This rule resulted in a few spectators on the seats with missing arms and legs, which looked very strange.
"Eh, the meeting should have started by now. Why hasn't the old master arrived yet?" a middle-aged woman by the long table said, "In the past, he was always the most punctual. I remember in earlier years he would even stand by the door, and if anyone of us was late, we were required to write a self-criticism."
Li Yunye looked at a servant, "Go, ask what happened."
The servant from the Martial Arts School quickly ran out, then hurried back shortly after, "The old master said the meeting would start once everyone arrives."
There was a moment of surprise among the people at the meeting hall.
Wait for everyone to arrive?
In the room, everyone knew why a batch of people hadn't arrived yet.
However, they hadn't expected that the usually punctual and imposing old master would suddenly become capricious at such a time.
It was merely that an instructor had been misled to the wrong meeting hall.
Just for such a trivial matter, the old master even delayed the meeting!
Amidst the spectator's seats in the hall, everyone began to discuss, just which merits and abilities did this instructor possess to gain such favoritism from the old master?
A lean middle-aged man tapped the long table in front of him, muttering, "Did you all hear about the bastard that the Li Clan recently acknowledged? The old master is having the Li descendants pay respects to elevate his status, and even gave him the Autumn Leaf Courtyard. What is he trying to do? Let me make it clear, I do not recognize such a brother. Our Li Clan has had a rule from hundreds of years ago, bastards do not enter the ancestral hall."
Li Changqing sat there looking at the ceiling, letting his brother speak out without caring at all.
This middle-aged man, Li Yunye, was extremely astute and capable in business, managing industries like mining and electricity, many of which are pillars of the Li Family's economy, and he had a highly assertive approach to business.
Li Yunye was usually good to his brothers and sisters, not prone to arrogance or overbearance.
But there was one thing about him, he had strong territorial consciousness, and what was his could not be touched by others.
"Ninth brother," Li Changqing suddenly said, "no one mentioned that he is the old master's illegitimate son. Don't believe nor spread rumors. Moreover, let's not talk about such things during the family meeting."
Li Yunya calmly said, "I'm just worried that during the period I wasn't here, someone might have whispered misleading things to the old master."
Li Yunshou closed the document in front of him and said indifferently, "The old master has never been senile, so there's no need to worry about that."
At that moment, a group of people entered from outside the Ming Li Meeting Hall.
Everyone's gaze shifted there, and it was indeed the late Qing Chen and Li Ke arriving.
Li Yunye didn't say anything but carefully scrutinized Qing Chen.
However, Qing Chen wasn't looking at him but at the long table in the middle.
All of the extra chairs had already been removed; not one was left for him.
At this moment, many silently watched this scene, eager to see what this instructor from the Martial Arts School would do.
Would he approach the long table to ask for a chair, or would he silently sit in the spectator's seats?
If he asked for a chair, no servant dared to fetch one for him; fetching a chair for himself seemed to demean his value.
If he chose to sit in the spectator's seats, then it needed no further explanation, he would never have a place at the Li Family's long table again.
Every seat at this long table in the consortium was won after numerous struggles and conflicts.
The chairs were ordinary, yet they were the stuff of countless people's dreams.
Yet, in this delicate atmosphere, Li Ke suddenly stepped forward from behind Qing Chen, fetched a chair from the spectator's seats, and squarely placed it beside the long table, "Sir, please have a seat."
As he spoke, Li Ke even dusted the chair seat with his sleeve.
The chair was not dirty; if a chair at a Li Family meeting was dirty, servants involved would likely be driven out.
But Li Ke's action was clearly a demonstration for everyone; those heirs of Li's Big Room who qualified to enter the ancestral hall were even cleaning chairs for the instructor, so others should cease any small maneuvers.
Everyone in the spectator's seats was stunned; they hadn't expected that Li Ke would lower himself so much during a family meeting.
Several at the long table were also taken aback, even Li Changqing was surprised. Her initial plan was to ask for a chair herself, which no servant would dare to deny.
But now, it was clear she didn't need to intervene; Qing Chen could solve the issue himself.
At the long table, Li Yunye looked back at his elder brother, Li Yunshou, somewhat uncertain, not sure whether this was his brother's doing.
Li Yunshou's expression was always as undisturbed as Dragon Lake; he looked at Li Yunye, "Stop overthinking, he hasn't even fetched a chair for me once."
His implication was that this had nothing to do with him, Li Yunshou.
Li Yunye, keen and interested like a lean tiger, stroked his chin stubble, "Interesting."
Qing Chen seated himself beside the long table without greeting anyone, just quietly sitting there, maintaining the Breathing Technique, and resting with his eyes closed.
He seemed indifferent to everything.
Li Ke, Li Su, and others sat right behind him, equally silent.
If the situation hadn't been so formal, Li Su and his fellows would have wished their instructor could lead them in meditation during the meeting without disrupting their cultivation.
These military men were extremely pragmatic; they knew well the immense advantage on the battlefield if they could quickly advance to become Transcendents.