Chapter 206: Chapter 203: Innumerable Crimes!

It was deep in the night.

At the Qin family mansion, the three pillars of the Qin family, their married-out daughters, and numerous third-generation members were all gathered.

In the expansive main hall, Old Master Qin, his pale old face a constant testament to his frailty, lifted a cup of warm ginseng tea to his lips with slightly trembling hands. After letting out a long, slow breath, he let his gaze sweep over the many descendants before him.

The expressions on the more than twenty faces in the room were so grim they seemed to drip with despair. Clearly, news of what had happened to Qin Feng at Triumph Palace had reached them.

The eldest of the Qin family’s three pillars, Qin Jiang, was clenching his jaw tightly, his face a mask of furious madness. The reason was simple: Qin Feng was his son. And at this very moment, his son was lying in the ICU. Five broken ribs, a dislocated spine, and abdominal hemorrhaging—the sight of such severe injuries had brought him, the father, to tears on several occasions.

“Dad, first it was Qin Shuai and Zhou Yun, and now it’s my son, Qin Feng. I don’t know what you’re so wary of, but I can’t tolerate this any longer! I don’t care how powerful Qin Fan’s backing is. I can’t swallow this insult, and neither can the Qin family! Qin Feng is still lying in the ICU. If we just act like nothing happened, forget about how the world will view our family, how could I possibly face my own son? Could I still call myself a competent father?” Qin Jiang’s hand, poised to slam the table, froze mid-air. His eyes red, he ground his teeth and let out a low, furious roar.

“Qin Shuai wasn’t the first, and Qin Feng won’t be the last! If we don’t get rid of that bastard, the Qin family will face endless trouble! Dad, you know what happened at Triumph Palace. He’s already declared that he’ll make our family suffer a fate worse than death, that he’ll see us ruined! Are you really going to wait for him to keep hurting our people? Qin Shuai is now languishing in a hospital bed with his crippled leg, and my wife, Zhou Yun, is still bedridden. Do you know what people in our circle are calling me behind my back? A paper tiger! HAHA! A paper tiger! I, Qin Jun, have been a force to be reckoned with my entire life, and now I’m stuck with the label of a paper tiger!”

His expression was a twisted mix of a smile and a sneer. Qin Jun, who had only narrowly escaped Qin Fan’s house in the urban village by crawling away, trembled with the undisguised fury and hatred in his eyes as he let out a hysterical, self-mocking laugh.

Beside Old Master Qin, Qin Moran remained silent.

Qin Shuai wasn’t the first, and Qin Feng wouldn’t be the last, would he? It was true. Not long ago, she herself had nearly died. She had nearly lost her life at Qin Fan’s hands.

But she understood the purpose of her grandfather’s summons, so she held her tongue.

“Grandfather, have another sip of tea,” Qin Moran said, seeing him put down his cup. Remembering his repeated instructions, she forced herself not to mention that he had vomited blood just a short while ago.

“Just leave it. I’ll drink it later,” Old Master Qin said with a wave of his hand. He then looked at the crowd. After a moment’s pause, he asked, “Is this what you all think?”

The room fell into a dead silence. With that one question from the old master, everyone’s silence became their answer. It was a tacit agreement.

“Qin Jie, aren’t you going to say something?” Old Master Qin asked, looking up at Qin Moran’s father.

“There’s nothing much to say. Repay grievances with grievances, and take vengeance for vengeance. That has been the Huaxia way for thousands of years! Perhaps to the Qin family, Qin Fan seems audacious, arrogant, and reckless—even to be courting death. But to an outsider, he’s not wrong at all. After all, I trust everyone here is well aware of how the Qin family treated his family over the years. Qin Jiang, back when you were the head of the Bureau of Education, you were the one who ended Qin Chu’s teaching career, weren’t you? I don’t understand why you harbored so much hatred for them.

“And even though your wife isn’t here, I’ll say it anyway: when Wei Shuying was working at the district government, wasn’t it your wife, using your name and authority, who had her removed? After you two, let’s talk about Qin Jun and his wife. Qin Chu, Wei Shuying, and Qin Fan, who was just a child back then—that family of three suffered no small amount of torment from you two, did they?

“Let’s call a spade a spade. The constant harassment and torment, including the incidents that drew blood—wasn’t that your doing? And Third Sister, Fourth Sister, you two were just as involved, weren’t you? Not only were you involved, but you actively encouraged your own children to beat and curse Qin Fan. So I’ll ask everyone here, and even those lying in the hospital—who among you can put a hand on your heart and say you never tormented that family?

“Of course, I’m not making this personal, and I’m not shielding my own wife. Geng Ruixuan, since we’ve reached this point and are laying everything bare, let me just ask you: did you ever resort to cruel or underhanded tactics against them back then?”

Also one of the three pillars of the Qin family, Qin Jie swept his gaze over the grim faces around him. He spoke each word deliberately, finally voicing the thoughts he had suppressed for years. The mocking sneer on his face laid bare just how despicable and shameless this entire family was.

“Jie, I—” As Qin Jie’s wife, Geng Ruixuan was mortified to be called out so publicly by her own husband.

But before she could get the words out, Qin Jie cut her off with a raised hand. “There’s no need to say any more. Everyone here knows the truth! Since you all had the audacity to commit such conscienceless and inhuman acts back then, you should have known this day would come. ’Thirty years the river flows east, thirty years it flows west’—adages passed down for millennia aren’t just empty words.

“If it’s true that even Ye Xuan and Ma Yunbin are bowing down to him, then all of you can just wait for him to settle the score. Moran, come here. Let’s go home. Let them figure out whether they want to attack or defend themselves. It would be for the best if Qin Fan doesn’t turn his fiery hatred on us. But if he refuses to let even our branch of the family off the hook, then so be it. We’ll accept our fate. This is the debt the Qin family owes him—owes his father and his mother. As members of the Qin family, if we can’t escape this calamity in the end, then just consider it our contribution toward settling everyone’s debt!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep