Sima Ru's face turned red. After the Senior Elder reprimanded publicly like this, he felt very embarrassed.
He knew that the Senior Elder had the most say in the clan, and even though he was the head of the clan, he still had to take orders from the Senior Elder.
But reprimanding him in front of so many others was going a little too far.
"Sima Gao decided to act on his own, I didn't send him out of the mountain. Sima Heng..." Sima Ru grit his teeth and explained, "He's the one who suggested getting all the reclusive clans to team up and pressurize Donghai and Jiang Ning into handing over the manual. Since you've allowed him to be part of the clan's decision making process, I had to listen to his suggestion, right?"
He didn't spell it out, but surely Sima Heng's suggestion was really the Senior Elder's suggestion, right?
He couldn't do anything even though he was the head of the clan.
Sima Gang nodded and laughed coldly. "So you're blaming me for interfering too much?”
"I wouldn't dare." Sima Ru clasped his hands together politely. "The Sima clan would never have achieved our current status without you. As a member of the Sima clan and the head of this clan, I'm well aware of my responsibilities and will do my utmost best to make sure that the Sima clan can make full use of the opportunity to get the manual and to rise to greater heights!"
His expression was stern and he behaved politely, but he didn't hide any of his displeasure in his voice.
Sima Gao had acted on his own and thought that he alone could force Jiang Ning to hand the manual over. But in the end, Jiang Ning turned out to be way more powerful and Sima Gao ended up losing his own life.
As for that Sima Heng...
If Sima Gang wasn't supporting him from behind, who would have even cared about what he said?
He deserved to be incapacitated!
Sima Gang didn't say anything and stared at Sima Ru for ten whole seconds before scoffing.
"Master Sima, Senior Elder..."
"Tsk, he's always been like this. He does whatever he wants to and doesn't care about whether it would benefit the clan or not," scoffed Sima Ru as he spoke unhappily. "Since he wants to do that, let him be."
He looked at everyone else. "We should just take care of ourselves."
The advancement of a clan, especially at an important time when the manual had appeared and there was a chance to find that place and bring the Sima clan to greater heights, was not something that one Senior Elder could accomplish on his own.
Sima Ru was well aware that Sima Gang was someone who protected the ones close to him fiercely. He knew that since the day he insisted on letting a youngster like Sima Heng into the main hall to participate in clan discussions and decisions.
"Master Sima, so now we should..."
"This Donghai is not simple and that Jiang Ning is even more complex. I don't think the Fang clan is really working with Jiang Ning," scoffed Sima Ru. "I know Fang Wei very well. He's a man who believes only in himself and doesn't listen to anyone else at all. Why would he work with Jiang Ning? He probably doesn't even have any regard for Jiang Ning, so there's only one possibility!"
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