Bai Qingping roared until his voice was hoarse, and tears streamed down his face.
He did not know if these tears were for himself or for this already decaying Bai Clan.
Looking at this room full of greedy and spineless elders of the Bai Clan, he did not understand how these once compassionate elders had become so unrecognizable, their inner ugliness so unbearable to look at.
This Bai family was no longer the Bai family he had once been proud of.
This Bai Clan was already far too distant from the Bai family of Dadu City.
The Bai family of Dadu City had inherited the aspirations and virtues of the Bai ancestors, while their Bai family in Shuoyang... had decayed from their Clan Leader, rotten to the core.
Bai Qingping could foresee that, in the near future, the Princess of Zhen would surely abandon this leech-like Bai Clan, which still dared to flaunt its power in front of the Bai family of Dadu City.
"A Ping! How can you speak like that? Step back!" Bai Qingping’s mother scolded.
"This child is exaggerating. Abandoning the clan? I have never seen anyone abandon their clan in my entire life. Even a Prime Minister with high rank and great power would not dare to abandon his clan and face disgrace! What does a child know!" Fifth Elder glared at Bai Qingping, questioning his mother, "How do you normally teach your child?"
"In this world, there are only offspring abandoned by the clan. Who ever abandons their clan?" someone chimed in.
Bai Qingping closed his eyes, feeling a sense of bitter solitude in the midst of a crowd. He spoke in a hoarse voice, "Those in high positions cannot abandon the clan because they rely on clan members to qualify for government exams and become officials, so they can have trusted allies in the royal court. Younger members of a humble family cannot abandon the clan because they rely on the clan for care."
"But what about our Bai Clan in Shuoyang? In the Imperial Court, our clan has no officials... Over the years, we have entirely relied on the prestige of the Bai family in Dadu City. We cannot even mention helping the Bai family in the court. Although they are now widows and orphans, the eldest daughter Bai Qingyan and the fourth girl Bai Jinzhi, one is a Commandery Princess and the other is a County Lord. Even after leaving the Bai Clan, no one would dare to bully them! But can the Bai Clan say... that without the Princess of Zhen and the Lord of Gaoyi, they could still live as unscrupulously in Shuoyang City as before?"
"These years, the King of Zhen has been lenient, but both the elders and the younger generation of our clan have been blinded by lard! Where does the Bai Clan get the audacity to think that the Bai family in Dadu City relies on our clan to live?"
"Bai Qingping, you are being outrageous!" the Fifth Elder slapped the table forcefully. "Are you out of your mind? How can you talk to your elders like that? Is that what your teacher taught you about etiquette and filial piety?!"
Bai Qingping did not even look at the Fifth Elder. He only looked at the Clan Leader and shouted, "I once heard you personally say that when our great uncle, the King of Zhen, wanted to take the clan’s fifteen-year-old children to the battlefield for training, every family refused and used all kinds of methods to prevent the clan children from going!"
"Later, the clan said the children should focus on the imperial exam. The King of Zhen even rebuilt the clan school and hired highly knowledgeable teachers. But in this vast Bai Clan, not a single tribute student has emerged. Is it because the descendants of the Bai family are not smart enough?"
Bai Qingping shook his head, "No... it is not! It is because the descendants of the Bai family rely too much on the Bai family in Dadu City, so they lost their motivation and ambition! This laziness, greed, and acceptance of comfort is contagious!"
"The descendants of the Bai family who were originally diligent and motivated saw their less educated cousins living comfortably without knowledge, and saw the family of the King of Zhen in Dadu City fighting with blood and life on the battlefield. Their own offspring died on the battlefield, yet the clan members skinned them and sucked their blood. Who would want to become the next King of Zhen, letting their whole family be so exploited by the clan?!"
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Rebirth: The Journey of an Heiress