Chapter Fifty-two: Nothing More Than Scrap Paper

"Kneel down!" The staff member repeated the command.

By now, murmurs and pointing fingers had started to rise among the crowd. Although the clansmen and staff had been stunned by the unexpected turn of events at first, their shock soon faded. What was happening before their eyes was far more entertaining.

"Heh, I used to wonder how this useless son-in-law managed to gain the family's approval and even become a prominent figure in our medical hall," someone snickered. "Turns out it was all a ploy by the patriarch to make a fool of him. Ha! The patriarch really went all out, using a chief physician position just to make Yan Yuanqing kneel before us all."

"The patriarch truly put a lot of effort into this! But I wonder—does this chief physician title have any real value, even if it falls into that fool's lap?"

With this farcical scene unfolding, people's attitudes toward Yan Yuanqing reverted to how they had been before. No one cared whether he possessed any real ability or talent; they only mocked him relentlessly.

"This is your last chance. Kneel and thank the patriarch for his great kindness, for recognizing your worth!" the staff demanded. "If you refuse..."

He hadn't finished his sentence, preparing to lecture Yan Yuanqing from a place of superiority. But Yan Yuanqing curled his lip, adopting a lazy, disdainful posture, and retorted, "If I don't, what can you do to me?"

The staff was stunned by Yan Yuanqing's direct challenge, utterly at a loss for words to defuse the awkward moment.

"Are you saying you don't want the chief physician position? With it, you'd be the highest-ranking person in the medical hall, beneath only the two heads. You don't care about that?" The staff was genuinely confused; he hadn't expected the supposed useless son-in-law to show such backbone.

"Heh, it's only a chief physician title. If I wanted it, I could earn it through my own ability and talent. Why should I sell my dignity for it in this little medical hall?"

"If Shi Tianhe and that old man simply wanted to humiliate me this way, go back and tell them it won't work!"

"As for that worthless chief physician title—what use is it to me?"

"It's nothing but a scrap of paper!"

As his words fell, Yan Yuanqing's right hand shot out like lightning. Before the staff could react, the appointment letter had already landed in Yan Yuanqing's hand.

"You—what are you doing! That has the patriarch's personal signature. You can't destroy it at will. If you do—"

Before he could finish, a tearing sound split the air. Yan Yuanqing shredded the appointment letter to pieces before everyone's eyes. Even the fragments, he swept away with a grand gesture.

The scraps fluttered down like snowflakes into the hall, leaving every member of the Shi clan utterly dumbfounded.

Moments ago, they had been mocking Yan Yuanqing without restraint. Now, they were stunned by his audacious act—such blatant defiance of family tradition!

"How dare you! Who gave you the courage to do this? That appointment letter bore the patriarch's signature!"

"Exactly! To treat the patriarch's gift so disrespectfully—it's outrageous!"

"There are laws for the nation, and rules for the family. Yan Yuanqing's actions, especially in such a public setting, have disgraced the Shi clan!"

"We can't let him off this time. If we don’t teach him a lesson now, who knows what that useless son-in-law might do next? He'll become a source of ridicule for our family!"