Lord of the Desert

Chapter 410 Avoidance
The tenth day of August is the White Dew solar term.

The west wind comes, bringing an end to the hot summer.

Shen Mansion, Wuzheng Garden.

The light blue sunlight was slightly cool, and the red dahlia balls in the garden were gorgeous and round, except for the two outermost layers of petals which were wrinkled and faded.

"The framework of the matter has been decided. The location has been chosen to be Xujiadai, ten miles west of the city, with a total of fifty acres of land adjacent to the official road."

Shen Maya said slowly.

"Wen Jianzao from the Weaponry Bureau has been appointed as the general manager, er, that means the chief shopkeeper, and is now repairing the factory. In addition, Hong Fan brought back nearly a hundred people from Huaiyang State, most of whom have some skills, and are now helping over there. It is estimated that within a month or so, the factory will be in good shape."

He slowed down his pace and waited for Shen Tiexin, who was following behind him in a green dress.

The two of them stood beside the pavilion.

Across a pool of clear green, a small waterfall on the artificial rockery continued to hit the water surface, and the splashing water vapor condensed into small water droplets on Shen Maya's long beard.

"Why are you telling me this, old man?"

Shen Tiexin seemed indifferent.

"I want to ask your thoughts."

Shen Maya looked at her granddaughter for just one or two seconds, and her cold face unconsciously became kind.

"No idea."

Shen Tiexin replied casually.

"These major matters are decided by the elders of the clan."

She stared at the foam gathering at the edge of the pool, her lips slightly curled.

"Then do you still hate Hong Fan?"

Shen Maya pretended to test it unintentionally.

Shen Tiexin withdrew his distant gaze and looked at the green grass at his feet.

"Of course I hate him; he killed Xiao Yu'er, and in front of me."

She replied, her tone flat.

"But we can't blackmail the clan over such a private matter - Tiexin may not be sensible, but he's not that ignorant either."

Shen Maya felt relieved to see that her emotions were not as intense as before.

"According to the agreement between the parties, the clan will send someone to serve as a director of Tiannan Bank, mainly to perform supervisory duties."

"Will you go?"

He asked carefully, his attitude was completely different from when he was facing Shen Guoying, Shen Xingzhou and others.

Shen Tiexin's expression changed.

"Ancestor, what is this? You also said before that Hongfan will manage it personally."

She said angrily, and inadvertently said the name, her nostrils flared and sweat broke out on her temples.

"core……"

Shen Maya met her granddaughter's gaze and saw the mixed anger and fear in it. She couldn't even say the reasons she had made up in advance.

"Yes, actually it's for Hong Fan."

He could only be honest.

"Is it for the family?"

Shen Tiexin took several deep breaths and asked in a cold voice.

"It can't be said to be irrelevant, but it's more important for you."

Shen Maya looked away and confirmed that Wuzheng Garden was empty.

"I, your ancestor, am cold-hearted by nature. This is known to all in the Western Capital. In private, I don't even care about the ups and downs of my clan, as long as the inheritance continues."

"From me to you, there are six generations in total. I never paid attention to your father or your grandfather from the time they were born to the time they got married and had children, but you are different."

"When you were born, my ancestor was already 124 years old. He was stuck at the second level of the heavenly realm for ten years without making any progress. I didn't tell anyone at the time, but I had already lost the will to make progress and was too lazy to practice in seclusion."

"That's why I can watch you grow up, and you happen to be like me."

He wiped the moisture off his white beard and smiled a rare nostalgic smile.

"My grandfather is 143 this year, and he doesn't have many years left. When I think about the future, the only thing I can't let go of is you."

Shen Maya said casually, turning his head to carefully look at his granddaughter's flawless snow-white long hair that was very similar to his own, as well as her youthful and outstanding appearance.

"How could that be? You only know how to bluff me, old man!"

Shen Tiexin frowned.

“Even though Tie Xin doesn’t practice martial arts, he knows that the lifespan of the celestial beings in the earthly realm is 170 years!”

“That’s the upper limit.”

Shen Maya shook her head.

"The old ancestor did not live a peaceful life. He suffered from accumulated injuries and had not yet achieved the state of 'harmony between man and nature'. I'm afraid..."

As he spoke, he saw his granddaughter glaring at him, so he had to change the subject.

"Okay, then let's use the upper limit. It's only about twenty years."

"You are still young, and you don't know the temperament of time."

Shen Maya looked at the water and froze a path on the water surface with his breath.

“It is always generous when people are ignorant and squandering, but when you have experienced many vicissitudes of life and know how to cherish, it becomes stingy.”

