Chapter 27: Accept or not?

If it were the great patriarch Brando here, it would be understandable for these guys to be so humble and afraid, but now that it's just an illegitimate son here, they're exaggerating, aren't they?

Zhou Ming found this hard to understand, but he didn't really say anything. After all, the power of religion in other countries was hard for the Chinese, who believed in themselves more, to understand.

In addition, Ming also understood that he did not have a systematic understanding of the 'outside world'. According to his own beliefs, no matter how favoured an illegitimate child is, what he can do is bound to be very limited. Even before they came to the outside world, they had been blocked by this arrogant illegitimate son on Charles Island in Virginia.

However, as he did not meet Jefferson that time, Zhou Ming was unable to judge his strength and only felt that he was a very arrogant person.

'Rejoice, you bastards, that one day I too will grace your humble castle with my presence and attend your stupid meeting!'

Jefferson said proudly to everyone, and Andre came up to greet him and invite him to go inside the castle, but Jefferson angrily said, 'Did I hear you right? My Sir Andre, you actually want me to go inside such a short castle? Do you take me for a sewer rat? You stupid idiot, there won't be any room for you if so many of you go in.'

Jefferson added, 'Besides, I don't intend to waste too much time with you scum. Let's just talk on the lawn outside. This is a favour to you!'

Jefferson spoke with arrogance, but no one expressed any dissatisfaction. They all accepted it silently, as if it were something that was only natural. After he finished speaking, he walked straight through the crowd and came up to Ming and Caitlin. It was only then that Ming really got a good look at him. He was different from other white people. Although he also had a high nose, his eyes were brown, perhaps because of his Middle Eastern heritage.

But Ming Chow did not forget the guy's purpose, in fact, when Charles was on Long Island, Ming Chow had already experienced it once.

As expected, Jefferson went straight to Caitlin: 'My dear and beautiful Caitlin, I am your most loyal knight. It is my greatest joy to meet you here. If you will to my proposal, I think I can make Harburg Castle the best gift for you. Now I can make this Mr. André give up his inheritance, which I think is great!

No one expected that the first words of the person Andre had been waiting for so long would be those. Andre's face turned very ugly, and he whispered, 'Honourable sir, this is not what we agreed.'

'Stupid idiot, if I really had consummated the marriage with Caitlin, do you think you would still be in a position of power here?' Jefferson retorted, and Andre's face suddenly turned even more ugly as he was given no face at all.

Caitlyn, however, did not hesitate to say, 'I am very grateful for Mr. Jefferson's favour, but I am only a sinner from Harrodsburg. Sinners can only marry other sinners. I am simply not good enough to marry into the Marlon family. Otherwise, it would be a blasphemy against God.'

Jefferson laughed: 'Caitlin, you know perfectly well that this is not a problem at all. If you really care, I can ask my father to forgive your sins. He is the Maronite Patriarch under the Holy See and the chief judge who can communicate directly with God. He has the power.'

Seeing that he was still saying this, Zhou Ming couldn't bear to watch anymore: 'Mr. Jefferson, since you understand that this is not the issue, then you shouldn't continue to argue, shouldn't you?'

Jefferson disdainfully glanced at Zhou Ming and said, 'Caitlin, don't tell me that's your choice.'

Caitlin nodded and took the initiative to hold onto Ming's arm and said to him, 'This is my choice. His name is Ming Zhou, and he is my fiancé, so please stop pestering me...'

Before Caitlin could finish speaking, Jefferson burst out laughing. 'I say, woman, even if I did something wrong, or if the way I did it didn't go down well with you, you shouldn't have humiliated yourself like that, deliberately choosing a piece of rubbish from the Middle Kingdom!'

At the end of his sentence, Jefferson's smiling expression suddenly turned ferocious: 'But you did a great job. You successfully angered me, so I've decided to give you a little punishment!'

After saying this, Jefferson turned around and asked without further ado, 'Andre, tell me what you really wanted to do by asking me to come here?'

This question made André overjoyed. He hurriedly said, 'Sir, the Harburg meeting this time is to elect the next heir of the family, so I hope you can support me.'

Jefferson smiled, patted André's shoulder and said to him, 'Don't worry, my friend, from now on, you are the successor of the Harburg family!'

There was an uproar in the room. What's going on? He just appointed him?

Louise could not help but ask cautiously, 'Mr. Jefferson, for the future of the Harburg family, shouldn't we sit down and discuss this properly? I don't think Caitlin meant to contradict you...'

