Dragon Clan: Lu Mingfei Returns from Japan

Chapter 592 Negotiation Conditions
In Genchisei's imagination, Ange should be a man who is intimidating without getting angry, just like Tachibana Masamune. Even when he laughs heartily, one can vaguely feel his aura. A lion should have a lion-like look.

However, Yuan Zhisheng did not feel that kind of aura from Ange.

The old white shirt smelled of sunshine, with a purple scarf tucked into his collar, a tortoise-shell monocle on his nose, and a faint smile. He combined the softness of merino wool, the height of Canadian red pine, and the spiciness of Scotch whisky. He really was like those gentle retired professors that can be seen everywhere in foreign universities, inexplicably making people feel friendly.

However, Yuan Zhisheng did not dare to relax, but his nerves became even more tense. After all, compared to an opponent who showed off his domineering aura, an unpredictable one was more unsettling.

At this time, Ange suddenly reached out his hand to him. Yuan Zhisheng subconsciously held his breath, but Ange's hand only reached for his collar.

"Your collar is messy." Ange smiled kindly and straightened his collar.

Yuan Zhisheng immediately said, "How dare I trouble the principal with such a thing? I can do it myself."

"It's okay. And if nothing unexpected happens, you will also go to Kassel College for further studies next school year, right? The teachers in the college are very friendly. You will be my student soon, so there is no need to be so reserved about such a small matter."

Ange straightened his collar and patted Yuan Zhisheng's shoulder gently: "Now let's talk about the big things. Is there a quiet place?"

There are many small things, but everyone knows that Ange came to Japan in person just for one big thing... Lu Mingfei reacted very quickly, turned sideways to look at Aki, and said in a low voice: "How about Senior Sister Aki, take Eri back to the car first?"

Although it was unknown what the result of Ange's discussion with the Snake Eight Clan would be, it was conceivable that the following conversation might not be harmonious, and might even be full of gunpowder. Even if Eri was innocent, she could sense the tension. That was why Lu Mingfei wanted Aki to take Eri away for a while, so as to prevent her from hearing anything bad.

Aki immediately understood what Lu Mingfei meant, nodded, turned around and took Eri back to the car.

"Does the principal intend to negotiate now?"

Yuan Zhisheng was stunned for a moment and frowned: "Even if you plan to advance the time of the negotiation, at least the heads of the eight families should gather at the negotiation table, right?"

"No need. Have you read Sima Guang's Zizhi Tongjian? It's a very good book. We can learn a lot from history. Only small business people would slam the table and glare during negotiations. The powerful people in history made decisions that changed history in casual conversations."

Yuan Zhisheng understood that Ange wanted to control the main theme of the negotiation. In the territory of the Eight Snake Families, the initiative would be in the hands of the family. But it was different here. The sudden appearance of the principal caught everyone off guard. They were probably not Ange's opponents at the negotiation table. Only the old man who was also an old man could deal with this old lion in front of him.

"But at least the heads of the eight Sheqi families have to be present. I need some time to inform the heads. Please move to the car next to you and wait for a while." Yuan Zhisheng said.

"You mean Tachibana Masamune?"

"Yes."

"Then he is not the head of the family now."

Yuan Zhisheng was stunned when he heard this. So he is not the head of the family now? What does that mean? Didn't Dad quit the position of head of the family after today? Did Dad submit his resignation to the college in advance without notifying him?

"Principal, have you received the resignation letter from the head of the family?" Yuan Zhisheng asked.

"Is there such a thing?"

"So you just said that the head of the family is no longer..."

"Oh. I didn't mean anything else. I just said that Tachibana Masamune is no longer the head of the Snake Eight Clan."

Ange spoke calmly:
"The previous head, Tachibana Masamune, was dismissed for poor management. I will be fully authorized on behalf of the Kassel Academy Board of Directors to order him to be removed from his post. He will be expelled from the core power layer of the Japanese branch executive bureau and all related positions will be revoked. From now on, I appoint you as the new head of the Snake Eight Families. As for the Tachibana family, the head of the Inuyama family, Inuyama Kaori, will temporarily manage it before a new head is elected. So there is no need to notify him again. It is enough for me to talk to you directly."

It was only then that Yuan Zhisheng understood what Ange meant. It was not that his father resigned on his own initiative... but that the principal took the initiative and dismissed his father.

