Chapter 233: Bringing Down The House!

Chapter 233: Bringing Down The House!

When Ning'er and I got back to the room, what greeted me was a bit of a surprise that made me pause at the threshold.

Movers were sweating as they carefully maneuvered a brand-new wooden frame into the servants' bedroom to replace the shattered one, their heavy boots scraping against the floorboards. Ling Ling stood right beside the doorway, tracking their rapid progress with sharp, calculating eyes while occasionally nodding as she watched them quickly work.

She was currently deep in a low-voiced conversation with one of the hotel managers, an older man with striking brown eyes and a neat head of white hair. Something about the familiar slant of his shoulders and the cadence of his movements made my breath catch in my throat.

I focused on the sharp line of his jaw beneath what had to be a masterfully applied facial disguise, and absolute certainty slammed into my mind. He is most definitely my Father in a disguise!

When the two saw us standing there, Ling's lips instantly curled into a warm smile as she waved her hand to invite me to come over, prompting Ning'er and me to step forward into the room. Ning’s body went slightly rigid beside me, her eyes narrowing as she locked onto the manager, proving that she also recognized him beneath the clever prosthetics.

I crossed the room and sat on the plush cushions of the couch next to Ling'er, feeling her shift closer to make room. Then Ning'er glided around the small coffee table and sat on my left, sealing me into a comfortable embrace between them.

With both beautiful women pressing softly against my sides, I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees as I pointed toward the open bedroom door and looked directly at my missing Father who was sitting calmly across from me. "Are those Masters moving the bed, yours?"

He smiled warmly, the crinkles around his brown eyes completely breaking through the rigid mask as he gave a firm nod. "Yes, and no bugs are present to overhear us after my thorough sweep, so we only have enough time to talk until they are done replacing the bed."

He leaned back, steepling his fingers with a sudden, teasing glint in his eyes. "Should I ask how it broke, ha-ha?"

I couldn't help but shrug my shoulders helplessly, extending my arm to point an accusing finger right at Ling Ling's smug, grinning face. "She made me jump on the bed with her to annoy Mei into thinking things were intense, and well, it broke."

Ning’s jaw dropped slightly in complete shock, her gaze bouncing between me and the bedframe as she realized she did not know about the bed until this exact second. She twisted her torso toward us, her fingers digging slightly into the sofa cushion as she demanded an explanation. "I always wanted to know, why are you and Ling Ling together anyway?"

Ling Ling smiled dynamically, leaning her head against my shoulder with a soft chuckle as she began making up provocative half truths to mess with her. "He likes big boobed small woman that he can Green Hat Sam with, fufu."

She shifted her weight, looking Ning'er dead in the eye while rubbing her stomach gently. "No, but seriously, who does not want the Yellow Emperor as a lover? Also on a side note, my baby is his, is that good enough, Mrs Tang?"

The playful atmosphere shattered instantly as my Father lowered his hands, his expression hardening into a stern glare as he asked me seriously, "Are you two really serious?"

I wrapped an arm tightly around Ling's waist, looking my old man dead in the eyes with absolute conviction. "Yes, and after this job, I want both Mei and Ling'er to be released from duty, so they can live normal lives with me, any issue with that?"

I shifted my gaze to the left, squeezing Ning's hand to show her I was ready to fight for her future too. "Oh, and also Ning'er here, I don't want them connected to the shadows anymore directly."

He let out a heavy sigh, shrugging his shoulders as he pointed a finger directly at Ning's anxious face. "She can't, she's technically the Shadows leader, and I work for her."

He reached into his vest pocket, checking a pocket watch before checking the door again. "Her Mother was in charge before as well, but Mei and Ling can retire. Tell him Ning, or he will think I am bullying you and then he will get pissed."

Ning'er pokes my shoulder gently with her index finger, a soft, apologetic smile forming on her lips as she leaned into my side. "Rick, he is not wrong, my position is hereditary, and I am taking a break for a couple of years to be with you."

She squeezed my hand back, her eyes shining with absolute determination for our future. "Then I will have to make more time back home, and you will be able to come and go freely in China, and no one will stop you."

