The ancestral hall of the Qian family is not very gorgeous, and it is not much different from the ancestral halls of many ordinary wealthy families in Jiangnan, it is nothing more than white walls and black tiles. The layout is also decent, divided into two halls before and after, there is a boxy patio in the middle, the back hall is the place where the ancestors of the Qian family are enshrined, the front hall is similar to the main hall, a long case is placed against the wall opposite the door, in front of the case is a square table of four immortals, a Taishi chair is placed on the left and right, the right master and the left guest, is the location of the head of the family.

There is a portrait of an ancestor hanging in the middle of the wall above the case, and the two central halls on the left and right sides are: "Virtue can be long-lasting, merit can be great" and "Affection is love, then survival".

The walls on both sides are decorated with banners, mostly Confucian benevolence and Taoist self-cultivation maxims.

Symmetrical chairs are placed on both sides of the center of the hall, a total of ten chairs, corresponding to the ten elders of the elders' hall.

The ancestral hall is also the meeting place of the Elders' Hall.

At this time, in the ancestral hall, after receiving the summons, there were a total of twelve chairs, and ten people had already sat down, except for the chair belonging to the head of the family, only the chair of one elder who could not be rushed back from the errands was still empty, and the remaining nine elders were all present.

The head of the family has not arrived, but today there is a future head of the family, that is, Qian Yulong, the eldest son of the Qian family.

Qian Jin'er, as one of the ten elders, was also in the ancestral hall at this time, but because she was the youngest and the least qualified, the chair was the most backward.

Qian Jin'er was smiling, so that people couldn't see what she was thinking, but at this time, she already had a fixed opinion in her heart, that is, to stand on Qian Yulong's side, and to persuade other elders to also stand on Qian Yulong's side. As the so-called waves behind the river push the waves ahead, this elder hall looks at it, in addition to her, the youngest elder also has the age of knowing the destiny of heaven, it is too dull, and it is time for a newcomer to come in.

Today's incident was of course not a trivial matter, and even the eldest in the family, the highest-ranking elder, and the oldest senior elder were shocked.

The elder of the Qian family, an old man in the age of the cane dynasty, sat in a position second only to the head of the family, twisted a string of white sheep fat jade beads in his hand, a total of one hundred and eight, each pinched a bead, he silently recited a sentence of Nanhua Daojun's "Nanhua Sutra", and the expression on his face was light and light.

After all, Qian Yulong is the eldest son and eldest grandson, and his identity is extraordinary, so he also has a place in the ancestral hall, sitting opposite Qian Jin'er, at this time he slowly got up and explained the ins and outs of the whole thing in detail.

First, Qian Yulou did the business of buying and selling people; second, Qian Yulou colluded with the Jiangnan Weaving Bureau and the demons of the Taoist Sect.

There is ample evidence for both of these points.

After listening to Qian Yulong's narration, except for Qian Jin'er and the Great Elder, the other seven elders all had solemn faces.

Qian Yulong said: "Those women who were sent to the weaving bureau were rescued by us under the witness of the little aunt and Sheng Zikuan and Fan Zhenyue. As for the sale of people, come on. ”

A great steward of a thousand families who had been standing outside the ancestral hall for a long time bowed his head and walked into the ancestral hall, holding a stack of thick account books, which were the account books that Qian Yulong sent people to bring back from the cargo ship.

Qian Yulong pointed to these account books and said, "The evidence about the sale is also here, and you can also check it in person." ”

After saying this, Qian Jin'er, who looked like a twenty-year-old woman, but was graceful, said slowly: "What Yulong said, I can testify, it is indeed in the dungeon of the Weaving Bureau, and I also heard the voice of Chen Fang, the supervisor of the Weaving Bureau. ”

A white-haired old man with a dragon head cane frowned and said, "We naturally trust Yulong and Jin'er, but even so, it is not enough to conclude that Qian Yulou has a rebellious heart." The old man said this, of course, not to excuse Qian Yulou, after all, she did violate the family rules and should be punished, but what kind of punishment law, whether it is directly subject to the family law, or reprimanded and seized power, this point must be carefully considered, otherwise we will not be able to explain if the head of the family asks in the future. ”

