The clan of Qiu Ci tribe is about a day's ride away from Zhaoyun City. Because the old clan leader died suddenly, many people in the clan have followed the young clan leader and other elders to Zhaoyun City. Now only the clan leader is left.
Some young adults, old, young, women and children.
Nowadays, the person who calls the shots in the clan is the Grand Elder. However, the Grand Elder is now very old. Although his reputation is still very high, many young people also feel that the Grand Elder is older and is a bit verbose and gives in. Gradually, he has become more mature and powerful.
The second elder went over there.
Because of this, because of the death of the clan leader, even the attitude of the entire clan towards the imperial court was divided.
Xie Yan took Luo Junyao directly into the Qiu Ci tribe, which surprised Luo Junyao.
After all, according to the current situation, the Qiu Ci people would not have a good impression of people like them who clearly looked like Central Plains people.
This was also the case, even the people who led them would look at them sideways from time to time, their eyes full of scrutiny and caution.
The Great Elder is an old man with dark complexion, wrinkles on his face, and white beard and hair.
Although he no longer looks tall and strong, his back has even become rickety, and his wrinkled face does not look like he did when he was young, but his somewhat cloudy eyes still shine with wisdom.
"Great Elder." Xie Yan handed over a wooden sculpture, and the Great Elder reached out to take it.
He rubbed his hands slowly, and after a while he glanced at the two of them and said, "Please sit down, both of you."
After that, he asked the person who led the way to retreat.
The young man who led the way was obviously very worried. He looked at the great elder and hesitated to speak, but in the end he had no choice but to retreat reluctantly.
After the two of them sat down, the great elder slowly said: "At the beginning...the clan leader gave this thing to Lingchuan Marquis. He promised that as long as he comes with this thing, our clan will do something for him. You two...think
What do you want the Qiu Ci Clan to do?"
Xie Yan asked: "Is the Qiu Ci clan still able to fulfill the agreement with Marquis Lingchuan?"
The great elder glanced at him, with a bit of displeasure in his old eyes.
"Young man, the Qiu Ci tribe has never done anything treacherous. Back then, Marquis Lingchuan saved our tribe's life, so the chief of the tribe gave our tribe's token as a gift. The life-saving grace is the strength of the whole tribe, and we must repay it."
of."
Xie Yan's age can indeed be called a young man in front of this old man.
Xie Yan said: "But now the nobles can't even decide on the candidate for the clan leader. The agreement made back then...except for the old clan leader and the great elder, is anyone really willing to abide by it?"
The First Elder looked at Xie Yan and Luo Junyao silently, and then said after a while: "The Marquis of Lingchuan will give you the token, you must be from the Dasheng court. Please forgive me for being old, blind, and ignorant, but who are you two?"
"
Xie Yan said: "The person who delivers the message for Marquis Lingchuan."
"What does Marquis Lingchuan want to say?"
Xie Yan said: "The Marquis of Lingchuan had a close relationship with the old patriarch. The imperial court also knew that the old patriarch had never had any rebellious intentions. The Xuanwei envoy would never do anything to the old patriarch."
The Great Elder sighed softly and said: "It turns out that I came here for this matter. Your Excellency should know that this matter concerns the three clan leaders, and it is no longer something I, an old man, can control. The clan leader's death must be dealt with by everyone in the clan.
There is an explanation.”
"But the news we got is that the elders in the clan don't care at the hands of whose hands the old clan leader died. They just want to label the young clan leader as colluding with the court and deprive him of the qualification to inherit the position of clan leader."
The great elder lowered his eyes and said: "The young patriarch is too young. His ideas are good, but it's a pity..."
The elder shook his head and said: "Your Excellency, you are worrying too much. Although the clan leaders have some slight words for the young clan leader, it is far from shaking his identity. If the imperial court wants to resolve this matter, the most important thing is to find out
The real murderer of the old patriarch."
Xie Yan said solemnly: "What if the real murderer is in the clan."
The great elder frowned and said, "Of course I will be punished severely."
Xie Yan smiled lightly and said: "The Great Elder knows that this is not what I am talking about. Because of the internal fighting among your three tribes in southern Xinjiang, the imperial court and the Xuanwei Envoy were attacked for no reason and their majesty was destroyed. How to deal with this matter?"
The Great Elder opened his eyes wide and looked at Xie Yan steadily for a long time before saying: "Have you already got a clue that the old patriarch was killed?"
Xie Yan didn't answer, and the great elder couldn't help but asked: "Who is it?"
