Chapter 14: The Devil's Temptation

Hello, Lord, would you please fuck off?

With these words, Zhou Ming suddenly made everyone freeze in shock, because no one expected him to say such things. Seeing that there was no room left, he told the man to get up and leave, just because he had found a good seat. How could he have behaved like that? He was treating the other person with contempt, and he thought he was someone important, so he just gave up his seat? Did he think he was old, weak, sick, disabled or pregnant?

As for Lord Ifman, Zhou Ming's words were also the strangest request he had ever heard in his life.

Although his title was only a lord, it was just a title. In fact, he was able to inherit the title of count. in Austria is the standard aristocracy, even the Austrian president has to be polite when he sees him, how can he just drive someone away when he sees no place?

Eifman looked at Zhou Ming with a shocked face: 'Sir, I think I must have heard it wrong?'

But Zhou Ming did not take him up on this, shaking his head and saying to him with certainty, 'I don't think you heard me wrong. I am asking you to leave this seat because it should be my wife Caitlin's.'

Eifman was infuriated. He spread his hands: 'I think this is the funniest joke I've ever heard in my life. Do you think I'm going to let you? Or do you think I'm the easiest person to bully here?'

Zhou Ming nodded very seriously in response: 'Yes, of all the people here, I see you as the weakest.'

This answer, coupled with Zhou Ming's very serious expression, immediately prompted a burst of laughter, and various jeers at Ifman followed one after the other: 'The great Austrian Lord has become a soft potato! Look, there is our weakest pig, Lord Ifman! How should I view this epoch-making moment? I think even a windmill could not tolerate Don Quixote's endless provocations, could it?'

In the midst of the hissing, Yifaman angrily slammed the table and pointed at Zhou Ming, cursing, 'You little bastard from the East, do you know what you just said? If you're trying to provoke me, then congratulations, you've done it. I'll make you regret coming here!'

Zhou Ming laughed and said to this meaningless remark: 'I don't know if I will regret it, but Lord Ifman, if you don't leave your position and give it to Caitlin, then you will definitely regret it.'

'Really?' Instead of getting up, Ifanman leaned back in his chair and looked at Zhou Ming disdainfully. "Then I'll see how I'll regret it.'

'Since this is Lord Ifanman's decision, I can only say I'm sorry," Zhou Ming said, bowing to Ifanman.

Facing this situation, Ifman snorted and was about to say something, but before he could speak, he felt himself lifted up by a very strong force and then fell heavily to the ground amid cries of alarm. Lord Ifman was stunned by the fall, and everything in front of him seemed to have become blurry. When he came to his senses again, he saw Caitlin sitting in the seat he had just occupied.

'Why? Lord Ifman, we could have communicated properly, but you just wouldn't listen. So I had to let my bodyguard make the decision for me instead,' Zhou Ming said to Ifman, his tone full of regret.

Only then did Ifanman realise what had just happened. So he staggered to his feet and angrily rebuked his bodyguards and servants: 'Are you all dead? How dare someone touch me! You're all useless! I don't know why I keep you around! I might as well keep a pack of dogs, at least they bark when I'm in danger!'

Ephraim's servants and bodyguards were so humiliated by his scolding that they didn't dare lift their heads, which made him even more angry: 'You idiots, what are you all standing here for? Hurry up and throw that bastard out of the castle!'

It was only then that the servants and bodyguards suddenly realised what was going on, and they all pounced on Zhou Ming, screaming. Andre, who was on the platform, shouted loudly, 'Stop it!'

It cannot be denied that Andre, as the convener of the meeting, still had a lot of authority. When he shouted to stop, Yifaman's people immediately stopped, which made Yifaman very angry: 'Andre, what do you mean? Are you condoning the bullying of me?'

Andre explained: 'Iphman, my brother, how could I do that? But today is the first day of the Harburg family meeting, and I don't want anything to happen that will disrupt the meeting.'

'I can certainly observe the rules of this meeting and uphold the Harburg family's reputation,' said Ifanman, pointing his finger at Zhou Ming and the already seated Caitlin and asking, 'So how should this be handled now? That seat is mine!'

'But he's ours now!' Zhou Ming picked up where Yifman had left off.

Zhou Ming's words made Yifman furious again: 'You snatched him away by the most despicable means!'