Although the result seems to be no different from the original internal discussion of the Snake Eight Families. Both Tachibana Masamune resigned from the position of the head of the family and Minamoto Chisei took over, but the time was different. Originally, Tachibana Masamune planned to resign from the position of head of the family after the negotiation tonight, but now it was half a day earlier.

But this half day has a different meaning.

Actively resigning from the position of patriarch, and passively resigning from the position of patriarch. If the former implies the family's attitude and dignity towards the academy, then the latter represents the academy's trampling on the attitude and dignity of the Sheqi Eight Families!

I just want to negotiate with the head of the family. As for who your head of the family is, I have the final say.

Yuan Zhisheng clenched his fists at his side and looked at Ange, speaking word by word: "Principal, are you planning to interfere in the family's internal affairs?"

Angers shrugged. "No. As the president of Kassel College, I am just making reasonable adjustments to the internal structure of the Japan Branch Executive Bureau on behalf of the will of the school board. The Japan Branch Executive Bureau has always been a subordinate organization of the Kassel College Executive Department, right? The chairman of the head office can always appoint and dismiss the CEO of the branch company, right?"

“Isn’t the academy a bit too overbearing?”

"Talking about reason is just a childish trick. Can you reason with the Dragon King? The academy's attitude towards you has never changed. It is the same as before. It is just that your attitude towards the academy has changed. Have you heard of the story of arrogance? When a vassal state has been at ease for a long time, it always thinks that it can challenge the powerful master state."

Lu Mingfei was sighing at how overbearing Principal Yu was. I'm afraid the negotiations had already begun. From the moment Ange showed up, he had already been negotiating with the Sheqi Eight Families.

He had been emphasizing the relationship between the family and the academy, just to tell Yuan Zhisheng that the Eight Snake Families were always just an affiliated institution of Kassel Academy in the Dragon Slaying World. Don't try to gain any bargaining chips at the negotiation table.

When he turned his head, he saw Xia Mi pouting and glancing at him indignantly.

Lu Mingfei was stunned for a second when Xia Mi's eyes met, and then he immediately understood what Xia Mi meant... The principal's AOE map cannon of "Can you reason with the Dragon King?" just now accidentally AOE-ed her.

"Damn it, what's wrong with that old man? He really doesn't know how to talk! Am I an unreasonable person... a dragon?" Xia Mi said in a low voice, gritting her teeth.

Lu Mingfei thought to himself, do you have the right to say that the principal is an old man? Besides, Junior Sister, you are indeed unreasonable sometimes... He thought so in his heart, but he still had to comfort Xia Mi: "No, no, Junior Sister is the most reasonable. The principal is not talking about you..."

Yuan Zhisheng also felt unprecedented pressure from Ange. The negotiation skills displayed by this seemingly kind old man at the negotiation table were simply impeccable... or rather, he did not use any skills at all. He simply showed his claws. But just showing his claws made it difficult for them to fight back.

But Yuan Zhisheng was guarding the gate of the Sheqi Eight Families at this moment. Since he was guarding here, he could not give in even if he was facing Angers.

Yuan Zhisheng took a deep breath. "But I hope the principal still remembers that in the agreement signed between the family and the academy, the family has always maintained autonomy in internal affairs. Now the principal openly wants to interfere in the family's internal affairs. According to the content of the agreement, this can be regarded as the academy declaring war on the family."

He hadn't finished the second half of his sentence. Once the academy went to war with the family, the Sheqi Eight Families could launch a counterattack to any extent in self-defense.

Angers smiled and said, "Don't be so nervous. Let's find a quiet place first and listen to my conditions."

Yuan Zhisheng raised his eyes and exchanged glances with the heads of the families present. Although they did not dare to interrupt the conversation just now, they listened to the entire conversation.

Among all the family heads present, Fuma Kotaro and Inuyama He were the most senior family heads. When Angers came to Japan last time, they were already family heads and participated in the last negotiation between the Snake Eight Families and the academy. Inuyama He thought to himself that the principal was still the same, just as domineering as he was when he came to Japan to negotiate with the family nearly 60 years ago.

After a brief look at Fuma Kotaro, both of them nodded to Genchisei, indicating that Genchisei could try to listen to the conditions offered by Ange first.

"Drive a car over here." Yuan Zhisheng ordered.