Ah, I see. A sudden wave of reality hit me, causing a bitter taste to rise in my mouth as I realized the immense weight she carried.

I guess I just expected her to stay there in Eurasia with me permanently, but just like Lan, she has world-shattering obligations that she can't simply run away from. My Father then leaned forward over the table, his voice dropping into a tight, confidential whisper that filled me with cold focus. "We have sent many undercover sleepers to Eurasia to assist you when you move, mainly in the Central government, thanks to your grandfather."

He tapped his fingers against his knee, tracking the movers' steady pacing down the short hallway. "Ning will be able to contact me and keep us in touch. And when the day comes you move, Your Grandfather wants to be there for the fight to take down the Traditionalist for killing your Grandmother, well leading to her death anyway."

Ling Ling stood up halfway from the couch, her small fists clenching at her sides as she looked my Dad right in his disguised face. "Even if I am leaving the Shadows, I will be fighting by Rick's side all the way." She stamped her foot softly against the rug, her chest heaving with absolute loyalty. "I will not let my man go alone."

My father remained utterly motionless, his brow furrowing deeply as he stared at her, still perplexed about what Ling just said. "Your actions after training go against all I know about you."

He rubbed the bridge of his nose, shaking his head in disbelief. "You have been isolated all growing up, and yet it feels like you were looking for Rick all along. And may I ask why you held a knife to his throat?"

Ling'er casually sank back onto the cushions, waving her hand through the air as if dismissing a completely normal, everyday event. "Oh, that? He and I were just having foreplay." She winked at my father, her voice dripping with a devious, feline amusement. "Rick likes assertive women. Trust me when I say we have lots of fun together, he and I are kinda kinky, fufu."

Smack! I literally facepalm, burying my burning face into my open hand because she is embarrassing me to no end here in front of my own family.

My father, seeing my look of defeat, nodded slowly to himself, seemingly concluding that she and I are a bit special in bed, perhaps doing intense things other women would never dare to try. But sadly... He is right.

A real Masochist makes you push their bodies in brutal, extreme ways that makes a vanilla man like me blush still to this very day. I quickly cleared my throat, forcing my hand down to change the subject before she could leak any more details. "So, what is the real reason you wanted to see me in person?"

My father's playful demeanor vanished, a heavy layer of paternal worry spreading across his features as his gaze shifted between Ning'er and me. "Actually, I wanted to make sure Ning was being nice to you." He reached into his long coat, his fingers searching for something hidden deep inside. "She is a bit headstrong, and I did not want her to not care for you. So I wanted to see how you two were as a couple."

He paused, his voice cracking slightly with emotion as he bared his heart to us. "I know I told you two to marry, but I do not want you two to hate each-other, or a rift can form in your hearts. I also promised her mother to make sure her daughter found the right man... So all along I wanted it to be my son. And her mother agreed."

Both Ning'er and I looked in one another's eyes, our gazes interlocking as a wave of absolute shock rippled through her expression. I could tell she had no idea about this ancient pact, so I turned my head back to the table and asked, "Wait, are you saying what I think you are saying?"

Ning'er clutched her own dress, her breathing turning shallow and fast as she stared at the older man. "My Mother wanted me to marry Rick?! She never told me that."

My Father reached into his coat and handed Ning an old letter with a seal on it I am not sure about, sliding the weathered parchment across the wood.

He looked at the floorboards, his voice dropping into a solemn, grieving register as he told us, "Actually May Lee was involved back then with the incident."

He pointed to the envelope, his fingers tracing the outline of the wax crest. "You were still a newborn, and May Lee shielded you and Mei from one of the Li assassins, her ex-fiance. The bullet ricochet she took was from that time. The target to kill was your Mother." He took a sharp breath, his jaw tightening into a hard knot. "Well, after your birth, the Li had poisoned her and made her body have complications. The serum we had produced shortly after using Rick's white blood-cells kept death at bay."

Ning stood to walk to the side of the room, her eyes completely glued to the paper as she sought a bit of space. She lifted her hand, pressing her unique signet ring directly onto the wax seal, and it seemed to open it without destroying the contents, to show my Father had not tampered with it.

