son, don't mess around

Linjiang City, Chen Mansion!

These days, the door of the Chen Mansion has been closed, and the entire Chen Mansion seems to be shrouded in a thick haze.

The pressure made everyone breathless!
The servants in the Chen Mansion felt it more and more clearly. During this period of time, they were trembling with fear as if they were walking on thin ice. On normal days, they didn't even dare to breathe!
The atmosphere in the entire mansion was so depressing that it almost reached freezing point!
Now in Linjiang City, the Chen family has become a target of public condemnation, and its prestige has plummeted.

Everyone knows that the decline of the Chen family is inevitable!

When the news of the eldest son of the Chen family being beheaded in public came out, the Chen family would definitely become a laughing stock. And the prestige and momentum that the Chen family had accumulated over the years would also disappear.

Especially after their head Chen Hongsheng was exiled, the once huge Chen family seemed to collapse overnight.

Those noble families that had close relations with the Chen family in the past began to avoid them. Partners that once had close cooperative relationships with the Chen family also severed ties and drew a line with the Chen family, fearing that they would be affected if they had any connection with the Chen family again!

When the wall falls, everyone pushes it. Anyone with a discerning eye knows that the Chen family is finished!

Although from the current situation, the Lin Wang Mansion did not kill the Chen family. After executing Chen Junru and exiling Chen Hongsheng, the Lin Wang Mansion seemed to let the Chen family go and did not take any action against the Chen family.

But everyone knows that this is only temporary!
There is no way that Prince Lin’s Mansion will let the Chen family go!

And a noble family like the Chen family has no qualifications at all to compete with the Prince Lin's Palace!

His only chance is to unite the many family forces in Linzhou and rely on the pressure from the imperial court, only then will he have a glimmer of hope!
But obviously, the current Chen family no longer has this qualification!

Today, the Chen family is just like fish on a chopping board, waiting to be slaughtered by the Lin Wang Mansion!

It was precisely in the face of such a crisis that the Chen family became increasingly chaotic!
With Chen Hongsheng being exiled, the position of head of the Chen family naturally became vacant!
These days, the main branch of the Chen family is leaderless, and everyone in the mansion is in a panic! At the same time, people from the side branches of the Chen family have emerged and gathered in the Chen mansion.

The purpose is to compete for the position of the new head of the Chen family.

Even though the Chen family has declined, and even though the Chen family is now facing a very serious external crisis, the temptation of the position of the head of the Chen family still makes these collateral descendants covetous.

This is their best chance!

Now that the main line of the Chen family has been cut off, this is the only chance for these side branch descendants to take over and become the main line of the Chen family!
Therefore, in the past few days, the Chen family has been fighting openly and secretly, and the struggle is fierce. Those side branches that used to be low-key have emerged one after another, each using their own methods.

And in these days, no one knows how many rounds of quarrels have broken out in the Chen Mansion, and even fights!
At this moment, inside the Chen Mansion.

The atmosphere is solemn!

There were many figures standing in the hall.

These people are all descendants of the Chen family, both men and women, young people as well as several middle-aged men. They are hostile to each other, as if they had just had an argument.

The huge hall was as chaotic as a vegetable market.

In the middle of the hall, there were several gray-haired, frail old men sitting. These old men were the oldest and most senior members of the Chen family.

Originally they had already retreated behind the scenes and no longer cared about family affairs, but now that the head of the Chen family has been exiled and the Chen family has fallen into chaos, they, the older generation, have to step up and take charge of the situation!

These old men had deep and gloomy eyes, and they also had different thoughts!
One of the elders stopped the quarrel, scanned the hall with gloomy eyes, and said in a deep voice: "Now is not the time for you to fight among yourselves!"

"Now our Chen family is facing a life-or-death crisis. As members of the Chen family, you should unite and face the outside world together to find a way to overcome this difficulty!"

The old man's words shocked the crowd for a short while.

But after a while, a discordant voice came out: "What can we do about this? We have already offended the Lin Wang Mansion to death. Will the Lin Wang Mansion let our Chen family go?"

"It was all Chen Hongsheng and his son's fault. We didn't do anything, but we still suffered for no reason. How can we seek justice?"

The person who spoke was a young man from a side branch of the family.

After he spoke, he immediately attracted a lot of people's approval.

What happened in the Chen family during this period had nothing to do with them. As descendants of the side branch, they clearly did nothing, but they were insulted and ridiculed by the common people during this period. Now they have to worry about whether they will be purged.