Soon, Yabuki Sakura drove a black Mercedes over, and Yuan Zhisheng opened the door for Ange, and the two got in. The heavy door with sound insulation closed with a "click".

Ange opened the cigar box: "Want a cigar?"

"Does the president of Kassel College encourage students to smoke cigars?"

"I'm not in school now, so there's no principal or students. There's only an old man and a young man."

Ange smiled and took out a zippo lighter with a complicated pattern from his pocket. He lit the cigar, crossed his legs, and let his fingers holding the cigar hang on his legs. Then he took out an envelope from his carry-on suitcase and handed it to Yuan Zhisheng.

"Open it and take a look." Ange said calmly. Yuan Zhisheng took the envelope without knowing what was inside. It felt thick and he didn't know what was hidden inside. Ange looked forward and blew smoke rings from his cigar. He opened the envelope and pulled out a large photo.

In fact, Yuan Zhisheng had already seen these photos. They were included in the letter sent by Norma. Yuan Zhisheng was a little confused. Could it be that the principal only had this old card in his hand?

"Is this the secret you have been trying to hide? No one knows that thousands of meters deep in the sea, there is a mysterious underwater city. Buried there are dragon technology, prophecy bronze pillars, corpse guards... and the remains of your so-called gods."

Angers said calmly, "If these photos were to fall into the hands of the people on the academy's board of directors, especially the Gattuso family, I would not be the only one coming to Japan. Guess what they would do if the secret party knew that you were not only of the White King's bloodline, but also had a 'king' and a 'ghost' hidden in your home?"

Yuan Zhisheng's heart skipped a beat. They already knew the contents of the photo. They originally thought that Kassel Academy only obtained the secret of the God Burial Place, but they didn't expect that Angers knew much more than that!
The "Emperor" in the family naturally refers to him, and the "ghost" - naturally refers to Eri. He didn't expect that Ange even knew the secret of his and Eri's bloodline.

Although he didn't know how Kassel Academy got these secrets. Even Kaguya's host system didn't record the secret of his and Eri's bloodline!
But from Ange's words, he seemed to have heard that these secrets had not yet been mastered by the board of directors of Kassel College.

However, this was not necessarily good news for Genji. Angé had secretly intercepted these photos along with his and Eri's bloodline and held them in his own hands. It was obvious that he wanted to use them to gain other benefits in exchange.

"What are your conditions?" Yuan Zhisheng nodded slightly and asked.

"First," Ange said, "Uesugi Eri's bloodline is too dangerous. From today on, she will be officially taken over by Kassel Academy. Don't worry about her physical condition. The academy has the best medical team and night watchmen. We will treat her. The academy will take good care of her."

"That's impossible!" Yuan Zhisheng immediately rejected it. Even if he didn't consider the interests of the family... but from the perspective of a brother, he couldn't possibly hand his sister over to an unrelated or even hostile outsider!

"Pay attention." Ange said, "I am not negotiating with you, I am just giving you an order. You have no choice but to hand over Uesugi Eri to the academy."

"I don't know enough about you, but you don't know enough about me either." Yuan Zhisheng shook his head: "I have never been the kind of person who can accept the other party's offer. Where I stand is my front line. On this matter, I will not retreat even a single step."

"Are you worried that the academy might do something bad to Uesugi Eri?"

"Yes." Yuan Zhisheng admitted generously.

Ange pondered for a while, then said: "Then how about both sides taking a step back?"

"Everyone take a step back?"

"From your perspective, I wouldn't feel comfortable handing Uesugi Eri to Kassel Academy. From Kassel Academy's perspective, I wouldn't feel comfortable letting Uesugi Eri continue to stay in the Snake Eight Clan."

Ange said: "Then we can find a middle point that both parties can accept. For example, an absolutely neutral force can be responsible for temporarily taking over Uesugi Eriya. As long as we can reach a consensus on Uesugi Eriya's matter, I can even make certain concessions on the subsequent conditions... For example, you, the Eight Snake Families, can still maintain a high degree of autonomy."

Yuan Zhisheng shook his head.

"Is the rejection so straightforward?" Angé laughed.

"I have to say that he is really tempted by the conditions you have offered, but I don't believe that there is any force that is absolutely neutral. Everyone in the world is seeking profit, and everyone has their own interests and positions... and Eri is even less likely to accept strangers and an environment."

"You mean as long as Eri can accept it, you can accept it?"

Yuan Zhisheng nodded.

