"Miss Lacy, I don't quite understand what you mean."
Meilu spoke, still trying to avoid the important issues. Many of these things were not something she could decide as the eldest daughter. Even the head of the family, Huo Si, did not dare to make a promise now.
Perhaps in the eyes of outsiders, the Helis family is one of the five major chambers of commerce in Hopeland and is very powerful, but only she herself knows that in fact, the Helis family has been gradually divided internally, and the head family has slowly lost control of the overall situation. Taking sides at this time will only make the internal rift bigger and bigger.
It's not that she didn't know what Loran Hill meant, but she just couldn't say it.
"More than ten years ago, Carites and Helis fought over the spice trade. Did you know about this?" Loran Hill looked at the fire in the fireplace. The firewood burned quietly, with occasional slight crackling sounds.
"I have some idea about it." Meilu seemed to have thought of something, and her face looked a little unnatural.
"At the time, Lord Angus, considering future development, was willing to put aside his prejudices and conflicts and take a step back, giving up the spice industry in the Southern Islands. The previous head of the Helis family reciprocated by transferring his own forestry and some estates. Thus, both sides put aside their prejudices and helped each other, ultimately consolidating their market share and position within the alliance."
"But no one expected that the always loyal Helis family would actually set a trap for the head of the Carites family, attempting to use one of their own children to seize the Carites inheritance and thereby split the Chamber of Commerce."
"Miss Melu, do you know about this?" Having said that, Loran Hill slowly raised his head and looked at the eldest daughter of the Helis family opposite him again.
"I...I probably know something." Looking at Loran Hill's captivating blue eyes, she could only admit it bitterly.
This was indeed a dishonest act by the Helis family, and they hadn't told Angus about the subsequent reconciliation. I had thought that ten years had passed, Angus was gone, and everything was over. But who would have thought that the new head of the Carites family would still know the truth.
"Uncle Ceres is driving me here for the last time today. After tomorrow, he will resign from his position at home and go to the south to retire. He will never come back."
Loran Hill continued to talk about something seemingly unrelated, but Melu understood that this meant that all the actions and weaknesses of their Helis family had long been seen through by this eldest lady.
Is there no way out? Meilu looked down at the teacup. The scattered emerald green tea leaves slowly flowed in the cup and then sank to the bottom.
Recalling the scenes of my childhood, it all seems like yesterday. My grandfather was still alive at that time, and all the uncles in the family gathered together. We often ate together and talked to each other about which place had new raw materials, which route had a good profit margin, and which new product was popular with everyone. It was very lively.
As the eldest daughter in the family, she often entertained her younger brothers and sisters, taking them to play, read, and fly kites. Her uncles also often praised her and brought her gifts from various places in the Seven Kingdoms of Xuehua. That was her happiest time.
But after Grandpa passed away and Father took over, things started to go wrong. He messed up several projects right from the start, causing resentment among the uncles, who gradually stopped obeying the orders of the head of the household. Father, feeling he wasn't cut out for the job, began to indulge himself, becoming obsessed with pleasure and no longer interfering in household affairs, to the point where she had been the one making the decisions in recent years.
But she was just a daughter, and her seniority and qualifications could not suppress those uncles. Even her brothers and sisters who used to be familiar with her became indifferent and sometimes even had conflicts with her.
As the heat slowly dissipated, the tea in the cup gradually cooled down, and the tea leaves stopped floating, like stagnant water. Meilu raised her head and whispered.
"I'm very sorry, Miss Lacey, but the current Helis family is no longer qualified to be your ally."
"Why do you say that?"
"Perhaps it's still the gorgeous camellia in full bloom, but the branches beneath the petals have long since separated. I can only represent one branch. The Helis family has long been divided."
"Legally speaking, your master still holds more than 50% of the shares." Loran Hill was not disappointed.
"That's just legally speaking. The trade unions of the Wilga Business Alliance don't have the same power as the king of a kingdom. Most of the time, it's a matter of local self-government. Most of the members of the Hopelander branch come from our five major chambers of commerce. How much control can they have over themselves?"
"But you still have more than 50% of the legal shares. This is irrefutable justice." Loran Hill repeated again, his pupils reflecting the fire, as if there was a flame burning in them.
"I understand, but..."
"But you don't dare to take back what belongs to you?" Loran Hill interrupted Melu.
"But can you just sit back and watch your family fall apart in your generation?"
"Waiting will not yield any results." Loran Hill put the teacup on the table.
"After you take back your rights and everything, your relatives and uncles might have a big fight and feel resentful, but they will still rely on you and will still be able to sit together again. If they split up, their inheritance, which was already illegitimate, will be even more afraid of you demanding it back in the future, and this will lead to even darker thoughts and ideas."
"Mel, you probably don't want to see the worst outcome."
"I......."
Meilu looked at the dreamy girl in the black dress in front of her. She was like an angel warning and like a devil bewitching. She was speechless for a moment.
Loran Hill did not let Melu answer immediately. She knew that the change of concepts and habits would take time to digest slowly.
Then she stood up, walked to the fireplace, took down the teapot that was roasting by the fire, and refilled Melu's and her own teacups with boiling tea.
Meilu sat quietly on the sofa, watching the boiling hot tea pour out of the pot, draw an arc, and rise up with wisps of white mist, and then flow into the white porcelain cup with gold edges. The tea leaves that sank to the bottom of the cup rolled again in the hot water. The light green tea leaves in the amber liquid were like a small boat rising and falling in the stormy waves.
Camellia japonica, a yellow-green camellia, blooms in winter and spring, with lush, elegant flowers.
"Only the camellia is enduring, it alone can capture the spring breeze under the deep moon." - Verse 7 (Song Dynasty, Zeng Jili) rhymes with the east rhyme
"I understand, Lady Lacey, can you give me a moment?"
Melu raised her head and looked at Loran Hill with a relieved smile. In the reflection of the fire, her long chestnut-gold hair reflected a faint light.
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