"My lord! A cohort of nobles has petitioned again, insisting on elevating Li Jiman to his position… claiming it to be the date agreed upon, that we can no longer delay."

"Bring it here."

Tian Zhongqing sighed, took the petition handed to him by his servant, and drew several circles on it with his pen.

Tian Zhongqing was currently acting on behalf of the Shanyue matters; his ocher pen continuously sketched, and the Eastern Shanyue had traditionally used vermilion for annotations, only changing to this color in recent years.

After all, the Li Family Main Vein used vermilion for annotations, so the Clan Head Courtyard used a slightly darker red to show its position subordinate to the Main Vein. When Shamo Li heard this news, he hurriedly changed his own annotations to an even darker ocher, which had been in use ever since.

"Tell them to correct these untimely phrases and submit it again in a few days!"

Tian Zhongqing casually found an excuse to send them away, feeling secretly apprehensive.

"It's not that I, Tian Zhongqing, want to suppress the lot of you… it's the will of the Family Head… how can we let Li Jiman ascend before we've completely done away with a batch of nobles?"

He sighed inwardly and looked at the grand hall before him, with its gold decorations shimmering alluringly below. He had been acting as king for more than half a year, and had almost grown fond of this lofty position.

The flickering lights inside the inner hall cast a hazy glow over the numerous jade and gold artifacts. This grand hall was once Mu Jiaoman's imperial residence, built with glittering gold and shining jade. When Qi Mu took over, he had considerably reduced the expenses.

Later, when Li Feiruo mounted a coup, the Li Clan's carriages entered the palace, and blood was smeared on the palace steps. The nobility rushed to massacre the royal clan in order to ingratiate themselves with the Li Clan.

"The wheel of fortune turns… soon it will be these nobles who are splattered with blood…"

Tian Zhongqing looked through a hazy gaze at the golden red all around him that seemed like blood. He suddenly woke up from his thoughts and put them aside, only to hear a clang outside the hall, and a burly man entered.

This man was over eight feet tall, with thick eyebrows and a brawny physique, clutching a golden mace in one hand. He looked like a formidable bandit who might have run here from the road, ready at any second to throw the mace and smash him into mush.

Tian Zhongqing quickly jumped up from his seat and hurried down to greet him, smiling:

"Brother Wen! What brings you here? Could it be that the Family Head has come in person?"

"Uncle Tian is mistaken."

Li Wen, despite his fierce appearance, was mild-mannered and answered in a muffled voice:

"The Family Head has already dispatched the Jade Courtyard Guards to various places in the city and said that we can start rounding them up, so he sent me to reinforce the position."

"Excellent! Excellent!"

Tian Zhongqing laughed, somewhat ingratiatingly:

"Brother Wen, does the Family Head have any instructions for me?"

Li Wen nodded and replied:

"The Family Head promised that, once this matter is settled, the Tian Clan's descendants can return to the Twelve Towns."

"Oh, wonderful! Wonderful!"

Tian Zhongqing was immediately elated. Since his Tian Clan had been relegated to the Shanyue Region to balance the situation, they were increasingly looked down upon by the Easterners, deemed to be fraternizing with the Shanyue, in a world where everyone admired the East.

The Tian Clan disciples held high status in the Shanyue Region but were considered inferior in Lijing Town, even though his family had two Qi Cultivators. Without the support of the Main Vein, many secretly despised them.

His own eldest son had visited Lijing Town once, failed to recognize the town's customary drinking games, and after being laughed at, had sulked for three months, causing Tian Zhongqing to sigh in exasperation.

Moreover, being far from the main family in the Shanyue Region, with the Tian Clan being the strongest among those with different surnames, Tian Zhongqing was walking on tiptoes across coals and blades, constantly on edge...

Now, with Li Yuanping's promise, he was instantly overjoyed, and even the frustration of possibly offending Li Jieman and the various nobles by acting as the Li Family's blade vanished. He thought coldly:

"I was worried about how to stand firm in the Shanyue in the future. Well then, let them kill! Let the heads roll, and I'll just dust off my hands and leave, who cares about these local snakes then?"

He immediately issued an order. The armored soldiers in the palace were set into motion, clanking and clashing. The palace gates opened wide, and one by one, carriages departed, riding on the newly constructed roads.

"Rumble, rumble..."

The neighborhood erupted like thunder, waking the people of Shanyue from their sleep. They lifted their heads, bewildered.

----------

At another corner of Mulutown, cups and platters crossed paths amid soft songs. Li Jieman sat at the head of the table with a sullen face, watching the singing nobles below, feeling gloomy.

"After all, they are barbarians… What is all this rubbish."

There was neither the drinking game of Pitch-Pot nor the composition of poetry; all the skills Li Jieman had learned were useless here. There was only singing followed by silent drinking, which he found utterly uncomfortable.

Just as he was thinking, a member of a clan, drunkenly stumbled forward, and with a stupid smile, slurred:

"My king, don't you think that Li Yuanping, looking pale every day, as if on his deathbed… might hint at an impending change?"

Li Jieman's color drained instantly. He was quite familiar with the Main Vein and often took pride in it. Moreover, having been spared by Li Yuanping, he held immense gratitude and respect and could not tolerate such words.

Moreover, remembering the previous incident he thought was unknown but was exploited by the Tian Family, Li Jieman was suddenly petrified with fear and became furious.

"Pah!"

Li Jieman flung the wine cup in his hand onto the man's face, instantly staining it red, and with a thud, the man rolled down. Li Jieman cursed:

"The nerve you have!"

Silence fell in the hall abruptly, and Li Jieman quickly stood up, seemingly explaining to someone as he shouted:

"It's the tiger feigning sickness, the eagle feigning sleep, how could you despicable ones even grasp a fraction of it?"

No sooner had he spoken than a group of people fell to their knees, the enthralling music ceased, and the courtyard fell so silent that one could hear a pin drop. Li Jieman listened intently, his heart skipping a beat: