Chapter 766


    "You can''t judge my mother like that." Tracey took two sips of tea to suppress her anger.


    "For you, she may be a good and selfless mother, but for the n, she is a selfish member."


    Tracey frowned slightly at this censure, "How?"


    "A patriarch should do anything that benefits the n, but your mother hid her daughter from us.


    Until recently, we found out she had given birth to a child during her disappearance."


    Tracey was confused, "Why did my Mom keep my existence a secret?"


    "Well, that''s a long story. Are you patient enough to hear it out?"


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    "I came forthetruth."


    "We will find you sooner orter, even if you don''t show up now." The old man said with a smile.


    "Why?"


    "To inherit the family business. You will be in charge of both the n and thepany in the future,"


    Ramiro said generously.


    As a businesswoman, Tracey knew that there was no such thing as a free lunch.


    ''What the old man proposed is a windfall; if so, why did my Mom y dead and refuse to ept


    me?''


    Between Ramiro and her mother, Tracey believed in Tina. Now, she just wanted the truth from


    Ramiro.


    "What about telling me about this n, such as the history and the curse?"


    "Okay, as you wish." Ramiro''s voice came, "Our family excels in Geomantic Omen for generations."


    "Geomantic Omen?" Tracey heard this for the first time.


    "It is rted to the sky and the earth. It has another name, Feng Shui. We practise Feng Shui for


    generations."


    Tracey knew nothing about Feng Shui, but some strange words from Tina shed past her mind.


    Like "The vitality disappears together with the evaporation of the water; otherwise, it reverses."


    At funerals, Tina would look around and murmured words like wind, Qi, dragon, tiger, tortoise, and


    so on.


    If Tracey made an inquiry, Tina would say they were nothing.


    Now it dawned on Tracey that Tina couldn''t helpmenting on the Feng Shui of those tombs out


    of upational habit.


    No one had expected that Tina should know about Feng Shui.


    Ramiro continued after a pause, "This art was born in the Warring States Time or earlier times. Our


    ancestors were much smarter than us."


    "They summed up their observations about the rtionships between the stars in the sky and


    mountains and rivers on thend."


    "Feng Shui is not popr now, but people in ancient times, from emperors to husbandmen,


    attached importance to it."


    "It had wide application. As times passed, there were different factions of Feng Shui."


    "Some masters could tell the fortune of a nation, while some chose a good location of house or


    tomb formon people."


    It was true that Feng Shui wasn''t popr among the young generation anymore, as Tracey didn''t


    hear this before.


    "Then, what could our ancestors do?" She asked.


    "They were the top ones in this field. They served emperors." Ramiro looked excited and proud at


    this topic.


    What Ramiro said once appeared on the TV


    shows, but Tracey didn''t feel it real.


    "Weren''t they awesome?"


    "Of course. There are famous and powerful figures in history, and our ancestors helped them in the


    dark. Sadly, there are no records about our ancestors."


    "Geomantic Omen was advanced then, and our ancestors served only emperors or their


    sessors."


    "When a new dynasty began, our then patriarch would help the emperor to select the capital, the


    title of the reigning dynasty, and the tomb for their best interests."


    It sounded like a myth to Tracey, "Our family should be very prosperous then, right?"


    "I don''t think so, as every coin has two sides."


    "It is said that to be in the king''spany is tantamount to living with a tiger. And the reality is


    crueler than the stories in the TV shows. Emperors would grant you a reward when happy."


    "And one man may be beheaded because his words are not pleasant to the ears of the emperors."


    "There are three setbacks in our family history. Each one was a cmity, but our ancestors made it


    each time."


    "Thest one happened in thete stage of Qing Dynasty. Back then, there were riots, revolutions,


    and invasions."


    "The impotent Qing government was forced to sign unequal treaties with foreign invaders."


    "Foreseeing the copse of the Qing government, the then patriarch decided to immigrate into the


    US to avoid the extermination of an entire n."


    "They took advantage of the chaos to escape. What awaited them would be death if they stayed."


    From these few words, Tracey learned of the history of the R family. It urred to Tracey that those


    antiques in the hall should be the rewards from those emperors.


    It sounded like a myth, and Tracey marveled at the foresight of her ancestors.


    "Is the curse true?" Tracey asked. She was more ready to ept the curse now after learning the


    mythological history.


    "You have a point to call it a curse." Ramiro nodded, "All our patriarchs are female. Each family has


    its rules, and ours is that our art in Geomantic Omen should be inherited by females only."


    "It is odd that the first baby of each patriarch is a girl, though science or gics may exin this


    phenomenon now." "On the other hand, there is a belief that girls can do better in our arts than boys


    do, and it survives today."


    "As I said, a coin has two sides."