Chapter Eighteen Refusal

  "Qin Feng and Qin Hu challenged first, colluded with outsiders to bully their own kind afterwards, and still dared to kill people in anger. Is this the quality of our Qin family's descendants?" Qin Hongyuan sat there, staring at the crowd below, his voice cold and stern: "Qin Feng and Qin Hu are confined for a month! Qin Li was just defending himself and did nothing wrong! Alright, let's put this matter to rest for now. Everyone go prepare, tomorrow... let Qin Li recognize his ancestors!"

  The room fell silent, and all the legitimate, illegitimate, and collateral members of the Qin family stood there, facing the decision of the powerful head of the household. They had no power to change it, so who would be foolish enough to take the lead for someone else's affairs? The eyes looking at Qin Li were complex, this private son who was never taken seriously, from now on, his status will undergo a complete reversal! Even now, Qin Li's momentum has already surpassed that of Qin Hu and Qin Feng.

  At the clan assembly, he yelled at the scene and didn't receive any punishment, not even a verbal warning!

  Mo Lan sat in the chair, her face ashen. In order to deal with Qin Li, she had made many small moves these past few days. How much of it would fall into Old Master's eyes? Her position in the Qin family... And thinking about how her most beloved son, Qin Feng, might have his future ruined because of this injury, Mo Lan hated Qin Li even more. However, at this moment, she didn't dare to show any of it.

  Even after Qin Hongyuan finished speaking, the first one to stand up and express her opinion was: "I agree..." After finishing speaking, she weakly slumped back into her chair, feeling as if her heart was bleeding!

  "Wait..."

  Just when everyone thought it was a done deal, a low voice sounded, and to everyone's surprise, it was Qin Li! Everyone's eyes fell on Qin Li once again, their faces filled with shock, astonishment, and schadenfreude!

  "What else do you have to say?" Qin Hongyuan looked at Qin Li coldly, and if it weren't for those two business deals, if he didn't want to offend the Shangguan family, Qin Hongyuan even had the urge to slap Qin Li to death.

  Qin Li's face remained calm, not moved by Qin Hongyuan's threatening tone at all. He gently patted Qin Han Yue's back and said slowly: "I've said it before, I'm not a member of the Qin family! As for recognizing ancestors and returning to the clan, I have no interest in that!"

  "How dare you!"

  "How bold!"

  "Don't give face!"

  Several elderly men who regarded the Qin family's reputation as their life, suddenly became furious and spoke out to reprimand him. The three elderly men even stood up and rushed towards Qin Hongyan, saying: "Master of the house, you see this young man is untamed, has our Qin family ever had such a disciple? If he wants to join the Qin family, I'd rather resign!"

  "I concur!"

  "I agree too!"

  Qin Hongyuan's face suddenly turned red, almost vomiting blood. On the one hand, he was angry at Qin Li for not knowing how to behave, and on the other hand, he was angry at these few elderly elders who were incompetent and muddle-headed.

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, after a few elders expressed their views, many people below started to murmur.

  "This kid is arrogant, how can our Qin family want someone like this? I disagree!" The speaker was one of Qin Hongyuan's sons born out of wedlock, who was normally low-key and highly valued in the Qin family, with good relationships.

  As soon as he spoke, many people followed suit and expressed their views.

  "Yes, we disagree with such people joining the Qin family!"

  "This kid has the audacity to claim he's a Qin, but he's got nothing to do with our Qin family. We don't agree!"

  Qin Hongyuan's eyes coldly swept across the people below, and wherever his gaze passed, the voices grew softer, until finally, the conference hall fell silent once again.

  Qin Hongyuan didn't bother with anyone else in this family. Since it was already in his hands, there was no need for others to make decisions!

  Qin Hongyuan asked in a deep voice, "Qin Li, you are so ungrateful, aren't you afraid that I will investigate your responsibility for injuring Qin Feng? You should think carefully, as a member of the Qin family, the outcome of handling this matter is absolutely different from those who are not members of the Qin family!"

  This remark was a clear threat, and everyone held their breath, watching Qin Li tensely. Mo Lan and Qin Hu's mother and son on the stage did not expect such a twist, and they were all hoping in their hearts that Qin Li, this fool, would be stubborn to the end, and push the master back again, making him completely lose face.

  The Qin family may not be the number one aristocratic family in Huangsha City, but they are definitely not someone who can be easily trampled on!

  Qin Li smiled faintly and said lightly, "What the master of the house wants is nothing more than the business of the Shangguan family. Please rest assured that Qin Li's mother and son have lived under the eaves of the Qin family for 13 years and will know how to repay kindness. If we can successfully form an alliance with the Shangguan family, then it will be yours, the Qin family's. If not, even if I were to join the Qin family, what could you do? From your perspective as a member of the Qin family, wouldn't that just bring shame to you all? What I'm saying... isn't wrong, is it?"

  Qin Hongyuan's body trembled slightly, and his eyes gleamed with incredulity. His mouth opened slightly, and since he became the head of the household at the age of 50, for 33 years, he had never been so discomposed as today, being left speechless by a teenager!

  The other Qin family juniors were also staring at Qin Li in a daze, including the several Qin family elders who were looking at Qin Hongyuan with their eyes wide and mouths agape. They only now understood the real reason why the Qin family had formed an alliance with the Shangguan family through marriage! Although they had made some guesses before, they didn't dare to believe it. The Shangguan family had intermarried with other families many times over the years, but no one had ever been able to take away even a bit of business from them!

  The Shangguan family's business, no matter which one, makes people jealous, but who doesn't know the principle of keeping good things for oneself? They simply don't dare to believe that the Shangguan family would pay such a price for a demonic young lady!

  Several Qin family elders and many Qin family juniors who had reacted looked at Qin Hongyuan with a changed gaze, from the previous discontent to respect. The method used by the head of the household may have been problematic, but his heart was absolutely considering the future of the entire Qin family. Looking at themselves again, what else did they do besides cheering and disrupting the head of the household's deployment?

  Thinking of this, many people lowered their heads in shame, and Qin Hongyuan's illegitimate son, who had just been shouting the loudest, knelt on the ground and kowtowed to admit his mistake!

  "Father, I was wrong to blame you. I never expected that you would be so meticulous and considerate for the sake of our family. I... deserve to die!"

  "Master of the house, we were wrong to suspect you!" The crowd exclaimed in unison. At this point, even if someone had some doubts in their mind, they didn't dare to speak out and pick faults, or else they would become the target of public criticism.

  Qin Hongyuan nodded solemnly, not saying a word. The reactions of the crowd were already within his expectations. He had been keeping quiet all along because the alliance with the Shangguan family was not yet fully confirmed. If it got out and didn't work out in the end, the Qin family would lose face. But now that it's been exposed, just looking at the pale and guilty eyes of those elders, he knew his reputation within the Qin family had reached its peak! No one could surpass him.

  "Alright, this matter has not been finalized yet, don't spread it out, otherwise...it will be the loss of my Qin family's face!" Qin Hongyuan said in a low voice, then waved his hand, "All disperse, Qin Li, you stay behind!"

  The Proud Sword in the Clouds