Chapter 1669: Chapter 1662: The Power of Qi State
“Under sits the Azure Dragon. Those others are the White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise,” Cheng Ziang introduced.
“I’ve long heard of your great na,” Anxiang Mao nodded politely as he spoke.
To be stationed at such a position ant Anxiang Mao indeed had so competence, at least not as clueless as that other fellow, who was so daft he couldn’t even read a person’s expression.
From this, it could be seen that even a clan like the Anxiang family, which fully embraced martial might and leaned completely toward the Wu Family, needed to cultivate so cultural awareness among its mbers. Otherwise, it would surely lead to trouble—trouble that’s worryingly easy to stir up.
Cheng Ziang had assud that since the last ti the Wuting Clan had been dealt a severe blow, the Wu Family would completely abandon their attempts to win over the Advance Team and turn to outright hostility. Unexpectedly, the consequences of that incident did not seem to affect the Wu Family’s relationship with the Advance Team.
At the sa ti, as staunch advocates of the magic system, they did indeed need the Advance Team’s support—not for anything else, but simply for their demigods within the team.
It should be clarified that the Wu Family was rely a general term for a coalition of interest groups and did not specifically denote a single entity. Its mbers were mostly cultivator factions that held martial force to be paramount, but internally, they lacked a top-down managent system.
In contrast, the Wen Family relied on the Dongsheng Empire’s extensive civil official network, making them the upper echelon of this group. With highly clear and distinct role divisions, their operations often achieved twice the effect with half the effort.
“Back when I was in Tianguan Town, Lady Lanxiu didn’t hold back when speaking ill of your people,” Cheng Ziang deliberately inquired.
“Manor Lord, I urge you not to believe such words; those are rely slanders from unruly commoners. As for that Lady Lanxiu and her family, they benefitted greatly from Emperor Wu but still harbored intentions of rebellion. If not for our tily intervention, an enormous calamity would have ensued. So, those womanly words are nothing but defamatory drivel,” Anxiang Mao explained without a change in expression.
“Is that so? Then why did I hear that you ca to Qi State, seized soone’s house, and drove them into the mountains?” Cheng Ziang pressed on.
“In those years, when chaos engulfed the world, we—mbers of the Anxiang Clan—fled to Qi State, seeking rely a foothold to survive. Yet, those unruly commoners slaughtered our clan mbers one after another, leaving us no choice but to push back and drive them away…”
“And then you occupied their hos, drove them into the mountains, and sched for the day you could exterminate them completely?” Cheng Ziang interjected accusingly.
“Survival of the fittest, strength above all—if they could not reclaim what was theirs, they have only themselves to bla, not our ruthlessness. If we were rciful, they would strike again like before, harming our clan mbers once more,” Anxiang Mao retorted.
“Have you ever considered attempting to reform them?” Cheng Ziang questioned.
“Manor Lord jests,” Anxiang Mao sneered coldly, though his expression suggested he might be mocking Cheng Ziang’s naivety, “These unruly commoners, if they could be reford, they wouldn’t bear such a na. Barbarism is barbarism; even if they are human, they are inherently inferior.”
“You jest indeed, thinking yourselves superior to commoners—what an irony,” Cheng Ziang countered with a cold smile.
“Does the Manor Lord not see it that way?” Anxiang Mao’s face darkened upon hearing his words, though he restrained himself and asked patiently.
“Beneath the Holy Light, all life is equal. Perhaps so may never possess strength in their lifetis, but this does not grant those who do the right to harm them. Those who wield power should lead by example, restraining their desires, rather than acting with impunity and wielding their power indiscriminately,” Cheng Ziang said, staring directly at him.
“Forgive for finding it difficult to agree with the Manor Lord’s viewpoint,” Anxiang Mao replied with a scowl.
“Haha, I had no expectations you’d see reason. If you did, you wouldn’t be a mber of the Wu Family. In fact, one could say you wouldn’t even belong to a feudal era anymore,” Cheng Ziang quietly shook his head, letting out a sigh tinged with subtle sarcasm.
Ascending Jufeng Pass and stepping through the towering mountain cliffs, the terrain ahead suddenly opened up—a sprawling plain lay before Cheng Ziang.
He drew a deep breath, turned to look back at the boundless stretch of hills behind him, then faced the endless expanse of plains and rivers before him. He couldn’t help but shake his head and sigh.
He finally understood why the Qi State’s commoners had resolved to resist the Anxiang Clan for so many years. It seed that no one could easily relinquish such fertile, flat land—especially not after being forcibly driven off it.
