Why on earth was Shi Fu Long's daughter installed as the new leader of the beggar clan by those elders? Was this a good idea?
A strong beggar clan leader needs to be highly skilled in martial arts and/or highly intelligent - time and again we see powerful wulin figures fall foul of intrigues because they don't have any brain cells.
Females cannot learn the dragon palms at all or not without great difficulty and there was no indication of Hong Shek's potential or that she was currently skilled. Her character was one that needed coddling and protection so i could not see her leading the clan through her intelligence nor her skills - only through the patronage of the powerful figures that would aid her (but had a tendency to be very late).
After those elders were duped by Cheng Qun and his disciple, were they driving the beggar clan to destruction by making this little girl the new leader after that fiasco?
Note what Mi Jue said about the survival of women in the sexist and harsh wulin environment: they must be be highly skilled and of a strong character to gain the respect of their male peers. (Man hating pre-requisite omitted)
Are there any strong clans/sects which relied strongly on hereditary leadership?