Chapter 60: Contention
Chapter 60: Chapter 60: Contention
The group returned to the Chen Family estate.
Chen Zhengping spun around abruptly. His gaze, like a bolt of cold lightning, swept across every face present as he spoke in a harsh tone, "Alright, the funeral is over. Now, it’s time to talk business."
He surveyed the room, his eyes finally landing on Chen Li. "My grandfather is newly deceased. As the son of the main line, all the family’s land deeds, property titles, and liquid assets should, by both custom and law, be inherited by me, Chen Zhengping. Mother, go get the deeds. I ask everyone present to bear witness as the land and property titles are transferred to my name immediately."
The moment he spoke, the crowd was stunned. It seemed no one expected Chen Zhengping to start fighting over the family inheritance the instant he returned home.
Beside them, Chen Yongxiao shot up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. "No! Absolutely not!"
He pointed at Chen Zhengping, his finger trembling. "Chen Zhengping! What right do you have to inherit anything? You weren’t here to attend to your father when he passed. When your grandfather was critically ill, did you come to fulfill your filial duties for even a single day? And now you open your mouth and demand the family’s lands and properties?"
Chen Zhengping’s face turned ashen with rage. He snarled, "Bullshit! My father was the eldest son, and I am the grandfather’s eldest legitimate grandson. The patriarch’s assets should have been inherited by the Eldest Branch from the start. What right does a live-in son-in-law, who married into another family long ago, have to point fingers here?"
"I... How am I not qualified? Who says I’m a live-in son-in-law? My name is recorded clearly in the family genealogy!"
Chen Yongxiao stuck out his neck, his face flushing crimson. "The Court’s laws are written perfectly clearly: when a father dies, the son inherits. The patriarch’s property should naturally be inherited by his son. These lands, these deeds, are all in my father’s name. I am his biological son, so it is only right that I, Chen Yongxiao, inherit them. You, Chen Zhengping, can only inherit what was under your father Chen Yongquan’s name."
Chen Zhengping’s mother, Mrs. Wang of the Chen Family, rushed up to Chen Yongxiao, her finger nearly poking him in the face. "Damn you to hell, Chen Yongxiao! You ungrateful bastard! When you came crawling back in disgrace all those years ago, who was it that helped you? Now my husband’s bones aren’t even cold, and you want to snatch away the last bit of hope for a widow and her orphan son? Do you have no conscience? Do you have a shred of humanity left?"
Being cursed at like this, Chen Yongxiao’s face alternated between red and white. He trembled with fury and shot back without thinking, "You stupid woman, you still dare to cause trouble? If you hadn’t let Zhengtong and Big Brother fight over a woman, how would Big Brother have died?"
At his words, the onlookers’ expressions turned strange.
The Chen Family had always found Chen Yongquan’s death peculiar. Hearing this, could there be a hidden story?
Mrs. Wang of the Chen Family’s expression changed dramatically. She began to throw a tantrum, wailing and rolling on the ground, tears and snot streaming down her face. She looked like a madwoman, her sobs heart-wrenching. "Father! Open your eyes and look! Your ’good son’ Chen Yongxiao is trying to steal everything you left for us! He’s trying to drive me and my son to our deaths..."
Mrs. Wang’s sudden outburst threw the scene into even greater chaos.
The clansmen’s brows furrowed, their expressions growing impatient.
"Enough!"
A clan elder in his eighties finally couldn’t take it anymore and shouted sharply to stop them. He looked at Chen Li. "Clan Leader, you decide this matter."
Chen Li glanced at both sides and said impassively, "Both parties have made their cases, and both have a point. Why don’t we put it to a vote."
Soon, the results of the vote were in.
Out of nine people, seven supported Chen Yongxiao’s inheritance, while two supported Chen Zhengping’s.
Chen Li immediately announced the decision. "According to the Court’s law, a son inherits from his father. Chen Yongxiao is still in the family registry, so he is naturally qualified to inherit. Therefore, we rule that all assets under Chen Xingjia’s name will be inherited by his son, Chen Yongxiao. As for you, Zhengping... if there are any assets under your father Chen Yongquan’s name, you will naturally inherit them. If not... then... that’s just how it is."
