The Favored Heiress
Chapter 714: Out of Spite

Chapter 714: Chapter 714: Out of Spite

In the afternoon, He Chen left the estate.

The clamor of the outside world continued, and everything that had happened at the hearing was still the talk of the town.

Meanwhile, Li Qiao and Shang Yu set off back to the old residence.

At two in the afternoon, the Council Hall was packed to the gills.

Shang Zonghai sat at the head, flanked by Shang Lu and Shang Yu.

Hu Ying and the other two Elders sat on the left side of the long table, opposite all the Patriarchs from Shang’s collateral branches.

Shang Yu, with a lazy demeanor, glanced around and curled his thin lips, "Who initiated this emergency Clan Assembly?"

Shang Zonghai, playing with his Buddha Beads, said with an insincere smile, "Old Hu, why don’t you explain? What’s the sudden emergency Clan Assembly for?"

Old Fox!

Hu Ying criticized him in his heart and found himself in a dilemma in front of a dozen Patriarchs from the collateral branches.

The emergency Clan Assembly was arranged by the Elders’ Hall.

Their original intention was to lead a discussion about appointing a new successor after today’s hearing.

However, the development of events was completely unexpected, catching him off guard.

Hu Ying hesitated to speak, and Shang Zonghai looked on at him, smiling but not smiling, "I heard that the Elders’ Hall has been quite dissatisfied with the current Shang heir; is there any truth to this?"

"Patriarch, this... it might all be a misunderstanding."

The Second Elder explained with an awkward smile, but his lack of conviction failed to persuade anyone.

The Clan Assembly occurred once a year, a matter of great importance.

In years past, there had never been an emergency Clan Assembly. This time, the Elders’ Hall had overstepped by privately inviting members from the collateral branches to the meeting without consulting the Patriarch and the Young Master. It was an overreach.

Shang Zonghai adjusted his glasses, calmly facing the Second Elder, "A misunderstanding? Weren’t you discussing dethroning Shaoyan and appointing Shaoheng as the new heir just the other day?"

Hu Ying’s face changed drastically. How could Shang Zonghai possibly know about the secret discussions in the Elders’ Hall?

Before the Elders’ Hall could argue, Shang Lu slammed the table with a cold sneer, "Did you ask me before deciding to appoint me as the successor? Have you few become so senile that you can’t even discern right from wrong?"

The Elders’ Hall has always been respected and revered within the family clan system.

Even someone like Hu Ying had always held a high status and had a strong voice within the Shang clan.

Nobody had ever pointed fingers at his face and accused him of being senile.

Hu Ying assumed the posture of the Great Elder, looking directly at Shang Lu with a display of resentment, "Second Young Master, it would be your honor to inherit the Shang clan, and it will be your future..."

"Honor?" Shang Lu, who had always disdained the duplicitous Elders’ Hall and now, emboldened by the presence of Shang Zonghai and Shang Yu, became even more unguarded, "I have no use for this ’honor.’ Why don’t you just say outright that you want to be the Patriarch?"

Hu Ying looked at him with fury, and his hand clenched into a fist on the table, "You’re spouting nonsense."

Shang Lu contemptuously kicked the leg of the table and leaned back with his arms crossed, "Great Elder Hu Ying, who do you think you are? Does the Shang’s successor change merely because you say so? The duty of the Elders’ Hall is to supervise and protect the interests of the family. It seems to me you’re not supervising and protecting, rather, you are... guarding your own thievery."

"Shang Shaoheng, stop slandering!"

Hu Ying had been respected all his life, and even Shang Zonghai had never discredited him this way.

Shang Lu rolled his eyes and spread his hands, "See, I touched a nerve. Enraged because I struck a chord, aren’t you?"

"Shaoheng."

"Shang Lu."

Two low and slow voices came from beside them, from Shang Zonghai and Shang Yu, respectively.

Shang Lu’s shoulders jerked as he pursed his lips and made a zipping motion across his mouth.

