This Assassin Is a Son-in-Law
[Original/Author — Rainy Night Trekker]
[TL — Spades]
[PR — Blitz]
[QC — Lumi]
Chapter 3 — Three Conditions to Become the Feng Family's Son-in-Law
——————
Could it be that my father's dying wish, which he asked me to fulfill by coming to the Feng family, was to marry Uncle Feng's daughter, Feng Yiyun?
As this realization hit Jiang Hao, he instantly understood why the Feng family treated him so coldly.
No wonder his father never told him the details of the wish before passing.
With Jiang Hao's personality, he would never agree to an arranged marriage, a relic of feudal tradition.
"Uncle Feng, was I really betrothed to Yiyun?"
Ignoring Feng Zitong and Feng Haoming, Jiang Hao turned to Feng Wanming.
Feng Wanming nodded solemnly. "It was an agreement, a promise, between me and your father."
"Uncle Feng, if my father's wish was for me to marry Yiyun, I'd like to call off this marriage," Jiang Hao said earnestly.
As the king of assassins, he lived a life of constant danger. Though he had temporarily stepped away from the underworld, it wasn't a permanent retreat.
The saying goes, "Once you're in the underworld, it's as deep as the sea—there's no turning back."
Marrying now would only bring harm to himself and others.
His request to cancel the engagement stunned everyone.
While others were surprised, Feng Yiyun's face lit up with joy.
"Jiang Hao, you hypocrite, stop pretending. You showed up at our house today because you heard my sister is getting engaged to the Wan family heir in three days. Afraid you'd miss your chance to climb our family's ladder, you rushed over, didn't you?"
Feng Haoming's face dripped with mockery and disdain.
"My brother's right—you're a fake," Feng Zitong chimed in, siding with her brother and her close bond with her sister.
Jiang Hao glanced at the self-righteous siblings, then at the others. Apart from Feng Wanming, they all looked at him with skepticism, clearly doubting his earlier words.
"If you want to prove you're not a hypocrite, leave our house now and never set foot here again," Feng Haoming challenged, glaring at Jiang Hao.
"Enough! Apologize to Haozi, or I'll teach you a lesson!"
Furious at his son's behavior, Feng Wanming stepped forward to discipline him.
Before his hand could land on Feng Haoming, Old Master Feng quickly stepped in front of his grandson. "Wanming, if you want to hit Haoming, you'll have to go through this old man first!"
Blocked by his father, Feng Wanming could only back down.
"He's just a beggar! What right does he have to be my brother-in-law?"
Emboldened by his grandfather's protection, Feng Haoming pointed at Jiang Hao, fuming.
Unnoticed by the others, a cold glint flickered in Jiang Hao's eyes.
Those in the 'Wolf' organization who knew him understood that when his eyes gleamed like this, the Wolf King was about to unleash a slaughter.
The killing intent surged but was quickly suppressed by Jiang Hao.
Feng Wanming was his father's closest comrade and brother. How could he kill his son?
With an icy expression, Jiang Hao stepped toward Feng Haoming. "Didn't you call me a hypocrite and tell me to get out? Let me tell you, I'll honor our fathers' agreement."
His voice was low and chilling, his gaze like that of a wolf, causing Feng Haoming, who had lived a sheltered life, to shiver involuntarily.
Swallowing hard, Feng Haoming retreated two steps, pointing at Jiang Hao shakily. "Dad, listen to this guy! He's too arrogant!"
"Enough," Feng Wanming scolded Feng Haoming. "If you hadn't provoked him first, would Haozi be this angry?"
Seeing his father still defending Jiang Hao, Feng Haoming stormed out in a huff, jumped into his Porsche, and sped off.
"Dad, are you really going to cancel my engagement with the Wan family and make me marry Jiang Hao?" Feng Yiyun stared at her father in disbelief.
Feng Wanming glanced at Jiang Hao, then said to his daughter, "Your marriage to Haozi was set twenty years ago. It cannot be changed."
"I'm not a commodity for you to trade!" Feng Yiyun's beautiful face burned with anger. "Dad, you've disappointed me. For your selfish promise, you're controlling my marriage and ignoring my happiness. You don't deserve to be a father!" Tears welled in her eyes as she spoke.
Seeing his daughter's pain, Feng Wanming's eyes softened with reluctance, but the memory of his comrade's sacrifice—taking a grievous wound to save him, leading to his family's ruin—hardened his resolve.
Seeing her father's unwavering determination, Feng Yiyun's heart sank. Tears streaming, she turned and left the house.
"I have classes at school, so I won't stay," Feng Zitong said, using her university as an excuse to leave after seeing her siblings' distress.
At twenty, a sophomore at Wuling University, her reason held water.
Li Yuemei, who usually obeyed her husband, was furious at him for driving all three children out. Glaring at him, she left the living room and returned to her room.
"Xiao Liu, arrange a room for Jiang Hao. Let him settle his luggage, take a bath, and rest," Old Master Feng instructed the housekeeper.
Jiang Hao tactfully followed the housekeeper out of the living room and upstairs.
He knew Old Master Feng was clearing the room, likely wanting a private word with his son.
Now, only Old Master Feng and Feng Wanming remained in the living room.
"Wanming, are you set on marrying Yiyun to Jiang Hao?" Old Master Feng asked, his face serious.
"Yes!" Feng Wanming met his father's gaze with firm resolve. "Haozi's father died because of me. If he hadn't been gravely injured saving me, he wouldn't have developed that chronic ailment, and his family wouldn't have fallen apart."
"Now that Haozi has come to our family to honor the promise I made with his father, how could I break it? What kind of man would I be?"
Old Master Feng was surprised, unaware that Jiang Hao's father's death was tied to his son.
