Primordial Blood Throne: Book 1 Chapter 4 - Never Give-Up (3)
The sounds of celebration resounded within the walls of Su Family estate.
The drumming fell like rain, causing the hearts of its listeners to shake lightly.
"Jian Xin, what happened outside?" Su Chen asked.
Jian Xin ran out to scout before returning, "Master is accepting the fourth concubine."
After some thinking, he added, "Within a year, he has taken in three concubines in total."
Is that so?
Su Chen smiled bitterly in his heart.
It was a day of happiness for his father, but Su Chen"s mood is nowhere near happy.
After staying silent for a moment, Su Chen asked, "Which family"s lady is it this time?"
"It is Lady Wu Shuang of Spring Moon Pavilion, rumour has it that she is an outstanding beauty and possess many talents. There are countless men in Lin Bei City who admire her, yet she chose the first master. It is said that she is also pregnant. It looks like Fourth Young Master will have two more siblings soon."
Su Cheng An accepted three concubine within a year, among them, the second concubine recently gave birth to a daughter, the child was greatly adored by Su Cheng An. The third concubine is currently pregnant and is due in two months, as for the current one, she is even better, she joined the family carrying a big stomach.
Since his son lost his sight, the first master of the Su Family has been spending more time outside, acc.u.mulating a lot of "battles" over the year; this behaviour was naturally due to the manipulation of Su Ke Ji, but Su Cheng An himself also did not choose to avoid it.
Although Su Chen wasn"t clear about Su Ke Ji"s plans, but he could feel a hidden danger below the calm surface - If Su Cheng An had a new son, will he continue to support him?
Su Chen did not know.
He was after all only fourteen years old and is still young, and although he can "see" certain things currently, but he is unable to judge long term.
But, very quickly, the answer presents himself.
After two months, the third concubine gave birth.
It was a big fat son. Su Cheng An named him Su Ming.
When Su Ming reaches a hundred days old, the Su Mansion released firecrackers and celebrated, creating a joyous occasion*.
That night, Su Ke Ji brought a luxurious as he visited his brother.
They spoke for a long time.
——
Waking up in the early morning, Su Chen washed up and went to the courtyard to sit, listening to the sounds of the wind rustling the leaves, listening to sound of the birds singing on the tree, listening to the sound of sand scratching the earth, listening to the sound of ants transporting food - his excellent hearing not only allowed him to hear sounds that others could not hear, it also allowed him to clearly differentiate them.
"Father?" Su Chen turned his head behind him.
"It is morning, not the time when your third uncle trains his Sunray Sword, how did you know it is me?" Su Cheng An walked out from behind of Su Chen.
"Although it is similar, it is still only similar." Su Chen smiled: "I am now capable at differentiating."
Su Cheng An silently looked at his son.
Su Chen was indeed outstanding, despite him experiencing such a heavy blow; he did not give up and continued to work hard. To have a son like him, Su Cheng An felt gratified, however, when he is remembered the purpose of his visit, Su Chen An"s heart felt slightly heavy.
At that moment, his gratification turned to frustration.
If only…you were not this outstanding.
Su Chen continued, "It has been a while since father last came to visit me, there is something you wish to talk about?"
Su Cheng An sat on a stone chair, "Yesterday your second uncle came to look for me again."
Su Chen"s heart got heavy.
Su Ke Ji visiting his elder brother was nothing strange. However, if caused his father to personally visit him, it was likely related to the previous matter.
The most important thing was, if his father rejected Su Ke Ji"s proposal, then it was likely he would not have come to look for him nor use such a solemn tone in this conversation. Looking at the current situation, it seems to be the signs of a bad omen…
Despite his thoughts, his face remained still and calm.
Losing his sight for two years has made his state of mind even more stable than before, he has also learnt to keep his true thoughts within his heart.
Su Chen said, "May I ask what matter did father and second uncle speak about?"
Su Cheng An replied: "He hopes you can reconsider giving up the year-end evaluation."
"Did father promise him yet?"
Su Cheng An hesitated for a moment. "He promised me that if I agreed to change the evaluation method, he will transfer Su Lin"s chance of using the Three Terrace Spring to me.
Three Terrace Spring is an Origin Vapor Spring located within Lin Bei City. it possesses Origin Energy, and if a person bathes in it, it will increase the person"s ability to sense Origin Energy, however, this is only effective for children under the age of three.
