This day’s upheaval was enough to be recorded in the annals of the Su Clan’s genealogical history.
All members of the Su Clan’s main family in the capital were detained together, awaiting the final outcome of this power struggle. They didn’t know the specifics—only that, from afar, they saw the high-ranking, powerful elders bound together like four quails, faces dull and stupefied, questioning the very meaning of life. Meanwhile, a youth of stunning appearance sat calmly in a chair, sipping tea, not even sparing a glance for his defeated subordinates.
“How is this possible…”
“How could something like this possibly happen…”
Several elders stared in disbelief at Su Weisheng’s young face, like broken record players endlessly repeating “Impossible”, yet they couldn’t produce a single shred of solid evidence to fight back. Their minds, overwhelmed by shock, were filled with nothing but the collapse of their worldviews.
The so-called “Little Ancestor” had arrived and beaten the four of them up in a group assault. And not just them—before any member of the Su Clan could even react, they were all forced to surrender in front of Su Weisheng.
That was because the High Priest had absolute soul dominion over disciples who had practiced the Su Clan’s core techniques.
Within the internal structure of the Su Clan, every generation maintained balance through mutual checks between the clan head and the Council of Elders. However, the current clan head had died too early, and the elders, having held unchecked power for far too long, had grown addicted to the taste of authority. Even in their twilight years, they clung to power without letting go. So when Su Ning discovered the existence of a “branch High Priest”, their first reaction was one of rejection and resistance.
Because, according to the Su Clan’s genealogical rules, if a High Priest emerged, both the clan head and the Council of Elders were to submit to him. In other words, the High Priest held absolute ruling authority within the Su Clan.
In the past, they never understood why that was. But now, the moment the High Priest appeared, under the terrifying domination of soul suppression, they finally—finally—understood the meaning behind those words.
And moreover…
The four old men looked at Su Weisheng in fear and awe. Throughout the entire beating, they had come to realize something even more terrifying. The person before them wasn’t some youth they could manipulate at will, but the true king of the Su Clan: Su Tiao, the Sixth Generation High Priest.
No one knew how much time had passed before the Grand Elder was the first to regain a sliver of rationality. He slumped to the ground and muttered, “So it was because the current High Priest was still alive… that’s why no new High Priest has appeared in the Su Clan for the past two hundred years…”
Su Weisheng gave him a strange look, as if confused by how he could ask such a foolish question. “The High Priest isn’t the Council of Elders, sprouting like clusters of Chinese cabbage one after another. Naturally, the next one only appears after the previous one has passed away.”
The cabbage elders’ faces turned pale, then green, then white again. They had never suffered such humiliation before. Yet now, even if they were furious, they didn’t dare show it.
The Second Elder glanced at the tightly shut doors of the forbidden grounds. At last, he couldn’t hold back any longer and scooted forward slightly, speaking with great difficulty under the oppressive weight of the soul’s suppression. “Old Ancestor, if you wish to take over the Su Clan, we juniors naturally have no objection. But this child, Su Ning, truly harbors the heart of a wolf. To seize power, he dared to trespass into the forbidden grounds to steal the secret treasure. He even wants to kill the reincarnation of our ancestor Su Laiyin to eliminate future threats. Such behavior is simply—”
He didn’t get to finish—he was cut off right away.
Su Weisheng found him noisy and waved his hand casually, speaking offhandedly, “It’s fine. Let him kill.”
“Ah?” The elders were dumbfounded. Wait—did the old ancestor even hear clearly? The one he wants to kill is your son, the reincarnation of Su Laiyin!
Su Weisheng seemed to think it still wasn’t entertaining enough and even turned to ask You Sui, who was standing beside him watching the show, “He wants to kill Yinzi. Do you mind?”
You Sui leaned lazily against the arm of the chair, pretending to seriously consider it for a moment, then replied, “If he really has that kind of idea, as elders, we can’t just blindly interfere, right? The kid’s grown up, he has his own thoughts. Let him be.”
The elders were completely stunned. They didn’t even have time to think about who this You Sui was. Their minds were filled with just one thought: Is this really our old ancestor? Did Su Ning use some dark ritual to summon someone up from the underworld and call them our ancestor?
Otherwise, how could he dote on him like this? He didn’t even mind letting his son be killed—just for fun?