Jefferson raised his eyelids: 'Oh, you are from the Senkeborg family, so what did you just say? You want me to sit down and discuss things with you? Well, I'm sorry, but I reject that proposal!'

'What do you think I came here for, to shout and scream like you swine and the idiots in the council? I came here to determine your heirs.' Jefferson pointed at two people with his hand, 'Caitlin and Andre. Since Caitlin made me very angry, I determined that Andre is the successor of the Harresford family, and that's it.'

'Or...do you have any objections to my determination?' Jefferson asked, and a very sinister smile appeared on his face.

This smile made Louise feel a sudden wave of fear. She immediately shook her head and said very firmly, 'I absolutely have no objections to Mr. Jefferson's assessment!'

'In fact, I am a very generous person. If you really have any objections, you can absolutely say them. After all, you also represent the Senkeborg family,' Jefferson then changed the subject, saying, 'But your opinions are just that, opinions, because I'm not here to negotiate, I'm here to make decisions! Because you guys don't deserve to use the word negotiate in front of me.'

Jefferson turned to the others and said, 'My decision is that Andre will inherit the Harburg family. You only have two options: accept or reject. Of course, if you choose not to accept, you will have to bear the consequences of that choice!'

Jefferson's words were light and carefree, but to everyone in the Harburg family, they sounded like a dark cloud looming overhead. Everyone bowed their heads in submission to Jefferson, and even Louise, the princess, dared not say a word for fear of offending the big man with his strange personality. As for André, although Jefferson did not target him, he also felt the immense pressure brought about by Jefferson's words.

Jefferson is a major figure who has mastered the world's top wealth and power. He speaks with such arrogance. If you don't cooperate with me in negotiations, you only have the choice to accept!

Andre thought to himself, and he was very glad that Caitlyn, that idiot and capricious girl, had not accepted Jefferson's courtship, otherwise the one who would have to face despair would be himself.

Facing the collective silence of the whole Harcourt family, Jefferson sighed, 'You bunch of pigs, is that all you've got? Why not choose to rebel a little? At least that way you can still have some fun...'

At this point in his speech, Zhou Ming suddenly said to him, 'Then as you wish, I do not accept your decision!'

Zhou Ming's words shocked everyone, including André, and they all looked at him in disbelief. They all thought the Hua Xia man had gone crazy!

Caitlin kept giving Ming Zhou winks, and Louise even defended Ming Zhou, saying, 'Honourable Mr Jefferson, what was said just now was just a misunderstanding. I hope you won't take it personally...'

Jefferson laughed and said, 'I'm sorry, I already heard.'

He pointed his finger at Zhou Ming and said, 'Chinese man, I really admire your courage, because I haven't seen such a stupid and naive idiot like you for a long time. But I admire your luck even more, because if this were me a year ago, I'm afraid I would have let my helicopter machine gun shoot you to pieces!'

'Compared to your admiration for me, I think your luck is pretty good too, because if it were me three years ago, I definitely wouldn't have let you get back on the helicopter alive. Believe me, those two losers behind you won't be able to protect you,' Zhou Ming also said to him.

Jefferson subconsciously took a step back, but he immediately realised how humiliating this was. He gritted his teeth and said to Zhou Ming, 'Very well, Chinese man, you have successfully angered me!'

'If I remember correctly, this is the second time you've said that,' Ming reminded him. 'So what? Are you going to go back to your helicopter and shoot us to vent your anger?'

'Of course I won't do that. I told you I'm not the same person I was a year ago, and if I just shot you, that would be too easy for you. In contrast, I've decided to play a few games with you, and I just hope you'll have fun with me.'

With these words, Jefferson turned and left, while Andre and the rest of the Harlequin clan saw him off. When Jefferson's helicopter gunship disappeared into the sky, Andre returned came back and said to Zhou Ming in a very compassionate tone, 'I must say, ignorance is sometimes really terrible. I think you probably still don't know what a stupid thing you just did, do you?'

Then Andre said to Caitlin, 'I'm really sorry. I'm surprised you chose such an idiot as your husband. But now I should be thanking you, haha!'

In the end, Andre left with a big laugh, while Caitlin wanted to argue back, but in the end she couldn't say anything.

'I can't help but say that what you just did, Zhou Ming, was really reckless and impulsive!' Louise also said to Zhou Ming.