"That is for others,"
his mother continued, her voice calm. "Besides, no one is forcing you into consanguineous marriage. There are thirteen eligible women within the clan, all distant relatives beyond three generations."
"..."
Zhuge Lan looked at his mother's placid, emotionless expression and felt a pang of incomprehension. "Mom, was it like this for you and Dad too?"
His mother looked at him, and finally, her tone carried a hint of fluctuation. "Yes."
"Back then..."
"Your father had someone he liked, and I did too. But neither of them were from the Marquis Wu lineage... So in the end, there was you."
"..."
Zhuge Lan couldn't understand. If they both had people they liked, why force the separation of two pairs to combine them?
In Lin Xiao and Wang Qiran's words, this was fucking insane.
The current Zhuge Lan also felt that this rule was indeed insane.
No normal person would do such a thing.
"So, Mom, you want me to end up like you and Dad?"
Zhuge Lan asked.
"Whether that happens or not, is not up to me,"
his mother continued. "The clan elders are still here. You are young now; they need to support you, and you need to listen to their opinions."
Listen to their opinions?
As Zhuge Lan heard this, a smile involuntarily appeared on his face. However, he quickly suppressed it.
It was a smile of self-deprecation.
To "listen to their opinions" meant that he, the clan leader, was merely a figurehead for now. All decisions were made according to the elders' wishes, nothing more.
His own opinions, his own thoughts, were unimportant.
Only the thoughts of these elders mattered.
This was precisely what made it even more unacceptable to him.
His mother naturally understood his unspoken thoughts and continued, "You are still young. Unless you gain the ability to make all the elders obey you, then naturally, everyone will do as you say."
"Because you are the clan leader."
After saying this, his mother placed the hat she had just finished making into Zhuge Lan's hand and left the room.
What if I gained the ability to make all the elders obey? What if my strength now surpassed all of theirs?
Suddenly, he clenched the folding fan in his hand.
For the first time in nearly thirty years, a profound yearning for power and a higher realm filled his heart.
He was Zhuge Lan, the person chosen by Mister Zhuge, and he was the current clan leader of the Marquis Wu lineage!
Therefore, he absolutely could not let such ridiculous rules continue!
...
Lin Xiao returned home.
For the first time, as he returned, a thought crossed his mind.
It felt good to be home.
Every time before, when Luo Qinghan told him to be careful when he was out, he hadn't paid much heed. He knew his own strength was more than enough to protect himself, that no one could do anything to him.
But in this short month, he had learned what it meant to be humbled, what it meant to have the will but not the power.
"Mommy, when will Daddy come back? Uncle Wen's cooking is delicious, but it's not as good as Daddy's," Xuan'er's childish voice reached Lin Xiao's ears.
"That old gentleman last time said your father would be back in a day or two."