Do Not Speak Ill of My Mother!-Chapter 705 - 635: For What?

"A perfectly good ball, ended so unhappily."

The long-awaited coming-of-age ceremony of the Young Master eventually froze completely following Yan Yueqing’s righteous declaration, like flames thrown into an ice cellar, leaving only the embers of awkwardness and embarrassment.

Inside the Elder Council Hall, the heavy air was almost stagnant.

The luxurious crystal chandelier cast a cold light, reflecting on the faces of the five elders, each with different expressions, each harboring different calculations in their hearts.

The Fifth Elder, Jiang Catherine, was the first to break the silence. Her well-maintained fingers unconsciously twisted the intricate lace of her skirt, her tone full of regret and a trace of imperceptible anxiety.

"Ah, what a pity for the carefully prepared ball. And where did the Young Master get such a big temper? Our Jiang Family’s strategy of intermarriage with overseas alliances has been maintained for nearly a century and is deeply rooted; it can hardly be shaken by a mere rejection from her."

What worried her was not the Young Master’s will but that this crucial link maintaining the family’s overseas interests might be severed as a result.

As soon as she finished speaking, Jiang Na slammed her hand on the rosewood table with a "bang," causing the teacup next to it to jingle. Her stately face was full of lingering anger, her voice sharp.

"What’s wrong with the Lowell family?! Keynes, that idiot offended her, so I immediately found a better young man! And yet, she dared to say such things in front of everyone? Utterly ungrateful, disregarding the family’s reputation!"

Jiang Na’s anger stemmed from the humiliation of having her recommendation rejected and the direct challenge to the interests of the power she represented, which was deeply tied to the Lowell family. She was eager to solidify this connection, only to face a head-on collision with the Young Master.

The Second Elder, Jiang Wenxin, still wore her signature warm, spring-like smile, as if it could melt all the ice.

She gracefully picked up her teacup, took a small sip, and then spoke slowly, her voice gentle but every word was barbed: "Alright, Nana, calm down. The Young Master’s sharpness tonight wasn’t targeted only at the Lowell family you favor."

She paused, her smile deepening but with no warmth in her eyes, "You see, the gentleman from the Hua Country Hai City Chen Family, whom I recommended, wasn’t even glanced at before being dismissed outright, was he?"

Seemingly advising, she skillfully distanced herself while gently shifting the focus to the Young Master’s own "pickiness" or "stubbornness" instead of only foreign powers.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Na rolled her eyes, openly disdainful of the Chen Family: "Hmph! Chen Family? Sister Wen Xin, no matter what you say, the Chen Family is simply a new local nobility in Hua Country with shallow roots. How can it be compared to the Lowell family, which has been deeply rooted overseas for a hundred years with rich heritage? If the Young Master chooses the Chen Family, it would truly be lowering her status!" In her view, domestic powers were far from supporting the Jiang Family’s international status.

Jiang Catherine also immediately echoed Jiang Na’s view, frowning her well-crafted brows, her tone speculative and slightly evasive of responsibility: "Exactly! Sister Wen Xin, do you think it’s possible... that the Chen Family is indeed not up to par, making the Young Master feel we were dismissive, perfunctory, and thus she resisted so fiercely? After all, with her status, she should match the very best."

She attempted to blame the resistance on the "unsatisfactory candidate" rather than on the "marriage itself."

Jiang Wenxin set down her teacup, her smile unwavering, but a cold gleam flashed in her eyes. She turned slightly to gaze at the always silent Third Elder Jiang Su, her voice still gentle but she threw out a sharper contrast: "Not up to par? Catherine, your words... if we’re talking ’not up to par,’ isn’t the Jun Residence even more so compared to the Chen Family, like fireflies to the moon?"

Her words fell lightly yet were like a pebble cast into still water, causing silent ripples. "The Young Master’s attitude, isn’t it quite clear?"

The Young Master would rather choose the Jun Residence, considered entirely "unworthy" in their eyes, than accept the "excellent" candidates they carefully selected that represented various interests. This was not just rejection but a total denial of their authority and judgment.

Jiang Su, the named Third Elder, was like a silent iceberg in the hall.

She had not participated in the argument at all, sitting upright with a cold, hard face devoid of expression, her gaze deep as if seeing through the dispute before her, focusing on a more distant place.

She tightly pressed her lips together, her fingers tapping gently under the table, evidently still chewing over and weighing the Young Master’s decisive words tonight. The determination and challenge to the old rules contained in those words seemed to touch a deeper consideration within her, plunging her into cold contemplation.

Her silence itself was an attitude, a non-statement statement, filled with examination and unknown calculations.

Jiang Na, provoked by Jiang Wenxin’s words, was about to flare up again.

At this moment, the Great Elder Jiang Jingshu, who sat in the main seat, suddenly stood up. Her presence instantly exuded an aura of authority, like an invisible pressure that covered the entire council hall, bringing all the noise to an abrupt halt.

Her gaze was as sharp as an eagle’s, sweeping slowly over the differently colored expressions of the four elders, finally fixing on Jiang Na, her voice not loud but carrying an undeniable coldness:

"Enough!"

Just two words were enough to silence Jiang Na, who wanted to argue further, instinctively.

Jiang Jingshu’s expression was stern to the point of harshness. She gazed at her sisters with their various thoughts, eyes filled with insight and a resolution that brooked no challenge: "Have you had enough? How long has the Young Master been back in the family? How much can she understand about the entrenched forces within the family and the so-called century-old tradition? Her reliance on her homeland, and on old acquaintances, is natural, perfectly normal!"

Her gaze, like a cold blade, scraped over Jiang Catherine, Jiang Na, Jiang Wenxin, finally pausing briefly on Jiang Su’s hard face: "Look at each of you! Knowing full well that the Young Master showed obvious resistance at the coming-of-age ceremony, yet you insist on pushing your ’carefully selected’ candidates in front of her time and again! Is this considering her? This is deliberately upsetting her, intent on pushing her further away!"

"Sister, I..." Jiang Na attempted to argue.

"At least!" Jiang Jingshu abruptly raised her voice, the stern reprimand reverberating in the silent hall, thoroughly crushing Jiang Na’s voice, causing the others’ hearts to tremble, "At least the Young Master saw more clearly tonight than any of you! You all—"

Her finger pointed sharply at the four, each word like ice, "All your talk about the Young Master’s ’happiness,’ about the family’s ’future’... do you really think I can’t see your schemes?! You’re supposedly considering her, but in truth, you’re treating her as a pawn in your power games and efforts to consolidate power!"

The word "pawn" struck like thunder, tearing open all the gentle facades, hitting the core. Jiang Catherine paled, Jiang Na opened her mouth but found no rebuttal, and Jiang Wenxin’s smile finally disappeared, turning rigid and ugly. Even the always silent Jiang Su paused her tapping fingers, her deep eyes lifting.

Jiang Jingshu took a deep breath, suppressing the roiling anger, her voice returning to a cold calm, yet carrying even heavier pressure: "Stay behaved! Until you’ve figured out the Young Master’s true intentions and bottom line, no one is to make independent decisions or stir up trouble! Tonight’s matter ends now, meeting adjourned!"

Like a final verdict, with an unyielding will.

The five elders with their differing thoughts, whether indignant, calculating, cold, or apprehensive, ultimately dared not refute under the Great Elder Jiang Jingshu’s stern authority, leaving only suffocating silence and oppressive undercurrents in the hall.