However, just as Chen Fei was preparing to head to the Underwater Cave of Emerald Lake in Chengyang County of Northern Mountain City to pick the Jinchan Moon Fruit, a different scene was playing out far away in the Old Chen Family's estate in the Capital City.

「」

"Dad, those guys have already started coming after me," a middle-aged man with a sly, rat-like appearance said, venting his frustration to the elderly man before him in a study. The elder appeared to be in his sixties or seventies, his face deeply wrinkled and his hair a stark gray-white. He gave off the impression that he was on his last breath, one step away from the grave.

This elder was none other than Chen Huaqin from the Collateral Branch of the Chen Family, who had previously expressed many self-righteous views at an internal family meeting. The sly-looking middle-aged man was his son, Chen Weishan, the current deputy head of a certain ministry in the Capital City.

As a descendant of the Collateral Branch of the Chen Family, Chen Weishan had always enjoyed the shade provided by the great tree of the Old Chen Family. He didn't have much competence and was, in fact, rather inept. Yet, by his forties, he had managed to climb to the position of a deputy department head. Even though his department was a so-called 'clean government office' with little real power or profit, his position was still the object of intense envy and jealousy from countless others.

All of this was simply because his surname was Chen and because he had a behemoth backing him—the Old Chen Family.

But now, with Elder Master Chen's passing, the Old Chen Family had been plunged into a period of turmoil. Its power was damaged and its influence was waning. For someone like Chen Weishan, this was a massive and devastating blow.

The three-month deadline was drawing closer, and those who had been secretly coveting the Old Chen Family's standing seemed unable to wait any longer, eager to make their move. Consequently, someone like Chen Weishan—a man with little capability who had only reached his position through the family's influence and was unqualified for the role—had become a juicy target, the 'tender meat on the chopping block' in the eyes of their enemies.

In other words, the seat he was sitting on was becoming increasingly unstable. For a man who had grown accustomed to calling the shots, ordering people around, and living with arrogant flair, how could he possibly accept such a thing?

Thus, as the deadline loomed, Chen Weishan found himself unable to contain his growing anxiety and panic, and had run to his old man, Chen Huaqin, for help.

"Coming after you? What do you mean by that? Has someone already made a move on you?" Chen Huaqin's face darkened upon hearing this, his expression turning ugly.

"Yes, Dad! You have no idea. People from the Central Discipline Inspection Commission came to our department today. They didn't say what it was about, but those bastards kept their eyes on me the whole time... Dad, you have to save me this time! I can't afford to be investigated. What will I do if they take away my position?" Chen Weishan pleaded, his face a mask of misery.

Clearly, even though his department was a 'clean government office,' being in the Capital City made it all too easy to pocket extra benefits or engage in shady dealings. Moreover, Chen Weishan was particularly susceptible to temptation and had brazenly 'taken' quite a lot. If those enforcers from the Central Discipline Inspection Commission really started digging, he was certain none of it would remain hidden—not his mistresses, his overseas properties, or the money he'd embezzled.

When that happened, he would be truly finished.

SMACK!

"And you have the nerve to say that?" his father, Chen Huaqin, roared, unable to stop himself from slapping his son across the face. "When you were doing all those things, why didn't you stop to think that this day might come?"

He was, of course, aware that his son's dealings were not clean. In the past, with the great tree of the Old Chen Family providing cover, he hadn't thought it was a major issue. But now…

"Dad, how could I have known the Elder Master would die so suddenly? I don't care! You have to help me with this. I'm your only son! If I get caught, or if I lose my position, what will that do to your reputation? How will the Direct Lineage view our family then?" Chen Weishan said, clutching his stinging face.

"You... you... I... Hmph!"

Hearing such shameless words from his own son, Chen Huaqin nearly exploded with rage. In the end, however, he let out a helpless snort, his expression complex. "Help you? How do you expect me to help you? At most, I might be able to keep you out of jail. Those people just want to wipe out the Old Chen Family's influence in the bureaucracy! As for your position, you can forget about keeping it."

