The next morning, the result of the contest for the Jiangnan Surveillance Commissioner, which had been going on for more than two months, was finally announced. The original Deputy Surveillance Commissioner of Jiangnan, Sun Huai, was promoted to Surveillance Commissioner of Jiangnan and would take office on a chosen date. A mansion in Yangzhou that had been idle was selected and renovated as the new official residence.

  The official document of appointment was sent out by the Ministry of War and arrived in Yangzhou on the fourth day, just one day after Liu Pei received his appointment as Governor of Yangzhou.

  The two major official positions in Jiangnan have been settled, and both Lin Jiang and Lin Qingyu let out a sigh of relief.

  The governor of Yangzhou and the observer of Jiangnan were their people. At least after that, they had something to rely on when they encountered things in Jiangnan.

  Lin Jiang was overjoyed and spun around in circles, finally staring intently at Lin Qingwan: "What Bai Weng said is indeed true, you are that one thread of hope."

  Things have changed a lot, and the dark clouds have never appeared again, indicating that this change is reasonable and recognized by the heavens.

  The white-haired old man standing in the corner raised an eyebrow and responded with a cold hum.

  Lin Jiang and Lin Qingwan turned their heads to look at him, both lightly coughing and lowering their heads with a smile.

  That night, Bai Weng was struck by lightning and disappeared for three days before returning. His face has been gloomy ever since, and recently he hasn't spoken a word, apparently not wanting to inadvertently reveal heavenly secrets again.

  Although Lin Jiang had not yet recovered his memory of being an immortal, he vaguely knew that the lightning would not harm Bai Weng, so he was not very worried.

  Jin Jiang didn't worry at all, and Lin Qingyuan also put it down after worrying for a short while.

  "Master, the young lady, Sun and Liu have arrived." Suddenly, a servant rushed in to report: "The Zong elders have also come, and from what I overheard, it seems that the Zong elders want to return to Suzhou."

  Lin Qingwan glanced at Lin Jiang and smiled: "Today is a joyful day, let the kitchen prepare more delicious food, we will celebrate later. Let the elders stay for two more days, just say that the Lin family head has not been decided yet."

  Sun Huai replaced Lin Jiang as the news of the Jiangnan Observation Envoy came out, and the entire Lin Mansion was in a joyful ocean.

  Because everyone knew that their own master was supporting Sun Huai, although there were no red envelopes or rewards, the food for that night was much better.

  Shang Mingyuan and Shang Mingjie were also infected with great joy, the two brothers happily followed Sun Huai Liu to celebrate.

  Zhao's manager felt a sharp pain in his chest and wished he could shake the two young masters awake, "The one who failed is your uncle!"

  Shang Mingyuan is still okay, but Shang Mingjie is your uncle, don't be so happy about it.

  Shang Mingjie didn't think so much, he said Sun Huai was indeed more suitable to be the Jiangnan Surveillance Commissioner than his uncle.

  Even Sun Huai couldn't help but sigh in admiration that he had the style of Lin Jiang, only for the public interest, without personal considerations.

  Lin Qingwan reserved her opinion on this point of view, and Lin Jiang just smiled but did not speak.

  Compared with the joyful atmosphere of He's family, Zhao Sheng was so angry that he smashed everything in his study, and the other courtyard of Zhao's family was in a mess.

  He finally collapsed from exhaustion and stopped, his eyes red with tears: "Big brother was right, Lin Jiang is the stumbling block of our Zhao family, nothing good comes out of anything that involves him."

  Zhao's housekeeper stood aside with his neck shrunk in.

  Zhao Sheng gritted his teeth and asked, "When exactly did Lin Jiang die?"

  "The one who treated Governor Lin's illness was their family doctor Xu. He had a tight mouth and didn't reveal anything."

  "Rubbish! Didn't the Lin family invite other doctors before? I don't care if you're threatening or bribing, just get his medical records quickly. I want to know when he'll die and stop blocking our Zhao family's way!"

  The doctors invited by the Lin family for consultation were all famous doctors. Those doctors had big temper, how could they possibly reveal Lin Jiang's illness?

