At the Huo family villa in eastern A City, Huo Zhenyun's seventieth birthday banquet was underway.
Shen Can sat at the Shen Household's table, keeping an eye on the changes among the attendees. He had been waiting for this day ever since having dinner with Huo Xi that day.
When a group of bodyguards suddenly entered, Shen Can knew it was coming. Sure enough, after the bodyguards lined up, five people entered together. One of them was Old Master Huo, who was being supported by a young man.
The guests were somewhat bewildered. Although they knew this family well enough, they had never heard of them having any connection to Old Master Huo. How could they enter together with him? Had they recently earned Old Master Huo's favor?
Old Master Huo and his group did not stop, walking straight onto the stage. Old Master Huo picked up the microphone and announced that he had something important to reveal before the meal.
"Thank you all for coming to celebrate this old man's seventieth birthday. I would now like to formally introduce a few people."
"They are my daughter, son-in-law, grandson, and granddaughter-in-law, as well as Ru Yan. Back then, due to an accident, Ru Yan became pregnant with my child. But she could not bear to destroy my family, so she left despite being pregnant."
"It was not until I fell ill last time, when she feared her daughter would not even know who her father was or what he looked like, that she finally told her through tears."
"She had only wanted to see how I was doing with her own eyes before deciding whether to bring the child to meet me. But I happened to run into her."
"Since I knew I had wronged her, and knew that child existed, how could I let her leave again now that I had found her? She had even gone through such hardship to give birth to and raise the child."
"She had worked tirelessly all these years raising that child, while I, as her father, had known she existed and yet never done anything for her."
"So today, I will let my daughter return to the Huo Household and reclaim the identity she deserves. The Huo family's bloodline cannot remain adrift outside. From today onward, my daughter will change her name from Shi Pei back to Huo Pei. She is the eldest daughter of Huo Zhenyun and Huo Zhang's younger sister."
From the moment they appeared until the end of the speech, Shen Can had been watching everyone's expressions. Most of them went from dumbfounded to shocked.
Even the Shen Household, Lu Shao, and Su Nanxing had not known that woman was Shi Ruyan, or that the grandson was Zhou Jingxuan.
After all, no one paid attention to who Shi Pei's mother was. They only knew that Shi Pei was the mistress of the Zhou Household.
Having observed everyone's reactions, Shen Can found them exactly as he expected and silently began to mock them again.
What a high-sounding speech. Ugh. Reclaiming the identity she deserves? He was clearly just adding an illegitimate daughter to the family registry. He did not say a single word about Huo Xi's grandmother.
Did you only wrong Shi Ruyan? At your age, you're still stirring up all this trouble without a shred of shame. And you're so self-righteous about it. I really don't understand.
The Shen Household shared Shen Can's thoughts. It was utterly shameless, a speech that deliberately glossed over the important parts. He had even taken it upon himself to give Huo Zhang a younger sister. Was he going to remain completely silent about his former wife?
Su Nanxing understood better than anyone how it felt to have a stepmother who rose to power as a mistress, then be forced to call the children born from her father's affair during marriage younger siblings. Huo Zhang probably could not endure it either.
Huo Zhang truly could not hold it in any longer. He had already been deeply displeased while pretending to be filial abroad. Fortunately, Huo Zhenyun did not like seeing him either. Otherwise, if he had to face him every day, he was afraid he would not be able to stop himself from demanding why he had treated his mother that way.
Huo Zhang looked at Huo Xi. He did not know what exactly his son's plan was, but there was no way he would acknowledge this younger sister.
Huo Xi gave a slight nod, and Huo Zhang rose to his feet. "I don't have a younger sister. I don't remember my mother ever giving birth to one."
"Huo Zhang! What are you trying to do? Are you rebelling?" Huo Zhenyun roared.
Only after Shi Ruyan tugged at Huo Zhenyun's sleeve did he calm down and say, "I know you're thinking of your mother, Huo Zhang, and I know we wronged her. But that was an accident. Your Aunt Shi is innocent too, and your younger sister is even more innocent."
The Shen Household and Lu Shao glanced at Huo Xi without changing their expressions. From Shen Can's inner thoughts, they knew that had not been an accident. They had been entangled for a full three months. One day might be an accident, but could three months be one?
Huo Xi had even found the landlord's son that day, proving he had investigated the matter as well. They did not know what he had planned.
Shen Can thought it over and felt that Huo Xi probably would not bring that matter up now. It would be useless to reveal at this point that Huo Zhenyun cheated during his marriage and carried on with Shi Ruyan for three months.
Other than damaging his reputation a little, he would still acknowledge them anyway. You couldn't force him not to acknowledge them, could you? Huo Zhenyun would never agree. If this father wanted to bring his daughter home, how could the younger generation stop him?
Even if the Huo family's elders spoke up, it probably would not help. As long as Huo Zhenyun stood firm, no one could stop him. He used to be the family head, after all. Everyone had more or less some connection to him, so they would not speak out.
Besides, Shi Pei really does carry his blood. It would not be appropriate for the elders to stop it either. By blood, she truly is a child of the Huo family. It is just emotionally impossible to accept.
So those pieces of evidence would be better saved for later. Give them another blow once they have been crushed.
That was indeed what Huo Xi thought. But bringing her back to the family did not mean his father had to acknowledge this younger sister, so he let his father speak.
"I don't care whether it was an accident or not. I will never acknowledge this younger sister. If you want to acknowledge a daughter, then do it yourself," Huo Zhang said, maintaining the same stance.
Huo Zhenyun's face turned red with anger. In the end, he said to Shi Pei, "It's fine. If he won't acknowledge you, forget him. As long as I acknowledge you and the Huo family acknowledges you, that's enough. A useless older brother is no help anyway."
Han Yanhu slapped the table. "Old Master, that's not a pleasant thing to say. Whether Huo Zhang is capable or not, at least he has never harmed anyone through his actions. I don't think someone who has not harmed others can be called useless."
"Harmed others? Are you implying that your father-in-law harmed someone? I haven't even said anything about how you kept spending extravagantly at auctions every day, yet you still dare to speak?"
Huo Xi spoke in a mocking tone after hearing Huo Zhenyun's words. "My mother spent money that I earned. I don't think there was anything wrong with that."
Huo Zhenyun looked at Huo Xi. His feelings toward this grandson were complicated. If Huo Xi had been the son of his child with Shi Ruyan, he did not know how happy he would have been. But unfortunately, he was not.
"Enough. Pei'er is a member of the Huo family, so she must return to the Huo family. I have already made my decision. Whatever anyone says will be useless."
Earlier, Huo Xi had instructed Assistant He and Secretary Wu to arrange for people to stir up some emotions. Those people were beginning to grow restless as well.
If Huo Zhenyun's illegitimate daughter could be acknowledged, then why couldn't theirs? Once acknowledged by the Huo family, they could take money from the Huo family's company.
Those who were highly capable might not think much of that money, but how could ordinary people without much ability miss such an opportunity? Every additional person meant one less share for everyone else.
Besides, why could Huo Zhenyun do it while they could not? Shouldn't everyone be treated equally, no matter what the matter was?
Huo Zhenyun's second elder cousin stood up first. Huo Zhenyun had opened this can of worms himself, so what the hell did he have to fear? Could Huo Zhenyun beat him to death just because he spoke up first?
"I think Zhenyun is right. The Huo family's bloodline cannot remain outside. Likewise, I want to acknowledge my son and grandson as well." Huo Zhenyun's second elder cousin spoke up, and several more people rose afterward.
The guests present had only one thought: See? This is why you cannot open the door to this kind of mess. Once opened, it cannot be stopped.
Before you continue