"Why was this guy elected?" Huang Zhendong demanded sternly. "The votes shouldn't have exceeded two-thirds!"
"Didn't I tell you? The Qin Family voted for him," Yuan Shang replied quietly.
Hearing this, Ye Yunfeng glared at Qin Feng, a sinister gleam flashing in his eyes. "Qin Feng, what are you doing?"
"So it was you," Huang Zhendong gritted his teeth. "Qin Feng, if you don't give us an explanation, I won't let this go."
Qin Feng's expression remained unchanged; by now, he was perfectly calm. "It was just a vote. There's no need for either of you to be nervous or to question . The Qin Family isn't your subordinate. We don't have to report our every action to you."
He had felt a pang of guilt just a mont before. After all, the Ye, Huang, and Qin Families were supposed to be an alliance of victims, all targeted by Xu Ke's sches. But when he saw the two of them acting as if they were putting him on trial, Qin Feng grew displeased.
I'm the future head of the Qin Family, for crying out loud. What gives you the right to act like I'm supposed to work for you?
"Good, good, good!" Huang Zhendong seethed, repeating the word three tis.
Ye Yunfeng, however, was more level-headed. He took a deep breath and said, "Qin Feng, I know you have your reasons, so I'm not angry about this. However, I hope you can explain why after the eting."
Qin Feng glanced at Ye Yunfeng and gave a slight nod.
With a cold expression, Huang Zhendong sat back down.
Seeing this, Ye Yunfeng said to him, "Don't be angry. Sit down. It's not a big deal. Besides, with Old Hua as the Law Enforcent Hall Chief, it's actually a good thing for law-abiding people like us. With his personality, he'll surely capture all those lawless thugs one by one and create a good social environnt!"
As his voice fell, Xu Ke knew the jibe was aid at him. A smile touched his lips, but he remained silent.
Next, Hua Xingxue gave a brief inaugural speech. It was nothing more than promising to quickly get the Law Enforcent Hall's work back on track and expressing his hope that the major families would cooperate and provide mutual oversight.
After the eting, the mbers of the Ye, Huang, and Qin families departed, their faces as grim as if they were at a funeral.
***
The Law Enforcent Hall held a special status within the Martial Alliance's regulations. It was powerful enough to directly confront the Alliance Hierarch and Vice Alliance Hierarch, which was why Peng Hetong had dared to run rampant in the Martial Alliance.
As soon as Hua Xingxue took power, Yuan Shang imdiately handed over all the duties he had assud after Peng Hetong's downfall. He then gleefully returned to his office to brew so tea. He also called Xu Ke over, having sothing to discuss with him. Since Wong Qifu was right there, Xu Ke naturally brought his wife along. The three of them entered the office, while Tang Yingchang remained standing outside the door.
"Family Head Wang, please, have a seat. Your presence brings a humble place like my office great honor," Yuan Shang said to Wong Qifu with a smile.
"Thank you," Wong Qifu replied, also smiling. "Vice Alliance Leader Yuan, you're too kind."
Their exchange was polite yet distant. Xu Ke, on the other hand, went straight to the cabinet and decisively pulled out a canister of Tian City Dahongpao tea.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Yuan Shang roared.
Damn it. This kid missed out on the good tea last ti, so now he's just going to snatch it for himself?
Xu Ke expertly began to boil water, rinse the tea set, and asure out the leaves. "I'm just helping you make tea, as I should," he said nonchalantly without looking up. "No need to thank . Just get to the point."
"Thank you, my ass!" Yuan Shang raged.
Unfortunately for him, Xu Ke was too fast. The tea leaves were already wet, and there was no snatching them back now.
Seeing this, Wong Qifu couldn't help but chuckle softly.
How does he get more and more shaless? He was never like this before!
"Here's the situation," Yuan Shang began once the rich aroma of tea filled the room. "Now that the Law Enforcent Hall Chief has been elected, the appointnt has to be reported to the higher-ups. But because of Wong Ting, the Main Alliance is paying very close attention to any movents in Tianhai."
"So, are you saying they have objections, Vice Alliance Leader Yuan?" Wong Qifu's beautiful eyes turned cold.
