Grass and mustard reign supreme

Chapter 19 Mingde Hall
Yu Xiaobao was deeply hurt. "I was fighting for your son's succession! How could you betray me, Second Brother?"

Yu Xiaobao said anxiously, "Second brother, if even your Ziming isn't qualified, then who among the Yu family's nephews and nieces is qualified...?"

"Ahem!" Before Yu Xiaobao could finish speaking, Yu Erbo coughed twice, interrupting him.

"Xiao Bao, you've always been unreliable since you were a child. Now that you're almost a grandfather, how come you're still so frivolous?"

Yu Xiaobao's face flushed red instantly: "Second Uncle, what do you mean by that?"

Uncle Yu said calmly, "As the old saying goes, 'A long illness makes one a good doctor, and a long life leads to a hundred years.' Your eldest brother is a bit frail, but it's not a serious illness."

Besides, Chengye and Chenglin are both from the eldest branch of the family, and the rules of seniority cannot be disrupted...

Our Yu family has a history spanning hundreds of years; how could we possibly operate without any rules?

Yu Xiaobao retorted, "Second Uncle, aren't these rules all made by people? Chengye was unlucky and died young."

Chenglin is too young. If something were to happen to him, our Yu family would have two generations of heirs who died young. What would outsiders think of us then?

Uncle Yu suddenly said, "How can you, as an uncle, curse your own nephew like that? Chengye is already an adult, and he suddenly met with an accident."

"If that's the case, then even if our Yu family were to choose an adult child as the heir, would that guarantee that nothing bad would ever happen again?"

Yu Xiaobao was immediately surprised. It was one thing for his second uncle's family to have some influence and to stand up and make a statement, but what did the sixth brother have besides his seniority?
However, although he sensed something was amiss, he still couldn't figure out why.

Yu Xiaobao was a person who was easily angered. Once he got angry, he didn't care about age and immediately retorted.

However, Yu Huanhu, who had been observing patiently, couldn't help but change his expression.

The Sixth Uncle's branch of the family has virtually no power, so they usually only dare to seek a sense of presence in trivial matters that don't make any enemies.

The selection of an heir is such a sensitive and important matter, how dare the sixth son get involved?

Just as Yu Huanhu realized something was wrong, the elders of each branch of the family had already expressed their opinions.

“Our Yu family’s descendants are all good, but if we’re planning for the long term, it’s more prudent to establish the eldest son’s lineage.”

"I share the same view as Lao Liu: Cheng Lin should be established as the heir."

"Old Liu is right. In the long run, the advantages of establishing Chenglin outweigh the disadvantages."

The Yu family has been passed down for nearly three hundred years, and now the total population of the entire family, including the main line, the collateral branches, and the secondary branches, exceeds six thousand.

As for the heads of each branch and lineage, there were about ten of them.

A dozen or so clan leaders, along with the elders, stepped forward, much like a group of ministers standing up in a grand court, each proclaiming, "This old minister seconds the motion!"

For a moment, Yu Laoliu's pockmarked face turned red with excitement.

He had never been so successful before; the feeling of having everyone at his beck and call was really intoxicating.

Yu Laoliu excitedly made a call...

Yu Xinglong waited quietly until all the elders had finished expressing their opinions before turning to Yu Huanhu and calmly asking, "Second brother, what do you think?"

Being ignored and treated like dirt, Leopard's face flushed red. He felt like a clown.

"Hehe..." Yu Huanhu chuckled softly twice.

Seeing the elders from various departments taking their places, he knew that something must have happened that he was unaware of.

The old foxes of each branch have always avoided the struggle between the eldest son's lineage and the second son's lineage, so why are they all getting involved now?

There's clearly something fishy going on here.

But he doesn't know what happened that made these elders take sides.

Thinking of this, Yu Huanhu smiled and said, "The opinions of the heads of each branch and the elders are all mature and prudent, and I agree with them."

For a moment, Yu Xiaobao felt like he was caught in the middle, his face turning red and then pale. He snorted coldly before shamelessly sitting back down in his chair.

Yu Xinglong nodded and said, "In that case, I hereby declare that Yu Chenglin is the heir of the Yu family. Tomorrow, we will all go to the ancestral hall to offer sacrifices to our ancestors."

Upon hearing this, Uncle Yu the Second, Uncle Yu the Sixth, and the others couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

They were genuinely afraid that the eldest son's branch and the second son's branch would come to blows.

They can engage in verbal battles; they can even reap some benefits from them.

Violence is absolutely unacceptable; if this family fortune is destroyed, they will be the first to suffer.

Therefore, they had no choice but to publicly support Li Yuchenglin as their heir.

This is the result of Yu Xinglong's contact and communication with them one by one over the past few days.

To make the clan leader consider the bigger picture and avoid family division, this is the price they have to pay.

I believe Yu Huanhu was secretly grateful to them.

Who told you to defy the world and do such a thing?
He did it, but he left things unclean, giving others leverage over him. Although this leverage lacks sufficient witnesses and physical evidence, if the tycoon really loses his temper, can you expect anything from an old man grieving the loss of his son?

