Chapter 178: End of a rival

"I'll be painfully honest with you. Sister. You only know how to use force. You have no talent for politics at all. And I suspect that you know nothing of economics either. Do you even have any idea of what you would do if you were named the new matriarch? In fact, you would probably only obey the elders. And consequently, the balance of power within our family would be broken. Knowing Elder Huang Jian, he would never dare giving you commands but he would probably ultimately have to. Well, in one word, this would be a disaster. Don't you think so?"

Huang Lü was silent but her fists were clenched and her eyes cast downward.

"I have to admit that you worked even harder than I did. Clearly you're a great fighter." As soon as she added those words, Huang Lü raised her head and relaxed completely. This had taken her by surprise. She wasn't expecting any praise at all. Moreover, she had never shown her martial arts in public and her cultivation was average. Thus, it was terrible compared to the geniuses of the Huang family.

"You have no natural aptitude towards the Five Imperial Arts. However, you reached very high attainments in each one of them. How is that? Because you only worked on those with the sole and explicit purpose of becoming a great noble in order to take on the role of matriarch. This is why your cultivation is so low despite your talent. I suspect that you could have broken through to the Mortal Warrior realm four or five years ago if you had focused on it."

Everything Huang Cixi said was true. It was very subtle but after hearing her poems, Huang Cixi had understood all the work that she had done to make up for her lack of talent and passion into those arts. With her attitude and even the way her body moved, Huang Cixi had seen that she was more of a fighter than anything else. Not because it was apparent, but because she did everything to hide it.

"At first, you decided to pursue this goal in order to get revenge on this father who never took care of you and left you and your mother."

Once again, Huang Cixi was right.

"But when you came to Baziyun City, you finally met him. And slowly, you changed your goal. From revenge, you shifted toward protection. By becoming the matriarch, you could make sure that his reputation would stay intact even if his affair with your mother was discovered. And you could remain by his side as much as you wanted. That was your only goal, right?"

"Right..." Huang Lü's voice had become incredibly faint, and she answered without thinking.

"Huang Si probably knows about this already. That's why she didn't get rid of you yet. But it's not as simple as you think. Considering Elder Huang Jian's reputation, even if his indiscretion were to be known, it wouldn't change much. In fact, all the elders would try to keep it quiet and secret. And if Huang Si tried to make it known to the public, she would literally become somewhat of a traitor in their eyes. Spreading this kind of rumor could only weaken us after all. However, there's another problem.

"Let's forget about his past. In the present, Elder Huang Jian is the father of one of the few candidates to become matriarch. If it were to be known by the other elders, wouldn't it prove that you've been advantaged? This would really crush Elder Huang Jian's reputation among the elders as well as all your chances at becoming matriarch. You see... Huang Si could just say that to a few elders. In such a way, she would not be responsible for any rumor against our name. And yet, she would reap all the benefits of eliminating you from the course."

While she was listening, Huang Lü could perfectly picture it. If the adultery stayed within the Huang family, people could decide to ignore it completely. If it became public though, the Huang family would want to punish the one responsible for the rumors. However, it could be used more silently and efficiently. She had in fact never thought about this. Huang Lü knew that her father had never helped her because she was his daughter, but this wouldn't be the question anymore. The mere fact that he never said anything would be an issue. In fact, his mere silence could be construed as a way to help Huang Lü against Huang Si.

But something else became clear to Huang Lü. Huang Cixi talked as if only Huang Si had this idea. But this was her who was saying such words. And she could perfectly do it herself.

Many thoughts drowned Huang Lü's mind, until she got tired of it. She stood straight and went back to her usual demeanor, forceful and a bit harsh in her way of speaking.

"I have to agree with you. My fate is not to be a matriarch. I've never liked all those meaningless discussions and those artistic gatherings. All that was really a waste of my time. But, Huang Cixi, let me ask you something. Aren't you telling me this with the hope that I'll drop out and publicly support you instead?"

The first answer of Huang Cixi was a smile and a small laugh.

"I am not hoping for anything. Sister, I know that you like to be direct, so I'll be as blunt as possible. You will never support Huang Si publicly. We both know it. Then you only have two choices when you drop out." Huang Lü noticed the use of 'when' and not 'if'. Earlier it would have infuriated her, but now she had to admit that this direct side of Huang Cixi's personality was quite endearing. The young girl was right, she hated roundabout ways of saying things, which wasn't very good when vying to become the next matriarch. Strength was an important factor, but this position was highly political. The matriarch had to deal with the power struggles both within her own family and outside of it.

"Either you say nothing and I'll get the support of the elders in a matter of weeks. In the utterly worst scenario, I'll get them after beating up Gui Bei. Or you announce that you drop out because I'm better suited for the position, in which case I get their support in a matter of days. A few would probably stay indecisive but not for long as soon as my blood purity would be revealed. So, you see, this is only a matter of time. I win anyway."

After that, Huang Cixi walked past her former rival toward the door.

"But I can tell that you will support me. Right?"

Before hearing an answer, Huang Cixi reached for the door. But at the last moment, she added some words.

"By the way, Sister, as a show of my goodwill, I will warn you. I imagine that some of your servants were the ones who gave you many ideas about the way you should act. In fact, they even told you to come and see me in my chambers and then to deal with me at the poetry gathering, right?"

Hearing this, Huang Lü turned around immediately. Indeed, Cai Ying had been the one who had advised her a lot. Without her help, she probably wouldn't have gone so far.