How could this not make them feel resentful?
"That's right. It was all done by Chen Hongsheng and his son. If Prince Lin wants to settle accounts, he should look for them, right? Why would he implicate us?"

"It has nothing to do with me anyway, so you can't ask me to bear the responsibility, right?"

"Although we are all members of the Chen family, what does the Chen family's benefits have to do with us? They can't let us take the brunt of the trouble now, right?"

"..."

In the hall, everyone was talking at once.

Obviously, they have pushed all the problems onto Chen Hongsheng and his son.

Now that Chen Junru is dead and Chen Hongsheng has been exiled, it is estimated that he will never have a chance to come back in this lifetime. If there are any problems, they will naturally be pushed onto them.

Similarly, as the head of the Chen family, Chen Hongsheng should naturally take the blame!
Inside the hall, there was another group of people who were also silent, with different looks and thoughts in their eyes!
The three old men in the hall had gloomy expressions.

"Shut up!"

One of them scolded coldly.

After all, this old man was the elder of the Chen family and still had some prestige. As he spoke, the hall soon became quiet again.

The young man who was somewhat unconvinced finally shut up!
"You are all members of the Chen family. You all have the blood of the Chen family flowing in your veins. The rise and fall of the Chen family is closely related to you. If the Chen family falls, do you still want to live a good life like today?"

The old man's gloomy eyes swept over them.

These elders did not like Chen Hongsheng. As the head of the family, Chen Hongsheng was too strict in controlling the family, which infringed on their interests.

They have always wanted to seize power from Chen Hongsheng and pull Chen Hongsheng down from the position of head of the family!

Now, their goal has been achieved!
But they never expected that when the Chen family is facing a crisis, these people are only thinking about fighting for power and immediate interests. No one is willing to consider the interests of the family. This makes them extremely disappointed!
Although they don't like Chen Hongsheng, they have to admit that Chen Hongsheng is indeed a qualified person in power. He can control these people in front of him and protect the Chen family's foundation!

And these people in front of me...

The old man's words left many people silent!

What they fear most right now is being purged by the Prince Lin’s Mansion.

That was why they couldn't wait to come to Prince Lin's Mansion, wanting to take advantage of the last chance to get more benefits from the Chen family and leave themselves a way out.

Of course, there are also many people who are optimistic.

They had no grudges against the Prince Lin's Mansion, nor had they ever offended the Prince Lin's son. They thought that it would not implicate a collateral branch disciple like themselves.

"My Chen family is facing internal and external troubles right now. As members of the Chen family, you have the obligation to work together to overcome the difficulties!"

The old man swept his cold eyes across everyone's faces: "Now, is there anyone who can take charge of the situation and find a way for the Chen family to survive this crisis?"

When the old man's eyes swept over, many people present immediately avoided his sight, and many people lowered their heads.

No one dared to respond!
Are you kidding me, getting through the crisis?

It is the Prince Lin's Mansion that is going to deal with the Chen family. Who has the ability to do so?
Who doesn't know that the Tianlin Palace has been killing like crazy these days? !
Even the Lin Wang army was deployed into the city, showing a tough attitude. They would rather kill the innocent than let the guilty go, and they won't listen to reason at all!

Why would the Chen family fight against Prince Lin’s Mansion?

These days, the Chen family has truly experienced being deserted by everyone, with their former close partners avoiding them one after another, and the family has fallen to the bottom of the valley.

If they were asked to fight among themselves, they could quarrel fiercely, each one more excited than the other. But if they were asked to solve the crisis of the Chen family, they had no way at all. This scene was seen by the three old men in the hall, their eyes were full of disappointment and serious expressions.

These people are really not worthy of being reused!

At this time, they finally missed Chen Hongsheng.

At least Chen Hongsheng is still alive. How could the Chen family fall into such a leaderless state?
It’s a pity that Chen Hongsheng was dragged down by his good-for-nothing and rebellious son!

The old man glanced at everyone present, exchanged glances with the other two, and finally made a decision.

"The Chen family is now facing a crisis of life and death. If we can't hold on, our Chen family will be completely torn apart. We will either be completely reduced to the bottom or be divided up by other families..."

"The Lin Palace will definitely not let my Chen family go. By the time the Lin Palace takes action, it will be too late!"

At this point, the old man's voice sank slightly, and he glanced at everyone present, and said in a cold voice: "If anyone among you can help the Chen family survive this crisis and let our Chen family continue to stand firm in Linjiang City. Then, he will be the next head of the Chen family!"

“The Chen family will be left to him to take charge from now on!”

