A brilliant smile beamed across Lu Tianqi's face, as if all the unhappiness she had been holding in her heart had suddenly dissolved.

In Lu Tianqi's heart, the entire sky had become incredibly expansive and bright!

At this moment, the surrounding crowd began to exclaim in astonishment. Behind Lu Tao…there was a collective gasp!

Lu Tao instinctively felt that something was wrong. He unconsciously turned his head and looked at the three branch elders.

Not a single elder had raised their hand!

Not a single one!

Elder Lu Hui did not raise his hand.

Elder Lu Peng did not raise his hand either.

Elder Lu Zhi didn't raise his hand at all.

The surrounding people were all dumbfounded, just now they had involuntarily let out a cry of surprise.

Who could have guessed that this situation could still be overturned?

The people behind Lu Tao were all stunned.

Lu Tianyue was also stunned.

Chu Mo was equally stunned.

Everyone... Everyone was stunned there.

The three branch elders, seeing Lu Tao turn his head, were all looking at Lu Tao with smirking smiles. Their faces didn't even show a hint of remorse.

Lu Tao's mind buzzed, and his body swayed. He looked at these three branch elders in disbelief: "What are you doing?"

"I'm sorry, Elder Lu Tao, I think Lu Tianqi is very suitable to be the Lu Family's head." The branch elder, Lu Peng, who had just scolded Chu Mo, said seriously.

"I believe that Lu Tianqi could lead the Lu Family towards an even more glorious future!" Another branch elder, Lu Zhi, said smilingly, "So, I oppose the impeachment against her. Instead, I think the 'acting' title should be removed from 'Acting Family Head, Lu Tianqi'! Because in this past month, I've seen her efforts, and even more, her potential!"

The third branch elder, Lu Hui, was brief and to the point: "I oppose the impeachment against Lu Tianqi."

Thump!

Lu Tao spat out a mouthful of blood, stumbled, almost falling directly to the ground. He pointed at these three branch elders, his eyes instantly becoming bloodshot: "Why? Why are you doing this?"

"No reason, we think Lu Tianqi is more suitable to be the family head," a branch elder of the Lu Family said.

"I don't believe it! That's not what you told me before!" Lu Tao was on the verge of collapse, disregarding the occasion, he roared at these three branch elders: "For decades, you've been on the same side as me, we've always been in the same camp...why? Why do you suddenly betray me now? Why!"

At this moment, these three branch elders and their subordinates instantly separated from the people on Lu Tao's side. Although these individuals didn't know anything about each other, they didn't understand why the elders were acting in this way. But their relationships with their respective elders were all tied to a shared fate of either honour or disgrace.

So, the people on Lu Tao's side instantly divided into two groups. Both sides stared at each other, their faces filled with vigilance.

Although they were all descendents of the Lu Family, although they all had the same blood flowing in their veins, at such a time, the enemy was the enemy! Even if they were blood brothers, if they were in different camps, they could only be enemies!

"Lu Tao, wake up! Don't think that we don't see through your schemes. On the scales of character, magnanimity, and ability...you fall far short of Family Head Lu Zheng! Maybe, you think you are stronger than Miss Lu Tianqi, but you've forgotten one thing," Lu Hui, the branch elder who once had a close private relationship with Lu Tao sighed and said, "You only think about buying us off with benefits, but you've forgotten how we'd feel about a branch member taking the position of family head."

"What is there to feel? Can't a branch member become the family head? Is the blood flowing in my, Lu Tao's, body not of the Lu Family?" Lu Tao was on the verge of madness. He glared at the branch elder who had just spoken: "Lu Hui... tell me, what benefits has Lu Tianqi given you? Tell me!"

"She hasn't given us any benefits." Lu Hui calmly looked at Lu Tao: "But we all owe debts to Family Head Lu Zheng. Most importantly, Lu Tao, you wish to be family head yourself. With your temperament, your magnanimity, and your character, once you securely hold the position of family head, it will be when we're purged! You wouldn't allow us to continue sitting in these positions."

With one sentence, he pointed out the root of the matter!

However, there was another sentence that the three branch elders never said. That was, while Lu Zheng not only held great favors towards them, but he also held their fatal weaknesses. Once used, not only they, the three branch elders, but also the clans and forces behind them...could vanish in an instant!

This is the fundamental reason that let these three branch elders compromise!

If Lu Zheng didn't have any contingency plans, how could he dare to pass the heavy burden of family head to his young daughter?

"You guys...well done!" Lu Tao spat out a mouthful of blood again. He looked at the three branch elders and laughed bitterly: "I was blinded while hunting geese... I admit defeat! But… today's betrayal, Lu Tao will never forget! Remember… there will always be a time when we meet again."

At this moment, Lu Tianqi, who had been quietly standing there, slowly began to speak: "Now, as the acting head of the Lu Family, I propose to remove Lu Tao from the position of Lu Family elder. Here, I have a list of his ten serious crimes! I now distribute it to the elders. There is irrefutable evidence for all the accusations!"

As Lu Tianqi spoke, she gently waved her hand, and someone immediately distributed several pages to the elders of the Lu Family, including Lu Tao.

Lu Tao only took a glance before he tore the paper in his hand to pieces, and roared, "Slander! Pure slander! It's completely fabricated! Guilty as charged!"

The other elders all looked on silently. The list contained one shocking crime after another.

Embezzlement of a huge amount of family wealth, secretly amassing private troops with intentions of rebelling, indulging his descendants in doing evil, colluding with outsiders to frame his own people, assassinating competitors... each and every entry was extremely detailed, leaving anyone who saw it with no choice but to believe.

The six elders besides Lu Tao were all chilled to the bone. Even the main line elders on Lu Tianqi's side had faces slightly pale.

They saw these crimes and immediately realized that this must be one of the means left by Lu Zheng for Lu Tianqi!

Relying on a little girl like Lu Tianqi, she definitely wouldn't have the ability to gather up so many charges in such a short time. The accusations on this list spanned more than thirty years! Lu Tianqi hadn't even been born at that time.

What is a strategy? This is!

Compared with Lu Zheng, Lu Tao's schemes and strategies are simply laughable.

If Lu Zheng is considered a hero, then Lu Tao… at most, is a clown.

The three elders on Lu Tianqi's side raised their hands almost instantly: "We agree to remove Lu Tao from his position as elder."

Then, the three branch elders Lu Hui, Lu Zhi and Lu Peng also instantly raised their hands to say: "We also agree to remove Lu Tao from his position as elder!"

A heart-stopping battle for family power was suddenly settled.

Just then, a few people walked over from afar, and the one leading, laughed heartily: "It's really exciting!"

Lu Tao's face, which had initially lost all colour, instantaneously lit up with a hopeful glow, with tears in his eyes, he pleaded, "Brother Zhao Qing, you have to stand up for me!"

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