Huo Yushen said, "Of course they weren't fools."
"Because the position of Executive Deputy Speaker also came with many restrictions, and they could never be elevated to nobility."
"With that restriction, almost no one was willing to serve as Executive Deputy Speaker of the Senate's lower house."
"If there was even one, everyone would wish he could be welded into that position for the rest of his life."
Xia Chujian was amazed. "So Teng Kexin becoming a big shot in the Senate must have had a lot to do with his position as Executive Deputy Speaker and his Teng Family Eatery, right?"
"Of course," Huo Yushen said. "What councilor who wanted a meal at Teng Family Eatery wouldn't want to be on good terms with him?"
"Moreover, he himself was elegant, kind to others, generous with his wealth, and highly capable."
"How could the Senate councilors not like someone so wonderful and yet noncompetitive?"
Xia Chujian gave a cold laugh. "It's a good thing Teng Pingmao committed suicide early. Otherwise, given enough time, he would have become another Teng Kexin!"
"Do you believe that the position of Executive Deputy Speaker of the Senate's lower house would have become hereditary in the Teng family?"
Huo Yushen nodded. "If Teng Pingmao hadn't died, he definitely would have followed Teng Kexin's path."
"In another twenty years, Teng Kexin would be seventy and ready to retire."
"Teng Pingmao would still be under fifty, in the prime of his life."
"Wouldn't that have allowed them to pass the position down term after term?"
Xia Chujian said unhappily, "He really got off easy!"
"Teng Kexin definitely had more than one illegitimate child."
"Maybe one of his illegitimate children was already serving as a councilor in the Senate's lower house."
"And that damned eatery of his—what could