In other words, after the four great noble families had worked together to inflate prices for three days, the prices miraculously dropped back to their original levels in a single morning!

The Mo Family’s sudden betrayal shocked everyone. It also made them shudder at the power of the new Lord. He had managed to turn the Mo Family without a word and even rallied all the wealthy merchants to resist the other three noble families. Such a thing would have been utterly unbelievable in the past! 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Merchants daring to oppose the nobility were unheard of!

These merchants had always survived by catering to the nobles’ whims. Had they suddenly grown a backbone?

That wasn’t all. To the people’s pleasant surprise, an astonishing notice was suddenly posted at noon on the bulletin board of the long-unstaffed administration hall. The commoners who saw it went from disbelief to doubt, and finally, to breaking down in tears.

Some even slapped their own faces, ashamed for having previously cursed the Lord!

This news utterly cast the other three great noble families into the abyss!

The notice announced that the new Lord, sympathetic to the hardships of the people, would reclaim all land controlled by the nobility after this year’s autumn harvest. The land would then be rented out to the commoners to cultivate for a rent of half the land’s grain output!

And in the unfortunate event of a crop failure due to a natural disaster, there would be absolutely no punishment!

This announcement was like a torch that ignited the spirits of all the commoners in Penzes City. In an instant, words of praise for the Lord could be heard everywhere, lauding him to the skies!

This made Ye Wen Ni sigh with emotion. ’The hearts of the people are so easily changed,’ she thought. ’All it takes is letting them eat their fill.’

Meanwhile, the Cui, Huang, and Li Families were completely dumbfounded. Their grain stores hadn’t even opened, and the long lines at their doors had long since vanished... This change was almost impossible for them to accept. But what they found even more unacceptable was that Mo Qing, Patriarch of the Mo Family—the weakest of the four great nobles—had somehow become the new City Lord!

Cui Ze was the first to arrive at the Mo Family’s gate, but he was stopped by the gatekeeper, who informed him that the master was ill and could not see visitors. Afterward, Li Nan and Huang Qiang also rushed over, only to be stopped as well. The furious Huang Qiang, the fat on his face trembling, cursed Mo Qing for his treachery, but the Mo Family’s gates remained tightly shut. They were simply playing deaf and dumb.

The three of them thought of Mo Qing’s power and left with crestfallen expressions. What were they going to do, storm in and demand an explanation?

Prices had stabilized, the land was about to be reclaimed, and the three great noble families’ conspiracy had been utterly crushed. The three patriarchs gathered at the Cui Family estate.

Huang Qiang, his face still contorted with rage, railed against Mo Qing, "I have to get him back for this! Hmph, I’ll pay for an assassin to kill that bastard! If it weren’t for him, how would those wealthy merchants in the city... those damned, lowly merchants, have the guts to oppose us!"

"Enough. There’s no point in talking about it now." Li Nan cut off Huang Qiang’s angry rant. "We all underestimated the Lord. I never thought he would use such a method to break our alliance. He must have promised Mo Qing a great reward; otherwise, with Mo Qing’s personality, he wouldn’t have agreed so easily!"

Cui Ze said hatefully, "That damnable Mo Qing, daring to make such a choice! Isn’t he afraid?"

Li Nan sighed softly. "Perhaps the Lord... is not so simple. Think about it: why has the Second Prince had no reaction at all to his arrival?"

Both Cui Ze and Huang Qiang shuddered, then looked at Li Nan in disbelief. "That’s impossible! How could the Ling Family dare collude with the Second Prince?"

Li Nan sneered, "We can collude with the Crown Prince, so why can’t the Ling Family collude with the Second Prince?"

"If that’s true, then we..." A look of fear appeared on Cui Ze’s face. The Southern King’s reputation represented absolute authority throughout the southern Lanyue Empire! If he were to find out that someone was colluding with the Crown Prince right under his nose, the resulting fury would be more than these three minor noble families could bear!

"So, for now, our only choice is to swallow this insult," Li Nan said. "Fortunately, the slave trade and smuggling are still in the hands of our three families! The Mo Family only had a small share!"

Huang Qiang nodded. "True. Hmph, I refuse to believe they can stick their hands into this business!"

Just then, the panicked voice of the Cui Family’s butler came from outside. "Master, Master... This is terrible! A large shipment of our goods on the coast has been seized!"

"What..." Cui Ze shot to his feet, his expression changing instantly!