Chapter 978 - 976: The Cunning Old Fox Is Full of Stratagems

Mu Chengxi’s overbearing response left Wen Yunuo momentarily at a loss for words. Wen Yunuo turned his head to look at Mu Chengxi, with only one thought in his mind: there must be a reason why Mu Chengxi and Wen Xin were together, because they were both so shameless!

Looking at the traffic outside the window, Mu Chengxi felt an involuntary irritability brewing within him; he was pondering how to apologize to Wen Xin upon their meeting, what he could do to make Wen Xin forgive him.

The news of Wen Yunuo’s return to the Independent State spread quickly to the Wen family. The Old Fox sat in the living room, which was also occupied by several Elders from the Elders Guild, among them the Second Elder, who wore a particularly troubled expression.

“Old Fox Wen, by calling Young Master Wen back, do you intend to have him join the competition for the Elders’ qualifications? You should know that the Wen family already has a Monarch of the Independent State. As a family of the Crown Prince, we should avoid meddling in other matters of the Independent State…”

The successor of the Second Elder’s Jason family was still with the Shadow Alliance, with no chance of returning.

The Jason family was already thin on members, and since their heir had been sent to the Shadow Alliance, the Jason family had been barely holding on through the sole efforts of the Second Elder. If their position was usurped yet again, the Jason family would inevitably fall.

Old Fox Wen listened to the Second Elder’s anxious words, slowly raised his eyes, and cast a fleeting glance at him, his lips curling into a smile that was hard to decipher.

“What’s the matter? Worried that Yunuo’s return will usurp your position?”

“Old Fox Wen, you can mess with food, but you shouldn’t spout nonsense. I… I understand that Young Master Wen might not be interested in an Elder’s position in the Elders Council!”

The Second Elder didn’t want to spell things out, but seeing Old Fox Wen’s expression, he had a good guess about Old Fox Wen’s intentions. It seemed that not only did he wish to interfere with the matters of the Elders Council, he wanted to involve himself with the Elders Guild as well. His ambitions were truly inflating.

Watching the Second Elder’s nervous demeanor, Old Fox Wen let out a light chuckle, “The fact that your family has no one suitable for the task is your family’s problem. The Elders Guild has already leaked the news in advance, stating that we need the younger generation to take control of power… This is the trend of the times…”

Old Fox Wen spoke in a gentle tone, but to everyone else, his words sent a chill through their hearts. The so-called desire to have young people take power was nothing more than an attempt to create a vacancy to insert a member of his own family…

“Old Fox Wen, this isn’t what you said originally. You just mentioned that we needed a gimmick, just to restart the ‘Chosen One’ only. Why change the structure of the Elders Guild? I believe we can continue managing the Elders Guild!”

At that moment, the usually straightforward First Elder couldn’t help but speak out, unable to understand why the agreed plans had suddenly changed.

However, looking at the expressions of the others, it seemed they had already known about this affair. Did they really feel no ripples in their hearts?

“Old Fox Wen, are you doing this because you’re worried that after restarting the ‘Chosen One’, the Monarch of the Independent State won’t be from the Wen family anymore? You fear that your family will lose its status, and that’s why you want to shift the structure of the Independent State, right?”

The Seventh Elder, who sat quietly in a corner, spoke up in a gentle tone. He was the youngest among the Elders Guild, holding a crucial economic lifeline of the Independent State in his hands.

When the Elders Guild invited him, they were eyeing the resources he controlled, which could provide a steady stream of funds for the Elders Guild.

With Feng Qing’s input, the other Elders who were about to speak fell into an enigmatic silence, as they felt his words struck at the crux of the matter.

Old Fox Wen, hearing Feng Qing’s question, looked toward him; he had not expected Feng Qing to speak up at this moment, as he always thought of Feng Qing as a man of peace.

“This…” The Old Fox hesitated as he looked at Feng Qing, at a loss for words in responding to the question.

Making the issue too definitive would make people think that the Chosen One was subject to manipulation behind the scenes, but if he spoke ambiguously, it would reveal his own thoughts.

The persona the Old Fox had cultivated in the Independent State was one of nonchalance towards worldly affairs, but his ambition was to control the entire Independent State in his palms. He wanted to become the Monarch of Independent State, holding absolute authority over it.

Observing the Old Fox’s silence, Feng Qing let out a cold laugh and rose from his chair, his tone calm but indifferent as he spoke.

“It’s getting late; I should be going back to rest. As for the other matters, we can talk about them at the Elders Guild meeting tomorrow afternoon. See you then!”

With that, Feng Qing left, walking out from the Wen family’s living room with long strides, indifferent and carefree, seemingly unperturbed by the upcoming Elders Guild election.

In contrast to Feng Qing’s free-spirited departure, the faces of the other Elders Council members looked quite ugly, their expressions fraught with difficulty.

Following Feng Qing’s departure, the other Elders also stood up one after another, bidding farewell to the Old Fox before leaving the Wen family’s residence.

Now, only the relentless Second Elder and the Old Fox with a grim expression remained in the living room.

The Old Fox was so infuriated by Feng Qing that he found himself at a loss for words. When someone at the Elders Guild proposed adding Feng Qing to their ranks, he immediately felt Feng Qing was an uncontrollable element and voiced his disagreement.

But to no avail, these old curmudgeons valued the resources and economic power Feng Qing possessed, wishing to leverage Feng Qing for better development opportunities, adding him to the Elders Guild regardless of opposition.

This meant that the Elders Guild now harbored a ticking time bomb—

“Old Fox Wen, when you had our Jason family take care of Mu Chengxi for you, you promised us a stable position in the Elders Guild. You can’t just go back on your word and kick us to the curb after using us, can you?”

“Our Jason family has already paid a grave price for this matter. Without the position of Elder in the Elders Guild, I fear we’d be… we’d be utterly ruined!”

Hearing the Second Elder bring up the kidnapping of Mu Chengxi, the Old Fox’s temple throbbed fiercely, and his head buzzed as though ready to explode.@@novelbin@@

“How dare you mention that? If your son had acted quicker back then, not coveting the resources that Mu Chengxi had, Mu Chengxi would be long dead, with no chance to stir chaos in Independent State!”

“Furthermore, my current standoff with Wen Xin is entirely because of those things you did. And you dare to take credit for this now?”

At this, the Old Fox snorted coldly; he had once been able to act under the auspices of Wen Xin’s reputation, but ever since that incident, everybody knew about the discord between Wen Xin and the Wen family…

Watching the Old Fox becoming agitated, the Second Elder lost his temper too. He abandoned his previously meek demeanor, stood up abruptly from the sofa, and loomed over the Old Fox with an air of superiority.