Excessive ferocity due to caution

Chapter 690 Establishing Authority

Zhao Yi didn't see anything of value at all from Lü Hong.

Lü Hong's incompetence was beyond Zhao Yi's expectations.

He roughly understood why the Lü family had been able to remain so calm after he captured Lü Hong.

Aside from the fact that the Lü family is primarily driven by profit and has weak family ties, there is another important reason... Lü Hong's death not only did not harm the Lü family, but actually saved them from a troublesome situation.

Zhao Yi frowned.

Damn.

Those bastards actually got their kicks.

However, in terms of appearances, Lü Hong's death was still a resounding slap in the face to the Lü family.

They find it hard to accept.

Therefore, retaliation is inevitable.

"That's all... Next up is the last movie I'll be acting in."

...

The Qin family's council hall.

Three elderly men, six middle-aged men, and a woman sat on either side, quietly listening to the young man in the center of the hall finish speaking. Their faces showed disbelief and shock!

"I strongly object!"

"Qin Zheng, do you want to hear what absurd things you've just said?"

"The Dragon Court Path that we all risked our lives to build, and you actually want to hand it over to an outsider?"

"Absolutely not!"

An elderly man with an aquiline nose stood up with a flick of his sleeve. He was the steward of the third branch of the Qin family and was responsible for managing more than half of the Qin family's wealth. He played a pivotal role in the Qin family.

The woman sitting next to him didn't speak as harshly, but the wrinkles on her face were twisted into a strange, unsettling shape.

"Little Zheng..."

"Your aunt knows that you've taken on the power of the family patriarch at such a young age, and you're proud and eager to get things done, but you have to take things one step at a time..."

"You're still young, you have a long road ahead of you, so don't rush things..."

Her tone was extremely sarcastic and unpredictable.

Qin Zheng could easily understand that the woman was implying that he was about to die.

Since his father had passed the position of head of the Qin family to him, he would naturally have told Qin Zheng about the curse.

She said this simply because she was annoyed that Qin Zheng was unwilling to become their plaything and wanted to mock and provoke him.

"Are you done talking?"

Faced with the woman's mockery, Qin Zheng remained calm and composed, his gaze as still as a stagnant pool.

"Damn brat, just like your stubborn, bastard father. He's nothing but a concubine's son from the seventh branch of the family, what makes him so arrogant?"

The woman recalled that she had discussed the division of power with Qin Zheng's father several times. She believed that she had offered generous terms, but Qin Zheng's father had resolutely rejected them all, which made the woman resentful.

Seeing that Qin Zheng, who now holds great power in the family, treats her in the same way, the woman's face immediately turned cold.

Qin Zheng took a sip of tea.

"Anyone else who objects, please state your reasons."

He completely ignored the woman, whose anger had reached its peak. She stood up, pointed at Qin Zheng's nose, and shrieked:

"Bastard!"

"How dare you ignore me like this?"

"If it weren't for us, do you think you could still be living so comfortably in the Qin family? You ungrateful wretch!"

Qin Zheng looked up, and his cold gaze made the woman who was loudly cursing feel a chill in her heart, and she couldn't help but take half a step back.

That day, Zhao Yi's words pierced Qin Zheng's heart like a sharp knife. On the way back, he repeatedly pondered his own and the Qin family's future, as well as Zhao Yi's incisive words, and gradually came to understand Zhao Yi's philosophy of life—

If you want to save a terminally ill old horse, you must first have the courage to kill it with your own hands.

The Qin family is like this, the four major families are like this, and the capital city is like this too.

The signing of the contract with Zhao Yi signifies Qin Zheng's determination that he will not turn back.

Even if it's wrong, he'll go all the way to the end.

"Elder Qin Qiu insulted the clan leader. According to the clan rules, what should be the punishment?"

Qin Zheng shifted his gaze to the elderly men sitting on either side of him.

The old man had cloudy eyes and a haggard, dull appearance.

But after hearing Qin Zheng's words, he blinked and said in a dry voice:

"Those who insult the clan chief shall be punished with thirty strokes of the cane and thrown into the Liuhai prison cage for thirty days."

Qin Zheng said calmly:

"Then what are you waiting for?"

The woman, Qin Hongmian, raised her eyebrows and screamed:

"Qin Zheng!"

"You dare punish me, you brat?!"

"I'm your aunt!"

Qin Zheng said calmly:

"Fifty strokes of the cane, three months' imprisonment."

The woman was stunned.

Everyone in the lobby was stunned.

They didn't expect Qin Zheng's attitude to be so tough!

"Let's go, Elder Red Cotton."

Qin Qiu spoke slowly, his aged voice carrying an irresistible sense of pressure!

"Elder Qiu, how can you let this brat run wild like this..."

Qin Hongmian was startled when she saw Qin Qiu's cloudy eyes suddenly clear up.

Of those present, in terms of seniority, martial prowess, and seniority, no one was more senior than Qin Qiu.

Qin Qiu stared at Qin Hongmian, whose face was pale, and said calmly:

"He's not a greenhorn."

"He is the clan chief."

Qin Hongmian took two steps back in a daze.

"Elder Qiu, I..."

She wanted to argue, but Qin Qiu didn't give her the chance. With a wave of his hand, shackles appeared on Qin Hongmian's body!

She was horrified and tried to struggle, but the shackles imprisoned all her divine power!

"Qin Zheng!"

"you……"

Qin Hongmian glared, and Qin Qiu dragged her out of the room by the chain around her neck.

Only after she had walked a distance did she force a smile that was more like a grimace, her lips twitching, and she spoke to Qin Qiu in a low, humble voice:

"Elder Qin Qiu...is that about enough?"

"They've put on quite an act, and they've gone so far that the clan leader can't see them anymore..."

Qin Qiu glanced at her with his cloudy eyes and said indifferently:

"What play?"

Qin Hongmian's breathing faltered.

"You...you're not really going to take me to the torture chamber, are you?"

"I... I just misspoke..."

Qin Qiu calmly said:

"Fifty strokes of the cane, not one less."

Upon hearing this, Qin Hongmian's legs went weak.

Fifty strokes of the cane?

With her shackles on, her body was no different from that of an ordinary woman. Would fifty strokes of the cane really kill her?!