I intentionally turned my gaze away, refusing to pry into her mother's final words as she began reading. My Father continued to speak to me, his voice sounding hollow and weighed down by decades of heavy secrets. "After I faked my sister's death and the assassin's, I settled Ning and her Mother, then returned to Star City."

He rubbed his weary eyes, a phantom pain twisting his mouth. "I also needed more of your blood samples over time to save Ning's Mother's health. This is how I knew that May Lee was right about you being the reincarnation. This both pleased me and saddened me to know you my son was him."

He sat up straighter, looking at me with a profound sense of pride that made my throat tighten. "So I raised you with the best morals I could. Sadly, the Bank incident happened, sigh."

I leaned over the table, gripping the edge firmly as the core questions of my life finally demanded an immediate response. "Father, tell me why the Central Government branded you a traitor but did not kill you, and how did you live precisely?"

My father slowly leaned his head back against the top of the chair, staring blankly up at the ceiling molding. "To your first question... It was because both May Lee and her fiance died, and the mission to kill Ning's Mother had failed." He let out a dry, humorless chuckle that sounded like grinding stones. "They did not have proof I was a traitor, but branded me for the failed mission under suspicion. As for the bank."

He lowered his gaze, his brown eyes locking onto mine with a terrifying, raw intensity. "I slowed my heart to keep from bleeding out, in hopes your grandfather could save my life. But I had been heartbroken when your other mother died, so I was ready to die then with her." He looked to see Ning'er crying while reading and sighed heavily, his heart breaking at the sight of her tears.

Then he continued, his voice softer now as he filled in the blanks of his survival. "So your Grandfather indeed came with a medical team and stitched me up, then he gave me his blood on the spot to replenish my dangerously low levels." He mimicked the motion of an IV line tapping against his forearm. "After I secretly recovered from the close brush with death, Ning's Mother extracted me to China, where I donned the mask of the Shadow. And I helped raise Ning, while loving her mother till she died."

He smiled gently, a faint warmth returning to his tired face. "Although Ning is not my child, I treated her like this, because I loved her Mother as a woman."

Ning'er kept her back turned to us, her shoulders shaking slightly as she wept, but she seemed to not react to his confession of loving her Mother, showing me that she already knew that secret. I shifted my weight on the couch, digging deeper into the dark timelines of my early childhood. "Did you also love her mother when I was five? And what about our marriage?"

My father closed his eyes tightly, a wave of profound sorrow washing over his face as he prepared to reveal the ultimate truth. "Yes, I was her lover even before your mother Sally Tang." He gripped the armrests of his chair until his knuckles turned pure white. "Your Mother Sally was also poisoned by the Li, the same poison that affected Ning's Mother. That was why I was devastated. I was not right in the head back then, and should have realized."

He opened his eyes, staring directly into my soul as he delivered a revelation that shook me to my core. "The only reason your Mother survived to deliver you was because your Yellow Emperor power kept her alive just long enough to deliver you. If she had not been pregnant with the Yellow Emperor, she should have outright died."

He reached across the table, placing a trembling hand near mine. "So, You kept your mother Sally alive long enough to see you."

My heart tightened violently inside my ribs as a burning, toxic fury washed over my mind, realizing just how monstrously cruel the Li Traditionalists truly are. I slumped back into the couch cushions, processing the reality that my very existence was a biological shield for my mother's final moments.

I now know why Ning and I have similar fates, bound by the same ancestral poison and bloodlines, but my father had more to say. He leaned closer, his voice dropping into a harsh whisper as the movers began hauling the old, broken pieces of wood out of the room. "Your Mother's death was my catalyst to find a cure for the insidious poison the Li made, and it so happened that Ning's Mother was a biochemist."

He pointed to the letter Ning'er was holding tightly against her chest. "She and I had been working with the white blood cells of the Li, meaning she had been using mine, to synthesize different medical cures. This was the reason she had been targeted, for learning secrets of the Li family that the Traditionalist did not want China to have."

My father slowly leaned back against the headrest of his chair, his gaze shifting to track Ning'er as she finished reading the final lines of the letter. He fell silent for a moment, observing the way her shoulders trembled with revelation before he directed his words toward the specific details she had never been allowed to know.