"Good! A fine ’son inherits from his father’! I, Chen Zhengping, will remember what happened today."
After hearing the ruling, Chen Zhengping laughed instead of showing anger. His gaze was like a knife, sweeping harshly over the triumphant Chen Yongxiao, the clan elders with their shifting eyes, and his own mother, Mrs. Wang of the Chen Family, who had cried until she collapsed on the ground.
His eyes finally fixed on the face of Chen Li, who had been watching silently all along. He let out a laugh filled with bone-chilling cold. "Chen Li, I regret it! I regret it to death!"
With that, he spun around, looking at no one. He hauled his limp mother, Mrs. Wang of the Chen Family, to her feet and stormed out of the house at a breakneck pace amidst her intermittent sobs and curses.
’If I let you walk away today, I’ll be the one with regrets!’
A cold glint flashed in Chen Li’s eyes.
After taking his mother, Mrs. Wang of the Chen Family, back to her maiden family’s home and settling her in, Chen Zhengping had not gone far from Lingxi before the towering hatred in his chest could no longer be suppressed.
"Holy Envoy!"
Chen Zhengping’s eyes were bloodshot, his voice hoarse with extreme rage. "You saw all of it! That bastard Chen Li, and that old scoundrel Chen Yongxiao, they conspired to cheat and humiliate me, to steal my family’s property. If I don’t get revenge for this, I, Chen Zhengping, swear I am not a man! I beg you, Holy Envoy, to act now and kill Chen Li for me! As long as he’s dead, I’m willing to pay any price!"
Jing Hong slowly pulled back the hood of her cloak, revealing a beautiful but expressionless face. She glanced at Chen Zhengping, her eyes indifferent. "Kill Chen Li? Now?"
"Yes."
Chen Zhengping gritted his teeth, his face twisting in a snarl.
Jing Hong snorted. "Chen Zhengping, I think your anger has clouded your judgment. Chen Li is the patriarch of the Chen Family now. If he suddenly drops dead tonight, the Chen Family will immediately report it to the authorities. The Government Office will get involved, and the Jingwu Bureau won’t just stand by and watch."
At this point, her gaze turned cold. "When the investigation begins, you and I will be the primary suspects. You want to expose our identities just to kill him, bringing the Court’s pursuit down on us and forcing us to live as fugitives? You had better remember this: my relationship with the Jiang Family backing you is merely one of cooperation. Coming here with you has already repaid the favor I owed you. Do you really expect me to wander the Jianghu with you as a wanted criminal of the Court?"
Jing Hong’s words were like a bucket of cold water dumped over the white-hot flames of Chen Zhengping’s anger.
"You..."
Chen Zhengping’s eyes were crimson, but intimidated by Jing Hong’s aura, he quickly calmed down from his rage. "Just let it go like this? I can’t accept it! I can’t accept it!"
He kept roaring in a low, hoarse voice, his fists cracking as he clenched them. He abruptly looked up and asked, "Holy Envoy, I asked you before to send someone to cripple Chen Shouheng. Why haven’t there been any results?"
"Perhaps something delayed them."
Jing Hong’s brow furrowed slightly. During this time, Linglong had been reporting to her through a secret channel at regular intervals, but every report consisted of just the three short words, "awaiting the opportunity," which was indeed very strange.
Suddenly, her expression changed. Her gaze shot toward a nearby willow grove as she snapped, "Who’s there? Show yourself!"
The shadows ahead flickered, and a slender figure slowly emerged, blocking their path. "Little sister pays her respects to Elder Sister Jing Hong."
Moonlight spilled down, illuminating the newcomer’s face—one that was both exquisitely charming and yet held a strange, unsettling calm.
Chen Zhengping was startled and shouted harshly, "Who are you? Why are you blocking our way?"
But the woman didn’t even glance at Chen Zhengping. Her beautiful eyes were fixed directly on Jing Hong, the corners of her lips curling into a faint, unreadable smile.