Xie Yan raised his eyes and said: "It doesn't matter who it is, the Great Elder should still care about some immediate matters."
What's going on right now?
Before the great elder had time to ask, someone hurried in from outside the door and said: "Great elder, several elders are back. They went to the ancestral hall. Please come over too!"
The great elder's voice changed slightly, "What do they want to do?!"
Ancestral halls are important places no matter where they are, especially in the tribal areas of southern Xinjiang. They are usually not accessible.
The young man who came in hesitated and said: "He, they said that the young patriarch colluded with the imperial court and refused to save the eldest lady even when he fell into the hands of the imperial court. He is not worthy of being a patriarch. They want... they want to clean up the family for the old patriarch.
!”
"Absurd!" The great elder suddenly stood up and was about to walk out when he thought of Xie Yan and Luo Junyao again.
"You two..."
Xie Yan said calmly: "Great elder, please do as you please."
The matter was so urgent that the elder didn't care to say anything more, turned around and walked out quickly.
His steps were already staggering, and he could not walk steadily even with a cane. It was the young man who came in to deliver the message who supported him, and he walked out all the way.
There were many people sitting in the usually solemn and silent ancestral hall of the Qiu Ci clan.
It is not entirely accurate to say that it is an ancestral hall. Even though the buildings in southern Xinjiang are relatively simple and simple compared to those in the Central Plains, the area of this place is also surprisingly large.
This is where the Qiuci people worship gods and ancestors, gather for festivals, and discuss important matters within the clan.
At the busiest time, tens of thousands of people can even gather here at the same time.
With the support of the young man, the great elder walked through the spacious square and walked into a large house built against the mountain.
The originally noisy room fell silent the moment the great elder entered.
The great elder glanced around the room and found no sign of the young patriarch.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "Great Elder, you are here." Everyone stood up and asked questions.
The great elder glanced at everyone and asked, "What do you want to do when we open the ancestral hall at this time?"
Everyone was silent again, and soon a middle-aged man in his early thirties stood up and said: "Great Elder, the clan leader has been dead for many days, but the murderer is still at large. That's all. As the next clan leader, the young clan leader
As well as the parents and children of the old clan leader, they don’t want to avenge the old clan leader, but they are still colluding with the people from the Central Plains. What qualifications does such a person have to be a clan leader!"
"That's right!" Once someone comes forward, others will no longer be taboo.
Soon someone stood up and said: "What qualifications does such an unfaithful and unfilial person have to be a clan leader? I opposed the old clan leader's decision when he made it. He learned bad things in the Central Plains a long time ago, and he is not of the same mind as us!"
The great elder looked at the others, "What about you? You think so too?"
Some people avoided his gaze, while others nodded directly to express that they agreed with this view.
Seeing everyone's reactions, the great elder sighed.
Although there are still many people who have not expressed their stance, their appearance here has already made their attitude clear.
Finally, the great elder turned his attention to the middle-aged man sitting in the front and said, "You are Azhe's biological uncle. What do you say?"
The middle-aged man seemed a little embarrassed. He hesitated again and again but said: "Uncle, it's not that we want to embarrass Azhe, but... look at what Azhe has done these days. Previously, all three clans had made clear demands for Zeng Wei to be severely punished.
We are about to avenge the three clan leaders. Because he suddenly interfered, the Furukawa and Hongshan tribes gave us face, so we had to give up. But those two families are not at odds with us. Do you know how they talked and laughed at us?
Yes? Our clan is full of young and passionate men. How can we stand hearing those words?"
"That's right, just because of this matter these days, the younger generations of our clan have fought with those people many times." Another person also said: "With the virtue of the future clan leader, how can people not laugh at us? Even
He has forgotten the revenge for killing his father, and now he doesn’t care if his sister is arrested. What kind of young patriarch is he?"
The great elder asked: "If the death of the three clan leaders really has nothing to do with the comfort envoy, have you thought about what to do?"
"Why is it irrelevant?" Someone asked: "The patriarch obviously went to Zhaoyun City after receiving his letter."
"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, so what?" Some people said indifferently. In their opinion, the most important thing now is to kill the person who killed the old patriarch.
As for what to do if you kill the wrong person? Who cares!
The great elder snorted coldly, "The ambassador is an official of the Dasheng court. If he dies...will the court turn a blind eye? If he died innocently, will the court not pursue him at all? Azhe is young and soft-hearted.
But he also did it for Qiu Ci."
Some people disagreed and said: "The court, the court! What does the court have to do with us! Southern Xinjiang is our place, why should we listen to the court? According to me, all those Central Plains people should be driven out! They have already occupied the richest people.
