Novel

Chapter 7: Before the Final Fall

Chapter 7 opens directly inside the clan’s public kneeling demand in the jade auction hall. Li Zhen extracts a short recess as his sole condition, uses the moment to confirm quiet signals from minor-clan freight allies and Chen Wei, then kneels with controlled restraint while coldly cataloguing every concrete slight against his family. He rises on his own terms, lands a precise verbal warning about the provenance mismatch, and visibly unsettles Madam Xue and the elders. The kneeling transforms from intended humiliation into a stage he controls, tightening alliances and advancing irreversible pressure toward the 9:00 PM hammer on Lot 47. The chapter ends with Li Zhen and Chen Wei outside the hall, evidence positioned and the royal hint deepened privately.