Chapter 95: The Defecting President

As Jiang Jiang Qinge's somewhat cold voice rang out, the heads in the council hall exchanged glances, and for a moment low murmurs of discussion arose.

"Young Lady, we already sent someone to the Xiyang House headquarters to pass along the message earlier. By rights, when President Han Zhi receives the news, he should have rushed over immediately." Lei Zhang spoke up at this moment.

Jiang Jiang Qinge nodded slightly and said, "Then it seems something has gone wrong."

Li Luo asked, "That President Han Zhi is one of Manager Pei Hao's people?"

Today was the day this Young Mansion Master would be making his appearance at Luolang Mansion. The various heads should also know the gravity of the matter, and even if they wouldn't give him face, they still had to give Jiang Jiang Qinge face.

And if this Han Zhi didn't want to give either of them face, then he should be one of Manager Pei Hao's diehards.

But Jiang Jiang Qinge shook her head and said, "Han Zhi is not one of Manager Pei Hao's people. He has always hovered between me and Manager Pei Hao. He's a very shrewd person who knows how to wait for the highest bidder, so there's no reason for him not to appear here..."

"And the fact that he hasn't shown up now means something must have gone wrong."

Li Luo said softly, "Or perhaps... he found a third party willing to pay more than what you and Manager Pei Hao offered?"

The moment these words were spoken, everyone in the council hall was instantly shocked, their gazes turning to Li Luo in astonishment. The meaning of those words was... Han Zhi had directly betrayed Luolang Mansion?!

Jiang Jiang Qinge's slender, bright eyes narrowed slightly as well, and then her expression grew even colder.

Because she felt that Li Luo's guess was very likely correct.

And just as whispers continued to ripple through the council hall, hurried footsteps suddenly sounded from outside, and then everyone saw a figure burst in.

It was an old man. Li Luo was actually not unfamiliar with him, because not long ago, it was this elderly man named Zheng Ping who had come to South Wind City to finalize Yan Yan Lingqing's position as branch president.

Zheng Ping was an elder of Xiyang House headquarters, with extremely high seniority. And at this moment, his stern, aged face was filled with rage.

"Young Mansion Master, Young Lady, that bastard Han Zhi just suddenly announced his defection from Xiyang House and joined the Duze Mansion's 'Great Marsh House.' And when he left, he took away most of the Material Refinement Masters from Xiyang House headquarters. Most outrageously, that beast actually set the headquarters' Formula Research Institute on fire!" Zheng Ping's eyes were bloodshot as he roared in a hoarse voice.

Hiss!

Amid his roar, the various heads of Luolang Mansion headquarters in the council hall couldn't help but suck in a cold breath, their faces full of shock.

Has Han Zhi gone mad? Not only did he betray Luolang Mansion and poach Xiyang House's Material Refinement Masters, but he also dared to burn down the Formula Research Institute?!

Everyone in the council hall began cursing furiously.

Li Luo's face also darkened at this moment. He had spent time at a Xiyang House branch, so he naturally understood what was most important to a Spirit Water Marvel Light House — and that was the Material Refinement Masters.

If Han Zhi was dissatisfied with Xiyang House, his choice to leave was understandable, but fine, leave if you must — did you have to hollow the place out?

And then there was the Formula Research Institute, which was the lifeblood of every Spirit Water Marvel Light House. It required continuous investment of massive funds for experimentation and research. And now Han Zhi had burned it down with a single fire — one could imagine how enormous the losses would be.

There was another important point: the other party didn't leave earlier or later, but deliberately chose the exact moment this Young Mansion Master arrived at Luolang Mansion's headquarters to commit these heinous acts... If anyone claimed this wasn't targeted at him, no one would believe it.

"Quiet."

Amid the noisy, chaotic council hall, Jiang Jiang Qinge's cold voice rang out, instantly silencing everyone.

"This is a carefully calculated move by Duze Mansion against Luolang Mansion." On Jiang Jiang Qinge's exquisitely beautiful, fair cheeks, there was no anger. Apart from her gaze being a bit colder, she didn't seem to have been angered by it.

But it was precisely this calm that caused the agitation in the hearts of those present to settle down.

