Old Renault died. In his handwritten suicide note, he admitted that he had hired gunmen to kill four border commissioners. Before his death, he apologized to all those he had hurt and to all the citizens of Donghai.
…
A group of people were sitting in the living room of the 388 senior member room of the Windebao Club.
Mainly members of the Renault family, including the current Mr. and Mrs. Renault, Mr. Renault's sister, two younger sisters, brother-in-law and brother-in-law.
In addition, there is the late old Reno's probate lawyer, Schaaf.
Lu Ming sat in the corner, not knowing why he had to be present when old Renault's will was announced.
This lawyer named Xia Fu was very kind. He called me and asked me to be present when the old Renault's will was announced. Since he was involved, he wanted me to be present.
I said I was busy, but Xia Fu was surprisingly good-natured and said, let's go to Windermere, let's all go to Windermere Club.
Just like that, this large group of people came to Wendebao.
In fact, think about it, the suicide note left by old Renault admitted that he was the mastermind behind the assassination of the Border Commissioner, which must have gone against the wishes of the Bucklo family.
If old Renault simply committed suicide and there is no evidence, the case would actually be a little vague.
Shelfer was a die-hard. Even after being arrested, he remained silent no matter what questions were asked.
Although the gunman was caught alive in Raccoon City, he suddenly jumped off the tracks at the train station and was crushed to death by a speeding train. Originally, he had been injected with drugs and should have been completely powerless, but he unexpectedly jumped off the tracks with his last breath. He was indeed a ruthless character.
However, a man named Gao Ping who was arrested near the 97 Power Supply Station has confessed to impersonating Lao Cati and receiving a telegram from Lao Cati's family.
Moreover, the person who sent money to Lao Catfish's family was also arrested.
Based on their confessions, Lao Catfish was cleared of all charges. Besides, Lao Catfish was not dead in the first place.
Lao Catfish is innocent, so according to current evidence, the attack on the five border commissioners cannot be said to be related to him.
However, the reason why they were attacked remained an unsolved case, at least based on the evidence that could be presented in court.
It is difficult for wiretapped recordings to become irrefutable evidence.
In his suicide note, old Renault admitted that he was the one who planned this case, which finally made the truth of this case come to light.
This is definitely something the Bucklo family does not want to see.
At least, if the case has not been truly concluded, it will be difficult for me to participate in social activities. For the time being, I need to stay at home and avoid becoming a hot topic.
From this perspective, old Renault has helped himself to some extent, although it was not necessary.
Now, Xia Fu repeatedly requested to attend the will announcement meeting with full sincerity, and came to Wendebao with Renault's entire family.
I just went along with it. In fact, I was quite curious about how old Renault arranged his will.
In fact, the Renault Group is now half-dead and may even go bankrupt in a few months.
Now the death of old Renault has interrupted some of his plans, which may not be a bad thing for the Renault Group.
Picking up the teacup and taking a sip of tea, Lu Ming thought again, in fact, in the phone recording, Shelfer accidentally mentioned Bucklo once.
However, it is really difficult to explain anything. After all, Mr. Bucklo is not a very eccentric title.
In court, it doesn't count at all.
Perhaps, nowadays, although Bucklo feels it is not worth it, the matter has come to an end.
But for me, everything has just begun.
After Renault's suicide note was published, he had already informed Cheng Lingyu and asked for the case of Yang Guiren's suicide to be taken over, and he would conduct a thorough investigation of the case.
Of course, everything is kept confidential.
Even his own government office received more than a dozen old cases from the Supreme Procuratorate, all of which were cases that had not been solved to date.
It was as if he had begun to develop an interest in difficult and complicated cases. The recent work arrangement of Commissioner Lu Qianxing's office was to re-investigate some vicious cases that had not been solved before.
But what he was really focusing on was naturally the suicide case of Yang Guiren.
"Mr. Lu Qianxing, please tell me, are you listening?"
Xia Fu was extremely gentle and polite, his tone was soft, and his face looked harmless, making it hard for people to get angry at him.
"Listening!" Lu Ming nodded.
