Chapter 363: Resourcefulness in a Panic

’Hopefully, the Old Master can find a way to handle this and preserve the alliance with the Wu Family.’

’If he can’t, we’ll be in deep trouble!’

When Housekeeper Li and Li Gongde rushed to Li Gongming’s workplace, they found he wasn’t there. After asking his colleagues, they learned that Li Gongming had unexpectedly gone to West Mountain for an "inspection."

The two then hurried to West Mountain, where they found Li Gongming fishing by a clear lake. To their surprise, he was accompanied by two pretty young women, both around eighteen or nineteen years old.

Li Gongde looked at his suave, womanizing brother and cursed him internally. ’If my brother hadn’t been fooling around, would I have gotten drunk and blurted out the truth?’

Housekeeper Li shook his head and sighed. ’No wonder Old Sir Wu is so furious,’ he thought. ’He must have investigated Second Young Master Li’s private activities.’

Seeing the eldest young master shirk responsibility and the second act so frivolously, Housekeeper Li was filled with exasperated anger at their failure to live up to their potential.

Li Gongming was a little embarrassed to be cornered by his older brother and Housekeeper Li.

But as long as it wasn’t his father who saw him, he wasn’t afraid of anyone else.

"Big Brother, Uncle Li, what are you doing here?" Li Gongming asked, shooting a look at the two women nearby, signaling for them to leave.

The women understood. They were just companions Mr. Li had summoned to amuse himself, not the kind of people to be seen in polite company. Now that others had arrived, they couldn’t stay. They quickly gathered their things and hurried away.

"Wu Jianxiong came to call off the engagement," Li Gongde said bluntly, his anger clear. "Father sent me to get you. We need to go back and discuss our next move."

Housekeeper Li glanced at Li Gongde and sighed internally. ’The pot calling the kettle black.’

But since the eldest young master had spoken, there was no need for him to add anything.

Hearing this, Li Gongming’s face went pale. He looked at his older brother and forced himself to remain calm. "Is... is Father angry?"

"What do you think?" Li Gongde shot back. He was furious, blaming the whole mess on his brother’s philandering. "Let’s go. Don’t keep Father waiting."

"Oh." Li Gongming’s shoulders slumped. He turned to Housekeeper Li. "Uncle Li, do you know why the Wu Family is breaking the engagement?"

"The Wu Family found out that Guo Dongmei is pregnant, and they say the child is yours, Young Master," Housekeeper Li said, his face expressionless. "I have spent the last three hours looking for you two. If we don’t head back now, the Old Master will only get angrier."

Hearing this, both Li Gongde and Li Gongming looked grim. They knew that the longer they made their father wait, the more furious he would become.

In fact, Li Gongde wouldn’t have dared to delay this long if he didn’t want his brother there to share their father’s wrath.

’Neither of the young masters was a source of comfort.’

Housekeeper Li was disappointed, but he knew it wasn’t a servant’s place to comment on such matters.

It took Housekeeper Li the better part of the day, but he finally got the two young masters home.

Old Sir Li’s face was livid. He had been too furious to even eat his lunch. Now, seeing his two sons finally arrive, he snatched a nearby vase and hurled it at Li Gongde and Li Gongming.

A vase that large, thrown by Old Sir Li, would have surely split their heads open.

Li Gongde and Li Gongming scrambled to dodge it.

Seeing his sons dodge, Old Sir Li grew even more incensed. He grabbed the cup in front of him and threw that too.

This time, Li Gongde didn’t dare to dodge, bracing himself as the cup struck his body. ’It’s just a small cup,’ he thought. ’It shouldn’t hurt much.’ What he didn’t realize was that the cup was full of hot water.

"AHH!" Li Gongde shrieked from the scalding liquid. "Father, calm your anger! Please, calm down!"

Seeing his brother get scalded, Li Gongming rushed to help him out of his jacket. "Big Brother, get this off quickly before you get seriously burned!"

"I’ll go put some ointment on this," Li Gongde said, looking for an excuse to escape. He had no desire to remain there.

"Then... I’ll help you with the ointment, Big Brother." Li Gongming was no fool. If his brother left, he would have to face the Old Sir’s fury alone.

At that, Old Sir Li glared at his two worthless sons and roared, "You’re not dying! Now stand right there and don’t move!"

Li Gongde and Li Gongming, who had been about to leave, froze in place.

"Father, I was wrong, but this isn’t the time to be assigning blame. We need to find a solution, quickly!" Li Gongde said urgently. What was done was done; there was no hiding it now.

Li Gongming’s heart was pounding. It was his engagement being broken, after all. The fault was clearly his, and it had to do with Guo Dongmei. He felt his guilty conscience weighing on him.

"Yes, Big Brother is right, we need to figure this out now," Li Gongming chimed in. "The situation is delicate. Losing the Wu Family’s support will inevitably impact our future plans."

Old Sir Li stared blankly at his two sons. "Then tell me, what’s your solution? You two made this mess, after all. You’re both at fault here, for different reasons. Speak."

Li Gongming looked at his older brother, confused. ’My engagement is being broken, so what does that have to do with him?’

Li Gongde avoided his brother’s gaze. "I offended Wu Qiaoqiao in the past," he said. "Tomorrow, I’ll go to the Wu Family and beg for their forgiveness. I’ll do whatever it takes to be pardoned."

It wasn’t a sophisticated plan, but such a direct approach might just work.

"Alright. I’ll personally take you to apologize tomorrow," Old Sir Li said. He then turned to his second son, the one who usually made him so proud. "And how do you plan to atone for your mistake?"

"I... I..." Li Gongming began to stammer, his mind racing.

"Speak up! If you can’t give me a viable solution, I’ll beat you to death today!" Old Sir Li roared. He was especially furious with this son, the one he had been so proud of. The boy was incorrigible, completely unable to shake his lecherous habits.

But Old Sir Li seemed to have forgotten that he too had been a renowned playboy in his youth. Even now, he kept two mistresses in separate households, and had an illegitimate son and daughter.

What’s more, Li Gongming’s womanizing had, in the past, brought the Li family a great deal of valuable information.

But now, facing a much more dire situation, Old Sir Li had conveniently forgotten all the benefits his son’s behavior had once brought to the Li family.

"Why don’t we... why don’t we have Guo Dongmei get engaged to another man?" Li Gongming blurted out, a desperate idea striking him. "We can just say the child is his. The baby hasn’t been born yet, so Guo Dongmei has the most say in the matter."

Old Sir Li paused, mulling it over. ’He’s right,’ he thought. ’Paternity can be questioned, but maternity is a fact. The mother certainly knows who the father is. As long as Guo Dongmei says the child belongs to someone else, how can the Wu Family force her to claim it’s Li Gongming’s?’