Song Sanliang and his mother’s faces grew even uglier.
When Song Jiyun, amidst the courteous gestures of those clan elders, took her seat upon the row of Taishi Chairs usually reserved for the elders themselves, Song Sanliang could restrain himself no longer. He stepped forward, cupped his hands towards the Eleventh Grand Master Song in greeting, and pointing at Song Jiyun, he exclaimed, "What qualifications does she have to sit in the main seat? When has it been the turn for women in the Song Clan to speak up?"
Before the Eleventh Grand Master Song had a chance to speak, a clan elder chided him sharply, "Impudent!", and using his cane, he shakily stood up and said, "Although Song Youliang’s daughter is a woman, she has managed our Song Clan’s academy, and has been able to recommend three people to study at the Suzhou Crane Mountain Academy in three years. She has made a great contribution that can establish and sustain our family and clan for a hundred years. Just for this, she has the right to sit here!
"What qualifications do you, who were nearly expelled from the clan, have to be pointing fingers here?"
This clan elder ranked even higher than the Eleventh Grand Master Song by a generation, and he rarely showed himself except during major ceremonies. He had little to do with Song Jiyun, and she had not expected him to regard her in such a way. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶
Song Jiyun was quite surprised.
She bowed slightly and thanked the elder.
That elder, already dissatisfied, said to the Eleventh Grand Master Song, "Didn’t you call everyone here to discuss matters? Why are we still dilly-dallying here?"
The Eleventh Grand Master Song promptly coughed twice forcefully and began explaining the purpose of this clan meeting, leaving Song Sanliang and his mother set aside.
Madam Zeng couldn’t help but tightly grasp her son’s arm.
This time, they had expended great effort. Even if they couldn’t tear a piece of flesh from Song Jiyun, they wanted to ensure she’d lose a layer of skin.
Madam Zeng watched with cold eyes.
The members of the Song Clan had exploded.
Though everyone knew Madam Qian had a daughter and each had their own calculations, such a formal announcement in public still unavoidably led them to whisper among themselves.
The Eleventh Grand Master Song then had a punished clansman strike the cloud board.
Everyone hurriedly quieted down, pricking up their ears to hear what the Eleventh Grand Master Song would say.
The Eleventh Grand Master Song was not prepared to shoulder this blame alone, so he said, "Originally, this was a private matter for Song Youliang’s branch of the family to handle themselves. However, Song Youliang’s brother approached the clan, requesting to adopt his son into Song Youliang’s branch, and asking the clan to give its blessing, which is why we have convened this clan meeting to let everyone understand what this is all about."
The clan hall buzzed with discussion once again.
Someone immediately cried out, "Why should we? They are brothers who have already divided their family property, just like us. If his son can be adopted into Boss Song’s branch, our family has that right too."
The news of Song Jiyun making a fortune in Nanjing had spread throughout the Song Clan overnight. Setting aside the family wealth left by Song Youliang, based solely on Song Jiyun’s actions in the past half year, even those who cherished their children considered adopting their sons as secondary heirs to Song Jiyun.
Immediately, someone picked up the thread, "Exactly! If we are to adopt, then an election should be held clan-wide. With such a vast family business belonging to Boss Song, we can’t just pick someone who will squander it, can we?"
Suddenly, many were enticed and joined in shouting, "If it’s for the sake of the family business, we might as well select from the twelve or thirteen-year-olds who understand a thing or two, instead of some five or six-year-olds who know nothing. One who can see their character already, and at this age can start learning porcelain-making from Boss Song—that’s the proper way to do it. Those who bring over clueless children are just hoping Boss Song will help raise their kids for them to reap the benefits later on."
Although adoption meant severing ties with the birth family, blood was still blood, and adopted children often found it hard to completely ignore their birth parents. This gave many an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.
Then, there were those who, unable to benefit themselves, simply stirred up mischief, "If we can choose twelve or thirteen-year-olds, then we can also choose those who are eighteen or nineteen. Isn’t it all about being physically fit, enduring hardship, and being able to make porcelain? There are so many descendants of the Song Family working in the Kiln Factory. Wouldn’t selecting from among the Kiln Factory’s children ensure a knack for pottery?"
Of course, there were those who spoke fairly, "How does one choose an heir in a family? Naturally, you would pick one who is naive, distant, and ideally, one whose parents have both passed away; otherwise, wouldn’t it be like raising a son for someone else!"
Song Sanliang was becoming anxious.
His original plan was to take advantage of the fact that Song Youliang’s branch had no sons, by proceeding in two steps. The first step was to force Song Jiyun to relinquish control over the Kiln Factory, and the second step was to adopt an heir. Moreover, he had privately promised those willing to support him that if they could get his son adopted into Song Youliang’s branch, he would give them half of Song Youliang’s inheritance.
Not all clan elders had suitable children for adoption.
He had not expected Eleventh Grand Master Song to pull such a move.
To take the money and not plan to do anything!
He glared at Eleventh Grand Master Song with resentment and looked toward a clan elder who had previously agreed explicitly to help him.
This particular elder stood up and had someone strike the cloud board, silencing the crowd, before he proceeded with the arrangement he had discussed with Song Sanliang, "It was said at Song Youliang’s funeral that the eldest daughter of the Song Family would manage the Kiln Factory temporarily. Now that Madam Qian has given birth to a daughter, shouldn’t we reconsider who should take temporary charge of the Kiln Factory?"
To Song Sanliang’s surprise, the clan elder had barely finished speaking and no one from the clan had yet responded when another elder explicitly opposed, "These are two separate matters. Today we are only discussing the adoption. As for whether Song Youliang’s daughter should manage the Kiln Factory, I think there’s nothing to discuss—if an adopted younger brother were found, could he immediately take over the family business? That’s nonsense!"
What surprised Song Sanliang even more was that everyone actually seemed to think that this elder made sense, and they began to voice their agreement, "Right! We don’t even know who will be adopted yet, it’s too early to discuss who should manage the Kiln Factory!"
Some even bluntly said, "If the adopted heir turns out to be unsuited for porcelain-making, shouldn’t his sister help him by supporting the family business?"
"Exactly! These are two separate matters. Today we discuss only the adoption."
Song Sanliang was frantically anxious, wishing he could step into the ring and fight it out himself.
Isn’t the adoption of a son also for the sake of the Song Family business?
Now that he had the opportunity to take away Song Jiyun’s control, the Song Family Kiln Factory could be at the mercy of The Song Clan, and yet these people were turning a blind eye?
He quickly made eye gestures to the clan elder who had promised to support him.
That elder had been planning the same as Song Sanliang and was also feeling the urgency. Upon seeing Song Sanliang’s look, he immediately shouted out, "Listen to me!"
All eyes turned to him.
He said, "The managing of the household and the adoption might seem like two separate matters, but in fact, they are one and the same. Tell me, among so many clans in Jingde Town, which one is led by a woman? If there is even one, then pretend I’ve said nothing."
The ancestral hall fell silent.
He continued, "The adoption of an heir is also to right the wrongs and bring everything back to the proper path. Let’s start with managing the household, allowing the female members of Song Youliang’s family to properly observe mourning within the inner courtyard. Meanwhile, let us, The Song Clan, jointly manage the Kiln Factory. Once the heir has grown, we can then hand it back to him. This is the way things should be."
The crowd exchanged glances.
But some had already grasped the key points, their faces showing a glint of greed.
Song Sanliang felt a sense of triumph in his heart and looked toward Song Jiyun.
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