While the elders stared at one another, eyes filled with suspicion, the doors of the forbidden grounds slowly creaked open. Su Ning stepped out, draped in an outer robe. Under the night sky, his face was pale, his brows and eyes sharp, and an unfamiliar, terrifying aura of pressure surged forth.
He was Su Ning. But in that moment, he seemed to be more than just Su Ning. Everyone who met his eyes felt a chilling fear, as if their very souls had been seen through in an instant.
Fortunately, he paid no attention to anyone else. His eyes locked directly on the young man lounging in the rattan chair, sipping tea at an unhurried pace. In that instant, his expression froze. His body instinctively recoiled.
Su Weisheng let out a brief chuckle. “Youngest, come here.”
Su Ning’s feet felt as if they had been nailed to the ground. He could no longer take a single step back.
And when that single word—“youngest”—was spoken, so lightly and casually, it struck like a bolt of thunder out of a clear sky. Even the elders’ expressions froze. Their eyes widened round as saucers, glancing back and forth between Su Weisheng and Su Ning, faces contorting with the collapse and reformation of their very worldviews.
Youngest… youngest…
Who else could be Su Tiao’s youngest son? Only the ancestor of their own branch of the Su Clan—Su Laiyin!
Under their disbelieving gazes, Su Ning had already stepped out from the forbidden grounds and walked up to Su Weisheng. He knelt on one knee before him, his back straight, his head lowered, and in a hoarse and reverent voice said, “Father, Laiyin has returned.”
A long, gentle hand reached out to affectionately ruffle his hair. The familiar touch made his heart tremble. The nearly uncontrollable swell of emotions forced his palms to clench. This was the reunion he had desperately fought for through three lifetimes of reincarnation. This was the father etched into his very soul.
Su Weisheng noticed the shift in him, lifted his chin with a hand, and when he saw the reddened corners of the young man’s eyes, he couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh. “Why are you still just like when you were little? Get up. I wasn’t around, but didn’t you manage just fine on your own? You thought your brother was useless, so you went and continued a branch of the Su Clan yourself. You really are something, aren’t you?”
Su Ning had just stood up when he heard that teasing remark, and nearly choked on the spot. His emotions instantly fell out of sync. One hand braced on the nearby chair, he looked at Su Weisheng and You Sui with utter speechlessness and despair, grinding his teeth viciously as he grumbled, “Father, Teacher—since you both recognized me so early on, why did you just watch me stumble around like an idiot the whole time?”
It had to be said, those two elders in his family were truly the textbook definition of drama enjoyers—people who found joy in watching drama, eating melon seeds, and stirring up trouble. Not only did they spectate and cause mischief, but they specialized in setting up traps for their own family members.
You Sui curved his fox-like eyes into a smiling squint and replied cheerfully, “How could I tell you that? If you uncover the secrets of the Su family yourself and report them to your dad, that counts as turning yourself in. But if everything gets discovered by Shengsheng, then what you’ve done would be considered absconding out of guilt. It’s a whole different level of seriousness.”
Su Ning: “……”
Back when he had stubbornly insisted on cooperating with the Jiaohuo to produce offspring through a special method, he had already thought about how disgraceful it would be. He had specifically instructed that the truth must be hidden and never exposed. He had even been fully prepared that after reincarnation, once his father woke up, he would do everything in his power to keep him from finding out.
Yet who would’ve thought that no matter how cautiously everything had been arranged, it would all be in vain. In the end, it was actually him who had taken the lead in digging up the family’s hidden secrets, and even went as far as making a fuss over seizing power and trying to get rid of Su Laiyin’s reincarnation…
Goodness gracious, I killed myself. These past few days, he had truly embarrassed himself to the utmost extreme.
Right now, he wished more than anything that he could travel back to a month ago and remake himself from scratch. But since things had already come to this point, he could only grit his teeth and try to salvage the situation: “Dad, I didn’t investigate this matter thoroughly enough before. Give me a bit of time, I can explain everything clearly…”
Su Weisheng looked at his frantic state with a hint of amusement in his voice, waved his hand, and said, “No need to explain. You’re already grown up. Whatever you want to do, whatever you should do, you naturally can make your own decisions. No need to worry too much about what I think.”
Su Ning slowly let out a breath of relief, thinking to himself that his dad had truly become more and more open-minded.
