Su Yan was startled.

Before she came to Yunling, Huo Tianpei’s post-stroke symptoms had been severe, and he could hardly speak. Even the occasional few words he uttered were slurred and muffled, almost like that of a half-mute. But now, he seemed to have recovered so well.

A flash of surprise crossed her face, which she quickly replaced with a delighted expression: "Tianpei, you’ve recovered so well? That’s great..."

However, Huo Tianpei stared at her: "But you are not happy to see me come, are you?"

"Tianpei, what are you talking about?"

Huo Tianpei glanced at his younger son, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time. His cheeks were slightly red with indignation as he looked back at Su Yan:

"You took the liberty of nominating Zhenxuan to the corporate board without even a word to me. How daring of you! If Zhenyang hadn’t arranged for me to come here, I’d still be in the dark! And about Zhenyang submitting his resignation letter, such a big matter, you didn’t tell me either! I let you stay in Yunling to participate in the company’s business because you are Mrs. Huo and have been familiar with Huo Family’s business for many years and are very capable. That was not permission for you to act on your own within the company and create turmoil!"

In his agitation, he waved his hand, accidentally knocking over a coffee cup on the meeting table!

The cup fell to the ground with a clang, shattering into pieces!

The shareholders held their breath; indeed, the old master didn’t agree.

Huo Zhenxuan and Su Yan were in cahoots, and of course he defended Su Yan, unable to help himself:

"Daddy, it was wrong for stepmom to not inform you immediately about big brother’s resignation, but shouldn’t big brother himself have notified you in advance? He should’ve given you a heads up before resigning, and this is clearly a show of disrespect towards you! Why are you blaming everything on stepmom now?"

He was not afraid that his elder brother, Zhenyang, would complain to their father that he, Zhenxuan, had used the surveillance footage from Jiayi to threaten resignation.

Without evidence, who would believe it?

"You shut up! I was asking Su Yan! As for you, I will settle the score with you slowly in just a moment, no hurry!"

Huo Tianpei slapped the arm of his wheelchair forcefully!

This damned kid, returning secretly from Mexico without a word, after coming back, somehow won Su Yan’s support to get her to recommend him to the company.

Even without Zhenyang’s words, he could guess. Zhenyang’s resignation might be somewhat related to his second son.

Huo Zhenxuan shut his mouth, daring not to speak again.

Su Yan’s heart was pounding. She glanced at Huo Zhenyang sitting behind the wheelchair and, gritting her teeth, she turned to Huo Tianpei with tearful eyes:

"Tianpei, you are wronging my good intentions so much that I can’t help but defend myself. Zhenyang’s departure was his own decision. I didn’t publicize it immediately because I was afraid that the change in the company’s leadership could cause turmoil externally. You know how significant the resignation of a CEO is, so I wanted to wait until the situation was stable for a while, and I was also afraid of stimulating you. Your health condition at that time...what if you suffered a secondary stroke when you suddenly learned of Zhenyang’s resignation? I was afraid you couldn’t handle it. Of course, if you really can’t accept that I didn’t inform you about Zhenyang’s resignation, I am willing to take the punishment."

Having been with Huo Tianpei for years, Su Yan knew his temper all too well, as well as exactly what worked on the old master.

Like all patriarchs of prominent families, he disliked it when guilty parties made excuses, the more you tried to shirk responsibility, the more dissatisfied he became.

Better to play the emotional card, take the initiative to assume responsibility; perhaps the old master might be willing to listen.

As she spoke, she began to cry silently.

Sure enough, Huo Tianpei’s face softened somewhat, but he still glanced at his second son coldly: "Then what about recommending Zhenxuan to the company? Did you consult my opinion?"

Wiping away her tears, Su Yan said: "I’ve already explained this to the shareholders. Once Zhenyang resigned, other than me, there was no one else from the Huo Family in China who was familiar with the business. Just then, the young second master returned to the country, so I was thinking of having him help out in the company. I don’t know what mistakes the young second master made in the past, but all I know is that he is still your flesh and blood in the end. You only have these two sons; if not entrusted to manage the company’s affairs, should it be handed over to outsiders? I was planning to tell you in person after today’s shareholder meeting was over and fly to America to speak with you."

Huo Zhenyang’s eyes narrowed, and he sneered coldly. Planning to tell the old master after today’s meeting? Now that the old man had caught her in the act, everything was according to what she said.

He squinted his eyes and spoke coldly, "Oh, is that so? Mrs. Huo doesn’t know what wrong Zhenxuan committed in the past, and doesn’t know what he has done wrong now either?"

The distant and indifferent address of "Mrs. Huo" conveyed his disdain and sarcasm.

"What do you mean by that?" Su Yan swallowed hard.

Huo Tianpei’s eyebrows also knitted together, growing suspicious.

Huo Zhenxuan felt goosebumps rise on his back and hastily raised his voice: "Today’s shareholders’ meeting seems to have completely deviated from the main topic; everyone please exit the room for now—"

"Who says it has deviated from the topic? We are just getting to the climax."

Huo Zhenyang’s tone was cold and sharp, cutting off the other’s words like a steel knife, and he clapped his hands.

The door to the meeting room slammed open.

Under the tight protection of bodyguards from the front, back, left and right, a slender girl around eighteen or nineteen entered.

The girl was dressed in a form-fitting leather outfit, exuding youth, with long legs and slender waist, her eyebrows and eyes revealing a bit of arrogance, clearly accustomed to such scenes; despite her young age, she was not stage-shy.

Seeing Qiao Yongyong appear at the shareholders’ meeting, Huo Zhenxuan’s complexion changed.

The Qiao Yongyong in front of him appeared able-bodied; where was the look of someone who had been burned?

Suddenly, his brows twisted in malice, and his palms started to sweat!

It was his elder brother.

The elder brother had deliberately spread false news that Qiao Yongyong was burned in the fire, just to make him let his guard down.

He had a feeling that the situation was slipping out of his control, but it was already too late to stop it.

Huo Tianpei, seeing the appearance of an unfamiliar girl, also froze.

He came to Yunling this time because Zhenyang had informed him that Su Yan would recommend the second son to the group without any notice.

Besides that, Zhenyang hadn’t told him anything else.

"This young lady is...?" he asked, looking at Qiao Yongyong with suspicion.

Qiao Yongyong looked at Huo Tianpei and smiled charmingly, "Uncle Huo, I am Qiao Yongyong, Qiao Zonghan’s sister."

Qiao Zonghan, the head of Longding Society?

Of course, Huo Tianpei knew that Huo Zhenyang, in addition to corporate business, also had some development and collaborations in the underworld and political circles over the years.

Longding Society was one of the gangs with the deepest ties to Huo Zhenyang.

Politics was one thing, but the underworld was something Huo Tianpei didn’t quite approve of; he didn’t like his son associating with people from the underworld.

After all, the Huo Family was engaged in legitimate business and was a reputable and respectable family in society.

Huo Zhenyang had still given him face, knowing that he did not like people from the underworld; he would not deal with Longding Society openly in front of him, nor would he mention those affairs of Longding Society in front of him.

But this time, he actually brought the daughter of the Longding Society to the meeting, which certainly meant that there was something going on...