Chapter 439 - I Won't Tell Her

"Why on earth are you asking me about your wife's mother?"

But there was no use denying it. Qing Chen caught his father off-guard and now he was grasping at the very strings he never thought he would need to hold on to. "I know you know something," it was a bluff but he had been dealing with his father all these years. He knew it all.

"Everything I know, Lizhao already knows, alright? Tell your wife to ask her father about her mother."

"She already did that, but there's nothing. He doesn't know anything other than the marketed story that you probably made up." Qing Chen caught him already. "What was it that the survivors told you at first that would be so cruel that you can't tell your best friend about it?"

"There is nothing," his father denied. "I don't know anything.."

"Oh please," Qing Chen said. "Please," finally meaning it. "Don't make me take it out of you."

Qing Zihao gave his son a pained look.

Alright, he was getting somewhere.

His father was getting torn. He wanted to say it.

"You can tell me the secret," he said. "I won't tell her."

Zihao's eyes turned to the side then drifted to his feet. "HE knows. Feng Lizhao knows." He pointed a finger to Qing Chen's face when he opened his mouth. "No, we're not going to meddle that business between those father and daughter. Do you understand me?"

Qing Chen made an irritated noise. "We're family! For crying out loud, Father. We're tired of being in the dark. If anything, the truth is the least that you can offer us. We're the ones suffering from all the shit that you made in the past."

Qing Zihao touched his son's knees. "You are so big on family but you couldn't forgive your own mother."

"That's different. The two of you decided to deceive us. I don't think I can let that happen to my wife. She's a mess."

"I'm sorry for that, kid," he said with real regret in his voice. "But it has to come from Lizhao. He decides for his daughter."

"So you're admitting that there's something there?"

His father finally gave up. "Yes, if you want me to point out the obvious."

"Is it that bad that you can't tell me about it?"

Qing Zihao hung his head. "Some people are not just who we thought they are."

There was only one thing that Qing Chen wanted to know. "Was it true that she killed her mother?"

=====

When Qing Chen got home that night, he was proud of the things that he had accomplished in terms of The Kingly Empire. Their PR manager, Violet, mentioned that it should be his father who would make the presentation about the invention.

She said, "That way, if they didn't like it and they think that it would be a stupid idea, we can just say that he had been insisting on it. We could blame it on him getting old. They'll just be glad that you're already the one on the highest seat. If it goes well then good for us, right?"

She quickly followed, "Besides, your father's very charismatic. He's the epitome of a people person. They'll surely like him. He could tell them that the sky is pink and some would still believe him."

Qing Chen told his father about Violet's plan and he only laughed at it. "I was right to put that girl on that head position. She's great!"

As his father said, he already had a few ideas for the name. It was  then that Qing Chen realized how amazed he was with his father. After having The Kingly Empire for quite some time now, he seemed to have forgotten that his father had helmed this entire company for the majority of his life.

Qing Chen liked "The King's Artificer" best for the name because it came along with the product name "The King's Artifacts". Plastic actually sounded fancy.

When they already finished all the business talk, Qing Chen quickly packed all the papers. "This has been great, Father. I'll have Violet give you the speech and the presentation by Monday."

"Yes, boss."

Qing Chen actually smiled at that. He WAS boss, after all. Then the next thing that his father said completely wiped off his grin.

"Now, let's talk about family matters."

"Sure," he said. "If you can get Lok and Wuming here, then yes, let's talk."

"Oh come on, Chen," his father complained. "That's not fair."

Qing Chen only laughed. "Well, I'm sorry, Father. But we suffered all those years. Endure a little more. We will come around one of these days, trust me." He was in so much of a good mood because of The Kingly that he was actually dropping out little hope bags to his parents.

"Just a little more then," his father agreed.

====

When Qing Chen already left, his mother, Hao Suyin entered the balcony again and placed her hand on Qing Zihao's shoulder. "Things went well with Chen?"

They both watched as their son's shiny car made its way out of the iron-wrought gates. "Yes," he squeezed on her fingers. "I think he's finally getting the joy out of it."

"That's great news, isn't it?"

"I can almost say that I can die in peace," he joked. "I know that he'll take care of his brothers. He has a good head on his shoulders."

"Do you think that he'll survive this war he started?"

"I know he will. It might take a longer time, but he will." He smiled comfortingly at his wife. "You missed out on a lot when you were gone. They are good kids. I think I'm ready to leave this world."

She dropped on her knees. "You can't say that, Zihao. We still have a lot to do."

He took her face in his hands and said, "No, we're done. These kids… they're almost done correcting the mistakes that we did."