"I see that you already have a name in mind. Well, I'm sorry to break it to you, but whoever you're thinking about right now probably works for Huang Si. I don't know how long they've been planted at your side. But there is no doubt that a few of your servants work for her. After all, she needed to use you to get rid of some of her own rivals. With what she knows about you, you were never a threat to her. Thus, it was smarter to send you against her competition rather than to deal with them herself."

After this final comment, Huang Cixi left the room and walked back to hers. Still standing in her private study, Huang Lü literally fell back in her chair and laughed out loud. Although the conversation had been tensed, all tensions in Huang Lü's body left her. Maybe she couldn't stay in Baziyun City after that, but she had a new clarity in mind. Even if she became matriarch, she could never have the relationship she wanted with Elder Huang Jian. In fact, it would become even worse as their secret could ruin the entire balance of power within the family.

For example, if Huang Cixi became matriarch, her grandfather would have to retire from the position of family head and couldn't even become an elder. Many rules were in place to avoid corruption and nepotism within the family. The Huang family fully adhered to the ideals of Emperor Nuwa and only merit and competence should dictate one's social status within the family.

Now that she let go of this dream, Huang Lü strangely felt happy. Trying to play a role for so long had been exhausted. Even knowing that people very close to her were probably working against her did not change a thing. Now that she had let go of this ambition that wasn't really what she desired, it didn't matter.

While she was walking back to her room, Huang Cixi heard a very short telepathic message from Huang Liyue.

"The matriarch can wait one month before knowing of this."

After that, her bodyguard stayed absolutely silent and did not question her young mistress at all. Even Huang Liyue had a good opinion of Elder Huang Jian. And she knew that Matriarch Huang Yufeng wouldn't want slanders to be spread about him, even if they were true. In fact, she might even try to help him out, for all she knew.

-

The next morning, Huang Lü had already sent words to all her partisans. She had decided to drop out of the competition to become matriarch. But more than that, she now officially supported Huang Cixi. And in the following days, she became a heated advocate of her taking the role of matriarch. People around her also noticed a shift in her personality.

Only a few days ago, she was always going to public gatherings and attending artistic events. But suddenly, she started to spend most of her time training and sparring with other members of the Huang family. Even her personality seemed to be more relaxed. She was still direct, forceful and a bit arrogant. But now there was also a more playful part in her remarks. In a word, her character had become lighter.

Everyone got surprised in the Huang family, even Family Head Huang Yi. Despite the confidence he had in his granddaughter, it all seemed way too fast.

Only one person wasn't that surprised, Huang Si.

Just as Huang Cixi had predicted, she knew about the relationship between Huang Lü and Elder Huang Jian. It had taken her several months of digging up information and careful observation to be absolutely sure of her. Once she had been, her plan had become obvious. Exactly like Huang Cixi had said, she wouldn't use the adultery to destroy Elder Huang Jian or even Huang Lü. Instead, she intended to use her blood relation to discredit Huang Lü's morality. Even without further proof, it would instill a doubt that maybe she had used her kinship to curry favor.

With this, she was sure of her success.

The only thing she wasn't sure about was Huang Cixi. Cai Ying had been the one to put ideas in the mind of Huang Lü to send her against Huang Si's rivals. With Huang Cixi, this was a way to test her out without having to do anything. Unfortunately, the test had proven that Huang Cixi was a real threat to her in this competition. And right now, Huang Cixi had the momentum with her after obtaining so much credit from Huang Lü. Even if Huang Si were to use Huang Lü's family tree against her, it could strengthen the position of Huang Cixi instead of hers.

Indeed, the elders wouldn't be stupid to the point of not understanding her stratagem. And with Elder Huang Jian's great reputation, many elders would prefer to side with the one who did nothing against him.

However, Huang Si had to do something about it. Unlike Huang Lü, this woman was very patient. Even so, waiting for Gui Bei's duel would be a bit too late... Thankfully, in a week, she would get a perfect opportunity.

-

In a small courtyard of Baziyun City, Gui Bei was meditating. Since his confrontation with Huang Cixi, he could barely control his emotions. The longer he was unable to calm himself, the higher the risk for him to develop an inner demon was. But each time he thought about Huang Cixi, he saw the ridicule in the eyes of all the nobles of Baziyun City. In his mind, everyone was mocking him in secret. And the only way to make it stop was to shame Huang Cixi in her own home.

But he didn't trust her at all. Maybe she would use her family to pressure him or create a trap. After all, in the spur of the moment, he had accepted to fight in her own residence. The Huang family would probably want to destroy him. In fact, it was possible that they would kill him and pin some made-up crime on him. The more Gui Bei was thinking, the darker and more twisted his thoughts became.

Finally, he decided to stop. Paradoxically, if he tried to expunge the possibility of forming an inner demon, he would instead give birth to it. Moreover, he also felt the voice that was hurting his mind in the back of his head. It was difficult to make up what the voice said but it was clearly trying to talk to him. And this wasn't the only thing he felt. Since his departure from Governor Leng's residence, many spiritual senses were always locked on him.

No Mortal cultivator, not even a Mortal Warrior, should have been able to feel them. In fact, neither Huang Cixi nor Cao Yun with their mind cultivation would have been capable of such a feat. But since his past expedition, Gui Bei was able to do so. And he had to find a way to escape their surveillance. Right now, the only choice he had to be sure of his victory over Huang Cixi was to go back where he had gone before.

He knew that this was extremely dangerous. After all, during his expedition, he had been with eight other cultivators. In the end, they had all died but him. In exchange, his cultivation had soared in a spectacular manner. If he were able to go even deeper, he even had a small hope of exceeding Huang Cixi's current cultivation. But if he waited for too long, he would miss this opportunity. The earlier he went, the more time he would have to advance his cultivation and the higher he could climb before beating Huang Cixi.