Flying Wing Star, the Gu Family residence.
A middle-aged woman, wrapped in a bathrobe, nestled on the sofa, looking through a stack of letters and reports.
As she read the first half, her brows were tightly furrowed.
But as she got to the latter half, her expression relaxed.
Seeing the lady of the house's dramatic change in expression, the standing housekeeper couldn't help but ask, "Is it news about Hang?"
"Hmm," said the middle-aged woman, who was Gu Hang's mother, Wang Qi, as she casually passed the correspondence to her confidante, "You take a look too."
The housekeeper received the letters, read them thoroughly, and couldn't help but show shock on her face.
The appearance of a Great Demon on Rage Owl Star, the opening of a Demonic Rift...such news, of course, was heart-wrenching.
But since the matter was resolved, that was good.
She patted her chest, calming the aftershock of her fear, and handed the correspondence back to the lady of the house, saying, "The things Hang has done are too thrilling... We should still find a way to have Hang return, so we wouldn't have to live in fear every day."
"It's not that easy, a Planetary Governor's position isn't something one can simply step down from. But it's good, that brat went to a remote and desolate place and actually became sensible and accomplished. Going out to gain experience, a big change for the better, is certainly better than all those useless years he spent here on Flying Wing Star."
At this, she couldn't help but feel melancholy again.
Why couldn't it have been sooner?
If her son had been sensible earlier, if he had shown his maturity, his responsibility, his capabilities sooner, she wouldn't have had to exhaust herself these past years. She could have gradually handed over many matters to him.
The housekeeper had been with Wang Qi for many years and could semi guess what her mistress was worried about.
She thought for a moment and cautiously suggested an idea, "What if... we still give Hang a hand?"
Wang Qi looked up at her long-serving subordinate and asked, "Help? How do you suggest we help?"
Continue reading at empire
"Er..." she actually started to think it over, "Perhaps we could help Hang's planet by building some factories under the guise of aid? If ownership is tricky, we could put them under a new Gu Commercial Fleet, dedicated to serving Hang..."
"Building factories, too few is pointless, and too many, how could the family ever approve such an investment plan? Avoiding investments in heavy assets other than the Fleet is the Gu Family's principle."
While saying this, Wang Qi let out a derisive chuckle, seemingly somewhat scornful of the idea.
However, she eventually sighed, "That won't work, at least not now."
Her gaze turned toward the window, "I need to resolve the issue at hand first... If it all goes well, what's ours will be ours in the future, without having to heed the meddling of those old fogies."
Upon hearing this, the housekeeper became anxious.
She hesitated for a moment, then said, "Should we tell Hang about this matter? He's a governor now; perhaps he could offer some help?"
"Don't," Wang Qi said decisively, "Not a word."
"You're worried he'll still be influenced by his uncles, his older male cousins? But it seems Hang has grown a lot now, he probably won't..."
"Better safe than sorry. Once my affair is settled, he might hate me, but no matter what, the entire Gu Family will be his."
The housekeeper wanted to persuade further, but seeing Wang Qi's demeanor, she ultimately held back her words, only lamenting, "I hope Hang will understand your good intentions."
Wang Qi scoffed, "No need for his understanding, I'm merely transferring what should have been my husband's to his son. That brat, he better not cause me any trouble."
The housekeeper bowed her head but couldn't help rolling her eyes.
This mother and son... each was more stubborn than the other.
"Alright, you may go now. I'll rest for a bit myself."
With the mistress dispatching her, the housekeeper did not linger and turned to leave.
Wang Qi, left alone, couldn't resist picking up the already read letter and going through it from start to finish once more.
Then, she stood up, took a wooden box from the bookshelf next to her, opened it, and placed the correspondence inside.
This wooden box was already filled with a thick stack.
Gu Hang, far away on Rage Owl Star, had no clue what his old mother was planning, let alone the big trouble she was preparing to stir up for him.
At that moment, he was discussing the affairs of the Green Valley Region with his team of bureaucrats after multiple rounds of deliberations.
He had thought, after having demolished the stronghold of the Nature Salvation Society and banished the prominent Aberrants back to the Chaotic Abyss, that things in the south would settle down.
There was a fundamental problem with that land: the Aberrant Beasts.
After hearing from Hu Ke, Gu Hang roughly understood that the Aberrant Beasts on Rage Owl Star were not the doings of the Nature Salvation Society, nor of Demons. Essentially, they were a 'climatic disaster' that appeared following the ecological collapse of Rage Owl Star.
Rage Owl Star was once a developed world of energy extraction; the Spiritualized Gas Fields were its main output. The barrier between Rage Owl Star and the dark side of the universe, and the Spirit Realm, seemed particularly thin.
In the thinnest places, the energy of the Spirit Realm pierced the barriers of the two worlds, congregating in a certain area, and over the years, formed the Spiritualized Gas Fields.