"Okay, now, I will read out the will of Baron Hebrew Renault. This will is written by Baron Hebrew Renault himself and is kept by the Shave Law Firm as the supervisor of the execution of the will."
"Baron Hebrew Renault has distributed his property as follows: the mansion on Laiden Road in the West District will be inherited by his eldest daughter Frieda Renault." After a pause, Shaf looked at Frieda and said, "Miss Frieda, Mr. Renault asked me to tell you something. When he was alive, you didn't have much time to go home to visit him. I think you regret it now. Now, I leave the mansion to you so that you can always miss his voice and smile."
Frieda was a middle-aged lady, one year older than Shaquilleno. Her face was livid and she said nothing.
Xia Fu continued to read the will. What he left to his second daughter were some bank deposits, stocks and several properties. Obviously, it was much more practical than what was left to his eldest daughter. The second daughter's husband secretly clenched his fist, a little excited.
"And my beloved little daughter Jennifer, my little Jennifer, you agreed to your father's most shameless request. Now your father asks for your forgiveness. I love you, and your father will always love you. What I leave to you is the Starlight Mall under my personal name, and all my real estate, including the ancestral land of our Renault family in the imperial capital. Oh, you can sell all the real estate for cash, but you must keep the ancestral land, my little Jennifer, your father loves you!"
"I don't believe it!" Frieda stood up suddenly, "I don't believe my father is so partial!"
If all the shares of the group must be left to Shaquille Reynolds, the heir chosen by his father long ago, then the distribution of the rest of the property is too unfair!
Frieda's husband Johnson, who looked like a dandy, dressed fashionably in a shirt and flowered pants, also stood up and said angrily, "We want to verify whether it is Mr. Leilo's handwriting!"
Xia Fu looked at Frieda and smiled: "Miss, do you think so too?"
Frieda frowned and glared at Johnson. Obviously, she was very afraid of Xia Fu. She shook her head and said, "I just think my father is too partial!"
Xia Fu nodded: "Just now, Mr. Renault, as a father, said to Miss Jennifer. Next, it is the official content of the inheritance that Miss Jennifer will receive. The list is as follows..."
He began to read.
Frieda's face became more and more ugly, and she glared at her little sister fiercely.
Lu Ming shook his head and looked at Jennifer who was wiping tears all the time. This was Renault's youngest daughter, who should be a few years younger than little Renault, about fifteen or sixteen years old. It was obvious that she had received a good aristocratic education. The snow-white gauze dress was pure and beautiful, and the lace white socks matched with the small black leather sandals with pearl heels made her look extremely gentle and timid. Now her eyes were full of tears, with long chocolate-colored hair, deep light blue eyes, and delicate facial features. She looked like the type of weak little white rabbit, and now she was crying like a tearful person.
Judging from the contents of the will, the inheritance left to her by old Renault was quite a lot, including more than a dozen properties.
As for the Starlight Shopping Mall left to her, it was much larger than Liu Laocai's New Era. It was located in Xinfa District in the city center and was one of the most luxurious shopping malls in Xinfa District.
"Next, it is about the inheritance distribution of Renault Group shares."
Everyone pricked up their ears immediately, including the eldest daughter Frieda. Although they knew there was no hope, they still hoped to hear their own names, thinking, "What if my father has become stupid?" or "What if my father really loves me?"
"Old Baron Renault recently sold all of his shares in other companies and repurchased the shares of Renault Group. Today, Old Baron Renault holds 59.31% of the shares of Renault Group."
"Among them, 29.31% of the shares were donated by Baron Renault to Mr. Lu Qianxing free of charge..."
Before he could finish, his eldest daughter Frieda, her husband Johnson, and his second daughter and her husband all jumped up and said, "This is impossible. The will must be fake!"
"Shaqui! Are you deaf? Why don't you speak?" Frieda looked at her brother angrily.
Shaquilleno had a blank expression on his face. "I was present when my father changed his will, and he told me about the changes himself."
"What?!" Frieda was stunned.
"Miss, Miss, please wait for me to finish reading the will. If you have any objections, please raise them."
