After midnight

Song Yu and Zhao Yunqi hurried to the west capital before sunset. After a quick dinner, they found a hotel and stayed up half the night. They closed their eyes at three in the morning and opened them again when the first ray of morning light broke through the clouds.

After Song Yu cleaned himself, Zhao Yunqi brought him a custom-made suit. The black suit was neat and tidy, without a speck of dirt or a crease. He put on his watch and leather shoes, and then greeted the rising sun.

Pushing open the door of the Song family's ancestral home in Xidu, Song Yu was confident and resolute. He stared at the gray-white brick wall for a long time until a strange voice came from behind him.

"Good morning, Song Yu."

"Song...Luo." Song Yu turned around and looked back.

"I didn't expect you to recognize me."

"Of course Brother Song Yu recognizes you." Another person stepped into the house.

"Song Nan?" Song Luo called him.

Song Nan didn't respond, he looked past Song Luo and towards Song Yu. Song Luo chuckled, turned his aggressive eyes, and walked in first without saying a word.

"Brother Song Yu." Song Nan came up and greeted him obediently.

Song Yu nodded, turned around and walked into the hall without much concern, and Song Nan followed closely behind him. The elders' meeting of the Song family officially began at 8 o'clock, and Song Yu consciously sat in the main seat.

"I asked everyone to come here today to ask for your recognition and support. I will definitely lead the Song family to a new peak."

"Song Yu, what you said is wrong. The new head of the Song family has not yet been elected. The young people here do not have the right to speak their own words."

"Uncle Kun, I am a junior, but the position of the head of the Song family is not obtained by seniority. I think you should also know very well how my father got his position. Speaking of this, my father must have benefited you a lot when he was alive. It's too fast for this person to be forgotten."

Song Kunyun was embarrassed for a moment, but he quickly calmed down and said, "The common interests of the family are not built on nostalgia. If you don't have that ability, don't even think about standing forward."

Song Yu brushed his sleeves and smiled confidently. "Of course you have to make a living based on your own abilities."

He stood up and handed out documents in brown paper bags to the four elders one by one. "Please take a look at this document. I will naturally do what I promised to do in the document. I hope you can support me like you supported my father."

As he flipped through the pages, Song Kunyun's disdainful expression suddenly changed. He glanced at Song Luo secretly, who was even more shocked than him. What was in his hand?

"I think we all need to think about this carefully," said Song Yunpei.

"Uncle Yun is right." Song Yu sat down and picked up the pen on the table and played with it. "Everyone, please consider it this way."

The four of them looked at each other, and now they were in tacit understanding. The Song family was large and powerful, and the four elders had different businesses. External fighting was inevitable, but what was more troublesome was that they all participated in internal fighting to a greater or lesser extent. Balance was the most difficult to control, and it depended on how the superiors checked and balanced it.

Just when everyone was silent, a strong hand pushed the document that belonged to him forward. "No need to look at it, I support Song Yu to be elected as the new head of the Song family."

Song Nan announced his decision with a smile. For a moment, everyone looked at him.

Some people supported him, but Song Yu was not happy. He stared at Song Nan, not knowing what he was up to. Song Nan was promoted to the position of elder not long ago. He replaced his father and attended this meeting for the first time.

Smart people know how to make choices and know who is the main target. But now, why is it him? Why is he the first to jump out and support him? Song Yu looked at Song Nan, then retracted his gaze.

Song Yu was surprised but not surprised that Song Nan jumped out first. At this moment, he had to admit that Zhao Yunqi guessed right. Although just a second ago, he still disagreed with Zhao Yunqi's prediction.

Outside the mansion, Zhao Yunqi stood guard at the door like a most loyal soldier. At this time, Song Yu should have taken out those documents, hoping that this method of alienating and defeating them one by one would work.

Song Nan's speech did not bring any substantial breakthrough. Song Kunyun and the other three elders remained silent tacitly, and the atmosphere in the meeting room gradually became stalemate.

"How about this, everyone take a break? We can start the meeting in the afternoon. I think everyone has time."

After Song Yu finished speaking, he left first. Song Nan glanced at everyone present, picked up his documents and left. After Song Yunpei left, only Song Luo and Song Kunyun were left in the huge conference room.

"Xiao Luo, does what we agreed on before coming here still count?"

"That depends on whether Uncle Kun's price is higher than his." Song Luo raised the thick stack of information.

Song Kunyun reached out to take it, but Song Luo immediately pulled it back. "Uncle Kun, in exchange, would you let me see your document?"

Song Kunyun withdrew his hand, and Song Luo sneered, thinking that it was ridiculous for him to subconsciously protect the pile of papers. He immediately stood up and walked out in style. Since Song Yu had prepared so carefully, he would just watch it again.

Song Yu returned to his lounge and sat upright on the sofa waiting for the first visitor, but no one came for a long time. Time passed slowly, and the less people came, the greater his chances of winning.

He waited until lunchtime, and the servants knocked on his door and brought him lunch.

"Go tell the person standing outside to go back to Jiudu first. Maybe he will hear good news halfway."

The middle-aged man in the lead nodded and walked out. He was appointed by Song Hongtian to take care of various matters during the elders' meeting.

Song Yu had just finished lunch. After a knock on the door, the door creaked open. Song Luo walked in and stood aside. Song Yu glanced at him and walked back to the soft black sofa and sat down. At this time, the servant who had been standing outside the door came in and quickly cleaned up the leftovers, and the door was closed respectfully again.

"If you have anything to say, please say it now. The afternoon meeting is about to start."

