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  To settle the matters concerning the patriarch position, the current head of the Gu family, Gu Liancheng, had gathered all the important family members, elders, and the four Hall Masters to convene a meeting.

  Everyone often said that the Mu Liancheng and Gu Liancheng from the Mu family and Gu family respectively shared different surnames, but identical first names.

  Although the Gu and Mu Families did not have any feuds, the two families were at odds with each other!

  When Mu Shengxi had a son, he named him Mu Liancheng during the child’s 100th-day birthday. Coincidentally, Gu Liancheng was born on that day.

  At that time, Old Master Gu had hired a famous geomancer to come up with a name. The geomancer had declared that his child was unlucky and would suffer a tragic fate. Not only that, but his fate was at odds with Old Master Gu, making them destined to oppose each other.

  It was an extremely technical skill to come up with a name. In order to alter the path of fate, the geomancer was paid a huge sum of money. He eventually named the newborn Gu Liancheng. In that case, the child’s misfortunes would be transferred to Mu Liancheng instead.

  Thus, Old Master Gu immediately decided to give Gu Liancheng the same name.

  Indeed, Mu Liangcheng died at a young age, proving the geomancer’s words true.

  The Gu family was ranked at the top of the four major families. It was once a powerful family with a resounding reputation.

  Back then, the Gu Family dominated more than half of the mafia world, with the other families extremely wary of them. They once enjoyed a glorious period.

  However, ever since the young master of the Gu family, Gu Liancheng, became bedridden three years ago, the family’s status had dropped to rock bottom.

  When Gu Liancheng became critically ill, Gu Jinglian was only twenty years old.

  If Gu Liancheng passed away, the only person who would inherit the power of the Gu family was Gu Jinglian.

  The only way to inherit the position as the head of the Gu Family was to fulfill the necessary conditions—one of them was to be a legitimate child.

  At that time, Gu Liancheng only had two children.

  One was Gu Jinglian, and the other was Gu Xingze, an illegitimate child.

  Due to his illegitimate status, Gu Xingze had been born and raised abroad. When he was young, he had been recalled by Gu Liancheng back to the Gu family. However, a short while later, Gu Liancheng fell extremely ill, leaving Gu Xingze with no means to compete with Gu Jinglian.

  In fact, Gu Jinglian did not even treat Gu Xingze as a formidable opponent.

  Even if Gu Liancheng wanted Gu Xingze to inherit his position, the elders in the halls would oppose it.

  In the past hundred years of the Gu Family’s existence, there had been no precedent of an illegitimate child becoming the family patriarch.

  Gu Xingze certainly did not have the opportunity to make a precedent either.

  To ensure the prosperity of the Gu Family, Gu Liancheng initially wanted to engage in a marriage alliance with another family.

  At that time, Gu Jinglian was a youthful, rebellious and willful man. Despite Gu Liancheng threatening, tempting and forcing him, Gu Jinglian suddenly escaped a day before the engagement, leaving only a letter behind. His departure lasted for an entire year.

  During that year, Gu Liancheng’s illness had rapidly deteriorated. Falling critically ill soon after, he sent an urgent mail to Gu Jinglian, summoning him back.

  At 10pm, Gu Jinglian still had not arrived. On the other hand, in the massive hall, dozens of men in black stood in two neat rows.

  The Gu Family’s important family members, elders, and the four hall masters were sitting rigidly in their chairs. All of their attention was focused on Gu Liancheng, who was sitting on the main seat.

  Even sitting was an exhausting feat for Gu Liancheng.

  Slumping pathetically on the chair, which had an elaborate dragon carving on it, a gloomy expression hung on his face.

  He was only a middle-aged man, yet his hair had already turned completely grey. His forehead and corners of his eyes were covered with wrinkles, and the aggressive and fierce look had already disappeared from his eyes.