  The steward of the Zhao family saw Zhao Sheng's face turn iron-green and didn't dare to speak, he could only quietly retreat, forget it, let's drag it out for a few more days.

  The news arrived in Yangzhou first and then Suzhou and Lingzhou.

  The elder Mrs. Shang sighed and let it go, but the second Mrs. Shang was so angry that she almost gritted her teeth in frustration. Lin Jiang had not recommended her brother after all, but instead continued to support Sun Huai. It's really true that he didn't care about family ties at all.

  Zhao Jie, who was far away in Lingzhou, received the news and fell silent for a long time. Finally, he quietly burned Chen Shangshu's letter and took his sword out to practice martial arts.

  He wasn't so anxious at first, nor did he want his second brother to get involved in the Jiangnan affair. After learning of Lin Jiang's coma and serious illness in the spring, he began to plan slowly. He had been eyeing the position of Jiangnan Observation Envoy for a long time, and he was very patient.

  Moreover, he is quite knowledgeable about current events, and his status has more advantages than Sun Hui taking over as the Jiangnan Surveillance Commissioner.

  It would have been better if Lin Jiang had died then, but unexpectedly he fell into a coma for three days and woke up again, and was so generous that he sold all of the Lin family's property like a madman and donated the money to the national treasury.

  Lin Jia and Lin Jiang already carried significant weight in the Emperor's heart, and this only elevated them to an even higher level. Originally, they were only three parts heavy, but now they became five parts.

  His recommendation of Sun Huai instantly became very advantageous.

  Even if it were just to soothe his mind and reward him for donating so much of his family's property, the emperor would seriously consider his recommendation.

  So under duress he could only try his best to win over officials from Jiangnan, hoping they could influence the emperor's decision-making.

  It's just that I didn't expect the timing was wrong and coincidentally bumped into Lu Zhen who was visiting Lin Jiang in Yangzhou.

  Zhao Jie's eyes became even more profound, he had always thought that Lu Zhen and Lin Jiang were not on good terms, after all, these years the two of them had not been stingy with their empty quarrels, several times he had even heard Lu Zhen scolding Lin Jiang for being hypocritical and a smiling old tiger. So when he learned that Lu Zhen was ordered to go to Yangzhou to escort the silk and money without warning his second brother to be cautious, he even secretly hoped to cooperate with Lu Zhen.

  It seems now that he was "self-righteous", and it's also possible that Lu Zhen and Lin Jiang disguised themselves too well, he didn't expect that Lu Zhen would help Lin Jiang, secretly putting eye drops in front of the emperor for him.

  Zhao Jie's chest surged with anger, and the sword in his hand chopped down fiercely, directly cutting the wooden stake in front of him in half. Only then did he calm down and put away his sword.

  He has already lost, and what's worse is that Lu Zhenyuan is standing on the opposite side of him. From now on, his days in Lingzhou will not be easy.

  Zhao Jie thought of this and hated it so much that he almost spat out a mouthful of blood. He asked the long-following attendant with a gloomy face, "When did Lin Jiang actually die?"

  He silently lowered his head and didn't speak.

  Zhao Jie sneered: "I've long said that your life won't last long, yet you still haven't died until now. You've really lived a long time."

  But in fact, Lin Jiang didn't have much time left. After handing over his work to Sun Huai and Liu Pei, Lin Jiang took to his bed and never got up again.

  The three Zong elders who were originally going to return to Suzhou also couldn't leave and could only stay behind to guard Lin Jiang.

  Taking advantage of still being sober, Lin Jiang brought up the handover of the clan leader position and proposed that Lin Run succeed as the new clan leader.

  "Uncle Eight immediately opposed it upon hearing, 'Sixth Brother and us old folks are still here, Fifth Son is too young, not experienced enough.'"

  Eleventh uncle, who was also going to object, suddenly fell silent.

  Lin Jiang weakly said: "Eighth Uncle, I'm also not much older than Fifth Brother, yet I've been the clan leader for many years."

  "What's going on here?" Eighth Uncle muttered in a low voice: "You are the legitimate branch, and the head of the clan was originally from your house..."

  If you didn't have a son, it wouldn't be our turn as a side branch of the family.