Hu Ying’s face turned red with anger, muttering about the family’s misfortune repeatedly.

The heads of the collateral branches remained silent as cicadas in winter, not uttering a word as they looked towards the three elders.

Before today, they harbored long-standing dissatisfaction with Shang Yu, and had plenty of scheming thoughts.

However, after the hearing, the members of the collateral branches chose to lie low for the time being and retreat.

If it were just a family squabble, the main and collateral branches could simply rely on their own abilities.

But Shang Shaoyan’s status as an Honorary Major General was indeed intimidating.

Even without a military rank, Ning Yuanyang had personally stated that Shang Shaoyan enjoyed all the entitlements of a major general.

This meant he could command the Military Department in combat.

If he chose to use his status as Honorary Major General to suppress with military force, it would be easy to annihilate the collateral branches.

The young master of the Parma Shang clan was someone they could not afford to provoke.

Before long, Shang Zonghai seemed to finally take notice of his surroundings and, not finding Li Qiao, turned his head and asked, "Didn’t the girl come?"

Shang Yu lifted his eyelids, his thin lips slightly turned, "She’ll be here soon."

Shang Zonghai compressed his lips, rubbing the Buddha Beads as he looked towards Hu Ying, "Great Elder, let’s put the matter of appointing a successor aside for now. I heard that the Elders’ Hall put in a lot of effort for Shaoyan’s incident?"

Hu Ying’s expression became constrained, and with a hint of cunning, he waved his hand and sighed, "Patriarch, you overstate our duty."

As soon as he finished speaking, he shook his head, "Unfortunately, we were too hasty. While advocating for the Young Master, we were also afraid that Shang’s family would be dragged down, which compelled us to arrange this urgent Clan Assembly. Now that the Young Master is safe and sound, there’s no further need to continue this gathering."

Shang Lu couldn’t help but mockingly retort, "Start when you say start, end when you say end, do you all bear the Shang name?"

The three elders: "..."

The heads of the collateral branches inadvertently frowned, their expressions showing some dissatisfaction.

"Second young master," the Three Elder, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly looked at Shang Lu, "you should know that if it weren’t for the Elders’ Hall’s effort, the Young Master and Li Qiao would not have been released from the police station so quickly."

"I haven’t said the Elders’ Hall overstepped, yet you have quite generously awarded yourselves," Shang Lu retorted.

A crisp and languid voice came from outside the door, and then Li Qiao pushed the door open and entered.

Everyone turned towards the sound, only to see Li Qiao’s slender figure walking in against the light, followed by Housekeeper Xiao.

Hu Ying narrowed his eyes and with a stern face, issued a dismissal, "Li Qiao, this is the Shang Family Clan Assembly, and for an outsider to come uninvited is quite impolite."

Li Qiao, leaning against the doorframe, contrasted by backlight, replied indifferently, "Come in."

Confused, Hu Ying glanced around and then noticed several people from the main police station entering.

The person in charge was Qin Song, who showed his police badge and nodded a greeting towards Shang Zonghai, "Patriarch Shang, sorry to intrude, but we’ve received a formal accusation alleging that Hu Ying, Qiu Xianzhi, and Huang Zhaochun of the Shang Family Elders’ Hall are suspected of framing our country’s Honorary Major General.

Furthermore, we have ample evidence that they incited the public to attack and slander the Honorary Major General online. This case is a joint operation between the criminal investigation team and the crime investigation department, and we need to take them back to the main station for an investigation."

The Council Hall fell into dead silence.

What about the crime investigation department?

Hu Ying’s eyes flickered in disarray, "Impossible, who reported this?"

Just as Qin Song was about to speak, Li Qiao, leaning against the door, lazily answered, "It was me."

Hu Ying, with trembling hand, angrily pointed at Li Qiao, "You..."

Li Qiao straightened up from leaning on the doorframe, took her time walking around the table towards Shang Yu, her gaze never leaving Hu Ying, "Great Elder, next time you arrange for people to post online, remember not to... use real names."