"Duze Mansion again, huh..." Li Luo sat down in the seat beside Jiang Jiang Qinge. Since arriving in this Great Xia City, he had learned from Si Si Qiuying about Duze Mansion's malice toward him. And now, they had meticulously prepared such a generous gift for him—truly, such painstaking effort.

"Duze Mansion must have paid no small price to win over Han Zhi, otherwise he wouldn't have done something so extreme." Jiang Jiang Qinge's gaze swept over Li Luo. This time, Duze Mansion's scheme was not only targeting Luolang Mansion, but also targeting Li Luo, this Young Mansion Master.

They deliberately chose this time to trigger the Han Zhi incident, with no other purpose than to slap this Young Mansion Master's face and diminish his prestige within Luolang Mansion.

After all, the Young Mansion Master had just arrived at headquarters, and the president of Xiyang House chose to defect. Once this news spread, outsiders would inevitably say it had something to do with Li Luo.

They might even say that the Young Mansion Master of Luolang Mansion was at odds with the top brass of headquarters, leading to personnel defecting and fleeing.

Li Luo sighed inwardly. So this was what the struggle between great mansions looked like — so vicious, so cold, leaving no room for mercy at all. Compared to them, the Song family of South Wind City could be considered decent folk.

"This Duze Mansion has gone too far, actually using such despicable methods!" Lei Zhang's face was flushed with fury as he said through gritted teeth.

"The two sides were already hostile to begin with. It would be far too naive to blame the enemy for using any means necessary."

Jiang Jiang Qinge said calmly, "Just keep this debt in mind. There will be chances to settle it in the future."

Although there was some anger in her heart as well, she still rationally suppressed it, because Luolang Mansion was already on shaky ground and simply couldn't afford an all-out war with Duze Mansion.

"Young Mansion Master, Young Lady, Xiyang House headquarters is in complete chaos right now. You need to come up with a plan."

"That Pang Pang Qianchi is also leading people in causing trouble, saying that since Han Zhi has left, a new president should be elected..." Elder Zheng Ping also suppressed his fury and spoke up.

Jiang Jiang Qinge said to Li Luo, "This Pang Pang Qianchi is truly one of Manager Pei Hao's people. He has been obstructing my interference in Xiyang House. Previously, Han Zhi was neutral and didn't bother with affairs, which gave Pang Pang Qianchi a very high voice in Xiyang House headquarters."

Li Luo nodded slightly. This situation was actually similar to the Tianshu Prefecture branch, but this Pang Pang Qianchi was far more difficult to deal with than Bizhuang.

Because even while in South Wind City, he had heard of this headquarters vice president's exploits. It was said that he had once been one of the leading candidates for Xiyang House headquarters president, and at one point his momentum had even surpassed Han Zhi's. It was only later that his father and mother didn't choose Pang Pang Qianchi, but chose Han Zhi to serve as president.

Perhaps this was also one of the reasons why, after Father and Mother disappeared, Pang Pang Qianchi immediately colluded with Manager Pei Hao.

But looking at it now, whether it was Han Zhi or this Pang Pang Qianchi, both were useless goods. Though this couldn't be blamed on Father and Mother's poor judgment, because back when Luolang Mansion was first established, its foundations were shallow and they had no one to use, so they could only make do for the time being and replace them later when better options came along.

What they hadn't expected was that before anyone could replace these two goods, Father and Mother disappeared first.

"Elder Zheng, go to Xiyang House headquarters first to calm things down. Tomorrow, the Young Mansion Master and I will personally go to resolve this matter. Rest assured, Xiyang House is the lifeblood of Master, Mistress, and many of the elders. We absolutely will not let it be destroyed." Jiang Jiang Qinge paused thoughtfully and said to Zheng Ping.

"Understood." Zheng Ping immediately agreed, cupped his fists toward Li Luo and Jiang Jiang Qinge, and turned to leave in a frantic hurry.

With Zheng Ping's departure, the atmosphere in the council hall gradually returned to normal, though everyone understood this was only on the surface. The timing Duze Mansion had carefully chosen for this eruption had ultimately diminished some of the momentum of the Young Mansion Master's homecoming ceremony.

It was likely that after tomorrow, this matter would spread throughout Great Xia City, and who knew how much ridicule it would invite.

This Duze Mansion is truly disgusting.