Xiao Xue flirtatiously smiled, looking so beautiful that Ling Chen felt slightly stunned, “We can’t suppress them or take their position, but there’s a better option… such as a marriage alliance between the Long family and Li family.”
“Then you should be talking to Long Zheng Yang or Long Tian Yun, not me,” Ling Chen expressionlessly said, “With your Li family’s immense background, and adding on the fact that you’re the sole heir to the family and have extraordinary looks, I’m sure the Long family would have no reason to refuse.”
“Long Tian Yun? He’s called a man among dragon in the younger generation, but to me, he’s just a well-dressed bug.” Li Xiao Xue curled her lips in distaste, “Everyone praises him for being talented and wise… but after a few exchanges with him, these words sound like jokes to me. His supposed talent and wisdom are merely his bright and kind exterior which masks a sinister and evil interior. People praise him for being incredibly capable and supporting the Yan Huang Alliance by himself… with the Long family’s foundation, as well as the support from the Xuanyuan family and seven main forces, supporting a Yan Huang Alliance is a piece of cake. Long Tian Yun has done nothing.
“On the contrary, he offended a great calamity. In the future, if the Yan Huang Alliance is destroyed, it will have been because of him. Having an extraordinary demeanour and being able to dominate any scene… what a joke. As the successor to the Long family, how could he not be all high and mighty and look down on everyone? Who would he have any reason to fear or respect? The only thing Long Tian Yun can boast of is his family and background.
“With Long Tian Yun’s background, of course people would praise him immensely. However, if he really was that excellent, why would such an intelligent girl like Yun Meng Xin fiercely reject a marriage alliance with him? The Long Tian Yun that I know is a toxic and sinister, evil and petty person. You completely hate him, but he doesn’t even have the right to be your enemy. Even if I, Li Xiao Xue, were faced with death, I still wouldn’t want to marry such a person.”
Long Tian Yun, who was publicly acknowledged to be the most excellent member of the younger generation, had been slammed in to the dirt by Li Xiao Xue. There were very few people in China who dared to criticise Long Tian Yun like this. Ling Chen’s interest was piqued, as he asked, “Since you don’t want to marry Long Tian Yun, could it be that you want to marry Long Zhen Yang?”
“Although Long Zheng Yang is currently single, and was quite handsome back in the day, but my standards aren’t so low that I would want to marry someone who could be my father.” Li Xiao Xue said as she wrinkled her nose.
“Then what do you mean by ‘marriage alliance’? Could it be…” Ling Chen suddenly stopped speaking as he realised something, and he looked at Li Xiao Xue as his gaze became sharp.
“You finally realised?” Ling Chen’s reaction did not cause Li Xiao Xue to become scared. Instead, she laughed in delight, “Out of all the young men in China, it’s not just Long Tian Yun who possesses the Long family’s blood!”
“What… are you trying to say?” Ling Chen said expressionlessly as his body stiffened.
Li Xiao Xue’s expression did not change as she whispered, “Ling Chen- that was your old name, right? Ling Tian Ya’s your new name. However, wasn’t Tian Ya a part of your name a long time ago?”
Ling Chen’s expression darkened as he frowned.
“How do you know this?” Ling Chen coldly asked.
“Just a guess,” Li Xiao Xue smiled, “After compiling all the information on you, and taking into account the hatred you had for the Long family, as well as incomprehensible logic, I had a sneaking suspicion about you. After entertaining that suspicion, I discovered many shocking coincidences. Before meeting you, I was less than 10% certain of my suspicion, but after meeting you, I was 90% certain that I was right. Now, after seeing your reaction, I can’t find any reason to doubt that suspicion anymore… back then, the little Tian Ya, who contracted the Isrock Disease and disappeared… wait, no, I’m sure the true reason Tian Ya disappeared wasn’t as how the internal of the Long family had reported.”
Ling Chen: “……”
Ling Chen had already decided to leave behind the matters in the past forever, and would never bring up his identity. He thought that the quiet child in the Long family, who no one paid attention to, had been long since forgotten, and that no one would even remember that he existed. And yet, the big miss of the Li family had spoken his name from back then, revealing that she knew about his identity. He simply couldn’t understand how this woman knew about this matter that no one should know about! “I can tell you that you’re entirely correct. However, how did you discover this?!” Ling Chen’s eyebrows were tightly furrowed as a feeling of unease welled up within him.
“If a large family wants to survive, having a large intelligence network is a must. Without enough eyes and ears, they’ll be taken down sooner or later. My grandfather and father both valued information greatly, so of course, the intelligence network covered the Long family as well. Even now, many of the people within the Long family are spies for the Li family. However, those with the courage and ability to plant spies in the internal of the Long family can be counted on a single hand. As such, we have a rough idea of the happenings within the Long family, including some secret matters. That includes the Long family’s second son, who shouldn’t have been born.”