Muyu listend to his mother’s account and understood.
Summarised, the clan head called for a meeting and wanted to make some arrangements, seemingly casual, but several people felt undercurrents.
These arrangements were key positions in the family that shouldn’t be discussed so hastily, but the clan head seemed to be in the hurry—
First, he wanted to designate the heirs of the Three Gardens. For this, he directly named several eligible heirs and seemingly wanted to push them forth—these heirs were all of his lineage or the lineage of those close to him!
At that time, the elders directly rejected it. He offered to support the passing of inheritance, but they still rejected. Finally, he directly attacked Chunfeng, the only elder who didn’t have a single heir—even questioning whether it would be Huiyue who would take over. Chunfeng remained calm and said that his grandson, Fu Muyu, would take over the garden and that there was no worry.
After several more attempts, the clan head realised there was nothing to do, so he went to the next topic. The Vice Hall Master’s heirs. And once more... he was rejected. Even his own sister didn’t support his attempt. She wouldn’t ransack the planting hall her father had built just to position a few more people of their lineage!
Actually, there weren’t many key positions in the clan. Except for the garden heads and vice hall masters, the only others were family guardians, but he had no right to move them. Other positions such as the hall masters of various smaller halls like the sutra hall or general affairs hall were beyond his authority as the clan head, as they were special positions given to meritorious elders in their retirement, all having their own lineage to support, not allowing him to advance an inch.
The back and forth started to annoy the elders, and the clan head proposed only one last thing—the third Market Elder position, wanting to directly take it for his son!
And...
Dehua stepped forward, stopping him and announcing that the ancestor had already spoken of this matter, and that there was no need to discuss it.
Deqin was enraged and wanted to question his sister, but she only glanced at him, suppressing him with her might and bowing to everyone else, apologising to them and asking them to leave.
"After we left, your grandfather told me to ignore what happened, and that it was just a small scandal, nothing serious," Huiyue said, though her words didn’t conceal her worry.
"Mother, the clan head—" Muyu looked at her in disbelief, these were clear signs! Arranging positions at the last moment, this was something politicians loved to do right before and after an election—
The Clan Head was also elected by the clan on the surface, but in reality, the clan head would be of the lineage of the youngest Foundation Building cultivator, at least all elders would make space for one for at least a few years.
Deqin had been the clan head for several years now, over two decades. He was calm, collected and dedicated, no one thought he would escalate now—if it wasn’t for that, he’d be elected for at least another decade!
"The matters of the clan head doesn’t matter much," Huiyue shook her head. Like her grandfather, she didn’t care about that as much.
Instead, she explained, "After the meeting, just when I returned to the courtyard, great-aunt Dehua knocked at my door. She talked to me and explained... that the third Market Elder’s position was reserved... for you!"
"For who?"
"For you!"
"Me?!"
Muyu looked in astonishment. What?! Such a position... shouldn’t it be owned by at least the Chun or even the De generation?!
"It was Ancestor Peilan made this choice!"
"Ancestor... but why?"
"It’s probably because of me. I told the ancestor I’d remain in the clan, and he directly made this arrangement..."
Muyu listened intently, and remembering various matters, he only became more astonished.
"Mother—"
"My son, don’t say anything. The clan is very closely connected, even disputes and conflicts are only about some profit and not about life and death. As long as some things are discussed, there is no harm. It’s just that the ancestor is worried these things might disrupt my mindset, so he made arrangements for us in the dark, hoping I can focus fully on breaking through..."
"But mother," Muyu looked deeply at his mother, feeling like this was too much.
"My son, this opportunity is very good. Actually, the position was empty because there’s no eligible person, and even in ten or twenty years, there won’t be. Originally this was a benefit that could be temporarily given to a person based on the different lineage’s contributions, but now the ancestor directly gave this position to our lineage. Other lineages won’t care much, this benefit wasn’t meant for anyone specifically, and if any eligible person emerges, then we will just give back the position.
Don’t worry about it and take it—
Oh, but there is one requirement: you have to have reached the mid-stage and become a low-grade talisman master. At least this way we can explain to the elders there that this isn’t us sending someone useless, but sending someone to train and learn."
Muyu listend to every of her words, understanding the grand picture. Basically, this position is like a long-term teaching position at a school, but because there are no fitting long-term teachers, they fill the position temporarily.
There are no hard feelings attached, everyone involved knows its temporary and that the benefit is something you earned through different ways.
In his case, it was his mother who earned the benefits, but because she needs to break through, she doesn’t take it but passes it on to her son. In the future, when an eligible person emerges, he will give up his position and receive a long-term position arranged for by the clan.
But even though it all made sense, Muyu felt a bit reluctant. Not because he wanted more benefits, but because he felt that moving around so much wasn’t good for one’s mindset. Moving from temporary position to another position was fine, but what if that position was also temporary?
The benefits might be great, but the constant moving would definitely delay his cultivation.
He nodded to his mother, agreeing, while at the same time, he started to make plans for his own place.
The clan was good but relying entirely on it wouldn’t be good. Relying on his mother also wasn’t good—she was a cultivator and had to walk her own path, and he was one too, following her path would only result in him becoming a puppet. Maybe with his talisman he could reach higher stages, but if he always relied on others, then what benefits could he generate from his talisman? A person with their own mind will always be more successful than those that blindly follow other’s commands.
Being his mother, Huiyue naturally saw that his head was full of various ideas, but she didn’t stop it. Rather, she was very happy. She was happy to support him, but even more happy if he could stand on his own. As a mother, she just wanted her son to be as successful as possible.