"When Ning's mother and I first began utilizing your unique blood samples, she successfully managed to suppress her condition, forcing the poison into a completely dormant state." He paused, a dark shadow of grief passing over his eyes as he looked down at his own tightly clenched hands. "Well, that lasted until exactly four years ago, when the synthesized serum simply ceased to have any effect on her failing organs. I found myself completely heartbroken all over again. It feels as though every single woman I have ever truly loved has ultimately been snatched away by the cruelty of the Li clan. The three most vital, irreplaceable loves of my entire life... gone."

He cleared his throat, pushing past the tremor in his voice as he looked back up at me, a faint, nostalgic smile touching his lips. "Well, Ning's mother felt an immense sense of gratitude toward you for keeping her alive, and she made it her personal mission to learn absolutely everything she possibly could about your upbringing, Rick. She was not interested in you as the legendary reincarnation of the Yellow Emperor, but rather who you were as a young man growing up. She even found out about the time you recklessly risked your own life to rescue that young Kate Kong girl when you were nothing more than a child. Hearing those stories made her realize that you were a truly phenomenal boy."

He shifted slightly in his seat, extending his index finger to point directly at the weathered paper Ning'er held against her chest. "On her deathbed, she explicitly commanded me to do whatever it took to bring the two of you together, because she knew with absolute certainty that you were exactly the kind of man her daughter needed. Consequently, neither of you had any idea that she and I had already made the executive decision to secretly betroth the two of you from that moment on. That is the exact reason I used my authority to force the two of you into this arrangement, because you are fundamentally cut from the same cloth—a pair who share the exact same ultimate life goals, making you the perfect match."

He turned his head to look directly at Ning'er, his voice ringing with absolute certainty as the movers finished wrapping the damaged bed in protective plastic behind him. "Both of you actively seek absolute vengeance against the very same enemy, and both of your parents desperately desired to see you joined as one. Ning'er, let us face the reality of your lineage; your mother was entirely correct in her judgment, as only Rick possesses the ultimate bloodline required to properly match your status."

Ning'er slowly turned around to face me, her eyes red from her tears but completely filled with a new, profound sense of clarity. She took a slow, deliberate step toward where I sat, her hands folding neatly over her dress as she addressed me with a tone I had never heard from her before. "It appears my mother explicitly commanded this course of action from your father, leaving no room for doubt. Therefore, this Em—this Ning Tang fully and unconditionally accepts this marriage inside my heart."

She lowered her head, her gaze dropping to the floor between us as her posture became rigid with ceremonial weight. "Rick, it is now my absolute duty to ensure that you and I remain bound together for the rest of our natural lives... This is no longer just an obligation, but my own genuine wish now that I understand my mother's true intentions for my future."

A wave of utter confusion washed over me as I watched her sink into a formal, traditional bow right in front of the coffee table. I immediately pushed myself up from the couch cushions, reaching out to grasp her by the shoulders and gently forcing her back into a standing position. "Why on Pangaea are you acting so incredibly formal all of a sudden, can't you just stay the exact same person you were five minutes ago, geez? I seriously prefer it when you are just being your usual self around me."

I shook my head, letting out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding. Ling Ling sat perfectly still on her side of the sofa, simply watching the entire emotional display unfold with an amused, analytical expression.

With her extensive life experiences and background in the shadows, this level of intense family drama felt completely average compared to the chaotic operations she had witnessed over the years. My father pushed himself up to a standing position, smoothing down the front of his disguised manager's uniform as he prepared to make his exit. "Rick, my boy, I must leave this immediate area right now or my presence will inevitably be detected by the hotel's security sweep. I will see your face again when you finally bring Ning'er back home to China."

He walked around the table, stopping a mere foot away from me as he looked down with a sudden expression of heavy defeat. "Well, that will happen after you successfully dismantle the Li clan's power structure, of course. Take exceptional care of one another from this moment on... and for the record, I am entirely prepared to take your punch right to my jaw for keeping my survival a secret from you, and for leaving you and Mary entirely alone for all those years."

