"Dad, how could you do this?!"
Upon hearing Qin Shoujiang's decision again, Qin Anbang's first reaction was to express his doubt.
But others were different from him, especially Song Xian, who had been advising him for a long time.
She slowly stood up from her seat and then very seriously said to Qin Shoujiang in a cold voice, "Dad, I'm sorry, but we still disagree with your decision."
What?
She disagreed?
When did it become the turn of an outsider like her to speak in the Qin family's affairs?
As soon as Song Xian finished speaking, many Qin family members erupted.
After all, in the Qin family, the concept of family surname was deeply ingrained in everyone's heart.
As a woman, Qin Anrong, the daughter of the patriarch, was equivalent to the eldest princess of an empire, naturally possessing a strong desire for the succession of the patriarch.
But what about you, Song Xian?
You are just a mere outsider daughter-in-law.
Even if your husband is the son of the patriarch and the second young master of the Qin family, Qin family matters have nothing to do with you.
Moreover, they were discussing the ownership of the future patriarch.
Your disagreement is simply blatant rebellion!
Hearing the increasingly clear voices of condemnation around, Song Xian felt helpless.
She knew very well how little importance a large family would place on an outsider daughter-in-law, but she had no choice.
Before, she had made no move, letting Qin Anbang, who had rehearsed countless times, act on his own.
But what was the result?
Not only did it have no impact on Qin Shoujiang's decision, but he even questioned it like a resentful woman?!
How could this force a coup?
So, Song Xian had no choice but to brace herself and stand up to say the strongest words for Qin Anbang.
Even if she were cursed by others, or even lost some people's support, she had to guide the development of the situation onto the right track.
As expected.
When Song Xian uttered the words "disagree" in public again, Qin Anbang finally woke up as if from a dream.
He had come to force a coup, not to discuss with his father.
The next patriarch of the Qin family must be me, and no one else!
Giving Song Xian an apologetic look, Qin Anbang patted the table to signal everyone to be quiet.
Some people did not react to the sound, so he directly raised his voice to stop them.
His demeanor was indeed completely different from before.
"Dad, Song Xian is right."
"I disagree with this decision."
Deliberately changing Song Xian's "we" to "I," Qin Anbang was essentially helping her out of a difficult situation.
He also knew that the Qin family members were very resistant to an outsider daughter-in-law participating in family affairs, so by doing this, he was telling others that she was just speaking on his behalf.
"Over the years, you have seen my contributions to the Qin family."
"In terms of martial arts, I gathered Brother Wei and Brother Xun to urge other cultivators to cultivate with all their might."
"In terms of resources, I collaborated with Qilin and Yifei to purchase precious resources from various regions."
"In terms of business, I am indeed not as outstanding as my third sister, but the industries under my management have contributed more than ten percent of the family's profits, and this is after deducting the expenses I mentioned earlier!"
"Therefore, I believe that whether it is my third sister or Wen Chang, they are no match for me."
"This Qin family patriarch position should be mine!"
"As for this Qin Xuan, he is just a wild kid who ran back from outside."
"Does Qin Xuan deserve to be the Qin family patriarch?"
Taking advantage of the passion Song Xian had ignited for him, Qin Anbang blurted out all the prepared speeches in one go.
Qin Shoujiang nodded secretly upon hearing this.
He thought to himself that this kid had finally opened his mind a little.
However, it was still not enough.
The words were tough enough, but they were far from the level of forcing a coup.
So Qin Shoujiang snorted expressionlessly, then spoke, adding fuel to the fire.
"Hmph, when did it become your turn to refute what I, Qin Shoujiang, say?"
"Qin Xuan becoming the patriarch is my decision. Asking for your opinions was just being polite."
"What, now you're getting out of hand?"
"Qin Anbang, you have immense courage!"
Qin Shoujiang's words undoubtedly triggered Qin Anbang's PTSD.
But in this situation, he was already at the edge of a cliff.
Either turn back and succeed in forcing the coup, or move forward and jump off the cliff to commit suicide.
There was no option to back down.
So since any action would lead to death, he might as well implement the original plan.
With this thought, Qin Anbang threw caution to the wind.
He not only shouted, interrupting Qin Shoujiang's subsequent words, but also slammed the table, almost knocking over the decorations next to him.
"Enough!"
"You've been like this since I was little, dictatorial, autocratic, and never allowing anyone to question you!"
"But are your ideas always right?"
"From childhood to adulthood, how many things were accomplished based on my elder brother's suggestions?"
"But do you know, many of the ideas my elder brother proposed were also suggested by my third sister and me!"
"Back then, you didn't listen to our suggestions at all, so we had no choice but to offer strategies to you through my elder brother."
"But you?"
"Even after accomplishing things with the ideas we provided, you still ignored us."
"Even after we grew up, even after my elder brother was gone!"
"Now, I've had enough!"
"I want to make my own decisions and decide the direction of the Qin family."
"So today, whether you agree or disagree, you will give me this patriarch position!"
After speaking, Qin Anbang turned his gaze to Qin Anrong, who was opposite him.
Currently, the only one who could compete with him was his third sister, who controlled the Qin family's economic lifeline.
And his third sister, like him, had always looked down on their elder brother and father since childhood, so what he had to do next was to win over Qin Anrong.
Make her give up the idea of competing with him.
"Third sister, currently in the Qin family, the ones who own the most assets are us siblings."
"Father is old and frail and cannot manage affairs, and the younger generation has no foundation and cannot affect us."
"Therefore, I propose that we siblings join forces to take this patriarch position."
"As for the subsequent governance, it will be reallocated by our two families."
"In short, your second brother will never treat his sister unfairly."
"You and your second brother grew up together, and you should know my character."
After speaking from the heart, Qin Anbang looked at Qin Anrong with great anticipation.
He felt he understood his sister quite well.
Although her attitude towards him was not very good, it was still better than that dictatorial father.
So no matter how Qin Anbang planned to interact with this somewhat difficult sister in the future, he had to play the emotional card well today.
Only in this way could he successfully become the next patriarch of the Qin family with her help.
However, as he looked forward with anticipation, waiting for his sister to stand with him due to their past relationship, Qin Anrong's expression made his heart sink.
And as Qin Anrong lightly opened her lips and coldly announced her attitude;
Everyone present, whether they had formed factions or not, widened their eyes as if they had heard something shocking.