As he spoke, he couldn't help but add in a tone of bitter disappointment, "This wouldn't be happening if you weren't such a good-for-nothing! You're over forty years old with no capability whatsoever! Who else would they target if not you? Look at Zhenguo, Zhenjun, and Lau Shan. They're all about your age, aren't they? Even if those people wanted to touch them, could they?"

"I don't care! Dad, am I your biological son or not? Can you really bear to watch me get swept out the door, to become a laughingstock in Forty-Nine City?" Chen Weishan suddenly grew agitated. What a joke! If I, Chen Weishan, lose my position, it would be a disaster! What would my fair-weather friends think of me? How would they mock and ridicule me? The mere thought of that scenario was unbearable. Having grown addicted to the perks and power that came with his title, he could not let go of that desire. He absolutely refused to see himself stripped of his official rank.

Chen Huaqin should have been furious, but instead, a bitter feeling welled up inside him. He shook his head and sighed, "Weishan, even if you can't accept it, what can you do? Our Old Chen Family can barely look after itself right now. We could face a major disaster at any moment. In a time like this, who do you think would be willing to stick their neck out for you?"

"I..."

Chen Weishan's face stiffened, but then he suddenly grew excited. "Dad, didn't you say Chen Zhenguo's son could get Old Master Xuu to step in and help the Old Chen Family?" he asked, as if he had just found a sliver of hope.

"Chen Zhenguo's son?"

A complex, strange light flickered in Chen Huaqin's eyes. He shook his head involuntarily. "Don't count on him. Chen Bingzhang had someone contact the boy's mother—that woman we drove out back then—offering to accept both of them into the Old Chen Family. Do you know how she responded? She refused."

"What? She refused? Damn it, what a bitch! What right does that lowly woman from the countryside have to refuse the Old Chen Family! Who does she think she is?" Chen Weishan's expression changed, and he burst into a string of curses. Our Old Chen Family's status in the Capital City is noble and respected. Deigning to accept a lowly country woman like her was already an act of exceptional grace. And she dared to refuse, to reject our family's 'goodwill'? Who the hell does she think she is? Lowly woman, damned whore.

"That woman is indeed insolent and doesn't know her place," Chen Huaqin said with a shake of his head. "But even if she has refused us, what can we do now? Our family isn't what it used to be. We're beset by internal strife and external threats."

"Dad!" Chen Weishan's expression changed again. "What do you mean, 'what can we do'? Even if that woman has nothing to do with us, that boy still has the blood of the Old Chen Family in his veins! The family is in dire straits, and he has the ability to ask Old Master Xuu to help us. It is his duty and his responsibility! He should unconditionally do anything for the family!"

He gritted his teeth, speaking with righteous indignation. "No, Dad, we have to make that boy step up and ask Old Master Xuu to help the Old Chen Family. He's just a junior; what right does he have to refuse? He should just do as his elders say." As he spoke, the muscles on his face began to twist.

This is ridiculous! At a time when the Old Chen Family is in turmoil, how can he not step up when he has the ability? As a junior, he should know his place. Whatever we, his elders, say, goes. He just needs to do as he's told. What does a young man in his twenties know? His only job is to obey.

Although he spoke with great righteousness, as if he truly had the family's best interests at heart, he was, in fact, only hoping that Chen Fei would get Old Master Xuu to quell the turmoil so that he could save his own position. Tsk, tsk, how thick-skinned and hypocritical.

"Who do you think you are? You think he'll step up just because you say so? Please, use that pig brain of yours for a moment. If it were that simple, would our Old Chen Family be in such chaos?" Chen Huaqin grew even more irritable, seeing that his son still failed to grasp the situation.

"Then what do we do? Dad, you can't just stand by and watch me get dismissed, can you? No, that can't happen... Dad, you have to help me. I'm your only son," Chen Weishan pleaded urgently. He had always believed that with the Old Chen Family behind him, he could solve any problem. But now, with the Elder Master gone, he was finally realizing that the family name wasn't omnipotent, and many people were just waiting for a chance to strike them down.

"Enough! Be quiet!"

Hearing his son spout more shameless nonsense, Chen Huaqin's irritation grew. He slapped his hand down on the study's desk, his expression stormy.

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