“This means that even if I don’t have the right person to give her, she still has the ability to cultivate them herself. Do you understand what cultivating them yourself means?” Old Marquis couldn’t help raising his voice slightly.
Wang Yuanwu and the old madam both fell silent. The old marquis’s words were simply too shocking.
A six-year-old girl possessing wealth, resources, and the ability to train secret guards—how unimaginable was that?
Training a secret guard was not simply about having money. One also needed cultivation techniques and instructors. All three were indispensable.
And controlling the people who trained the secret guards was the most crucial part.
The marquis estate had lasted for over a hundred years. Each marquis had only about twenty to thirty secret guards, and by now, that number had even been reduced to a dozen or so.
In training secret guards, the key was not wealth, but techniques and strength.
The reason aristocratic families had so many secret guards was because they possessed a large number of cultivation techniques that could meet the needs of these guards.
Of course, the techniques given to secret guards were only ordinary ones. The finest techniques were reserved for the direct descendants of noble families.
However, the marquis estate had risen through military achievements, and thus did not possess many techniques. Moreover, there were no particularly gifted children.
Wang Yuanwu himself had learned the inherited techniques of the marquis estate, but only superficially—he never reached mastery.
This had left the estate increasingly weak, showing signs of decline.
“Father, should we bring the sixth girl back to the estate now? Since Madam Tian has already been sent away, if we don’t bring her back, won’t we lose all contact with her?” Wang Yuanwu quickly asked.
The old madam also looked at the old marquis with approval, hope clearly written on her face.
The old marquis shook his head and refused: “No need to bring her back. Even if you go, she won’t return to the marquis estate. From her behavior, she likely intended to sever all ties with us long ago. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have left so decisively, without the slightest hesitation.”
“This… this child, how can she be like this?” the old madam muttered with dissatisfaction.
“Father, what if I go personally? She is my daughter. If she dares disobey me, that is outright unfilial—she would be condemned by the world,” Wang Yuanwu said somewhat unwillingly.
The old marquis looked at him, disappointment flashing in his eyes. How good it would have been if the sixth girl had been a boy! Then he could have bypassed his sons entirely and chosen her as the heir to the estate.
But alas, fate was cruel.
“If you do that, you’ll only push her further away. If you truly provoke her, you might even end up as enemies,” the old marquis warned, unable to help himself.
He was genuinely worried this son would act impulsively and go cause trouble at Piaoyi Residence.
Wang Yuanwu wanted to argue, but thinking of Wang Yutong’s temperament, he ultimately held back.
Because he realized the old marquis might actually be right.
“Yuanwu, why must you bring her back? People always say distance makes things more affectionate while closeness breeds resentment. If she is not in the estate, you can occasionally buy her small gifts, visit her, ask what she needs, and provide her with necessities. Let her feel your fatherly care—that would be enough.”
“Moreover, although Madam Tian has been sent to the manor and given a letter of release, who says a concubine cannot be taken back again? You can occasionally visit her, show concern, and let her willingly reconcile with you. If she even willingly bears you another child, then wouldn’t the sixth girl have nowhere to go?”
The old marquis’s scheme—yes, a scheme, an open and straightforward one—left the old madam and Wang Yuanwu as if a new world had opened before them.
So even schemes could be used so openly and irresistibly.
“But Father, will the sixth girl accept my visits?” Wang Yuanwu asked worriedly.
He lacked confidence and voiced his true concern.
“At first, it will be difficult. After all, you agreed to drive her out. Even though she also wanted to leave, choosing to leave and being forced out are two different things.
But as long as you sincerely care for her, she will eventually accept you. Also, if you can bring along Rong’er, let the siblings build a relationship—it would be good for them to support each other in the future.”
The old marquis couldn’t help rubbing his forehead. Even trying to please his own daughter—was this son truly hopeless?
“Alright, we’ll do as you say, Father. We won’t tell anyone else about the sixth girl for now. Rong’er is steady and sensible; letting him build a bond with her will surely be effective,” Wang Yuanwu said happily after thinking it through.
After their discussion, they finally felt relieved.
Although Wang Yuanwu and the others had guessed Wang Yutong was not easy to approach, they had not realized it wasn’t merely difficulty—it was that she would not give them any chance at all.
At Piaoyi Residence, after returning from the marquis estate, Wang Yutong had been in her study, copying down everything she could remember from her past life. Afraid of forgetting over time, she recorded it all carefully.
By the time Ah Wu sent Concubine Tian over, it was already nearing night.
“Miss, Madam Tian has arrived,” Chun Tao reported outside the study.
“Got it. I’ll be done soon. Bring her to the study,” Wang Yutong replied.
She put down her brush, blew dry the ink, arranged the papers in order, and stored them in a box before placing it into her spatial storage.
Some of these things were too shocking to be exposed, so she always kept them in her space.
When Chun Tao brought Madam Tian into the study, Wang Yutong immediately noticed something was wrong.
Instead of showing relief at leaving the marquis estate, Madam Tian looked vacant-eyed and dull, as if she were in a daze.
“Ah Wu, come in,” Wang Yutong said.
“Miss, did you already notice something was wrong with Madam Tian?” Ah Wu asked before she could even question him.
“Yes. Tell me what happened,” Wang Yutong said coldly.
“When I went to pick her up, she was already sitting there like this, motionless. I sensed something was wrong, so I didn’t even let her pack anything and quietly brought her out of the estate.”
He paused, then added, “When I told her to leave, she still didn’t move. Only after I said I was taking her to see you did she finally follow.”
“So she still has basic awareness… then what happened to her?” Wang Yutong frowned.
“Miss, I suspect she was frightened by today’s events. Why don’t you try calling her softly and comforting her? It might be best to let her cry it out,” Chun Tao suggested.
Wang Yutong considered it and decided it was worth trying. She waved for the two to leave, preparing to awaken Madam Tian herself.