Both spoke extremely quickly, interrupting each other before the other could finish. Finally, after Song Tianyao finished speaking, Angie Perlis looked at her mentor, then at Song Tianyao, her face filled with incomprehension. "What are you saying? You're the one who asked me to bring her from London; she did it to help you..."
"Perhaps it was true before, but what's happening now might not be." Song Tianyao glanced at Ji Wenming beside him and said to Angie Perlis, "There are many things about Hong Kong that you don't understand."
Chapter 394 The Mui Tsai system
Song Tianyao walked out of the Dulles Hotel with a gloomy face. Huang Liu drove, and Ji Wenming sat in the back seat with Song Tianyao. Seeing Song Tianyao's almost dripping face, Ji Wenming forced a smile, "Mr. Song, even if the Foreign Devil have designs on this kind of thing, they can't do anything without your and Lin Yujing's approval. Why get so angry?"
"It's my fault. I was too eager for quick success and invited a big shot to Hong Kong, hoping she could help me. Who would have thought that Lin Xiaohe, that scoundrel, had set a trap, leaving me in this awkward and unpleasant situation." Song Tianyao closed his eyes, tilted his head back, and rubbed his temples as he spoke.
Ji Wenming looked at Song Tianyao beside him with admiration and respect in his eyes. This young man, or rather Mr. Song, had considered many things that were beyond what someone his age could think of. Even he, a lawyer who had been in the legal profession for many years, was not as decisive as Mr. Song in certain details and judgments. No wonder he had caught Lu Wenhui's eye at such a young age.
In Ji Wenming's eyes, Song Tianyao's previous schemes were undeniably ruthless.
Everyone in Hong Kong knows that Lin Xizhen left a will before his death, entrusting all family affairs and property to his wife, Hong Lanfang.
Outsiders have absolutely no right to interfere in matters of family wills, even though Song Tianyao has a third aunt who is a concubine's daughter from the Lin Family.
However, Song Tianyao's thoughts were that Lin Xizhen's will was merely a will under the traditional China system, and under the laws of the Britain colony, it could not be considered a will with real legal effect.
At the time, Lin Xizhen's will was at most just a casual remark at a dinner table, because Lin Xizhen was in his prime, and his opium business was booming. He was not yet at the point where he needed to leave a will.
Even the Macau Opium Commissioner, Pedro Lobo, and the Macau tycoon Feng Laorong, were intimidated by his imposing presence. Furthermore, he had close ties with Jardine Matheson. Lin Xizhen was undoubtedly a Chinese tycoon in the Hong Kong and Macau opium industry.
His so-called will was a casual remark made during a conversation with friends at the Yuki Guild Hall in Central during his courtroom confrontation with Pedro Lobo. His friend Liang Hanzhao, inquired about the situation of Lin Xizhen's Macau trade in Macau, mentioning that Feng Laorong and Pedro Lobo were not easy targets. Lin Xizhen replied, "I don't care. I've seen my share of storms since I was young. How could they possibly be more ferocious than the raging waves? Besides, if something really happens, all the family business and affairs, big and small, can be handled by my wife."
This statement was taken as part of Lin Xizhen's will after his death, and Liang Hanzhao came forward to confirm it, so it did not cause any controversy within the Lin Family.
In traditional China society, this statement might be sufficient as a will, but Hong Kong was Britain colony, and here, things had to be done according to Britain law.
Song Tianyao insisted that Lin Xizhen's statement had no legal effect, so he planned to use legal means to tear the Lin Family apart.
To be honest, when Song Tianyao had this idea, not only Lu Wenjin Lu Wenhui, but even Ji Wenming, both feared and admired Song Tianyao. They feared that this young man's moves against his opponents were as venomous as a snake, but admired that Song Tianyao always stood in the upper hand when playing against his opponents.
Hong Kong belongs to China, but it is now under Britain jurisdiction. No matter how large the Lin Family's business is, if it is revealed now that the Lin Family's illegitimate daughter is preparing to fight for the family property, and the Lin Family tries to deal with the Britain judge according to the so-called will, they will obviously lose. As long as Song Tianyao wins this move, the Lin Family will be in a state of panic and will definitely fall into internal strife.
This is why Lu Wenjin and Lu Wenhui, the two Big Brothers of the Lu Family, treated Song Tianyao differently and even arranged for him to help Song Tianyao participate in this matter. In the judgment of the two elders of the Lu Family, the Lin Family was powerless to turn the tide in this situation.
But now, reality tells everyone that Lin Xiaohe had already blocked all possibilities more than a decade ago!
Lin Xiaohe delivered the contract to the hospital today. On the surface, it meant that he was transferring the right to use the small building on Ngau Tau Shan to Lin Yujing and her daughter. However, it also conveyed a message: when Lin Yujing and the other illegitimate daughters of the Lin Family got married, their status was different. They were sold to their husbands' families as "Mui Tsai"!
The word "Mui Tsai" is taboo in Hong Kong's upper class; no one talks about it because both the Britain and the China person avoid the word like the plague.
"Mui Tsai" refers to the transfer of custody of one's child for a sum of cash. This kind of transfer mostly occurs in poor families. In order to survive, poor people sell their daughters to others to be child brides, wives, maids, prostitutes, etc. Everything that happens to the daughter begins the moment the parents sign the sale and has nothing to do with them.
Fu Xinniang, Shu Yan Shi Yin, and other girls were all from Mui Tsai family.
Now, Lin Xiaohe is using the house usage contract to convey a message to Song Tianyao: don't mess with Lin Yujing. Lin Yujing is Mui Tsai, and it's only right for the Lin Family to take her in and abandon her.
According to Britain law, Angie Perlis and her mentor could help Lin Yujing fight this case, regardless of Lin Yujing's status Mui Tsai, or rather, they could use Lin Yujing's status Mui Tsai to make a big deal out of it. This is precisely why Song Tianyao refused and turned sour.
If Song Tianyao's side dares to use Lin Yujing's status as Mui Tsai to attack the Lin Family in court, even if he wins and is certain to win that round in court, he will definitely suffer a terrible fate outside of court.
Because Song Tianyao actually did that, he offended the entire Po Leung Kuk and all the big Chinese Big Brother within Po Leung Kuk.
This signifies that Song Tianyao is declaring war on the entire upper-class Chinese society.