Su Weisheng paused for a moment, then added, “So the egg you incubated, and all these egg-children and egg-grandchildren—handle them yourself. They have nothing to do with me.”
Su Ning: “……”
He looked despairingly at his own father, whose face was full of dislike, and then at his teacher nearby, who was struggling hard not to laugh. So this was exactly why he shouldn’t have gone looking for reincarnations with some secret treasure and brought about his own doom. If only he hadn’t regained his memories, he would still be an innocent and happy little Lemon right now, rather than standing here as Su Laiyin, buried in social death, desperate to run yet completely unable to escape.
Also, which damn grandchild was it who was so brainless. Why the hell did they go and call his dad over?! If his dad hadn’t been here today, he could’ve pretended afterward to be the completely clueless version of “Su Ning”, like nothing had ever happened!
At this moment, his resentment surged to the heavens.
“…I’ll take care of it,” Su Ning spat through gritted teeth. Then he turned his head and fixed his gaze on his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, eyes cold, the air around him brimming with killing intent. He let out a sinister laugh, sending a chill through everyone’s bones, so much so that they all shrank together like frightened quail, trembling.
Su Weisheng and You Sui exchanged a glance and nodded in silent agreement. Since their little one was safe and sound, they naturally wouldn’t bother sticking around for the cleanup. They stood up, ready to leave.
Seeing this, Su Ning sensibly followed them out. The moment he saw a red luxury car parked at the entrance, he immediately knew it must have been Su Qian who had invited them back. His eyes flickered slightly, but without a change in expression, he silently opened the car door and ushered the two into the vehicle, assigning Su Nan to play the role of driver.
Standing beside the car with a smiling face, he said, “Dad, don’t worry. I’ll take care of everything here properly. Once it’s all handled, we father and son can have a good, long talk and catch up.”
Su Weisheng gave a faint “Mm,” his voice unhurried and calm. “There’ll be plenty of time to catch up later. Your brother’s been missing you, too. It’ll be a good chance for you two to share some thoughts on parenting.”
At the mention of Su Laijin, Su Ning’s expression twisted for a brief moment. Of course, he missed his brother, but he really didn’t want to see his brother, especially since he strongly suspected that Su Laijin had most likely already heard about his… “glorious” deeds.
He had avoided meeting his brother for two hundred years just to keep this from being discovered. Now it seemed there was no escaping a massive family-scale social-death disaster.
Su Ning took a deep breath and kept his usual smile on the surface. “Got it, Dad.”
Sitting in the car, Su Weisheng looked him up and down through the window and gave a smile filled with subtle meaning. “Not bad. Three rounds of reincarnation weren’t wasted. You’ve gotten much better at keeping your composure.”
You Sui, smiling with narrowed eyes beside him, helpfully finished the part his husband didn’t say: “Exactly. At the very least, when socially dying, you don’t break down screaming ‘Dad, spare me!’ right on the spot anymore. You’ve learned to hold your emotions steady and plan your next move.”
“……”
Su Ning’s fists were clenched tightly, but his face wore a calm and pleasant smile, as if nothing had happened at all: “Dad, Teacher, what kind of joke are you two making? What social death? I’m still basking in the joy of our little family reunion—it’s not every day the three of us get to come together again.”
The young man’s eyes curved into a harmless, well-behaved smile, his expression pure and sincere as if truly unbothered. However, deep down inside, a furious little version of him was already stomping around wildly, tearing his hair out and screaming.
【It’s been two hundred years! Two full centuries! He’s reincarnated three times and still can’t escape the fate of getting bullied to the breaking point by these two elders with terrible senses of humor!】
Behind his stiff smile, the mischievous elders finally left.
Su Ning turned around and swept his gaze across the group of subordinates, locking on with deadly precision to Su Qian.
“Bro-Brother Ning…?” Su Qian hesitated on how to address him. Seeing that Su Ning didn’t respond, he switched to another: “Great-grandfather?”
Su Ning’s tone was calm: “Just stick with how you used to call me.”
Su Qian nodded. “Brother Ning.”
Su Ning smiled with nuclear kindness: “So, was it you who invited Great-grandfather here today?”
