Cheng Feng's loss of composure made Cheng Kunan shake his head. He couldn't help but say, “This boy is so obsessed with her! What a disgrace to the family!”

Mrs. Cheng got upset again. Her son was the apple of her eye. And she didn’t even bear to reprimand, beat, or scold him. Upon hearing her husband's complaint, she immediately retorted, “What's wrong with Feng? Why are you always so picky with what he does? What's wrong with him other than being head over heels over a woman?”

“I’m not saying he’s bad. What I meant was that he shouldn't lose his motivation just because of a woman. He is going to take over the Cheng Family in the future. How can he cope with the burden of being in charge of the family in the future if he continues to be so dejected?”

“If he can’t cope with it then so be it! As long as my son is happy, I'm happy too. Don’t you ever complain about him again! He needs some time to heal. You shouldn't push him too much!”

“Alright. Alright. I’ll listen to you. I won’t say anything bad about him anymore. Never again.”

...

The Lin Family’s mansion was a very mysterious place. Almost all the main family members of the Lin Family in the South Seas lived here. This was not a sign of their solidarity. It was an ancestral tradition that required all generations to live together.

The mansion was actually a large manor that covered a large area and had shops and schools inside, just like a mini-sized city.

Lin Pusheng, who was the Fourth Grandfather of the Lin Family, and Lin Wan's Fourth Uncle, was one of the main people in charge of the Lin Family. This middle-aged man with a gloomy face was currently sitting in his study, with his eyes shut tight, and was in deep thoughts.

After a while, several of his close friends and his youngest son arrived in the study one after another.

He had two sons. His eldest son who contracted a fever when he was young turned dumb and naive due to the delay in treatment. Whereas his younger son was actually his illegitimate child, which he declared to the public as his adopted child in order to save his reputation.

He named his youngest son Lin Danyang in the hope that he would bring him good luck, signifying the wish of the rising phoenix.

It turned out to be just what he wanted, as he gradually gained the admiration of the seniors of the family and secured his position in the family after the murder of his elder brother and his wife and the death of his second brother and his wife.

He was now just one step away from being the head of the family. His biggest challenge was his niece, Lin Dantong.

He and his close friends had racked their brains off to get rid of her yet was never successful.

As Miss Lin had always had many supporters, he did not dare to act rashly and could only try to find a way to force Lin Wan to step down and give up being the head of the family voluntarily.

Lin Danyang poured a cup of tea for his father.

“Father, I have been close to Dantong as we were childhood friends. If she hadn’t run away to escape her planned marriage with Cheng Feng who kept pestering her, we wouldn’t have been out of touch ever since. Now that we know Dantong's whereabouts, do you think it’s possible for me and her to…”

“Fourth Brother, Danyang and Dantong are not related by blood. In that case, there shouldn’t be a problem for them to get married. We agree with this marriage! If they can get married, it’ll help us form a stronger bond with the main lineage!” One of the relatives agreed.

Lin Pusheng nodded. He had this plan in mind too, which was to let his youngest son marry his niece and use the clan rules as an excuse to take over the clan power gradually. When the time was right, being the head of the family would only be a matter of time.

As for the fact that two cousins were marrying each other, he didn’t think of it as an issue at all. It was not uncommon for ancient families to marry close relatives in order to keep their bloodlines pure. Not to mention that he had kept his son's identity so well hidden that almost everyone thought Lin Danyang was just his adopted son.

“Dantong doesn't know any better, does she? She escaped to the mainland and got married without the family’s permission to a poor boy called Li Mu. What a disgrace to the Lin Family!” Another person voiced his complaint.

“Hmph, I heard that she was ditched and divorced by that man. The fact that Miss Lin from the Lin Family was ditched just like that is so embarrassing. How could she still have the face to act all mighty in front of us?” A middle-aged man said indignantly.

“Seventh Uncle, don't talk about Dantong like that.” Lin Danyang gave him a dissatisfied look, “It’s Li Mu’s loss for ditching her. He’s the one who didn’t cherish her. If Dantong is willing to give me this opportunity, I will cherish her forever!”

“Okay. Take it as me blabbering. So, everyone, what should we do next?”

Lin Pusheng stroked his chin and pondered for a long time before he said slowly, “Let's not push her for the time being. Things tend to turn out worse if we’re too keen. Let’s wait until she returns to the South Seas.”

“Return to the South Seas?” Seventh Grandfather mocked, “Fourth Brother, she’s now traveling around the world looking for her husband. How would she even consider coming back to the South Seas?”

Baffled, Lin Pusheng looked at his Seventh Brother with a confused expression upon hearing his puzzling words.

Seventh Grandfather explained to him, “According to a spy of mine, that brat continued to disturb Li Mu even after the divorce. And he was unable to cope with her being a nuisance and had escaped. Now guess who’s searching for him all over the world?”