"I just deeply regret that I didn't have time to visit Uncle Song some time ago... Didn't I hear that he was already well a few days ago?"

"It did get better, but the next night when it rained heavily, the disease broke out again."

"Is that so? May I ask, did Uncle Song really die of illness?"

"No one can predict what God will do." Song Yu looked at him coldly.

Song Luo smiled calmly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you, I just still miss his personality charm. But I think you will be even better."

"See you in the afternoon." Song Luo said and left.

The man left in style, but Song Yu had to ponder inwardly. What did he mean by that? Surrender? Song Luo was undoubtedly an extremely outstanding child of the Song family's generation. His father had said that Song Luo should never be underestimated.

But what does it mean if it's not surrender? Well, let's take it one step at a time.

The afternoon meeting started on time at 1:30, which was the rule for all meetings held in this house. Therefore, when Song Yu arrived on time in the afternoon, everyone was already seated.

He sat there with a calm face and bright eyes, and he said, "Now, everyone can express their opinions."

Song Kunyun spoke first: "I have carefully studied the data and plan you gave me at noon, and I think it is impossible to achieve. Let me explain first, Song Yu promised me double the profits of the key industries under my name, but the three major families have a stable foundation. Although the Lu and Lin families have temporarily lost, it does not mean that we can encroach on their interests in a short period of time, not to mention that there are revolutionary forces eyeing them from behind. So I suspect that the benefits you promised to everyone are false, and you want us to conflict with each other."

"Is it because Uncle Kun's thinking is too narrow-minded, and there are conflicts and internal encroachment? No, what we have to do is to create and lead. I will remove all obstacles."

"You are still young, don't be so confident."

"Uncle Kun, the current situation is special. I don't think you expected the revolutionary army to occupy Beiguan. What we need most now is a brave and courageous person to lead the Song family to gain the upper hand in the upcoming chaos, right?"

Song Yu scanned everyone's face. "One year. If the situation is not resolved within one year, I will voluntarily step down. When the time comes, Uncle Kun, you have to come out and take charge of the situation."

"Well, does anyone have any objections now?" Song Yu asked with a smile.

Song Kunyun had a tense face. He had endured it long enough and didn't care about another year or two.

"Congratulations, Brother Song Yu, for becoming the new patriarch of the Song family." Song Nan clapped his hands with a smile, but he was the only one who responded. Even Song Yu did not show much expression.

Song Yu glanced at him and said, "I declare this meeting over."

After quickly returning to the lounge, Song Yu locked the door, untied his tie, and threw himself on the sofa. His face was gloomy and his eyes were violent. He didn't even have a trace of joy when he got the position of the head of the family. He just wanted to release the malice in his chest.

"Brother Song Yu, are you there?" Song Nan's voice came from outside the door.

Song Nan? Everything was settled, why did he come to see me at this time? Song Yu quickly tidied himself up and went forward to open the door.

"Brother Song Yu, you know that what Song Kunyun said makes sense, like mine."

"Really? Then what do you want to do?" Song Yu couldn't figure out what he meant. If he had seen through it, why would he be the first to support him? Sure enough, he had other intentions. Wouldn't it be better for the abandoned chess piece to just be an abandoned piece?

"Brother, don't be nervous. Can I call you brother?"

"No."

"Brother Song Yu." Song Nan bit her lip and said, "I just want you to believe me. I will fully support everything you do. Please let me follow you."

Before this meeting, Song Yu had never heard of Song Nan. As one of the four elders who walked in here in such a short time, he must be very resourceful. Compared with enemies, who would not be happy to have one more friend? But Song Yu just didn't like him, not because of the warmth and closeness he showed at the beginning, but because he instinctively hated him, as if he saw another side of himself.

"Brother Song Yu, this is my personal, eternal loyalty." Song Nan's voice couldn't stop trembling, and there was a sincerity that was almost desperate in his eyes.

Does this mean that he does not seek benefits for his family? Interesting, Song Yu thought.

"If I need you, I'll contact you." Song Yu said, brushing past his shoulder and leaving.

Song Nan clenched his fists, his eyes burning with fire. It didn't matter, he had come this far with so much hardship, he wasn't afraid of being late. Time had already given him the greatest reward, it had brought Song Nan to Song Yu.

Suddenly, Song Nan cast his eyes towards the sofa where Song Yu had just sat. He stared at it in a trance, as if time had gone back to the first and only time they met.

Song Nan was an illegitimate child, and even in their current family branch, he was not qualified to inherit his current position. He still remembered that when he was very young, he was taken to Jiudu because he was going to provide entertainment for his eldest young master.

The first time he stepped into the Song Mansion, his status was equivalent to that of a poor servant, and he didn't even dare to raise his head. Until Song Hongtian's favorite glass bowl was broken, and his eldest son blamed everything on him. He felt wronged and uneasy, and what frightened him was not his father's blaming eyes at the time, but Song Hongtian's cold glance.

At that moment, he knew that he was completely finished and he had no chance to change his fate. He hid in a corner and cried in despair, but Song Yu stood in front of him.

"Hold back your tears! If you want to change everything, you need to shed blood."

Song Yu was only nine years old at that time, and he came to his dark world like a god. The appearance of Song Yu made Song Nan understand that there was such an extremely powerful person in the world, and he would stand at the top of the Song family.

As early as then, Song Nan understood that he would give everything for him.

After a long while, Song Nan finally collected his thoughts. He bent down and reverently smoothed out the wrinkles on the sofa. He would give everything for his god.