Qi State was located in the central Dongsheng Empire, with its territory reaching from the mountainous regions of Qi State to the coastline. Anyone seeking to move northward across the plains into Shengyuan Prefecture would inevitably have to pass through Qi State.
Qi State remained the most steadfast supporter of the Wu Family, which caused significant headaches for the Wen Family represented by the Yichuan Clan to the north. The two sides had been locked in perpetual opposition for years; the Anxiang Clan ignored every official command dispatched by the Imperial Court. All of Qi State was under complete control of the Anxiang family.
The Imperial Court’s laws were rendered void here, with the so-called “State Clan without state duty” nothing more than an empty phrase. Thus, in Qi State, anyone in charge was either a mber of the Anxiang Clan or one of their retainer families.
The entirety of Qi State resembled a semi-independent dukedom, which was also the primary reason the Wen Family was unwilling to let the Advance Team pass through Qi State—they feared that once the Saints entered Qi State, they might never leave, not even if the Imperial Court sent delegates to retrieve them.
The Imperial Court had conferred upon Anxiang Yuan, the Patriarch of the Anxiang Clan, the title of Duke of Qi’an—bestowing him the rank of a duke, seemingly as a gesture of goodwill when in truth it was rely to placate him.
The Wen Family knew all too well that Anxiang Yuan would hardly be grateful to the Imperial Court for a re dukedom because he was effectively already the ruler of Qi State in practice.
The Anxiang Clan’s overall cultivation prowess wasn’t particularly high. Yet, dealing with them was exceedingly challenging for the Imperial Court. Any action taken against them risked triggering full-scale conflict between the Wen and Wu Families—a scenario the Wen Family was keen to avoid. Thus, they abandoned any notion of subduing the Anxiang Clan, resigning themselves to tolerating their unchecked behavior right under their noses.
Currently, with the Saints falling into the grasp of the Anxiang Clan, the Wen Family naturally would not let this slide; action was inevitable.
As much as Qi State disgusted the Wen Family, its proximity to Yin State gave them significant leverage and ensured it wasn’t beyond their reach.
In the coming days, Qi State was bound to beco lively. The Wen and Wu Families would vie for the Saints, while the commoners of Qi State kept a watchful eye on the Anxiang Clan’s vulnerable rear.
Upon entering Jufeng Pass, the first stop was Guyi County, a territory belonging to Qi State. This area served as a primary defensive front for the Anxiang Clan against the commoners of Qi State and represented the base of their operations.
After three days of being escorted by Qi State’s provincial troops, Anxiang Mao finally led the Advance Team to the county capital of Guyi Governnt.
Cheng Ziang couldn’t help but admire Anxiang Mao—clearly a garrison officer for Jufeng Pass, yet willing to personally lead the Advance Team into Guyi County while leaving Jufeng Pass behind. What would happen if commoners launched an attack now? It was anyone’s guess.
Judging from Anxiang Mao’s deanor, however, he seed to have already arranged for soone to take over the defense, allowing him to wholeheartedly handle the reception of the Saints.
Entering Guyi County was tantamount to stepping into the heart of the Anxiang Clan. Everywhere one looked, there were mbers of the Anxiang family—officials, rchants, even farrs laboring in the fields were likely to be from the Anxiang Clan.
Within Qi State, the Anxiang Clan had beco more of a conceptual surna than an actual family. As ntioned before, the Anxiang family was less a single large family and more accurately described as an ethnically cohesive group.
Through external conflicts, these northern emigrants had banded together to form the Anxiang Clan—a group that appeared to be a family but was, in reality, a tribe.
Among them, the first wave of northern emigrants who had revolted against the commoners beca the Anxiang Clan’s legitimate aristocracy, establishing themselves as the ruling elite over other mbers of the Anxiang family and monopolizing almost all military and governntal positions.
The second-tier Anxiang Clan mbers erged as the handyn of trade and industry, gaining control over Qi State’s comrcial and artisan sectors.
The lowest tier consisted of those who had joined the uprising but were only bestowed the Anxiang surna without reaping any substantial benefits. Instead, they were tasked with continuous labor for fellow Anxiang landlords in exchange for re survival.
Judging by Cheng Ziang’s observations, however, this lowest tier of Anxiang Clan mbers didn’t appear dissatisfied with their situation. On the contrary, they seed to take pride in their surna, which gave them a perceived sense of superiority.
After all, tenant farrs with a surna versus those without a surna were two entirely separate matters. While both worked for landlords, they were incomparable and evaluated on vastly different standards.
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