Song Tianxing had a belly full of frustrations as he swept his gaze around coldly with a thunderous looking face. “I can understand that all of you are in high spirits. I’ll only speak of two matters today.”
“First, I’d like to ask you all that, as the first duke beneath the heavens, why was the Duke of Soaring Dragon destroyed in the end?”
“Second, who can fill in the gaps after Qiao Baishi has left? Who amongst you has the ability to clean up the aftermath? I’ll say this right here and now, that if anyone has the ability to fill in for Qiao Baishi, and can take care of the aftermath left in his wake, I’ll make that person the next great Lord Hallmaster.”
Song Tianxing spread out his hands after he spoke, “Why don’t you discuss it amongst yourselves.”
Upon seeing that Song Tianxing’s reaction wasn’t very pleased, the fervent atmosphere cooled down slightly.
Yue Qun squeezed out a smile and said, “It was a fluke that the Duke of Soaring Dragon was destroyed. Who would’ve thought that the million strong army would be subdued by the power of Jiang Chen alone?”
“Indeed. Perhaps the Duke of Soaring Dragon just didn’t have the makings of an emperor in this lifetime.”
“This situation truly is a bit bizarre. I thought that it would be the foregone conclusion for the Long family to conquer the kingdom. Who would’ve thought that the final outcome would be thus?”
“Haha, but this is a great thing for our Hall.”
The senior executives were all quite at ease when they discussed the matters of the Long family. The blustering and aggressive manner that had been present when they were pointing fingers at Qiao Baishi, and when they were clamoring to hand him over to Long Zhaofeng, was completely absent.
However, Song Tianxing’s brow grew even more furrowed when he heard this response.
He raised his eyebrows, and looked at the fourth Hallmaster Wang Li. “Number four, you take the floor. What understanding have you reached regarding the Duke of Soaring Dragon’s demise?”
Wang Li knew this was a test from the Lord Hallmaster, and didn’t dare easily dismiss the matter. He thought for a moment and then opened his mouth to say, “Both luck and reason played a role in the destruction of the Long family. On the other hand, this also demonstrates that with the Eastern family’s royal heritage of a few hundred years, their destiny is still stronger than the Long family’s. And, as the truth has illustrated, the Lord Hallmaster was correct in resolutely defending his stance. You possessed foresight in doing so.”
Wang Li conveniently kissed up to Song Tianxing as well. When everyone had wanted to hand over Qiao Baishi to Long Zhaofeng, and strike a compromise with the Long family, or even submit to them, in the end it had been Song Tianxing who’d prevailed over all dissenting views. He’d stoppered the mouths of those who wanted to bow down to the Long family after Elder Shun had spoken.
The truth had revealed that the action of not submitting to the Long family had been beyond wise and brilliant.
Otherwise, it would be an unknown whether or not the current Hall of Healing would be receiving the royal family’s favor.
After Wang Li had offered up this fulsome flattery, he naturally felt that he had responded quite aptly. However, Song Tianxing shook his head inwardly. This Wang Li didn’t measure up to Qiao Baishi alright — he paled far in comparison instead.
He had raised the first question to take these people down a peg or two, using the matter of the Long family to warn them not to always think of expanding.
Business could be expanded, but territory and influence could absolutely not be expanded.
It was a pity that no one grasped his intentions.
Suddenly, an elder sitting in a corner to the right raised his hand, “Lord Hallmaster, if I may say a word?”
The elder who had raised his hand was surnamed Ying, and was one of the few solid supporters that Qiao Baishi had left. He had been ostracized by the senior executives during this time, and was slowly being marginalized.
The others wore a faint smile upon seeing that he wished to speak. They had on looks of watching a good show, as if a funny joke was in front of them.
“Elder Ying, the lord hallmaster hasn’t asked you. What are you trying to do by being so falsely proactive?” Elder Blue’s words were laced with sarcasm.
“Elder Blue, if I recall correctly, you’re also an elder, and your ranking isn’t that much higher than mine. I hardly think that you have the right to point fingers and decide when I can or can’t speak. I don’t know what you’re puffed up with importance about?” Elder Ying flicked a glance at Elder Blue as his voice was full of contempt.
“You… you… I’m not lowering my status by arguing with you.” Elder Blue sat down huffily.
“Elder Ying, what valued opinions do you have? Please speak.”