Xia Fu spoke indifferently, ignoring his two sons-in-law.
Frieda and her sister looked at each other, winked at their husbands, and sat down angrily.
Xia Fu continued to read, and the general meaning was that the remaining 30% of the shares belonged to Shaquilleno.
Together with the 5 percent stake that Shaquilleno already held, Shaquilleno now holds a total of 35 percent of the shares of the Renault Group.
However, old Renault demanded that all voting rights of Shaquilleno's shares should be handed over to Lu Qianxing.
Such a request in the will has no legal effect, so old Reno asked Shaquilleno, "Son, you promised me, right?"
When Shaf read this, Shaquilleno burst into tears, "Yes, father, yes! I promise you, I promise you!"
Next, it was about dealing with some miscellaneous properties and affairs, which Xia Fu read for another ten minutes.
"Okay, I've finished reading the will. Please take a look!" Xia Fu handed the text of the will to Frieda first, "Miss, please take a look!"
Frieda gritted her teeth and stared at the will, looking as if she wanted to tear it up right now.
Lu Ming, who had been sitting there blankly, suddenly stood up and said, "Come on! You want me to work like a slave for your family? Are you crazy? You're just dreaming!"
He raised his head and said, "Old Renault, you are really crazy. Death is the greatest thing. I don't care about your sins, but you want me to work for your Renault family? You didn't defeat me when you were alive, but you are laughing after you die! You are too sinister!"
Everyone in the Renault family was stunned, including Xia Fu, who looked at this scene in surprise. They never expected that Mr. Lu, who suddenly obtained one-third of the Renault Group and would become the future helmsman, would have this kind of reaction.
"I don't want them, Lawyer Xia Fu, right? I don't want these shares. Well, if you really want me to go through the gifting procedures, then you can do it for me, and then immediately give all of them to Shaquilleno! As for taxes and so on, it has nothing to do with me, you can figure it out yourself!"
Xia Fu smiled bitterly: "Mr. Lu, please be patient. Mr. Renault, there are some arrangements that I haven't mentioned yet."
Lu Ming waved his hand: "Needless to say, you should know what the current situation of Renault Group is. How many problems will it face next? If I start from the outside, it will not be difficult to bring down Renault Group now. However, I think that everything is enough. I hope to wipe out the grudges between me and the Renault family from now on. Therefore, whether Renault Group lives or dies from now on has nothing to do with me. I will not add insult to injury, which is already worthy of your Renault family!"
Frieda and her husband, and their second daughter and her husband, originally did not know who this Central Asian man was, they only knew that he was a well-known lawyer.
But after hearing what he said, and seeing that neither Shaquilleno nor Shaf said anything in opposition, Shaquilleno became even more frustrated, and even looked a little timid when he looked at the man.
Frieda and the others looked at each other in bewilderment. Who was this guy? It looked like he could decide the life and death of their group? No way
The way Frieda and the others looked at Lu Ming also changed immediately.
Jennifer looked at Lu Ming with tears in her eyes and wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes with her hands.
"Mr. Lu, old Sir Reynolds also has something to say to you. He said that he doesn't expect you to run the Reynolds Group as your own business. He just hopes that it can be one of your small holding companies and receive your protection, especially Reynolds Pictures. He hopes that it can continue to exist."
"Moreover, Reynolds Pictures has many resources that you also need, and they can be a useful supplement to your Nadu Pictures. With your intelligence and talent, old Sir Reynolds said that within a few years, Mr. Lu will be the helm of the empire's largest film group."
Lu Ming was helpless, thinking that even after old Renault died, he could speak so beautifully.
But think about it, what old Renault said makes sense.
Being at the helm of the Renault Group myself, as long as we can get through the current difficulties, it will indeed be a help to me at this stage.
Moreover, the family had become an irreconcilable feud with the Renault family. It must be said that many Western aristocrats sympathized with the death of old Renault.
Old Renault's suicide was not a plus for his reputation.
If he suddenly finds himself in charge of the Renault Group, and it is the will of old Renault, this kind of big reversal will be quite interesting.