After a long silence, he sighed. "By doing this, you're keeping your promise and atoning for your guilt, but it's Yiyun who suffers!"
"Yiyun is my daughter. I believe she'll understand her father's dilemma one day," Feng Wanming said bitterly.
"Almost everyone in Wuling knows about the Feng-Wan alliance. If you break the engagement now, it'll surely provoke the Wan family's wrath," Old Master Feng said gravely. "The Wans are deeply rooted in Hannan Province and have ties to the underworld. If they retaliate, are you prepared to handle it?"
"I can handle it," Feng Wanming replied, his face confident but his heart filled with worry and uncertainty. He had no choice—breaking his word and betraying his promise was something he could never do.
"Good, as long as you're prepared!" Old Master Feng nodded, pausing before continuing. "I won't oppose you marrying Yiyun to Jiang Hao, but you must agree to three conditions."
"Dad, name them! As long as they're not too harsh or deliberately difficult, I'd agree to thirty, let alone three."
Seeing his father's lack of opposition, Feng Wanming smiled.
"First, Jiang Hao must pass a three-month probation period before he can marry Yiyun."
"Why?" Feng Wanming asked, puzzled.
"If Jiang Hao is a criminal or has a flawed character, how can he be a Feng family son-in-law? Our son-in-law can lack wealth, talent, or background, but not virtue."
Feng Wanming nodded, agreeing with his father's suggestion.
"Second, during the probation period, Jiang Hao can live and eat in the Feng household, but you're not allowed to provide him any financial or material support, not even help him find a job. I don't want the Feng family to raise a lazy parasite who depends entirely on us."
Feng Wanming hesitated but nodded again.
"Third, and final, even if Jiang Hao passes the probation period and marries Yiyun, he must become a live-in son-in-law of the Feng family."
"The Feng family holds a prominent status in Wuling City. How could we marry our eldest daughter to a penniless orphan with no background? If word got out, we'd be a laughingstock."
Feng Wanming refused outright. "Dad, Haozi is my comrade's son. My comrade died saving me, leaving his family in ruin. How could I be so selfish as to make his only son a live-in son-in-law, cutting off the Jiang family line?"
Old Master Feng fell silent, acknowledging the validity of his son's point.
After a moment's thought, he said, "There's a workaround. Their second child can take the Jiang surname."
Feng Wanming paused, seeing his father's unyielding gaze, and finally nodded. "I'll try to convince Haozi."
...
The housekeeper settled Jiang Hao into a room on the third floor.
The room was at least twenty meters from the living room where Old Master Feng and Feng Wanming were talking.
Yet, their conversation reached Jiang Hao, lying on the bed, word for word.
It wasn't intentional eavesdropping—his half-step Huajing senses were simply too sharp, picking up their clear voices even through the door.
He didn't care about the three conditions Old Master Feng proposed.
From the start, he had no intention of becoming the Feng family's son-in-law, let alone a live-in one. His earlier claim of honoring the agreement was merely a retort to counter their accusations.
Money? Jiang Hao was the leader of 'Wolf.'
'Wolf' was no ordinary assassin organization—it controlled countless industries.
Diamond mines in Africa, oil companies in several Middle Eastern countries... even a prominent ancient family in the West was under 'Wolf's' influence.
As the Wolf King, Jiang Hao's personal wealth exceeded ten billion USD, stored in Switzerland's Rujin Bank.
To avoid exposing his identity, he simply couldn't access those funds for now.
After a bath, Jiang Hao sat cross-legged on the bed, shirtless, practicing the internal breathing technique his master had taught him, the 'Marrow-Cleansing Method.'
This technique absorbed the qi of heaven and earth, cleansing the body and strengthening the organs.
Internal martial arts focused on building from within.
The organs were the foundation of a person. A strong foundation allowed one to break mortal limits and achieve transcendence.
Jiang Hao's cultivation had hit a bottleneck, and meditation no longer advanced his progress, but years of habit made it as natural as sleeping at night.
After meditating, he glanced at his chest, where a coin-sized, faintly blurred dragon-shaped totem stood out.
Touching the raised totem, his eyes filled with deep curiosity.
This dragon totem wasn't something he was born with or artificially added. It had appeared abruptly on his chest when his meridians were reconstructed, and he stepped into half-step Huajing.
Did every martial artist nearing Huajing develop a dragon totem on their chest? Jiang Hao murmured to himself. Or was it due to some external factor, like a physical condition or skin anomaly?
...
Knock, knock!
A knock at the door.
Jiang Hao opened his eyes, got up, and walked to the door.
He knew it was Feng Wanming, here to discuss the matter of becoming a live-in son-in-law.
Opening the door, Feng Wanming stepped inside.
"Haozi, are you settling in okay?" Feng Wanming smiled.
"I'm fine," Jiang Hao nodded.
Feng Wanming sat down, made some small talk, and then relayed his father's three conditions.
To his surprise, Jiang Hao agreed almost immediately, without hesitation.
Jiang Hao's agreement was only to spare Feng Wanming difficulty. He had no real intention of becoming a live-in son-in-law—it was just a verbal commitment for now.
Three months from now, he might already be gone from the Feng household.
Feng Wanming was slightly taken aback by Jiang Hao's quick agreement, wondering if, as his children claimed, Jiang Hao was truly after wealth and status.
Though the thought crossed his mind, Feng Wanming didn't look down on Jiang Hao. Instead, he felt even guiltier.
If Jiang Hao's father hadn't died saving him, leaving Jiang Hao an orphan, would he have to lower himself for a chance at prosperity?
"Child, Uncle Feng has let you down," Feng Wanming said, guiltily patting Jiang Hao's shoulder before leaving.
He had more pressing matters to attend to—he needed to visit the Wan family in person to cancel his daughter's engagement.