Qian Jin'er smiled and nodded: "What the sixth uncle said is Lao Cheng's serious words. ”

Another tall old man sat opposite the old man with a dragon head and a cane, his waist was straight, not leaning on the back of the chair, he turned his head slightly to look at the great elder, and said in a loud voice: "In my opinion, this matter is already obvious, our Qian family has always been friendly with the righteous path sects, what does she want to do when she Qian Yulou handed over the Dao Seed Sect? There is also Chen Fang of the Weaving Bureau, who is Liu Yi's godson, what is Liu Yi's background, I don't think everyone will not know, right? ”

Qian Yulong said with a smile: "It is said that Grandpa Nine is jealous and hateful, and he will not deceive me." ”

The old man glanced at Qian Yulong and snorted coldly: "Don't pat yourself on the back, the old man is right about things and not people, if you kid dare to do this, the old man will still say this." ”

Just when Qian Yulong was about to speak, the Great Elder, who had never spoken, finally spoke: "That kid in Yulou has already gone to the dock at this time, if the matter is big, it will be the face of the Qian family that will be lost, so let's go on a trip in person and persuade her to go back." ”

Qian Jin'er got up from the chair and said solemnly: "Yes." ”

After Qian Jin'er left, the great elder glanced around at everyone again and said, "There is an old saying, called: 'You can't have the heart to harm others, and you can't have the heart to prevent people.'" Sometimes there's nothing wrong with thinking about things in the worst ways. ”

That's setting the tone.

The other elders all acquiesced, only the elder with the dragon head cane had some friendship with Qian Yulou, knowing what the great elder meant, but he was unwilling, but he didn't dare to object openly, so he could only ask around: "How can the head of the family explain it?"

The Great Elder said: "The head of the family is the head of the family, although the rules of the ancestors are for us old guys to check and balance the head of the family, it does not mean that we are above the head of the family, so no matter what we do, we must give an explanation to the head of the family." But then again, the head of the house is also a human being, and if a human being makes a mistake, or if something is done biasedly, then it is time for us old guys to come forward, and we always have to take care of it. ”

The old man's face was a little ugly, but he didn't dare to say anything more.

The key is that Qian Yulou was taken by others, and the words of the great elder occupied the word "reason".

The Great Elder continued: "Yulong's worries are not unreasonable, it's not that Yulong is greedy for power, but that the rules of the ancestors are like this, up to the imperial court and the heavenly family, down to the small family of the small family, all of them are the eldest son who inherits the family business. Establish a descendant with a long rather than virtuous, and establish a son with a noble rather than a long. Why is this so? If you are virtuous, whether you are virtuous or not, it is not something that can be said clearly in one sentence, do you think you are virtuous, he thinks he is virtuous, everyone thinks they are virtuous, does everyone have to compete for the position of the head of the family? Then does our Qian family still have Ning Ri? If we can't compete with each other, will we have to divide the Qian family into two, one person and one half? This generation is half of one person, and the next generation is divided into half, and if there are many children and grandchildren, it will be directly divided by more than a dozen people, and it does not have to be thousands of generations, but after more than ten generations, there are hundreds of more Qian families in this land south of the Yangtze River, can there still be today's scenery?"

Several elders said, "The Great Elder has whipped in. ”

The Great Elder made a decision: "Go and invite the head of the family, after all, the child in Yulou is his precious daughter, and what to do with it in the end depends on his attitude." ”

An elder who was about the age of a sixtieth birthday stood up and said, "I'll personally go and ask the head of the family." ”

The Great Elder bowed slightly.

The elder strode out of the ancestral hall.

Qian Yulong also got up: "Since my father is coming, then I will avoid it for the time being, and in addition, there is a distinguished guest who also wants me to receive it personally." ”

The Great Elder smiled and asked, "But that famous Purple Mansion Sword Immortal?"

Qian Yulong stretched out his thumb and said flatteringly: "The old ancestor is really the eye of the law, and nothing can be hidden from your old eyes." ”

"You don't need to slap the horse. The Great Elder scolded with a smile, and then waved his hand: "Your father is the head of the family after all, not you, who are sons, can provoke at will, go, busy with your go, leave it to us old guys here." ”

Qian Yulong saluted respectfully and slowly withdrew from the ancestral hall.