  Lin Bayi rolled his eyes and said: "Why don't we go back to the clan first and gather everyone to discuss it later? What's most important for you now is to rest and recover from your illness."

  A once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity, Lin Ba also wanted to fight for this position of patriarch.

  And even if he can't make it, giving it to Sixth Brother is fine, but absolutely cannot give it to Lin Run.

  Liu Ge's age is already at this stage, he can't be the head of the clan for many more years. After he dies, there will definitely be another competition within the clan, and by then his sons and grandsons will all have a chance.

  If Lin Run had taken over instead, it would have been different. He was in his prime and not as short-lived as Lin Jiang. With a bit of luck, he might have lived for another twenty or thirty years.

  If he becomes the head of the clan for twenty or thirty years, won't it be their house that has the final say in the clan by then? By then, even if they change the head of the clan again, it's likely to be passed directly to his son. Not to mention his son, even his grandson won't have a chance to compete.

  Eighth Uncle will definitely not agree.

  Kelinjiang left them here just thinking of a quick battle, no need to go through the clan.

  "So I'm afraid that my days are numbered, and I won't be able to hold on until I return to Suzhou. Therefore, while I'm still around, let's determine the clan leader's person, so I can also leave with a sense of security."

  Eighth Uncle couldn't help but purse his lips and advised, "Second Brother, don't think too much. For now, you should focus on recovering from your illness. I think this illness of yours is due to overthinking and overworking. Now that you've resigned from office, it's a good opportunity for you to rest. And don't mention anything about being allowed or not, the position of Lin family head will still be yours."

  Lin Jiang looked at Lin Liu and said, "What do you think, Sixth Uncle?"

  Sixth Uncle hesitated. As his son was the head of the clan, he naturally had no opinion, but wouldn't speaking out now be suspected of being biased towards his own kin?

  So he quietly lowered his head.

  Lin Jiang smiled slightly, having expected this all along. He turned to Lin Eleven, "What does Uncle Eleven think?"

  Lin Shiyi thought for a moment and felt that even if he returned to his clan, he and his son would have no chance, with Sixth Brother and Lin Run above them.

  Liu Ge's prestige in the clan is even more important than his and Lao Ba's, and Lin Run is also the most outstanding young master in the clan except for Lin Jiang. It would be better to settle down here as the candidate for the head of the clan rather than going back to the clan and letting Lao Ba bully him around.

  The most important thing is that Lao Ba opposes what he must agree with. Seeing his opponent get angry and jump up and down makes him happy.

  So Lin Eleven thought for a moment and then solemnly supported Lin Jiang, "Second Brother is right, now the clan really needs someone to handle various matters, I think Fifth Brother is very suitable, let him be the clan leader."

  "Fart, isn't it still our family's business? Why must we change the head of the clan now?"

  Lin Shiyi's eyes revealed a hint of mockery, "Eighth brother has finally spoken the truth. You don't want Wu Lang to be the clan leader because you're not willing to give up your own power, are you? Are you planning on taking the position for yourself?"

  Lin Ba's face turned red, and he hastily looked at Lin Jiang: "Second brother, Uncle Ba didn't mean it that way. I think choosing a clan leader is a big deal, and we need to go back and discuss it with the people in the clan. Old Eleven, don't take advantage of the situation to frame me. Isn't it because I accidentally pushed you last year that you've been holding a grudge against me?"

  Lin shouted angrily at him, "That wasn't an accident, was it? You did it on purpose! Don't think I don't know, you've been harboring malicious intentions all along, trying to sabotage me so I wouldn't be able to take the exam..."

  "Fart, I want to harm you. Could you have gone to call someone to pull you up at that time? I directly threw a stone and let you sink into the river, patted your butt and left. Who would know?"

  "You've finally spoken out your vicious thoughts. Didn't you want to hit me with a stone at first? If I hadn't shouted loudly, would you have gone to call for help?"

  Lin Jiang and Lin Liu couldn't help but rub their foreheads, and the two of them started again.

  Lin Qingwan stood by, staring in shock at the two old men who first argued with red faces and thick necks, then started fighting, slapping and pinching each other...