Chapter 65: Clan Assembly (Part 1)

  The ancestral temple gathering of the Zhao family has always had a rule that requires every household to participate. If the head of the household is not present, then the heir will act on their behalf. If there is no heir, or if it's a close brother or nephew, in any case, according to blood ties and birth order, the most qualified person among the remaining members will be chosen as a proxy. In the event that all male members of the household are away or have died out, then the mistress or eldest daughter will take their place, representing the male members of the household in expressing opinions. For households with no descendants, the clan will first discuss and decide on an adopted son, who will represent them.

  The clan assembly is not allowed to have anyone from any house absent. If there are unavoidable reasons, or the whole family follows the head of the household to serve as an official in a foreign land, or moves to a foreign land and cannot return in time to attend the meeting, then afterwards if they have objections to the resolutions of the clan assembly, they also do not have the qualifications to raise dissenting opinions, because it was they themselves who gave up their right to express their opinions.

  This rule has always been well enforced, and the only ones who can openly disregard it without being held accountable are the second house that has not yet separated from the family. That's unspoken, the Duke of Jiannan is the guarantee of the prosperity of all members of the clan, and he is the protector of the Zhao family. He has been stationed on the border for many years, or retired to Beijing after retirement, except for occasional returns to his hometown to worship his ancestors, basically not interfering with clan affairs, but no one dares to treat him as transparent. Da Lao Ye Zhong Fang Yu is even more afraid of the strong and the weak, holding onto the thigh tightly, every time there is a big event in the clan, he will send a message to the Duke of Jiannan in advance to ask for his opinion, after getting the approval, he will pass it on to the clansmen, only then will they start voting. If the matter is urgent and the clan meeting is convened before the Duke of Jiannan knows about it and expresses his attitude, the result of the public discussion must be sent to Beijing the next day to inform the Duke of Jiannan. If he opposes it, Da Lao Ye Zhong Fang Yu will definitely reconvene the clan meeting to overturn the previous decision...

  Of course, this situation is relatively rare. The county public master only opposed the results of the clan conference twice. Once was when Mr. Yu proposed to collect a not-so-small fee from each household and move the ancestral tomb to a better location because that year Fengxian had a big flood and the ancestral tomb was at risk of being flooded. However, this ancestral tomb actually belonged to the inner three households. The outer nine households were attached to it, even if there were a few newly established tombs in recent years, they didn't need to be moved. Mr. Yu's requested fees added up to far more than needed, with suspicion of embezzlement. After the county public master found out, he scolded the messenger sent by Mr. Yu and the matter of fundraising and moving the tomb was dropped. Instead, the second household paid for the renovation of the ancestral tomb. Afterwards, Mr. Yu never dared to mention similar topics again.

  Another time, it was a family in the outer sixth house, where the two generations of collateral branches had a family with a grown son who did business outside and was wealthy. The father and son both died unexpectedly, leaving only the daughter-in-law and her mother-in-law behind. The daughter-in-law was eight months pregnant. Master Rui felt that it would not look good if there were no male descendants to act as filial sons at the funeral, so the six houses discussed it and pushed out a boy. They planned to adopt him as their son, but this way, whether the daughter-in-law gave birth to a boy or a girl in the future, they would not be able to inherit the family property. At that time, the doctor diagnosed that the daughter-in-law was carrying a male fetus, and the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law strongly opposed the adoption, but they could not persuade the clan. Master Rui also ignored their opinions and rushed to convene a clan meeting to settle the matter before the funeral. However, after County Duke found out about it, he scolded him and overturned the decision. After the daughter-in-law gave birth to a boy, she took back the family property, and the boy who acted as the filial son was sent back to his biological parents with only a red envelope. At that time, the head of the outer sixth house was still Zhao Qixian's grandfather. Because of this matter, he lost face and had to rely on County Duke's favor to do business well. Afterward, not only did he dare not say anything, but he also specially prepared generous gifts and personally delivered them to Liaodong to explain the situation to County Duke, apologize, and admit his mistake before the matter was settled.

  It can be seen from this that the second house has a great deal of discourse power in clan affairs and has a transcendent status.

  However, the second house has since split up and Xiao Changfang has been staying in Beijing for many years. In addition, Zhao Kuang was also involved in a scandalous crime. They do not return to their hometown to comment on family matters, nor does the clan seek their opinions. Anyway, they themselves are unwilling to return home. In the future, no matter what decisions make them dissatisfied, they will have no right to object. The second house is now mainly represented by Xiao Er Fang, and every time Zhang Shi takes Zhao Wei to attend the general assembly.

  At present, Zhang and Zhao Wei are not at home, leaving only Zhao Xuan alone. Zhao Jing, who is in charge of the clan meeting, is also very annoyed that a young girl like her should attend the clan meeting at such a young age, which is unprecedented. However, the second room cannot be absent, and there is no one else to participate except for Zhao Xuan, not even a male member from a side branch. Since Zhao Xuan has asked to participate, she can only let her come. Originally, when borrowing money from the eighth house, Zhao Xuan was the second creditor, also a victim, who should deal with the culprit of the fraud, how could she let the little girl get away?

  With Zhao Xuan's previous display of her existence, no one in the clan opposed her participation in the clan meeting. On the day of the meeting, she dressed as modestly and solemnly as possible, accompanied by Lu Changxiu and his wife, and went to the ancestral temple next door. She left them at the gate and entered the temple alone.

