Chapter 712
Bai Qihe returned to the Bai family mansion and locked himself in his study. No one could get him to come out. He didn’t show up for the family’s New Year’s Eve dinner and didn’t send anyone to inform the family, completely ignoring that the entire family was waiting for him.
Bai Weimei, Bai Qihe’s father, sat at the dinner table with a furious expression. The elaborate dishes placed on the Eight Immortals Table had already lost their warmth. The people sitting around the black lacquered round table didn’t dare to speak.
Bai Qingping kept his eyes downcast and stayed silent.
Mrs. Fang saw the situation and pulled at Bai Qingping’s sleeve. Bai Qingping merely withdrew his sleeve indifferently and pursed his thin lips tightly.
“What’s this, even your grandfather can’t move you now?” Bai Weimei gritted his teeth and glared at Bai Qingping.
“Grandson wouldn’t dare. But Grandfather incited the clan members to make trouble for the Princess of Zhen, intending to ruin the Bai Clan! My father, as the Bai Clan Leader… is caught between his father and the Bai Clan. He must reflect deeply before making a decision.”
“A decision?!” Bai Weimei suddenly stood up. “What kind of decision?!”
Puliu, standing behind Mrs. Fang, quickly stepped forward to salute. “Young Master must be exhausted. I am willing to go and invite the Clan Leader.”
Mrs. Fang looked back at Puliu gratefully, then looked at Bai Weimei, who was trembling with rage. “My husband must be too tired from today’s ancestral worship, which is why he hasn’t come yet. Puliu, quickly go and invite him. Tell him that Father knows he worked hard today and specially had the family wait here to dine together!”
“Yes!” After saluting, Puliu exchanged a glance with Bai Qingping, signaling him not to further anger Bai Weimei. Then she took small steps out the door, opened an umbrella, and went to summon Bai Qihe.
Bai Weimei looked at his stubborn grandson, still seething with rage. Thinking of his son, who no longer shared his views, he pointed at Bai Qingping and cursed: “You’re just like your father! Ungrateful dog! Your uncle is gone… instead of thinking about avenging him, even though you know the enemy is right here in the Bai Mansion, none of you are thinking about revenge. Yet you leave it to me, an old dying man, to come up with solutions!”
Bai Qingping trembled all over with suppressed emotion. Finally, he couldn’t hold back any longer. He stood up and looked at Bai Weimei with resolute eyes: “My uncle’s death was caused by his own greed. If he hadn’t been so insatiable and hadn’t tried to frame the Bai Mansion, he would be living well now! There are sins that even heaven cannot forgive, much less self-inflicted ones! He deserved his end. My father has no grounds for seeking revenge!”
“You insolent brat!” Bai Weimei shouted in fury and swept all the dishes off the table with a single motion. The plates clattered onto Mrs. Fang, who screamed as she pulled her son to avoid them.
Bai Weimei’s wife, shocked at first, began to cry and beat her chest. “What did I do to deserve this… gray hair sending off black hair. The second son and grandson are disobedient, and we can’t even sit together for a meal on New Year’s Eve.”
Bai Qingping’s eyes filled with tears as he turned and walked out. Mrs. Fang, covered in food stains, didn’t know what to do. She looked at her enraged father-in-law and crying mother-in-law, then picked up her soiled skirts and turned to chase after her son. “A Ping! A Ping!”
·
In Bai Qihe’s study, Puliu stood on the plush rug in the center, listening to Bai Qihe talk about how Bai Weimei had reprimanded Bai Qingping at the dinner table. Bai Qihe’s face darkened as he listened.
Originally, Bai Qihe had been hesitant. But after hearing Puliu recount what happened in his father’s courtyard, he had no more doubts.
He wasn’t a fool. He understood what Bai Qingyan meant through the message conveyed by Nanny Tong. Even if he didn’t act, Bai Qingyan would. It depended on how he handled it this time to establish his authority in front of the clan.
His father’s actions were indeed excessive. Knowing that the Bai Clan’s only leverage was the Bai family with the Princess of Zhen, he still incited the elders to pressure the Bai family for the sake of his greedy brother who sought to frame the Dadu Bai family.
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The Princess of Zhen’s handling of the clan at the ancestral hall had sobered them up. How had they so quickly forgotten and become arrogant again?
If not for his father’s manipulation behind the scenes, the clan wouldn’t have dared to be so reckless.
Bai Qihe didn’t avoid speaking in front of Puliu. He ordered, “Inform all the clan members: they are to be at the Bai Clan’s ancestral hall at the third quarter of the hour tomorrow morning. Anyone who dares not to come… will no longer be considered a Bai clan member! Send all the household servants to notify everyone. They must be informed within half an hour!”
Bai Qihe’s personal servant was momentarily stunned but then took orders and went out to deliver them.
Puliu, watching Bai Qihe’s face flickering in the candlelight, hesitated for a moment and then spoke. “Master, the clan members dare to cause trouble because they have your father to rely on. Over the years, your father accustomed to being the Clan Leader, has always had his way… You’ve always been filial to him. But in others’ eyes, it seems like you fear him. They believe, no matter what happens, your father will back you up…”
Puliu looked up at Bai Qihe and saw him looking at her seriously. Only then did she finish the sentence: “And thus, they act fearlessly!”
Yes, it was because of his father, the former Clan Leader, that others acted so boldly.
The next morning at dawn, Bai Weimei and his wife were having breakfast when they were informed that Bai Qihe was coming toward their courtyard.
Bai Weimei’s wife gently shook his arm. “See, Qihe still respects you as his father. He’s coming to apologize. Don’t scold him too harshly. Qihe has always been obedient since childhood. It must be because he was too busy yesterday! You’ve been a Clan Leader before. You should know how difficult it is!”
Bai Weimei wiped his mouth with a handkerchief handed by a maid, his face stern. “If he truly wanted to apologize, he’d have come last night! Your good son gathered all the stewards at his courtyard before dawn today. He isn’t coming to apologize; he’s coming to demand accountability!”
His wife frowned deeply. “Qihe wouldn’t do that!”
Even if Bai Qihe did come to question him, Bai Weimei wasn’t afraid. After all, he was still Bai Qihe’s father. What could his son actually do to him?
Knowing his son, Bai Weimei was certain Bai Qihe would try to use the threat of resigning as Clan Leader to pressure him to back down and stop opposing Bai Qingyan.