At least, it won't be a bad thing for yourself.
Just as he was thinking about it, Xia Fu said, "Now, please ask Mr. Lu Qianxing, Mr. Shaquillano, and Miss Jennifer Renault to stay. The others should step aside for the time being. Sir Renault's next arrangement is only related to these three people."
Catherine stood up first, but looking at her confused face, she obviously didn't know what her father-in-law had arranged before his death.
Frieda and the others also stood up reluctantly. They were still in shock. It was such a huge change that they had to go back and think carefully about what to do next.
In fact, they also knew that the inheritance of Renault Group's shares had nothing to do with them, but now that it was given to an outsider, it might be a good thing. They would find a lawyer to see if it is possible to question whether the will is false or invalid and file a lawsuit.
Soon, only four people were left in the small hall: Xia Fu, Shaquilleno, Lu Ming and Jennifer.
"Mr. Lu, you can take your time to consider the gift of shares..."
Xia Fu took out another document.
At this moment, the sofa beside Lu Ming moved slightly. He turned his head and was startled. It was Jennifer who came over carefully and sat down beside him. Her small hands in white lace gloves gently pinched the corner of his clothes, tears in her eyes, "Sir, please agree to my father's request, please..."
This beautiful and quiet noble girl was looking at him timidly at this moment, with a pleading look on her little face.
She was wearing an elegant white gauze dress, lace white socks and small leather shoes. Her beautiful long chocolate hair was covered by a small silver noble hat. Her pretty face looked at him earnestly, with tears in her eyes.
Lu Ming was speechless. What was this for
Over there, Xia Fu continued, "Mr. Lu, you can take your time to think about the gift of shares. Sir Renault has some other arrangements." After a pause, he coughed, "Sir Renault is willing to marry Miss Jennifer to you as your concubine. According to the customs of the people of Zhongzhou, the inheritance Miss Jennifer gets will be her dowry. Miss Jennifer is fifteen years old this year, so she will be your fifteenth concubine! Miss Jennifer has already promised Sir Renault before he died."
"Ms. Jennifer, are you going to regret it now? You can refuse." Xia Fu looked at Jennifer with sympathy and regret in his eyes.
Jennifer shook her head slightly and whispered, "I, I won't regret it." There was a hint of determination in her tone.
Lu Ming was already stunned.
Understand what old Renault is doing. He is just like an ancient emperor who gave up his daughter in exchange for peace in the empire.
And old Renault even hoped to use his daughter in exchange for his son's support and care.
However, he was obviously only half-familiar with the customs of the Central Plains people. He believed that the order of concubines represented status, and so he used the term "fifteenth concubine" to reassure himself, telling himself that after his daughter married him, she would never compete for favors but would listen to him and fulfill the duties of a concubine with the lowest status.
Old Renault, what you did is really amazing.
No wonder little Jennifer looked different when she first saw me. Maybe she was aware of the fact that she was feeding the tiger with her own body.
"That's a bit absurd!" Lu Ming stood up. "The first half of the will involves me. I will think about it carefully. Now, just pretend I haven't heard what you said to me. Don't mention it again in the future."
"Okay, I have something else to do, bye!" Lu Ming nodded to the Shaqui siblings, turned and walked out.
Little Jennifer hesitated for a moment, then stood up and followed him out.
…
In the outer hall, looking at Jennifer who was timidly grasping the corner of her clothes, Lu Ming said helplessly, "Just be a good lady. I understand what your father means. I will take care of your brother."
Shaking his head, Lu Ming turned around and walked away. Behind him, little Jennifer was like a little tail, grabbing a little bit of his clothes and following him.
Lu Ming frowned and turned his head, only to see that her eyes were already full of tears. Obviously, this was her first time experiencing this, and it was embarrassing and awkward, and it was not something a noble lady should do, but she didn't care.
"I promised my father, I promised him, before he went to heaven, I promised him..." Little Jennifer murmured, tears slowly sliding down her little face, but soon, she wiped away the tears, trying not to choke, not saying a word, just grabbing the tiny corner of Lu Ming's clothes.