As soon as these words were spoken, there was an immediate commotion in the hall!
The next head of the family?

Many people's eyes suddenly lit up!
The head of the Chen family, this is the target of many people!

Becoming the head of the Chen family means being able to control the resources accumulated by the Chen family over the past few decades. This temptation is indeed huge!

But soon, the eyes of these people dimmed again.

Are you kidding me? Help the Chen family through this crisis?
How to cross?
They are powerless, can they persuade the Lin Wang Mansion to let them go?
What a joke!
They don't have that ability!
Not to mention that the Lin Wang Mansion would not let them go. Even if the Lin Wang Mansion really let them go, the Chen family would have been severely damaged after this incident and would no longer be as strong as before.

What the Chen family will have to face next are other aristocratic families that are eyeing them covetously, as well as the many enemies they offended in the past!

In such a situation where they are badly damaged and isolated and helpless, who can guarantee that they can help the Chen family overcome these crises and difficulties?
No one can guarantee it!
No one has this ability!

There was a commotion and discussion in the hall.

But after waiting for a long time, still no one stepped forward to be the first to speak out!
This scene made the faces of the three old men in the hall become extremely gloomy and ugly!
Their huge Chen family couldn't even find a capable person?

When these people have nothing to do on weekdays, they pat their chests and guarantee that they have extraordinary abilities and that the Chen family will surely be able to make great progress if handed over to them!

Now that something has happened, have all of you become mute?
Have they all become cowards?!

Not to mention whether they have the ability or not, now there is not even one person who has stepped forward?

The hall gradually became quiet. Many people looked hesitant and were eager to make a move, but in the end, no one stood up!
The atmosphere is depressing!

At this moment, a loud voice suddenly came from outside the hall.

"Since none of you can do it, let me do it!"

The voice was loud and resounding in the hall, powerful and resounding!

In the hall, everyone turned their heads to look.

The next second, when they saw the person coming, many people's faces changed immediately!

"Chen Xu, is that you?!"

"How dare you, a traitor, come back here?!"

"You betrayed the master, you betrayed us, how dare you come here?!"

"Someone, come and arrest this traitor and punish him according to the family rules!"

"..."

The crowd in the hall was in an uproar, with angry looks and fierce glares.

At this moment, outside the hall door.

Chen Xu, dressed in a green brocade robe, stood at the door. Facing the angry gazes of the crowd, his expression was calm, as if he didn't take these people seriously at all.

"This is my home, why can't I come back?!"

Chen Xu held his head high, ignored the hostile looks of these people, and looked into the hall.

In front of the hall, the eyes of the three old men suddenly became gloomy.

"Chen Xu, what are you doing here?!"

That day in the government office, Chen Xu stood up to testify against Chen Hongsheng, which led to Chen Hongsheng being exiled.

From that day on, he became a traitor to the Chen family!

I thought he had already gone into hiding, but I didn't expect that he would dare to come back openly today?

At this time, many people noticed that there were several guards following Chen Xu. These guards had a good aura, swords on their waists, and expressionless faces, which made many people afraid.

"Grandpa, uncle!"

Chen Xu bowed slightly to the elders in the hall, and then said calmly, "I am also a member of the Chen family. Now that the Chen family is facing the danger of life and death, it is my natural responsibility to come here and do my part!"

As soon as these words came out, someone stood up and angrily accused: "How dare you say that? The Chen family has fallen to its current state all because of you. If it weren't for a traitor like you, how could the head of the family be exiled?!"

Facing the accusation, Chen Xu sneered: "How can I be so worthy that I can drag the Chen family down with me?"

"The Chen family's decline to this point is closely related to all of you present here!"

"You are all the culprits!"

Chen Xu's words made many people change their expressions.

"What nonsense!"

"How dare you, a traitor, frame us!"

"Someone, catch him for me!"

"..."

Angry voices soon rang out from all around, seeming to drown out Chen Xu.

But Chen Xu turned a blind eye and his eyes remained calm.

The Chen family's guards arrived, but when they saw the four powerful guards around Chen Xu, they couldn't help but feel fearful.

I didn’t dare to go forward for a moment!
In the hall, three elderly men stared at Chen Xu with gloomy faces: "You betrayed Chen Hongsheng, causing the head of the family to be exiled. How do you explain it?!"

Chen Xu raised his eyes, looked calmly at the three elders in front of the hall, and said word by word: "If I don't do this, the Chen family will be finished!"

"I am saving the Chen family!"

"..." (End of this chapter)