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"Hahaha, gentlemen, my sincerest apologies. Something urgent came up and made me slightly late. I've kept you all waiting. Please don't hold it against me."
With a burst of laughter, two figures walked in from outside.
The first was an old man with a robust build, albeit with one blind eye, which gave him a somewhat fierce appearance. He was the patriarch of the Sun family, known as Sun Li.
The other was a middle-aged man who bore a striking resemblance to the old man. This person was Sun Li's son, named Sun Changzhi.
Upon entering the room, Sun Li spotted Zhou Rang and his eyes lit up. He approached Zhou Rang and laughed heartily, "Haha, so the venerable Brother Zhou is here. It's not easy to meet you! It seems that today's visit is worthwhile—absolutely worthwhile!"
Following behind Sun Li, Sun Changzhi also cupped his fists, greeted Zhou Rang with a bow, and called him Uncle Zhou.
Zhou Rang stroked his beard, offering a slight smile, and nodded his head in greeting without saying a word.
Sun Li, unconcerned, looked around the room, glanced at everyone, and said, "Oh, it looks as though everyone has been here for a while. We really do have a full house today."
After saying this, he beckoned Sun Changzhi to sit down with him, and then turned to Fang Zhen, saying, "My talented nephew, please accept my condolences. I've heard about what happened to the Fang Prefecture. Many details remain unclear, and to think that someone who loved his people like his own children met with such a sudden disaster.
If you need to investigate and require any assistance from the Sun family, please do not hesitate to ask. We will certainly support you wholeheartedly, no questions asked."
Fang Zhen responded with a slight smile, but didn't engage in further conversation.
Seeing this, Sun Li turned to greet the patriarch of the Zhao family, exchanging pleasantries. The patriarch of the Zhao family returned the gesture with a polite smile and a few perfunctory replies.
In Ning City, among the seven major families, only the patriarchs of the Sun and Zhou families held the highest seniority and were the oldest. The leaders of the other five families were all about the same age as Fang Zhen.
In this way, Sun Li went on to exchange greetings with the heads of the several major families from Ning City, one after the other.
It was almost as if the gathering was like a tea party hosted by his own family, with constant laughter as if Gu Chen didn't exist at all.
Wu Qian stood at the doorway, observing the scene, and couldn't help but glance at Gu Chen, who sat at the head of the table. He noticed that Gu Chen's expression remained unchanged, giving no sign of pleasure or anger.
This inwardly impressed Wu Qian, who mused that Lord Gu's depth of character was truly extraordinary. If it were anyone else of a similar age, being so ignored would likely have caused them to lose their composure and display their anger by now.
A fair amount of time passed before Sun Li eventually looked toward Gu Chen, who sat in the seat of honor, and said with a beaming smile, "Is this the esteemed Gu Chen, the Master Gu from the Jing Tian Department in Tiandu?"
Sun Li smiled and replied, "Nephew Fang, please don't be agitated. I was merely stating one possibility."
Fang Zhen looked at Gu Chen, took a deep breath, and sat back down.
Gu Chen said, "Whether to believe it or not is my affair. You only need to comply. Besides, didn't Sun family head mention just now that there are many doubts regarding Fang Prefecture's affair? Why are you not insisting on that now?"
Stroke his beard, Sun Li looked towards Gu Chen with his one eye and said with a smile, "No, no, as I mentioned earlier, my previous words were only a possibility. Until now, I still harbor the greatest suspicion about Fang Prefecture's death, as there were no witnesses at the time and no evidence to prove that Fang Prefecture was indeed possessed by a yao gui."
Upon hearing this, Gu Chen's expression remained calm as he looked at Sun Li and said, "Are you implying, Sun family head, that you are doubting me?"
Laughing, Sun Li said, "Master Gu, please don't take offense. We are, after all, handling a case, and this matter is of great importance—it affects over a hundred thousand citizens of the city. We cannot simply rush to conclusions. There must be some discussion. Since we are discussing, then we must speak frankly and openly express our thoughts. Do you not all agree?"
The last question was directed at the other family heads present.
Upon hearing this, the family head of the Zhao family and several others nodded, showing some agreement with Sun Li's remarks.
They thought Sun Li was right. There were indeed many doubts regarding this matter.
Moreover, since the incident had occurred so suddenly and even Fang Yong had died, and as this was their first encounter with Gu Chen, it was inevitable for them not to trust him.
This lack of trust was only amplified by Sun Li's remarks.
As Gu Chen sat at the head of the table, his brows furrowed slightly. He could see clearly; Sun Li was deliberately inciting everyone. Whatever Gu Chen wanted to do, Sun Li seemed intent on preventing that, and his tactics were quite clever. Normally speaking, Gu Chen indeed had no way to prove anything.
It had to be said, Sun Li was truly a sly fox, having managed to grasp Gu Chen with just a few words.
Unfortunately, Sun Li made the same mistake as the Fang family, which was misjudging Gu Chen's character.
It might be difficult to make a case using normal reasoning, but Gu Chen didn't plan on following the usual rules.
Who said that one must always play by the book?
At this moment, Gu Chen spoke, "According to what Sun family head is saying, no matter what, it seems impossible for me to conduct a search throughout the city, does it not?"
Sun Li did not speak, only watching Gu Chen with a smile and silence.
Then Gu Chen stood up, looking down at Sun Li with increasingly sharp eyes, and said, "Well, if that's the case... if I persist in searching the entire city, what can you do about it!"