It’s not enough to control the Central Plains, and they also want to take care of the affairs of Southern Xinjiang!”
The Great Elder didn't say anything. In fact, it was only a short period of thirty or forty years, and there were many people here who had experienced what happened back then.
But everyone seems to have forgotten that it was Southern Xinjiang who thought they could take advantage of the weakness of the Central Plains and later took the initiative to offer a surrender to plead guilty.
As the young patriarch said, this is an endless reincarnation.
Southern Xinjiang is too barren and difficult, and the upper class in Southern Xinjiang will dream of taking over the Central Plains once they have the opportunity.
The people in southern Xinjiang are also easily incited because they really yearn for the life of the Central Plains people.
So war after war, failure, surrender, rebellion, war, failure, surrender and rebellion again...
Taking advantage of the Central Plains' lack of control over southern Xinjiang, they repeated this again and again.
But the world is not static. The two states of Huaining, which used to be barren and remote and were occasionally occupied by southern Xinjiang, have been completely brought under the control of the imperial court.
Will the Central Plains dynasty tolerate the next rebellion in southern Xinjiang?
The Great Elder said in a deep voice: "The identity of the Young Patriarch was approved by the Patriarch during his lifetime, and cannot be decided by just sitting here and saying a few words. Do you want to abolish Azhe's identity, or do you want to do something else? I
I can't control you when I'm old. But...according to the rules of the clan, the clan leader is not here, and the young clan leader is not here either. I don't agree with your proposal. You know what to do, right?"
Everyone fell silent, and the second elder frowned and said, "Uncle, do you mean... to hold a clan meeting?"
The great elder lowered his eyes and said nothing, but everyone understood that this was what he meant.
"Is this...a bit of a fuss?"
"The selection of the next clan leader is a small matter, so what else is a big deal?" asked the great elder.
"this……"
The great elder said: "You ask me what I mean, and this is what I mean."
"But there has never been a clan meeting to decide on the candidate for clan leader."
The great elder said: "Who told you that it was time to decide on the candidate for the clan leader? Don't you want to abolish Azhe's qualification as the clan leader?"
"..." After that, you still have to choose a clan leader, right?
"As for the clan leader, the old rules are still there. If Azhe's identity is really abolished by the clan, whoever avenges the clan leader will be the next clan leader."
After saying that, the First Elder stood up and said: "Since we are going to hold a clan meeting, let's call Azhe back. What does it look like to run around outside with no guarantee of your identity and no news at all?
"
Seeing the great elder tremblingly walking out, everyone looked at each other with some embarrassment on their faces.
Although the great elder's last words were about the young patriarch, many people heard that the great elder was saying that they colluded to plot against the young patriarch.
"Second Elder, what should I do?" someone asked in a low voice.
"According to the wishes of the great elder, we will hold a clan meeting." The second elder frowned.
"But..." Someone said worriedly: "Since the old patriarch still has prestige and has the support of the great elder, I'm afraid the result may not be as we think."
Many of the actions of the young patriarch did make the young people in the clan unhappy, but he had done a lot of things over the years, otherwise when the old patriarch appointed him as his successor, many people would have objected.
Even now, there are many people in the clan who support him.
It's just that those people don't have much say, which makes the minority clan members appear to be weak.
The great elder requested to hold a clan meeting, and those who usually had little say and rarely moved around the clan were eligible to participate.
Then...
"The Great Elder is indeed afraid of trouble when he gets old, and he still wants to stand by him now!"
"No, I heard that the Great Elder was a powerful figure who dominated Southern Xinjiang back then, but now he doesn't have the same arrogance as he did back then."
Everyone was talking but the elder didn't know that he had been helped back to his home.
He was old and had walked back and forth from home to the ancestral hall, and he was a little exhausted at this time.
But he still did not go back to rest directly, but went to the lobby where he had just met the guests.
But after entering, I found that there was no one in the lobby, except for two cups of tea that had long since cooled down on the table.
"Come here," the great elder called.
Someone came in after a while, "Great Elder."
"Where are the people?" the great elder asked, pointing to the empty seat.
The young man who came in also had a confused look on his face. He looked around for a moment before shaking his head and saying, "Great Elder, I didn't see them come out."
"..." The great elder was silent for a long time, then waved his hand and said: "Forget it, you can go out."
Anyone who dares to come to Qiu Ci Department with just a little girl at this time must not be an ordinary person.
"Yes, Great Elder." Seeing that his face was not so good, the young man did not dare to ask any more questions and hurriedly resigned.