The control rights over the Three Terrace Spring iwas held in the hands of Lin Bei City Lord, Yue Xiong, due to limited production, and only three spots were available each year; this attracted serious compet.i.tion between various family clans. Su Cheng An used his position as the eldest son of the patriarch to obtain a chance for Su Chen to use the spring in the past, and Su Chen being able to improve quickly, other than his own effort, is also tied to the support of his family.
Due to limited spots, after Su Cheng An used it on Su Chen, it makes it difficult for his second son to obtain a spot. After all, the Su Family was big, the amount of third-generation heirs was relatively large; if all the good stuff is given to Su Cheng An"s line, the others would definitely be unwilling.
Su Ke Ji had a new son last year, and named him Su Lin. With both qualification and position, he managed to obtain the right to use the Three Terrace Spring, in fact, the reason why Su Ke Ji chose to bore a son during this period is because he calculated that the Su Family would obtain a spot.
Su Lin was a good name but his innate physique was normal and fated to have poor prospects, however, this did not stop Su Ke Ji from acquiring the rights and use it as a bargaining tool.
Su Chen was blind, Su Cheng An"s hopes were dashed, and would naturally hope for another good son.
"Therefore, father wants to give this rights to Younger Brother Ming?"
Su Cheng An replied: "Not for Su Ming."
Su Chen was stunned for a moment.
Su Cheng An continued: "Doctor Yuan of Upstream Wind Hall has checked your fourth aunt"s** body, it is a boy."
Relationships will always be closer and further.
Su Cheng An is fond of his most recent concubine, loving the house extends to loving crow***, this in turn led to an increase in fondness to his future unborn son and made him want to give this hard earned spot at the Three Terrace Spring to him.
This is Su Cheng An"s decision, even if Su Chen disagreed, it would be useless.
Su Chen listened to Su Cheng An"s words and kept silent.
He was still young, in three months it will be his fourteenth birthday.
However, his mind was maturing and most importantly, this was not his first time dealing with this issue. Su Chen experienced this once last year, this time, he had enough mental preparations.
In a world of darkness, to defend that only piece of light, can sometimes be very difficult, therefore, some special methods must be used.
Su Chen remained silent.
After some time, he said, "There is a matter that I have never informed father."
"What is the matter?"
"My eyes are recovering."
"What did you say?" Su Cheng An stood up immediately and grabbed his son.
If Su Chen could recover, this will be the best piece of news.
Although Su Cheng An liked Su Ming, likes that unborn son, but he is very clear about one thing, Su Chen is the most talented within the family. Rather than spending large amount resources on a child with an unknown future potential, it was better to nurture the child that is already showing exceptional performances.
Regarding this matter, everyone"s point of view was the same, if not, Su Ke Ji would not have given up the chance of using the Three Terrace Spring to nurture Su Qing. This is because, he is very clear that even if Su Lin does not have weak innate physique, he might not grow to achieve Su Qing"s current performance, a person"s growth is filled with various possibilities. However, Su Chen did not abide by this same point of view.
To avoid risk is something that everyone would do, and the best way to control one"s risk is to simply make something perfect even more perfect and not provide help in the hour of need.
If Su Chen really recovered his sight, there was no reason for Su Cheng An to give up on him.
"Are you saying the truth? Why did you not mention it earlier?" Su Cheng An asked again.
Su Chen replied. "I only have a vague feeling now and wanted to improve it further to surprise father."
"It is great news if you can recover!" Su Cheng An happily said.
Two years ago, when Su Chen lost his ability to sense light, his world became an endless darkness.
Maybe Su Chen was correct, he really could recover.
Su Chen continued: "However, it might need another year or two for me to completely recover."
"You need another year or two?" Su Cheng An was silent for a moment before nodding: "So be it, if you can recover within two years, there will still be time."
"Regarding second uncle"s matter……"
"I will go reject him now." Su Cheng An firmly said.
After a few steps, Su Cheng An paused.
He waved his left hand at Su Chen.
Su Chen smiled and said, "Are you waving your hand? Father, I can only see a blur shadow and cannot be sure."
Su Cheng An released a sigh of relief: "Have a good rest."
He turned and left.
*(Cuppa: Tradition in the past to celebrate infants that crossed the hundredth day of age, as most babies in the past tend to not survive due to various external conditions in ancient china. Nowadays, the celebration is held when the baby reaches a month old instead.)
**(Cuppa: This refers to the fourth concubine, not the youngest sister of Su Cheng An)
***(Cuppa: Chinese idiom, it means when you love someone, you are more likely to love the things or person that are related to them)