Daily Intelligence System: Don't Kill Me, Honey! Chapter 1595 - 367: How About Making Her a Concubine?

Observing Mr. Guan exit, Du Zundao’s gaze froze, his expression hardening with palpable hostility.

This Duozhi Fox was hardly a model subordinate. If not for the dire scarcity of capable personnel within the Zoroastrian Sect, this schemer would have been discarded into the trash heap of history alongside Liu Futong long ago.

Either incapacitate him or finish him off.

Du Zundao had no patience for insubordinate underlings; he demanded absolute and total authority.

Once the door clicked shut behind Mr. Guan, Du Zundao commanded, "Summon Ah Xiong."

"Understood!"

Hardly had the command been uttered when subordinates ushered Du Xiong inside. Upon entry, he promptly knelt and spoke, "Father."

Du Zundao inquired, "Are you aware of your transgression?"

"I am."

Du Xiong replied with his head bowed. Hearing this, Du Zundao continued, "Then I shouldn’t need to explain your next move, correct?"

Du Xiong murmured, "I shall accept my punishment."

Du Zundao sighed as he looked at his son. "Abandon your thoughts of Caidie. That girl is no longer suitable for you. Once this affair concludes, you will wed Ling’er."

"No, Father, I refuse to marry Han Ling’er. My heart belongs to Caidie, and we are already betrothed."

Du Zundao heard his protest and shot back, "I have already stated she is beneath you. Obey your father and cast her aside."

"But Father, I love her! I will take no wife other than Caidie."

As Du Xiong persisted in his stubbornness, Du Zundao’s eyes chilled. "This is not a debate; it is an order. Just comply."

"Father, I...?"

"Are you questioning my authority?"

Du Xiong’s countenance darkened. "I will marry Caidie no matter what. If I cannot be with her, I would sooner spend my life in isolation, never taking a wife."

"You!"

Du Zundao flared with rage, glaring down at him. "Are you determined to see the Du family line extinguished?"

Du Xiong turned his face away, refusing to meet his father’s eyes. Seeing such defiance, Du Zundao let out a weary sigh. "Ah Xiong, why must you be so naive? This betrothal is merely a tool for influence. Han Ling’er is the daughter of the Sect Hierarch. A union with her secures the legacy of the Ming King’s bloodline. Should a son be born, our standing would become impregnable, paving the way for you to claim the title of Sect Hierarch yourself. This is what we call leveraging resources, do you understand?"

Du Xiong challenged him, "But, Caidie is no ordinary woman; she is the only granddaughter of Yushan Shangren. Surely marrying her provides benefits as well? The Master’s influence in the Sect is far more significant than that of the deceased Ming King, isn't it?"

Du Zundao scoffed, "Ha, you are truly naive, Du Xiong. Let me enlighten you. Liu Futong is finished; his life is effectively in my hands. Consequently, any assistance from Caidie is utterly redundant. Conversely, Han Ling’er is different—possessing the Ming King’s lineage grants our Du family the legitimacy we desperately need!"

"It also streamlines our path to securing the loyalty of the Sect’s followers. Do you see now?"

Du Xiong listened, eyes wide with shock, staring vacantly at his father. He couldn't wrap his mind around the claim that Du Zundao had fully neutralized Liu Futong. Such a feat felt impossible; after all, Liu Futong had always been a titan of an Elder in his eyes.

He could still recall his father’s immense excitement when he first begged Yushan Shangren to permit the marriage—he had acted as if it were his own union, and at the time, Du Xiong had genuinely shared in that joy.

Yet, as seasons faded, everything had shifted, and he found himself growing increasingly resentful of the arrangement.

But had he truly abandoned his feelings?

The pursuit of Caidie had been his own ambition. Back when he faced constant rejection, it was his father who urged him to persist, teaching him that women were prizes to be won through dedication, not to be abandoned at the first sign of defeat.

Now that he was willing to sacrifice everything for that very love, his father’s perspective had shifted entirely.

Neither he nor Caidie had changed. Yet now, the very courtship his father once championed was deemed beneath them. Why the contradiction? Why now?

Du Xiong was completely bewildered; the logic evaded him.

What he failed to realize was that, while he lived under the illusion that nothing had shifted, the world—and his father’s heart—had been fundamentally altered by the clash at White Deer Village’s Wending Mountain.

Firstly, Du Zundao’s ambition had surged exponentially.

Secondly, Liu Futong’s stature had crumbled behind the scenes; though still outwardly the figurehead of the Zoroastrian Sect, his true power had evaporated.

Under Han Shantong, the Five Elements Flag had been a unified force, with Liu Futong acting as the perfect, complementary deputy. But following Han Shantong’s death, the decentralization of the Flag’s command had allowed space for Du Zundao’s greed to fester into the current political reality.

Most crucially, the recent subjugation of Liu Futong meant that his life hung by a thread at Du Zundao’s whim. With such leverage, the granddaughter’s value had plummeted in his father’s transactional view. Watching his own son pine for Liu Caidie like a groveling dog had become an intolerable stain on his pride.

Simply put, Du Zundao was a man of extreme pragmatism, possessing entirely too little morality and not a shred of conscience.