This made Zhou Ming smile: 'So you know that this kind of robbery is despicable? Then why would someone want to take what belongs to someone else in such a way that they are ashamed and despised? For example, the Dutch possessions and this Harburg.'

Eifman was stunned. He never expected Zhou Ming to suddenly mention this, and he was completely unprepared. For a moment, he was unable to respond.

Andre on the lectern quickly recovered, and said to Ephraim, 'Some things, once lost, represent the missing thread of fate between you and them. Giving up is not entirely unacceptable.'

'But André, what should I do then? I cannot just stand here as an Austrian count.' If Iffland didn't bother to understand the unspoken meaning, he asked directly:

'My brother, standing is not something that is completely unacceptable to me. If you feel that you are standing in an uncomfortable position, then you can come stand here with me, and I can stand wherever I like. What do you say?' Andre said.

For Ifman, since Andre had already said what he had to say, he naturally didn't want to argue anymore: 'Actually, I'm not picking on you, it's just that some assholes do things that make people angry.'

'My brother Ephraim, please remember that impulsiveness is always the most foolish behaviour. It also represents the other person's barbarism and helplessness. Otherwise, why do we always have to remain elegant?'

André thought for a moment and said, 'I once heard a story from my godfather. It was about the devil, who was an abandoned child of God. That is why he hates everything in the world. He will do anything evil things to induce the violent anger and hatred in people's hearts. If you lose the elegance of the aristocracy, then you will sink and degenerate, no different from those dirty and disgusting thieves and beggars.'

At this point, Andre lowered his head and asked Ifman, 'My brother, if you had retaliated just now, today's meeting would have become a boxing match. Not only would we not be able to say anything today, but the meeting would also be delayed. This seems to go against our previous decision!'

Eifman nodded in understanding: 'I see, I almost fell for it. It turns out that some asshole just wanted to deliberately provoke me and then ruin this meeting. Fortunately, you were here, Andre, and you saw through his evil ploy!'

Andre smiled and shook his head, saying, 'As long as we remain elegant, we will not be bewitched by the devil. That is why we are all gathered here today. Gentlemen, I am here to help you rediscover the elegance that once belonged to our Harburg!'

As André spoke, there was an instant outburst of cheers. Ephraim took the lead and gave him a thumbs-up: 'André, my brother, you're absolutely right! Only someone like you can make him realise the devil's mischief and restore Harburg's former glory! It is God's will that only you can bring the blessings of heaven to Harburg! We need the elegance of the nobility, and that kind of bandit-like barbarity is a kind of rudeness and filth distorted by the devil's influence. It is a kind of darkness that the sun does not shine upon! We will never be friends with the devil!'

Listening to everyone praising Andre and ridiculing her own strange behaviour, Caitlin nervously grasped Ming's hand.

Zhou Ming could understand Caitlin's nervousness. After all, the situation was very bad. He never expected that Andre's words would save him from the brink of explosion.

To be honest, even though their positions are diametrically opposed, Zhou Ming has to give him a thumbs up in his heart. It's not for anything else but his composure. Because if it were an idiot who would lose control of his emotions at will, this meeting would not be so difficult. But now it seems that things are much more difficult than I thought. But that's normal. After all, if Andre were really an idiot, he wouldn't have been able to take the entire Harburg family away from Ferdinand.

'Zhou Ming, it seems that Andre is a lot more difficult to deal with than we thought. What should we do?' Caitlin worriedly asked.

Zhou Ming patted her little hand and gave her a reassuring smile: 'The meeting hasn't started yet, so how can we admit defeat so easily? Besides, didn't we come here prepared for the worst? From the moment we decided to come, we were on the opposite side of everyone in this house, their enemy in the fight to divide the Harth family.

'From the fact that they didn't attend your father's funeral, it's clear that they've already turned their backs on family ties for the sake of profit. For people like this, cutting off their source of wealth is tantamount to killing their entire family. Naturally, they will do their utmost to slander and insult us.' Zhou Ming continued, 'Besides, if we back down now, all those things we said in front of your aunt will just be empty boasts, right? I don't want that, do you?'

Caitlin shook her head without hesitation: 'Of course not!'

'That's right, let's make a real mess of this meeting! It's much harder to destroy than to maintain!' Zhou Ming said.