  Apart from the main branches of the Zhao family and the Eighth House, Zhao Xiu was one of the earliest to arrive. Inside the discussion hall, chairs were arranged according to generation and order, with each chair occupied by someone in a specific position. The two chairs at the front were reserved for Zhang Shi and Old Master Ba, who were the highest-ranking elders in the family. Even when Zhang Yun was the head of the clan, he had to sit below them. The two rows of chairs on either side were occupied by the heads of households from different branches of the "fire" generation, while the row behind them consisted of collateral branch heads also from the "fire" generation. Further back sat members of the "jade" generation. As there were no household heads from the "water" generation present, they had no seats; if any males from that generation attended, they would have to stand at the back. The entire assembly was orderly and dignified, with clear distinctions between senior and junior members. Who had the right to speak, and who could only echo in agreement, were all governed by established rules.

  However, there is an exception, that is Zhao Wei of the Xiao Er Fang. At the previous clan meeting, because he was the only male member of the Xiao Er Fang and also the head of the Xiao Er Fang, he was also the only male representative of the second house to attend the meeting. Therefore, although he was a "Yu" generation, his seat could not be placed in the row with the other "Yu" generations. Zhao Wei found an excuse, saying that he was young and his grandmother was old and needed care, so he arranged for him to sit under Zhang's chair, with the same chair as the younger brothers of the "Yu" generation, but with a status equal to that of the elder brothers of the "Huo" generation. The clan members knew well about his noble identity and title, and no one raised any objections.

  Now Zhang and Zhao Wei are not here. Zhao Xuan is of the "Yu" generation, but she can't be put in the row of chairs with the "Yu" generation, otherwise there would be no shadow of the second house in the upper seat! So Zhao Jue arranged for her to sit in her brother Zhao Wei's seat, right under Zhang's empty chair.

  The little girl was still short, sitting on a chair with her legs dangling in the air. She wore an olive green crossover linen shirt and a dark blue silver-embroidered skirt with a floral pattern. Underneath, she had on a pair of blue embroidered shoes, only revealing the tips of her toes. Her black hair was parted in the middle and braided into two pigtails, which were then tied up with a blue ribbon, forming two symmetrical buns that reached down to her ears. She sat upright with her back straight, not fidgeting like other children of her age, nor looking around restlessly. She looked as serious as a little adult. When someone entered the room, if it was an elder or someone of the same generation, she would push off the chair with her hands and quickly jump down to greet them; if it was someone younger, she would remain seated and accept their greetings calmly. Her movements were precise and well-mannered, leaving no room for criticism.

  The clansmen who came in to attend the meeting were all surprised by her performance, but soon calmed down and accepted this fact, thinking it was a matter of course.

  The time for the meeting to begin was approaching, and more and more people were entering the ancestral hall. Everyone greeted each other in a friendly manner and found their own seats.

  The old man made his final appearance with the support of his son, and everyone stood up to greet him. He nodded slightly in response to the younger generation as he walked to his seat. When he saw that Zhao Xiu was sitting closest to him, he looked surprised at first, then frowned and said, "Xiu sister is a girl, how can she be here?"

  Zhao Xun bowed respectfully and said, "Uncle, if my cousin hadn't come, no one from the second house would have been here. Brother Jing had to arrange for me to sit in. Besides, according to the family rules, I am the eldest daughter of the second house, and since my brother is not at home, it's only right that I represent him. As a matter of family importance, I couldn't shirk my responsibility."

  Old Master Ba heard this and his eyebrows relaxed slightly, but he still felt it wasn't right. However, thinking about the "Yu" generation daughter of the second house, there was only one Zhao Xuan, so calling her the eldest legitimate daughter wasn't wrong either. Representing her brother at the clan meeting didn't break any rules, and it was better than no one from the second house showing up at all. So he tacitly agreed and sat down in his seat. His son Zhao Kun hastily retreated to the lower right side and sat opposite Master Rui, exchanging a glance with him before they both simultaneously turned their heads away.

  When the steward loudly announced outside the gate, the clan meeting began.

  Zhao Yun ordered someone to bring the eldest son of the eighth house, who was still wearing the silk clothes he had worn when he went to his mother's house to pick up his wife. His hair was disheveled and there was a large, deep red palm print on his right cheek. A ball of cloth was stuffed into his mouth. His hands were tied behind his back, and he was forced to kneel in the hall, struggling desperately.

  Zhao Yun ignored him and publicly read out his crimes to the whole clan, from disobeying his father, selling ancestral land for personal gain, embezzling family property, fleeing with family assets, colluding with others to fabricate debts to cheat family members, and other crimes were all clearly stated. Finally, he said loudly: "Today's clan meeting is held at the request of my eighth uncle, to expel this unworthy son from the Zhao family, please discuss it together."

  After the crowd heard this, they whispered to each other and discussed it privately. Most people's thoughts were similar: if such a son stayed in the clan, he would only tarnish the family's reputation. It was better to get rid of him early on. Moreover, since his own father had brought it up, not taking him to court for being unfilial and disobedient was already letting him off easy. Therefore, there were no dissenting opinions.

  But some people had other ideas and wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to achieve their own goals, so they shouted behind the person: "If you really drive him out of the tribe, from now on he will no longer be one of us. Shouldn't he admit his mistake and apologize to everyone?"

  Zhao Yun hesitated, feeling embarrassed. This request was not excessive, but the problem was that this person had a foul mouth and would definitely bring up the ugly incident of the second house if given the opportunity to speak, which would also drag his father into the water. If he didn't agree, how could he refuse?

  Zhao Xuan sat silently on the side, her eyes flashing for a moment.