Heartless, Leaving the Capital Is Safest

Although the Young Clan still wants to cooperate with Serena, actually making it happen is not easy. Leaving aside whether Serena would even agree, there are internal disputes within the Young Clan about whether to pursue the partnership again.

That's how it is in a big family—everyone has their own opinion. If the person in charge isn't decisive enough, they can't suppress all those voices of doubt, nor can they ensure their orders are effectively carried out.

Patriarch Young is actually a man of vision, but after suddenly losing his authority and being swayed by close relatives, he lost his judgment for a while. Now that he's back in charge of the Young Clan's affairs, he understands the clan's situation.

Back then, it was Serena helping the Young Clan, not Serena using the Young Clan to make money. Realizing how wrong he’d been, Patriarch Young felt deeply ashamed.

Patriarch Young’s idea is for him and Victor Yun to personally go to Feng Manor and apologize to Serena. At that point, whether Serena is willing to continue cooperating with the Young Clan or not, they’ll accept it.

But the other members of the Young Clan don’t see it that way. They believe Serena made a fortune off the Young Clan, so helping them now is only right. Even if Serena refuses to cooperate, they insist that, by contract, she must let the Young Clan sell the Prenatal Formula.

Patriarch Young’s change of heart moved Victor Yun a little, but the selfishness of the other relatives left him utterly disappointed. When they tried to force him to persuade Serena, Victor couldn’t be bothered to keep up the gentleman act and said coldly, “I’m no longer the Young Clan head. I have no authority over clan affairs. Whoever wants to go beg Serena can go themselves, but I won’t. In three days, I’ll leave for the Jiangnan region with Divine Doctor Redwater and Divine Doctor Guile. Unless the Young Clan faces life-or-death crisis, don’t come looking for me.”

After saying this, Victor Yun bowed deeply to Patriarch Young and turned to leave, but was blocked by clan elders. “Victor Yun, you’ve got some nerve.”

“Victor Yun, are you planning to abandon your family?”

“Victor Yun, don’t forget you carry the Young Clan’s blood. If not for the clan, you’d have died long ago.”

The scolding came one after another; everyone berated Victor Yun for being ungrateful and betraying the family. Victor’s eyes were red as he stared at the elders rebuking him, making them uneasy, before he turned to Patriarch Young: “Father, what about you? Do you think so too? Have I betrayed the Young Clan?”

Patriarch Young seemed to have aged decades in just a few days. Looking at Victor Yun, regret flashed in his eyes. He shook his head and closed his eyes, saying, “Victor, you’re my son. You’ve already pleaded with Serena once for the Young Clan, and even offended her for our sake. Sending you to beg Serena again is pointless. This trip to Jiangnan isn’t for leisure—it’s to win over Divine Doctor Redwater and Divine Doctor Guile.”

His words were part truth, part fiction. The Young Clan members couldn’t tell whether to believe him or not, and Victor Yun didn’t bother to explain, just stared at them coldly.

He didn’t want to be expelled from the clan, but he also refused to exhaust himself for these ungrateful people. It was best if his father shielded him; if not, he wouldn’t mind making things even harder for the Young Clan.

“Victor’s trip to Jiangnan is at the request of Divine Doctor Guile and Divine Doctor Redwater. Having their favor is a blessing for the Young Clan. Are you saying you don’t want Victor to follow them?” Patriarch Young put the pressure back on them.

Medicine and family go hand in hand—if Victor Yun can truly learn from Dr. Elliot Redwater and Dr. Marcus Guile, the Young Clan will rise to another level in no time.

Whether they believed it or not, the Young Clan members were willing to take the gamble. The link to Serena was broken, but if they could attach themselves to Dr. Marcus Guile and Dr. Elliot Redwater, it would benefit the clan greatly. If not, it didn’t matter—the loss wouldn’t fall on them anyway.

With no more objections, Victor Yun left smoothly. Before departing, he only said goodbye to his father. Patriarch Young looked at him with guilt and said, “Victor, it was my own foolishness. Go to Jiangnan and do your best. Show them that even without the Young Clan’s support, you’re second to none.”

“Thank you, Father. The Young Clan’s situation isn’t that bad. As long as we get through this crisis, things will recover. Don’t worry—Serena may not work with us anymore, but she won’t let anyone else sell the Prenatal Formula.” Speaking of Serena, she’s already been generous to the Young Clan. If she handed the Prenatal Formula business to Vincent Su or one of the clan’s rivals, things would be much worse for them.

Patriarch Young looked ashamed. “I’m just an old fool—greedy and shortsighted. Don’t worry, Victor. As long as I’m alive, the Young Clan won’t collapse.” Admitting his mistakes to his son took real courage.

Of course Victor Yun wouldn’t pressure his father further. He quickly changed the subject, and after a few heartfelt words between father and son—a brief show of filial piety—Victor left without a trace of nostalgia.

As for how genuine those heartfelt words were, only heaven knows.

Victor Yun and Caleb Wang moved into Serena’s house ahead of time. The Valley Master, Dr. Elliot Redwater, and Dr. Marcus Guile were nearly ready—once Prince Samuel Zhai and Dominic Zhai finished packing, they could all head to the Jiangnan region.

Because of the Jiangnan trip, Prince Samuel Zhai went to the palace and argued with the Emperor. The Emperor said Dominic Zhai could go, but there was no need for Prince Samuel himself to leave.

Grandfather and grandson—one of them had to stay in the Capital as a hostage. If anything happened, the Emperor would have a bargaining chip.

Normally, Prince Samuel Zhai would have obeyed, no matter how unhappy he was. But this time, he was determined to go all out.

Prince Samuel Zhai and the Emperor had a fierce argument, then Samuel burst into tears—lamenting the late Emperor’s early death and his own fate as an old minister with no good end. The Emperor was so angry his face turned black. Only after Samuel wiped away his tears did he say, “Your Majesty, I’m not going to Jiangnan for pleasure. I’ve had a chronic facial illness that flares up every few days—sometimes the pain is enough to kill. Serena managed to suppress it for a while, but it’s not a cure. This time, I’m going to Jiangnan to seek treatment from Divine Doctor Redwater and Divine Doctor Guile. They’ve promised to treat me.”

Samuel pleaded and threatened at once. The Emperor, wanting to show how much he valued his old minister, sent a hundred guards to escort Prince Samuel Zhai and Dominic Zhai to Jiangnan, and to stay there protecting them until they recovered and returned together.

Officially it was for protection, but really it was surveillance. No matter how dissatisfied Samuel was, he had no choice but to accept.

Serena patted Dominic Zhai’s shoulder sympathetically, repeatedly reminding Victor Yun and Caleb Wang to look after Simon Sun, before reluctantly seeing everyone off at the city gates.

Yes, Simon Sun was sent off to Jiangnan by Serena too—not for any special task, but just to get him out of the political mire of the Capital.

Commander Lucan Lu dared to use even Dorian Owen as a pawn—so who could guarantee others wouldn’t go mad and target Simon Sun? He had no family, and only a few people close enough to be used against him.

With Simon Sun gone, there was still the big headache of Dorian Owen. But Serena had a way to handle him too.

Serena hadn’t spoken to Dorian Owen for days. When she finally summoned him, Dorian was overjoyed, thinking she’d forgiven him—only to realize she was giving him a job, and one he considered utterly impossible!