He walked onto the ice with emotion. They stood in the center of the pool, closer to the waterfall.

Close enough to see the splashing water droplets shattering on the side of the rock.

"Grandfather, please don't talk about these irrelevant things."

Shen Tiexin didn't buy it and muttered.

"The ancestor is leaving, and Tiexin will go with him."

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

Shen Moya suddenly let out an angry roar, and when the sound waves faded away, more than a dozen koi carps of different sizes floated up in the pond.

Shen Tiexin said nothing and turned away angrily.

After a few breaths of silence, the old one was ultimately powerless against the young one.

"Tie Xin, the old ancestor has been paying attention to Huaiyang State for more than a year."

Shen Maya softened her words.

"Not just for Hong Fan."

he added.

"I observed the Feng family of Yunlan, and I also observed the Gong family of Zhaoxian. The result was that the entire family of the former was exiled, and the entire family of the latter was wiped out."

"why?"

"Because there are one or two purple gold beams in the clan that hold up the sky, the generations below are soaking in the honey pot and rotten from the root."

"Our Shen family is much stronger than the Gong family, but far inferior to the Feng family. To be fair, although our ancestors often scold Xingzhou and Yu Bo, they are actually not bad among the children of aristocratic families. But in another 20 or 30 years, when Maoxun and I are gone, do you think they can support this huge Shen Mansion?"

"I don't think so."

Shen Moye sighed desolately.

"I'm not just talking about martial arts. You see, several good talents have emerged in the Shura Sect a long time ago, but have they made any effort to make friends in the past few years?"

"They say that their personalities are incompatible, but they just think they are descendants of aristocratic families and look down on their backgrounds."

Shen Tiexin felt as if he had been shot in the knee when he heard this.

After all, she was even worse than her uncles and brothers in this regard. She once looked down on both Qu Luoyi and Hong Fan.

"Our Shen family was flourishing in the past few years, and now that the Liu family is gone, it's even more prosperous. The situation is getting bigger and bigger."

Shen Moye said slowly, and with just a wave of his hand he froze the four-meter-high waterfall in mid-air.

The sun poured down, refracting through the infinite facets of the icicle, gathering into a handful of brilliant golden fire in the center.

Shen Tiexin was fascinated by what he saw.

But Shen Maya's strong voice woke her up instantly.

"You must know that if such a large scene cannot be supported, it will collapse!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the crystal clear icicles shattered with a bang, falling into the deep pool like thousands of star sands.

The sound of water was like the rapid playing of a pipa, and then gradually stopped.

Shen Tiexin's eyes were out of focus and all he could hear was his own heartbeat.

"My dear son Tiexin, I understand that you don't want to practice martial arts, and I won't force you."

Shen Maya turned around and suddenly grabbed her hand.

"It doesn't matter if you don't want to marry Hong Fan, or even if you don't want to get married, but you have to trust our ancestors when it comes to judging people - Hong Fan not only has a promising future, but he is also reliable!"

"Can you trust me..."

Shen Tiexin pondered over this word.

It is indeed impossible to say that Hong Fan is an evil person who kills innocent people...

Many thoughts came to her mind.

Ao Zhixian is not innocent, but I should be, right?
Up to this point, Shen Tiexin had never had any daily contact with Hong Fan and had no understanding of him at all, but he was inexplicably willing to acknowledge his personal morals.

And through this recognition, she seemed to have completed an unconscious avoidance, and even the bloody light lingering in her heart faded a little.

The horrible storm like a natural disaster will not harm me...

Thinking of this, Shen Tiexin's cheeks turned slightly red, and she even felt a little disgusted with her special closeness to Hong Fan.

"So I want you to go on this trip to the south."

Shen Maya didn't understand her granddaughter's complicated thoughts, but seeing that she was stunned, she struck while the iron was hot.

"First, I want to temper your temper. Second, I want you to at least turn your enemy into a friend. If you can accumulate some friendship, I will feel relieved."

He said it almost in a pleading tone.

Shen Tiexin knew his ancestor very well and had no doubt about his love for him.

She also knew that he would do anything to achieve his goals and was good at and willing to disguise his emotions.

But since the ancestor has said so much, Shen Tiexin, as a junior, has no room to refuse.

"Grandfather, just go if you are determined..."

She said softly, twisting her fingers in her sleeves, unable to describe the feeling in her heart.

The long wind whistles in the Wuzhen Garden.

Invisible hands played, plucking the white petals of jasmine from the leaves and pulling the golden scales of autumn from the trees.

(End of this chapter)