I looked at the weary, sorrowful expression on my father's face, matching his gaze for a long moment before I slowly shook my head, releasing the tight fist I had formed in my pocket. "No, living with the sheer weight and loss of three distinct lovers is already far too much punishment for one lifetime, but I do have one last gnawing question that has been burning in my mind..."

My father stopped his retreat, turning his torso back toward me as he gave a firm, supportive nod. "Sure, go ahead and ask."

"What is the actual, classified secret regarding the China Empire's internal policy with the Li bloodlines? The entire setup seems incredibly strange from an outside perspective."

I crossed my arms over my chest, waiting for the truth. My father let out a soft, knowing chuckle, leaning in slightly closer as he revealed the core mystery of our lineage. "Oh, that particular situation! Well, the reality is that every single citizen who exhibits any trace of the unique Li genetic traits is systematically removed from normal society to live within our hidden city located deep inside the mountains."

He gestured with his hand toward the window, indicating the far-off territory across the border. "They are essentially the political equivalents to the Li family branches residing within Eurasia, and seem to never produce the Yellow Emperor reincarnations, but their weaker bloodlines still make them talented humans, like Ning and her Mother. Ning had the trait of being excellent at computers, and her Mother was good at science. Actually the Imperial family of the Current China Empire comes from these descendants. But you are the current genetically perfect Li bloodline, and the reason you can have so many skills at one time, while the rest of us can only handle one talent."

He stepped forward, heavily patting his palm down onto my right shoulder as his brown eyes flashed with an intense, unyielding pride. "Ning has the security clearance to tell you all about the City of Shangri-la. It is a beautiful place, and the advancements in technology, medicine, and science are really exploding."

He paused, a brief flash of his notoriously nuclear sense of humor sparking in his eyes as he delivered his parting words. "This is the secret that we have been hiding from the world, Rick. So remove the cancer, and let the world discover what we have developed. Your mission is to improve this world, so let us do it. Goodbye son..."

The three of us stood in absolute silence, watching my father and his covert team slip out the door with the broken furniture in tow before the heavy lock clicked into place. The moment the room fell quiet, Ning'er reached out and tightly grasped my right hand, her palm slick with sweat as her chaotic emotions threatened to overwhelm her composure.

Ling Ling, on the other hand, did not give two shits about Ning's internal romantic drama. She casually reached into her pocket, pulling out a sleek metallic thumb drive and flipping it between her fingers as she looked up at me with a sharp, professional glare. "Rick, I will need you in my room for a couple hours a day till the mission, to go over the mission details, so Mrs Tang, for the mission, I will need him a bit."

Ning'er slowly released her grip on my fingers, exhaling a soft sigh as she smoothed down the fabric of her dark attire. "I will go and shower, and wait for you to do our duty, then after, you can work on your mission with agent Ling. I will need an hour to get ready for you..."

I stood there, watching the elegant sway of her hips as she turned and glided toward the main bedroom in that tight black dress. The moment her figure vanished completely behind the heavy wooden door, Ling'er instantly leaped forward, her light frame flying through the air until she landed squarely in my arms. "She is so dishonest, she cannot just say she wants to make love, can she, fufu."

She wrapped her slender arms securely around my neck, her cheeky smile widening as she pressed her cheek against my chest. "Hey Rick, I want to make love, then cultivate. I will breakthrough tonight, and stabilize by the mission. So I will need extra effort from you my Lover. Now let us look at this mission real fast before you try to make babies..."

Ding! The sudden, sharp chime of a notification cut through the air, causing both of us to instinctively pull out our devices as the screen flashed with an alert from the Harem-Chat network. I unlocked the screen, my eyes scanning the text that had just broken through our secure firewall.

[Victoria: Please call me about this new 11th wife Ning Tang, my love, so I know what to tell the others, call me ASAP, love you.]

Ling'er peeked over my elbow to read the glowing text, letting out a series of quiet, mischievous giggles as she slid back down to her feet. "Mission: Bringing Down The House, can wait. But Mission: My Ass Is Grass, will take priority, fufu. Good luck, come to my room later love..."

She gave me a playful wink before skipping off down the hallway toward her quarters, leaving me standing alone in the center of the room as I opened my contacts to call Victoria and explain the entire world-shattering situation.