I, the Villain, Become Invincible the More Descendants I Have

Chapter 19 The Elders’ Meeting ShowdownEarly the next morning, the Cao Family Council Hall was packed to capacity.

The Great Elder sat upright on a chair beside the main seat, his back straight as a rod and his chin held high, looking exactly like a victorious rooster.

He swept a glance over the elders below, cleared his throat, and rapped on the table: ”Quiet! We are holding this council meeting for only one reason—to vote on the position of Young Clan Leader!”

”Emperor Cao Xukun is corrupt, snatched someone’s fiancée, imprisoned a disciple of the Qingyun Sect, and even crippled a fellow clansman; he has completely disgraced the Cao Family! A person like this must absolutely not be our Young Clan Leader!”

He slammed the table, shouting hoarsely: ”I propose that we immediately revoke Emperor Cao Xukun’s candidacy and install Cao Xuan as the Young Clan Leader! Although Cao Xuan has physical limitations, he is loyal to the family and possesses an unyielding spirit; he is a hundred times better than that bastard!”

”I agree!”

”I agree too! The Great Elder is right!”

Four die-hard elders immediately raised their hands in agreement, their voices growing louder one after another.

Seeing this, the Great Elder was even more pleased with himself, stroking his beard as he laughed: ”You see? The outcome is already decided! Even if that brat Emperor Cao Xukun shows up, it will be useless! Today, he must get out of the Cao Family!”

The moment he finished speaking, the door to the Council Hall was pushed open with a creak.

Emperor Cao Xukun walked in slowly with his hands in his pockets, followed by Su Wanqing, Imperial Concubine Xiao Ya, Lin Yueer, and Li Tieniu.

”Yo, so lively? I thought I was late, but it seems I arrived just in time to catch your one-man show.”

Emperor Cao Xukun pulled over a chair, sat down boldly with his legs crossed, and looked at the Great Elder with a half-smile, ”What? That loser Cao Xuan can still be the Young Clan Leader? He can’t even walk properly; are we going to have to push him onto the podium in a wheelchair for future Cao Family meetings? Is ’governing by wheelchair’ the new trend?”

”You are spouting nonsense!” The Great Elder was so angry his beard stood on end, ”Cao Xuan was harmed by you! If it weren’t for you, he would have become the pillar of the Cao Family long ago!”

”Harm him? He brought it upon himself; he tried to cripple me but was crippled by me instead. That’s called reaping what you sow.”

Emperor Cao Xukun shrugged, ”Besides, you only talk about my character; why don’t you talk about the dirty deeds you’ve done yourself?”

”What have I done? I am upright and honorable, dedicated entirely to the family!” the Great Elder shouted, stiffening his neck.

”Upright and honorable?” Emperor Cao Xukun sneered, pulling a thick stack of account books and letters from his robes and slamming them onto the table with a ”thud.”

”Then explain to everyone where the three hundred thousand taels of silver from the family mines that you embezzled over the past three years went? And the three private residences in the west of the city, and the two shops in the east—whose money was used to buy those?”

”Also, you turned three hundred acres of spirit fields meant for disciples’ cultivation into your own vegetable garden, specifically to grow greens to nourish your precious grandson’s body—what do you have to say about that?”

”The most outrageous part is that you actually colluded with Young Master Xiao Chen, secretly giving him the Cao Family’s defense map, and promised to open the city gates to coordinate an attack from within when Young Master Xiao Chen arrives! This isn’t just embezzlement; this is treason!”

For every sentence Emperor Cao Xukun spoke, he tossed out a piece of evidence. The handwriting in the account books was clear, with every instance of embezzlement meticulously recorded; the signatures on the letters were the authentic autographs of the Great Elder and Young Master Xiao Chen.

The entire room erupted in chaos.

”What? The Great Elder actually embezzled so much money?”

”And treason? Has he lost his mind? To actually collude with outsiders to harm his own family!”

”No wonder our cultivation resources have been dwindling; it turns out he’s been embezzling them all!”

”This is too much! How could someone like this deserve to be an elder!”

Several neutral elders who had just supported the Great Elder instantly changed their expressions and stood up one by one to condemn him: ”Great Elder! You have disappointed us too much!”

”We were truly blind to have believed you!”

The Great Elder’s face turned deathly pale in an instant, cold sweat streaming down his forehead, and his hands trembling: ”No... that’s not it! These are all forgeries! Emperor Cao Xukun is framing me!”

”Forgeries?” Emperor Cao Xukun sneered and clapped his hands.

Two accountants were brought in and testified on the spot: ”Clan Leader! Elders! These account books are all real! The Great Elder forced us to cook the books every year; whoever dared to refuse would be kicked out of the Cao Family!”

”And me!” A servant stood up, ”I saw with my own eyes the Great Elder handing the defense map to Young Master Xiao Chen’s men! He even said that once Young Master Xiao Chen destroys Emperor Cao Xukun, he would be appointed as the Clan Leader of the Cao Family!”

With both human witnesses and physical evidence present, the proof was as solid as a mountain.

The Great Elder panicked completely; he knew he was finished today. Rather than sit and wait for death, it was better to fight and go down in flames!

”Emperor Cao Xukun! I’ll fight you to the death!”

He stood up abruptly, channeling all his spiritual energy, and lunged at Emperor Cao Xukun. He was at the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage, and this strike was launched with all his might, carrying a fierce wind, wishing nothing more than to tear Emperor Cao Xukun to shreds on the spot.

”I’ve been waiting for this move.” Emperor Cao Xukun curled his lips into a cold smile and snapped his fingers.

”Attack!”

Li Tieniu let out a shout, and thirty elite guards who had been lying in ambush outside the door rushed in instantly, wielding long blades and surrounding the Great Elder in a tight circle.

”Bang, bang, bang!” With a few muffled sounds, although the Great Elder’s cultivation level was not low, he couldn’t withstand the numbers. Within a few rounds, he was pinned to the ground by the guards, unable to move.

”Let go of me! You let me go! I am the Great Elder! If you dare to lay a hand on me, I won’t let you off!” The Great Elder struggled desperately, roaring like a mad dog.

”Great Elder? You are now just a traitor who has colluded with the enemy!” Li Tieniu stepped on his back, ”Still daring to talk back? If you blabber one more word, I’ll break your dog legs first!”

The Great Elder was pressed so hard he couldn’t breathe; he could only glare viciously at Emperor Cao Xukun, his eyes full of resentment: ”Emperor Cao Xukun! Don’t get cocky! Even if I become a ghost, I won’t let you off!”

”A ghost? Do you even deserve to be one?” Emperor Cao Xukun stood up, walked over to him, and looked down at him, ”You embezzled family property, colluded with foreign enemies, and harmed so many people; even if you go to the eighteenth level of hell, you won’t be able to atone for your crimes.”

”Today, I will clean house for the Cao Family!”