“It was me!” Su Qian admitted cheerfully without hesitation. “I saw the situation going downhill fast, and right away I decided we needed reinforcements. I thought about who you trusted the most—it was definitely Great-grandfather. So I personally went to get him! Brother Ning, you have no idea—the timing was perfect. The Elders’ Council had just started their counterattack and were taking the upper hand, but the moment Great-grandfather showed up, he stomped the Third Elder right underfoot…”
Just remembering it made Su Qian visibly excited. “That timing was just a chef’s kiss. A little earlier or a little later, and it might not have had such a brilliant, dramatic effect!”
Su Ning listened stone-faced, his teeth grinding: “Yes, very perfect timing. You brought him back just right.”
If only his father had arrived a bit earlier, he could have discovered it in advance and made preparations. If his father had come a bit later, he could have smoothly played out the act of being Su Ning before anyone arrived and muddled through. But Su Qian just had to help him pick the perfect timing, making it absolutely impossible for him to avoid social death.
This time, Su Qian finally caught on that his great-grandfather’s tone wasn’t quite right, and his face instantly turned into a confused mess. “Ah? I—I invited the wrong person?”
Su Ning stared at him with a gloomy gaze and let out a cold laugh. “You didn’t do anything wrong. The one at fault is me, for being reincarnated this time without bringing my brain along.”
Su Qian: ???
Su Ning rubbed his temples, forcing himself to regain his composure and begin salvaging the situation. He gave instructions: “Since there’s no need to investigate the reincarnation anymore, send all the clan members back to rest for now. But no one is allowed to leave the old residence soon. All information related to the secret techniques is to be sealed off and strictly forbidden from being leaked. At the same time, strengthen internal security. I’ll handle the follow-up arrangements when I have time.”
“Yes.” Su Qian and the others adjusted their mindsets and began carrying out the orders. Soon, all the clan members who had been detained together were escorted away and settled down—only the Elders’ Council remained to be dealt with.
Su Ning slowly walked back to the gate of the forbidden grounds. His casual gaze landed on the elders—the few who had still been struggling instantly froze like statues the moment they saw him.
“You… you…” The Grand Elder still couldn’t face reality. His voice stammered so much that he couldn’t even finish a sentence. “You’re…”
“I am Su Laiyin.” Su Ning’s calm and understated tone shattered any last shred of hope they had. He said, “Before I passed away back then, I had already made arrangements. The Su clan must be kept in balance by mutual checks between the clan leader and the Elders’ Council until the High Priest appears. But after the previous clan leader died, you seized control of the family and refused to relinquish power. The current situation is simply the consequence of your own actions.”
The few elders’ faces turned incredibly unsightly.
The Third Elder was still unwilling to give up and raised his voice to argue: “But the Su family’s current prestige and status couldn’t have been achieved without our efforts. Even if the Elders’ Council hasn’t done anything meritorious, we’ve at least suffered and toiled. Even if you’re the ancestor reincarnated, you can’t just strip us of our power so easily—”
“You’re wrong.” Su Ning looked down at him from a height and said, “It is the Su clan’s secret arts that I left behind that allowed later generations to cultivate; It is I who reincarnated three times over two hundred years, repeatedly supporting the Su clan so it could have the power and status it holds today. Everything I have done was so that when my father awakens, there would be someone to use. And you, just because you carry a trace of my bloodline, have been able to hide behind it, recklessly squandering the clan’s power.”
“Now that the Su family is back in my hands, it will naturally once again become a sharp sword in my father’s grip. If you behave yourselves and obey, as my descendants, I naturally will not treat you unfairly. But if anyone harbors rebellion…”
He raised an eyebrow, a smile playing on his lips, yet full of cold mockery: “I can give you life, and of course, I can take it back.”
They looked at that handsome, smiling face with horror, as if they were seeing something more terrifying than a demon. They knew that the Su Ning without memories was already extremely difficult to deal with, and realizing that this Su Ning, reincarnation of their ancestor, possessed Su Laiyin’s memories, would be even more fearsome.
He was their ancestor; in bloodline, intellect, and cultivation, he completely dominated them. The Elders’ Council had no chance of winning at all.
The situation was hopeless. The elders’ bodies went limp, faces ashen—no strength left to struggle.
Su Ning coldly ordered people to drag them away. He stood outside the forbidden grounds, idly playing with the small jade pendant that had restored his memories, calmly beginning to arrange trusted men for the follow-up actions.