"Not exactly," Yuan Shang said, shaking his head. "Because I haven't reported it yet!"
At this, Xu Ke chuckled. "Are you stalling for ti?"
"Yes!" Yuan Shang nodded. "I know you reinstated Old Hua to give yourself the legal leeway to deal with the Ye Family. But if Long Capital finds out, they'll definitely find an excuse to interfere with Old Hua taking his post. Therefore, I hope you can deal with the Ye Family within the next week. Otherwise, Old Hua will undoubtedly face baseless obstructions from the Main Alliance. At that point, if you want to handle the Ye Family legally and legitimately, it will beco quite troubleso."
Yuan Shang and the others all knew that Xu Ke's ultimate goal was to kill Ye Yunfeng. But for a man of his standing to die under mysterious circumstances was unacceptable. The deaths of minor family heads like Kang Chenghua or Li Shichuan wouldn't concern Long Capital. Ye Yunfeng's status was different, so Xu Ke needed a justifiable cause. Otherwise, if Xu Ke were to just kill Ye Yunfeng by force, Wong Ting and Yan Xuehai would seize the opportunity to blow the situation out of proportion and find an excuse to eliminate Xu Ke. And he couldn't afford to be obstructed like he was last ti by Peng Hetong's interference. This was precisely why he had insisted on Hua Xingxue's appointnt—to ensure the Martial Alliance presented a united front.
"Alright, I understand." Hearing the one-week deadline from Yuan Shang, Xu Ke winced.
The information he had gotten from Ye Feng was limited. He still didn't have a clear picture of the Ye Family's true strength, nor did he know how many powerful experts Ye Yunfeng had in hiding. Now that the tiline had been shortened to just one week, Xu Ke took a deep breath, the pressure mounting.
Can I really pull this off?
***
"So, this all boils down to you not being able to handle Qin Ya, which dragged the rest of us into this ss, is that it?" In a private hotel room, Huang Zhendong stared at Qin Feng across from him and demanded, gritting his teeth.
"What do you an 'dragged you into this'? It was just a vote. It's not like the three of us are dood the mont Hua Xingxue takes office. But if I hadn't voted, would you have preferred Qin Ya to expose everything? Would that *not* have dragged you down? Don't forget, you two were happy to see Qin Ya dead as well, weren't you?" Qin Feng's eyes were dark and nacing.
At his words, Ye Yunfeng and Huang Zhendong fell silent.
As Qin Feng said, they had indeed been pleased by the prospect of Qin Ya's death. The reason was simple: a living Qin Ya could potentially take a share of the power and resources that would otherwise go to Qin Feng. And if she married into the Ouyang Family, she would take those resources and invest them in the Ouyang Family's growth.
Currently, the Ouyang Family's foundation was still lacking, but there were faint signs of them preparing to challenge the six big families. If Qin Ya gave them a significant boost, it was highly likely that the Ouyang Family could officially join the ranks of the six big families in twenty or thirty years. This was an outco that neither Ye Yunfeng nor Huang Zhendong wanted to see. That was why, over dinner two months ago, they had reached a consensus to kill Qin Ya.
It was for this reason that the matter hadn't blown up. Even when Wong Qifu investigated imdiately after the car crash, she couldn't uncover the truth. With the three of them covering things up, the truth wasn't so easy to find. If Ouyang Hao hadn't laid low for over a month, and if Xu Ke hadn't been distracting their attention, he never would have been able to obtain the evidence.
"Who the hell is this Divine Doctor who saved Qin Ya? Is he insane?" The thought that all of today's trouble stemd from a single failed assassination made Ye Yunfeng's blood boil. He wanted nothing more than to drag the passing Divine Doctor out and kill him.
"I checked the surveillance footage, but a large chunk of it is missing for so reason. I have no idea who the rescuer was. Soone is definitely manipulating things behind the scenes," Qin Feng gritted out.
"A Divine Doctor?" At that mont, Huang Zhendong suddenly frowned, a flicker in his eyes as a suspicion surfaced in his mind. He slowly ventured a guess, "Could it be... Xu Ke?"
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