At the same time, the heads of various branches and elders also intended to use this opportunity to warn Yu Huanhu, because the assassination attempt had crossed their bottom line.

If you have the ability, you can compete for it, but you can't use assassination.

If you dare to assassinate the heir today, and I don't support your claim to the clan leader tomorrow, will you also assassinate me?
Seeing that Yu Huanhu wisely made a concession, the old men secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Uncle Yu said, “Master, it is the spring plowing season, and each branch of the family has many things to do.”

Now that the status of the adopted son has been determined, after we have performed the ancestral rites tomorrow, shall we each go down the mountain?

Yu Laoliu said, "Yes, the clan leader has been working too hard these past few days and needs to rest properly."

Yu Xinglong smiled slightly, but before he could speak, a deep and powerful voice rang out from outside Mingde Hall: "Please wait, everyone, Suo Er has something to say!"

A sprightly old man in his early fifties strode into the Mingde Hall.

The old man was tall, and although his back was slightly hunched, he looked to be around nine feet tall.

His head was half-bald, his eyebrows were thick and messy with white hair, and he had a large hooked nose. He looked quite imposing.

Yu Xinglong immediately stood up from the main seat, cupped his hands and said, "Second Master Suo".

Some of the elders and heads of the households in Mingde Hall did not know Suo Hong, at least not the elders like Yu Laoliu who had no real power.

However, now that the clan leader is treating this person with great respect and calling him "Second Master Suo," they know what they didn't know before.

If I'm not mistaken, this should be Suo Hong, the second master of the Suo family in Jincheng.

Suo Hong raised his white eyebrows slightly and said in a deep voice, "Master Yu, I have just received news that the death of your eldest son was not caused by bandits robbing money, but by someone who instructed him to carry out an assassination under the guise of plundering money."

These words immediately shocked everyone in the room.

Those who were unaware of this matter were greatly shocked, and the elders who had previously accompanied Yu Xinglong to the dungeon were also suddenly awakened to the truth.

They all thought that making Yu Chenglin their heir was the condition for the clan leader to give up his attack on Yu Huanhu. It turns out that the clan leader's appetite was not limited to this.

The clan leader feigned a pitiful state to gain their support and establish his heir, but now he is launching another attack through Suo Hong's words.
Yu Xinglong knew that these elders would be dissatisfied with him because of this, but he only sneered inwardly.

This was an opportunity his son had fought for with his life; how could a mere position as an heir possibly satisfy him?

Yu Xinglong looked shocked and asked in surprise, "What? This is true? Who orchestrated this?"

"of course……"

Master Suo extended a finger and slowly traced it across the crowd before finally fixing it on Yu Huanhu: "It's him, Yu Huanhu from the second branch of your Yu family!"

The people in Mingde Hall were shocked once again. All the noise turned into silence, with only the sound of rain falling outside the hall.

Looking at the finger pointing at him like a sword, Yu Huanhu slowly stood up.

Yu Huanhu said coldly, "Second Master Suo, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want."

Yu Xiaobao was always ignored by his older brothers, which made him lose face.

He was sitting there sullenly, but seeing this scene, he couldn't help but feel secretly excited again.

If the eldest son's main branch and the second branch of the eldest son's main branch were to fight each other and end up in a lose-lose situation, wouldn't my third branch of the eldest son's main branch have a chance to rise to prominence?

Suo Hong said coldly, "After your Yu family's eldest son, Yu Chengye, was murdered, the Yu clan leader sent his steward Yi She to receive the coffin. Steward Yi learned that they had captured a bandit alive and interrogated him. The bandit confessed that you ordered them to kill Yu Chengye."

Yu Huanhu roared, "Nonsense! How could I harm my own nephew? Master Suo, bring that bandit here. I want to confront him in court."

Suo Er sneered at Yu Xinglong: "I was just about to ask that bandit a few questions. I heard that he has already been taken into custody by you, Lord?"

Yu Xinglong was silent for a moment before replying, "The bandit was too badly injured and died shortly after being imprisoned in the water dungeon."

Upon hearing this, Yu Huanhu felt relieved.

He wasn't stupid; how could he not see that his elder brother was putting on an act with Suo Er? However, he wasn't sure just how big his elder brother's appetite was.

If his older brother pushes him too far, he'll have no choice but to fight back.

However, if the eldest son's main branch and the second son's main branch were to fight each other, they would inevitably suffer heavy losses.

At that time, the other seven valves will immediately pounce on the Yu valve like vultures pecking at carrion, dismembering and devouring it.

As the head of the clan, the eldest brother certainly didn't want to face this situation, and Yu Huanhu, who was eager to take his place, also didn't want this situation to occur.

Now that the "bandit" is "dead," it means that the eldest brother doesn't want to fight him to the death.

Knowing his elder brother's bottom line, Yu Huanhu became calm and said coldly, "So, you, Second Master Suo, don't have a single piece of evidence right now, and you're just trying to accuse me of being a criminal based on your sharp tongue?"

Suo Hong said sternly, "The bandit is dead? Even if the bandit is dead, there are still corroborating evidence. Suo Er, I request that Master Yu summon him to Mingde Hall so that he can explain himself to everyone in public!"

(End of this chapter)