The crowd murmured upon hearing what he said. They all agreed that what Lin Wan did was indeed a disgrace to the Lin Family, and that it wasn’t something she should do with her identity as Miss Lin from the Lin Family.

“Father, it seems like Dantong still has feelings towards Li Mu. If that fellow doesn't die, Dantong and I will never stand a chance. We must get him out of the way.” Lin Danyang said to his father.

Lin Pusheng nodded slowly and said, “Danyang has a point. That girl has always been obsessed with Li Mu. We need to find a way to bring this to a halt so she could finally change her mind. Besides, she’s being such a disgrace! We can't let her embarrass the Lin Family like this anymore. Li Mu must be eliminated!”

“Fourth Brother, Third Brother and Fifth Brother left in a hurry some time ago and brought many experts from the main lineage with them. Do you think it’s related to Li Mu?” A tall and slim middle-aged man said suddenly.

Lin Pusheng's brow furrowed as he replied with some confusion, “I don’t think there’s anything to do with it. But why would you think so, Eighth Brother?”

“Fourth Brother, this one thing alone is not enough to make me relate their actions to Li Mu. There is something else that made me think so.”

“Oh, what about it?”

“Well, the main lineage traveled without trying to hide anything at all. However, they left in a hurry, which made me feel suspicious. Besides that, they headed towards the same destination, which was to a southern city of the mainland. The person who ordered them was none other than Mrs. Hong.”

Lin Pusheng's eyes narrowed as he asked with interest, “Mrs. Hong, the one who is always with Dantong?”

The tall, thin man nodded in response, “Fourth Brother, Mrs. Hong has always been wise. This is not what she’d usually do. What she did indicates that she’s pretty disoriented now. The question is, who or what could have caused her to be so flustered?”

His words made everyone in the room fall deep in thoughts.

What he said was true. Mrs. Hong was always wise and rarely lost her cool. Hence it was obvious what could have caused her to act so impulsively.

“Father, what should we do?” Lin Danyang asked anxiously.

Lin Pusheng waved his hand and told his son to stay calm. He asked the tall, thin man, “Eighth Brother, tell us about your suggestions!”

The tall, thin man named Lin Pujun who was known to be alert and clever was a wise man that sided with the Fourth Grandfather.

After hearing his Fourth Brother's question, he replied nonchalantly, “Fourth Brother, according to my judgment, it should be related to Li Mu. He might be hiding in that city and have someone to back him up. And this backup is making Dantong and Mrs. Hong helpless, which is why they lost their cool and got help from the main lineage.”

Lin Pusheng nodded slowly.

“Eighth Brother, what do you think we should do next then?”

“Get rid of him once and for all!” Lin Pujun replied without hesitation, “What Danyang said is extremely true. Dantong can't let Li Mu go. And if he’s still alive, Danyang will never be able to marry Dantong.”

“Father, what Eighth Uncle said is right. Dantong's love for Li Mu will never die if he’s still alive! We need to get rid of him as soon as possible. I plan to personally go and find out where the hell Li Mu is. I must kill him with my own hands!” Lin Danyang said with hatred.

Lin Pujun chimed in, “Fourth Brother, I can go with Danyang. There will be no chance for him to escape once we locate him.”

Lin Pusheng crossed his arms, closed his eyes, and pondered for a moment before speaking, “Alright, Eighth Brother. I’ll have to trouble you to go along with him. You two can discuss the details among yourselves!”

Lin Pujun nodded his head in agreement.

Lin Pusheng continued, “Please keep another thing in mind, which is to bring Dantong back. The clan meeting of the eight families will start soon and she as the head of the family must show up! What is the point of her staying in that position if she’s not going to do anything?”

At these words, the crowd agreed. The ultimate goal was to oust Lin Wan from her current position. All the other reasons were just for pretense.

After the crowd left, Lin Danyang invited Lin Pujun to his residence alone. Upon entering the house, he invited the latter to sit at the main table and poured him a cup of tea.

“Eighth Uncle, what exactly should we do now? Would you mind guiding me?”

Lin Pujun crossed his legs and said cheerfully, “My silly nephew, this matter can be tricky. But it can be dealt with easily too. It all depends on how we handle it.”

“Eighth Uncle, what do you mean? Please enlighten me.”

“Danyang, when I say it’s not a tricky situation, I meant it's not hard to locate Li Mu. All we need to do is follow Lin Dantong closely and we'll get ahold of Li Mu’s whereabouts.”

Lin Danyang nodded and asked, “Eighth Uncle, by tricky, are you referring to how to get rid of Li Mu?”

Lin Pujun said with a smile, “That’s right. Li Mu must be killed. In fact, we must eliminate every single trace of him so we can put an end to Dantong's obsession with him. But of course, we can't be the ones killing him. At the very least, you and I can't be associated with his death.”

Lin Danyang understood it all.

“I get it now. If we did it ourselves, we will definitely become Dantong’s enemy. Even if we did get our largest obstacles out of the way, I won't have the chance of marrying her anymore.”