To be honest, he didn't believe that Eri would accept leaving home. Although Eri liked to run away from home, Gen Chisei knew that Eri was actually a home-loving girl, or a girl who was always wary and afraid of the outside world. Just like the long-haired princess in the fairy tale, she stood at the window of the castle every day and looked at the outside world, with both yearning and fear in her heart.

Ange said calmly: "Then let's go and ask for Uesugi Eri's opinion. How can we know if the princess is willing if we don't ask her?"

Genshisei frowned: "Where are you going to put Eri?"

"Lu Mingfei's home."

"?"

Yuan Zhisheng was stunned for a moment, almost doubting whether he had heard it wrongly. But this was obviously impossible. As the "Emperor", his five senses were far superior to those of ordinary people. He could accurately locate a needle that fell in the empty office. How could he have heard Ange wrongly?

"No!" Yuan Zhisheng said firmly.

"Reason?" asked Ange.

"I also want to know your reasons, Principal." Yuan Zhisheng said coldly, "Lu Mingfei is originally a student of your Kassel Academy. Letting Eri live in Lu Mingfei's house is almost the same as letting Kassel Academy take over Eri. And I can't accept Eri living with a strange man."

"I can explain my reasons to you."

Angé spoke, his voice was gentle and eloquent: "Japan is the territory of your Snake Eight Clans; outside of Japan, the secret party has its hand in most countries and territories, including Europe. I will not feel at ease if Eri continues to stay in Japan; and you will not feel at ease if Eri goes to Europe or the United States. You should understand that only China is the most suitable choice. Whether it is the secret party or the Snake Eight Clans, we cannot reach into them."

Yuan Zhisheng fell silent after hearing this. He knew that what Ange said was right. As the largest mixed-race organization in the world, the Secret Party's influence spread almost all over the world. Even the Eight Snake Families became vassals of the Secret Party... Only China was a territory that the Secret Party had not developed.

If letting Eri stay there would be reassuring for both of them, then China was indeed the only choice. And geographically, China was closer to them, and if there was any abnormal situation, they could even get to China earlier than Kassel Academy.

Yuan Zhisheng asked: "But why Lu Mingfei? He is also from the academy, right? Wouldn't it be more appropriate to find a more neutral force, such as the Xiangyang Zhou family?"

Angers shook his head and said, "The Zhou family is not suitable. I don't like to assume the worst of others, but the bloodline of the White King is a question worth studying for any faction. Would you trust the Zhou family to take care of Uesugi Eriya?"

"..."

“As for why it was Lu Mingfei…”

Angers scratched his head with the hand holding the cigar. "There's no special reason for this. I just think that if Eri is sent to China, she will only be willing to stay with Lu Mingfei. Although I don't know why that guy is so popular with women, it seems that every girl he meets will fall in love with him, just like his great-grandfather, he is very popular with girls wherever he goes."

Yuan Zhisheng keenly caught a certain word: "His great-great-grandfather?"

"Yes, 'The Listener' Lu Shanyan, the reformist patriot in the first generation of the secret party Lionheart Society."

Ange smiled: "Speaking of which, he has some connection with your Minamoto family. When Lu Shanyan went to study in Japan at his own expense, he seemed to have stayed in the Minamoto family's mansion. The head of the Minamoto family at that time seemed to have a good relationship with him. In their spare time, the two of them often practiced swordsmanship."

Yuan Zhisheng nodded expressionlessly: "That's right. At that time, the sister of the head of the Yuan family almost followed him back to China. If Lu Shanyan and the head of the Yuan family hadn't persuaded her in the end, the first generation of Lionheart Club might have had more members."

Ange sighed: "So there is such a story? Yamahiko never told me about it. They are really a family with deep sins..."

Yuan Zhisheng's focus was not on whether Lu Mingfei came to Japan this time to complete the unfinished business of his great-grandfather... No, this point still needs attention.

But what caught his attention more at this moment was that he did not expect Lu Mingfei to be the descendant of the "Wind Listener" Lu Shanyan. So it was normal for his bloodline rating to be S.

Moreover, Lu Mingfei's trust in Yuan Zhisheng also increased a little.

"What's your proposal?" Angé looked at Yuan Zhisheng and smiled.

Gen Chisei was silent for a while, then he said: "... Let's ask Eri's opinion first."

……

(End of this chapter)