The current Su clan was merely living off the ancestral foundation left behind, wasting it away. The clan members were lazy, and the senior leaders held unchecked power, like a towering tree gnawed by worms, about to collapse. But that didn’t matter. He would slowly cleanse the atmosphere and transform the Su clan back into the proper form of a great family, reviving the name of Su and making it once again the sharp sword in his father’s hand.
Late at night, a gentle breeze rustled, and cicadas chirped softly.
In a corner outside the courtyard, a photographer carried his camera, faithfully recording the daily lives of the guests. There, the top star of the entertainment world, Su Ran, and Lu Huanjin, a ten-figure net worth investor from the financial circle, were sitting on the steps at the door, eating instant noodles.
Su Ran bit into a marinated egg and drank some broth, still alertly glancing into the courtyard a few times to make sure no one came out to catch them, only then continuing to eat his noodles in peace.
Lu Huanjin comforted him, “Don’t worry, at this hour my dad is definitely asleep. He won’t find out.”
Su Ran sighed, “How can Uncle Lu’s cooking be this terrible? Somehow it’s even harder to eat than when I cook—how strange!”
If it weren’t for that ‘luxurious feast’ being so terrifying, they wouldn’t have needed to sneak out late at night to eat instant noodles as a midnight snack.
Speaking of which, he felt a little sentimental: “Still, great-grandmother was clever. He took great-grandfather out to eat early to avoid this disaster. By now, they must have finished their big meal.”
Lu Huanjin noticed his calm reaction and found it strange: “You’re not angry?”
“What would I be angry about?” Su Ran said, “They’re a proper couple going out for their own time together. Why would I be jealous? I’m not great-grandfather’s concubine. As long as he doesn’t take Su Ning to a family gathering as a trio, I don’t care.”
Su Ran’s demand was simple. He said fiercely, “In this family, I must be great-grandfather’s only legitimate eldest great-grandson. Let the wild great-grandchildren outside go to hell!”
Speak of the devil, and the devil appears.
Before he finished speaking, a wine-red luxury car sped up and parked steadily at the gate of the courtyard. Su Ran and Lu Huanjin looked up just in time to see the driver get out and open the door. Su Weisheng and You Sui, chatting softly, stepped out one after another.
Before Lu Huanjin could react, Su Ran suddenly exploded loudly.
“You guys already went out for your couple’s time, so why is that wild great-grandson’s driver bringing you back?!” The great-grandson was completely broken. He stood up, trembling as he pointed at Su Nan, “I remember this guy, I remember him. Last time he came with Su Ning trailing behind—he’s Su Ning’s man!”
“Great-grandfather, you secretly went to a family gathering as a trio without telling me!”
The great-grandson was shocked, devastated, insane—his whole world collapsed.
Su Weisheng almost lost his hearing from that shout. He rubbed his ears and looked at the crazed great-grandson with a speechless expression, calmly saying, “Shut up. Stop making noise.”
Great-grandfather’s authority was absolute. Su Ran immediately fell silent but still pressed his lips tightly, glaring at him in frustration.
Su Weisheng glanced at his great-grandson, whose cold face couldn’t hide the red, rimmed eyes full of grievance—an expression of despair at betrayal. Probably not even Lu Huanjin running off after quitting the competition had made him look this shattered.
He hadn’t expected that, instead of being trapped in the battlefield of love himself, he would be caught every day in a battlefield of jealousy and rivalry among his descendants.
Su Weisheng found it both amusing and irritating: “Me having a meal alone with Su Ning makes you this upset?”
Su Ran moved his lips and, after a long while, mumbled, “He likes you so much… sooner or later, he’ll take my place and become the legitimate eldest great-grandson of this family…”
Good grief, still clinging to the position of “legitimate eldest great-grandson”, huh? Top star, you’ve completely given up on your main job and only want to schemingly fight for favor at home, haven’t you?
Su Weisheng patted his head and smiled meaningfully, saying, “Don’t worry, whether I like him or not, you will always be the legitimate eldest great-grandson of this family. Stop fighting with him over favors, or you’ll only end up losing out yourself.”
After giving this little advice, he went inside to rest.
Su Ran stood there dumbfounded, still unable to process the meaning behind great-grandfather’s words. Then he saw You Sui pass by him, also patting his head, and smiling while saying, “Keep it up, legitimate eldest great-grandson.”
