Chapter 563: Precisely Stepping on a Mine

Time moves slightly forward, back to when the Lionheart carriage was still stuck on the road.

Seeing that all the important guests had arrived, but that crucial Lionheart carriage had yet to appear with the new Duke, the newly appointed head of the Laien family and the only remaining clan elder were almost driven crazy with anxiety.

"Is Old York senile!"

Not knowing that the old steward, who was also one of the "Three Laien Elders," had already been sent to the hospital after a heart attack under the torture of someone's "elementary school sentence making," the head of the family, who was fat and bloated and wearing a specially made extra-large tailcoat, couldn't help but complain after waiting for a long time without seeing the new Duke return:

"He said he had served the old Duke for so many years and had experienced all kinds of special occasions, so there would definitely be no problems. I only agreed to let him arrange it. As a result, it was just a small matter of taking people out and then taking a carriage back. How could it be delayed?"

"Don't be anxious, wait a little longer."

Compared to the newly appointed head of the Laien family, the Laien clan elder was clearly able to keep his cool. After sending two personal attendants to urge them, he frowned with his graying eyebrows and said:

"That new Duke of ours is different from the old Duke. He is a person from the bottom who has never received aristocratic education. It is inevitable that there will be some mishaps in a ceremony of this scale. Now we can only trust Old York. Give him a little more time."

"Give him more time, then who will give us more time?"

Peeking into the hall through the gaps in the curtain tassels and seeing that some guests already had impatient expressions on their faces, the Laien head of the family couldn't help but sigh, his expression quite annoyed:

"If I had known that even this could go wrong, I wouldn't have set so many procedures before, and wouldn't have tormented him so many times. It wouldn't have made the schedule so tight, leaving no room at all!"

"Don't be anxious, the more it is at this time, the more you need to keep your cool."

After picking up the tea by his hand and taking a slow sip, the Laien clan elder took out a handkerchief from his bosom, wiped the tea stains on his white beard, and advised in a calm tone:

"The new Duke is a somewhat unruly person, and he doesn't know how to be a qualified noble at all. To make him actively cooperate with us, we must first make him understand that even if he is the Lionheart Duke, if the Laien family wants to be maintained, it must have the three of us to help."

"So it's a good thing that the ceremony is a bit cumbersome. It just happens to grind his temper and let him know our importance. If we didn't make arrangements, he wouldn't even be able to handle the title succession ceremony. That way, he will know his place when getting along in the future."

"That's true..."

Somewhat persuaded by the clan elder's words, the Laien head of the family hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded.

"Fine! Then everything will proceed as before. You continue to send people to urge them, and I will go to the front hall first to stabilize those guests who are waiting anxiously."

"Hmm, go ahead."

While the two Laien elders reached a consensus—one arranging for people to find the new Duke, the other trying to stabilize the guests—seeing time passing by and the ceremony not starting, the guests on the first floor of the main building had become extremely impatient.

"Hehe, the pomp of our new Duke is truly quite grand!"

Looking at the gradually furrowing brows of the people around, a certain "small fry" Count, who became famous in the capital because of Leon, couldn't help but say sarcastically:

"Everyone here has marriage ties with the Laien family. Many are of the same generation as the old Duke. By rank, half of them are his elders, and some are even two generations older than him."

"For the sake of the old Duke's recent passing, we elders got up early to support him and rushed over to attend the ceremony, and as a result, we are just waiting here?" The "small fry" Count's statement was too obvious, almost writing the words "I am looking for trouble" on his face.

But firstly, everyone was a group of crows who smelled the stench of profit and came to share the "Laien corpse." They all knew each other's "composition," so there was no need to pretend to be dignified;

Secondly, getting up early to rush over to attend the ceremony, only to be left here for a long time without reason, naturally made everyone feel very dissatisfied. After the small fry Count finished speaking, not only did no one object, but some even actively echoed.

"Indeed, the Laien family has done a poor job this time."

"I'm afraid it's not that they did a poor job, but that they simply didn't take us marriage-tied relatives seriously, right?"

"After all, they are the two pillars of the kingdom. Why would they take us small nobles seriously?"

Under the deliberate instigation of those with ulterior motives and the intentional cooperation of a group of people with their own agendas, by the time the Laien head of the family came out from the backstage, the entire hall was in chaos, with all kinds of direct accusations and sarcasm ringing in their ears.

"Everyone! Everyone, please be quiet, please listen to me first!"

Hearing the tidal wave of condemnation in the hall, cold sweat broke out on the Laien head of the family's back, and he hurriedly raised his volume and shouted:

"Sorry, sorry, today's ceremony was indeed a bit rushed, and the Duke was also delayed on the road due to some matters. It is truly our Laien family's lack of preparation that has neglected all the distinguished guests."

"But the reason for this is also to thank everyone for coming, so we specially prepared it to be more grand. It's just that the process is cumbersome, so it is inevitable that there will be mishaps. I hope everyone, as relatives and old friends, can bear with us as much as possible for the sake of past friendship."

"And besides everyone, also present are Lady Amien, representing Prime Minister Lei Nade, and Prince Watching Watching Qiaoshuya, representing the Princess. I hope everyone will give these two distinguished guests some face and be patient a little longer. I, the old man, thank everyone for your tolerance here!"

After the Laien head of the family finished speaking, the hall, which had been noisy and clamorous, immediately quieted down.

Nothing else, although this speech was a bit rushed, the effect in controlling the situation was truly outstanding.

Without a word, he first apologized and admitted his mistake to soothe emotions, then used a move of "being late is not intentional neglect, but because of too much respect for you" to strongly control the scene, climbing back to the moral high ground with both hands and feet.

Then, by pointing out that the Prime Minister and the Princess were also present, he made it clear that causing trouble again would be not giving face to the Prime Minister and the Princess, suppressing people like the small fry Count who originally wanted to make trouble. Finally, he bowed on the spot to thank everyone for their tolerance, completely blocking the option of "intolerance."

Regarding this, it can only be said that the Three Laien Elders were able to rise to power after the Laien Blood Night and become the actual controllers of the Laien family not just by being old, but by truly having some skills. This small combo hit in a rush was enough to prove the Laien head of the family's strength in rhetoric.

Unfortunately, the Laien head of the family's words, while successfully soothing 99% of the people, were the only ones that annoyed the most troublesome one.

"I am not anyone's representative!"

Hearing "Prince Watching Watching Qiaoshuya, representing the Princess," the gorgeously dressed youth standing at the forefront of the guests, who was chatting with the Prime Minister's wife, couldn't help but sink his face. Then, ignoring the secret tugging of his female companion, he refuted unceremoniously:

"Mind your words! If you really want to talk about representation, then what I represent is the royal family, not anyone else!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 564 =====