Chapter 1108: Perplexed and Smitten (168)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Portraits? Whose?”
“The elders of our family have been trying to search for the people in the portraits for a very long time, but to no avail. We only found one of them in the past couple of decades, and another one a few years ago.”
Yin s.h.i.+ asked curiously, “Grandpa, just who are they?”
“One is Jin Qingyan and the other is An Xiaoning.”
Yin s.h.i.+’s eyes widened in shock, and he asked, “What? It can’t be. Ancestor Yin Cun existed centuries ago. It’s a new era now. Could it be a prank?”
The patriarch scoffed and said, “Prank? Our ancestors found those portraits three centuries ago. I’ve kept this to myself for three decades, ever since I found out about Jin Qingyan when he was still a child. I’ve been worried that the two of them would carry their memories from their previous lifetime over to this one.”
“Grandpa, why did our ancestors leave behind those two portraits and the letter?”
“I have no idea. They didn’t state the reason, but it seems like An Xiaoning is investigating us now. I’m afraid she has recalled everything from the previous lifetime. Don’t forget what her profession is. If the Yin family offended her back then, her purpose would be to take revenge on us now. That’s what I’m most afraid of. We’re no match for An Xiaoning and Jin Qingyan now. Ever since I found out that she’s checking up on us, I’ve been ill at ease.”
“Grandpa, why don’t we just go to A City and directly ask her why she’s checking up on us? Wouldn’t that be better than worrying blindly about it?” said Yin s.h.i.+, whose heart grew heavy.
“No. I asked you here because I wanted to talk to you about it, so that you can prepare yourself mentally. You’ve always had a brilliant mind. You can help me a.n.a.lyze the situation and what we can do about it.”
“Do Uncle and Cousin know about it?”
“No, I didn’t tell them about it. Your uncle and cousin are busy with the family business. I haven’t told them yet.”
Staring at his grandfather, Yin s.h.i.+ said, “Grandpa, I’ll a.s.sign a few bodyguards to you.”
“What for? This is not a place where anyone can enter easily. Outsiders who don’t belong to our family will definitely be trapped in the spell that I had placed in the yard. Hence, you don’t have to worry. Even if An Xiaoning comes here personally, she would have a hard time breaking my spell given how inexperienced and young she is.”
The patriarch’s face grew sullen the moment he said his piece.
“Bad news.”
“What’s wrong, Grandpa?”
The patriarch exited before he could even put on his shoes.
As soon as he opened the door, he took a few steps back continuously. An Xiaoning showed up abruptly at the door.
An Xiaoning had changed the initial plan at the last minute. She initially did not want to meet the patriarch at all and simply wanted to get her hands on the item that she was looking for.
However, she decided to change her mind all of a sudden.
Yin s.h.i.+, who had just put on his shoes, got a great shock the moment he saw An Xiaoning entering and closing the door after herself.
“Ms. An, what are you doing in our home?”
“Nothing, just dropped by for a visit. Sir, you don’t have to worry, I didn’t plan to see you at the start. However, I decided to have a good chat with you after breaking the spell and overhearing the conversation between you two. It’s better for all of us.”
Having experienced a lot in life, the elderly patriarch managed to calm himself down after panicking for a while. “Please come in and have a seat, then, Ms. An,” he said.
An Xiaoning sat on the edge of the bed while Yin s.h.i.+ stood beside his grandfather.
“I’m here for only one purpose. I won’t waste any time beating around the bush, and I’ll just get straight to the point. I’m sure you guys don’t know exactly what your ancestors have done in the past. I shall give you some insights as to what happened. Back then, the Yin family was on close terms with the then-Emperor who respected your family greatly. Hence, when the Prince’s residence was raided, more than 900 souls were trapped in the ancient residence in G City. They got released only this year. I won’t repeat how many years they’ve been trapped for. However, I’m telling you straight, if you want your family to be safe and sound, you only have one way out. If you’re unwilling to compromise, I’ll have no choice but to take actions.”
“What way out?” the patriarch asked, glaring daggers at her.
“Your only option is to cooperate with me. That’s the only way you can protect your family. Hand over your family’s ancestral records.”
Momentarily stunned, the patriarch answered, “What… ancestral records? Why do you need my family’s ancestral records?”
“You don’t have to care about what I do with them. I just need them.”
“But there’s only one copy of the ancestral records… Besides, it means a lot to our family. We were instructed by our ancestors not to hand them over to outsiders.”
“It’s an inanimate object, no matter how precious it may be. You decide if it’s more important than your family’s safety.”
Staring at An Xiaoning, the patriarch said, “But Ms. An, we only have one set of ancestral records. Could you allow us to keep a copy?”
“Of course.”
He looked at his grandson and said, “Yin s.h.i.+, go get our family’s ancestral records together with your Father. Make another copy of it too…”
“Grandpa… um…” Yin s.h.i.+ murmured, staring at his grandfather in astonishment.
“Go!”
“Yes…” Yin s.h.i.+ turned around and left.
“Handing over the ancestral records is only the first thing. Secondly, I’ll need you to issue a declaration.”
“What declaration?”
“Declare that you’ll remove Yin Cun’s name from your family’s ancestral records and move his corpse away from the ancestral graveyard to wherever you’d like. However, from now on, he’s not to be acknowledged as a member of your family.”
A frown creased the patriarch’s forehead; he was seemingly contemplating about whether or not to agree. However, he had already seen through most things and he knew better than to put the safety of his family members at risk. It would be disadvantageous for the Yin family if they were to go against An Xiaoning.
“I agree.”
“Since you’re so steadfast, I won’t say anything else.” Things had gone more smoothly than she had imagined. She initially thought that the patriarch would adhere to the strict rules laid by the Yin family ancestors, especially since the ancestral records were important to the family. To her surprise…
An Xiaoning found that the negotiation went through way too easily. After a quick thought, she said, “Sir, this is our first time meeting each other today and I’d like to make things clear beforehand. If you were to give me a falsified set of ancestral records and insult my intelligence, don’t blame me for being nasty.”
The patriarch’s face grew sullen the moment he heard her words. He said, “Why would I do that? Ms. An, you showed up out of the blue and we didn’t take any precautions beforehand. How could we possibly have created a false set? Besides, no one actually asks for our ancestral records under usual circ.u.mstances. We wouldn’t prepare extra copies beforehand.”
He could not tell if An Xiaoning believed him or not. Before he had met her, he used to think that she was just a young and inexperienced woman. However, it seems he had underestimated her.
She had even managed to break the spell I had put up painstakingly, without me even realizing…
“Ms. An, may I know who your mentor is?”
“You don’t have to know about that, Sir. My mentor is no longer around.”