After they left, Su Ran immediately slumped down to the ground, motionless.
Lu Huanjin rarely saw this top star so obviously gloomy. “Didn’t great-grandfather already promise you’d be the only legitimate eldest great-grandson? Why are you still unhappy?”
Su Ran irritably scratched his head, clicking his tongue, and said, “You don’t understand.”
Lu Huanjin looked at his anxious, wavering expression thoughtfully and said, “You want to confirm your place in great-grandfather’s heart through this identity, but you realize no matter how much you fight, he still really likes Su Ning. Ranran, you’re afraid. You’re afraid of losing him.”
Su Ran fell silent.
He unexpectedly didn’t argue back, just silently lowered his head and fiddled with his fingers.
Lu Huanjin wasn’t in a hurry either; he sat beside him, patiently waiting for him to slowly process his emotions.
After an unknown amount of time, Su Ran suddenly said, “It took me a whole month to slowly start accepting that I still have family in this world. But he can’t just, after I finally feel like I have a home, suddenly decide he doesn’t want me anymore, right?”
“I know I’m not a good kid. I’m quick-tempered, reckless, and immature. I don’t want responsibility. I just want to chase my dreams. So I tried to avoid the debts that belong to me. I don’t dare accept someone arranging my future, so I always go against him. I’m not filial enough, not smart, and not likable…”
His voice gradually sank lower. “I’ve been trying to change. I’ve been learning how to be good to him, learning to take on the responsibilities that belong to me, carrying the debts I should bear, listening to him, trying hard to make myself more likable. But no matter what I do, it feels like I can’t hold on to him…”
He also felt panic. These past two months felt like a fleeting dream, and when he woke up, he returned to how things were before—no family, no home, only endless conflict with the company and fans, trying to prove himself through rebellion.
Su Ran hung his head low, the half of his face hidden in shadow unclear. Lu Huanjin only saw his stubborn expression with lips pressed tight and couldn’t help but reach out to hold him in his arms. Forehead pressed against forehead, his voice gentle as he comforted him:
“It’s okay. Didn’t great-grandfather say you’ll be the only legitimate eldest great-grandson? If you’re afraid of losing favor, then work even harder to improve yourself. Let him see all the strengths and more likable sides of you.”
“How do I improve?” Su Ran was still lost, not even realizing how close they had become.
Lu Huanjin found him unbearably cute; his mind was practically unable to think straight. After racking his brain, he came up with an idea: “They say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. If you don’t want great-grandfather and Su Ning to go out eating together, why not learn to cook for yourself first?”
“I can’t learn…”
“I’ll learn with you!” President Lu said confidently, completely forgetting that he had inherited his father’s disastrous kitchen skills.
Yet Su Ran actually believed him and jumped up full of energy, “Then let’s start practicing cooking right now!”
“Let’s go!”
Lu Huanjin, of course, wouldn’t miss this perfect opportunity. He immediately went along with Su Ran’s enthusiasm, and the two of them happily ran into the kitchen ready to get to work.
Half an hour later.
Su Weisheng had just finished showering and changed into his pajamas, about to enter dreamland, when a loud bang came from the courtyard. He even felt the ground tremble a little. What on earth was going on?
He pushed open the door and stepped outside, only to see black smoke billowing from the kitchen, and two kids with dirt-smudged faces standing in the yard, looking bewildered—“You look at me, I look at you,” completely at a loss.
Su Weisheng was shocked. “You two are not sleeping and instead blowing up the kitchen?”
Su Ran instinctively wanted to stubbornly deny it, but Lu Huanjin covered his mouth. Just having learned sincerity, President Lu straightforwardly laid out their plan to great-grandfather.
Hearing about the “win great-grandfather’s heart through his stomach” cooking plan, then seeing the kitchen full of black smoke, Su Weisheng couldn’t help but fall silent for a moment.
After a while, he slowly said, “Zhaocai, from now on, great-grandfather will definitely bring you with him when he goes out. Stop playing with the stove, spare the production team and other guests.”
Su Ran: “…”
The great-grandson wore an expression of humiliation. He had managed to get extra attention from great-grandfather in a thoroughly embarrassing way.
I really love the character development of Su Ran ❤️