Dragon War Empire, situated in the north of the Eastern Continent, refers to the southern counties of the empire near the Xuanshou Mountain Ridge.
When Qingfeng ntioned the Southern Three Counties of the empire, Qing Zizhu had never heard of it, but he vaguely rembered the na of Fengdan County.
Isn’t that the territory of the Blood Cherry Duke Mansion?
Qing Zizhu suddenly realized, the southernmost counties of the empire, naly Fengdan County, Bailu County, and Xuanshou Mountain Town - Five Saints Town.
Apart from Five Saints Town, which is sowhat better due to the presence of the rcenary Guild, the other two are infamously dilapidated counties within the empire. It’s said that the last ti the Ministry of Revenue sent a tax officer there to collect territorial taxes, they couldn’t get even a single Imperial gold coin.
The only possibility to avoid taxes from the iron roosters at the Ministry of Revenue is that the locals must be so poor that they don’t have a single hair to give.
"Dad, why don’t you just take an empty ship and bypass that area? I heard those counties in the south are terribly poor and have been suffering from annual beast tides," Qing Zizhu didn’t dare to speak his mind fully, which was that only a fool would traverse those southern counties by foot.
Qingfeng’s original thoughts were the sa as Qing Zizhu’s. Considering the unrest in Xuanshou Mountain in recent years, he hired a comrcial empty ship to directly cross the Southern Three Counties. But as he crossed Xuanshou Mountain and flew over Fengdan County, he was captivated by a remarkable sight.
Indeed, not just Qingfeng, but everyone traveling from the northern part of the empire to Rui Song Federation in the south on comrcial fleets or civilian tourist empty ships or Sky Beasts, upon passing over Fengdan County, couldn’t help but stop their Dark Array and gawk at the "giant dragon" coiling in the sky of Fengdan County.
The architectural form of a dragon, lifelike, as if a giant dragon has descended to the world.
Below the giant dragon, lies Yunluo Lake, shimring like a pearl bathed in spring light.
Before the lake, there is a dragon bone wall, glimring like snowy white. To the north of the wall, there are the picturesque Five Saints Mountains; to the south, there are newly plowed fields bearing lush green crops.
The unique local artisans who migrated there, the unique flavored wines and roasted Xiang Pig, the continent’s unparalleled Blue Snow Candles, and the Xuan Crystal Cannons mounted on the Dragon Bone Wall, each of these shocked Qingfeng beyond comparison.
"Dad, are you saying that the Duke Mansion, perceived as decaying by Imperial City folks, has been silently amassing a fortune in the Southern Three Counties?" Had these words not co directly from Qingfeng, Qing Zizhu would have thought he was joking.
That’s why it isn’t difficult to understand why the Duke Mansion possessed such imnse wealth to secretly place a huge bet of two million.
It also explains why a seemingly inconspicuous Seventh-Order Dark Beast would hold a Summoning Holy Artifact.
Qing Zizhu didn’t expect that he had fallen for the Duke Mansion’s trick, feeling quite unwilling in his heart and pondering how to seek revenge.
"Moreover, I learned that at the ti in Five Saints Town, that young lord from the Duke Mansion had ford a small rcenary team with your mother, Chi Xi. Recently, soon after Chi Xi returned, the Duke Mansion had a conflict with Yanyue Chamber of Comrce, which might also be partly due to your mother," Qingfeng, an old rchant, with depths imasurable compared to the inexperienced Qing Zizhu, speculated slightly and ford a rough idea.
"You wretch," Qing Zizhu snorted coldly, "Father, are we really going to let Duke Mansion trample over us like this?"
"Hmph, in your dreams. Although the Southern Three Counties have begun to gradually prosper, they are still far from the Emperor’s reach. It would take so ti for Duke Mansion to directly flourish using the Southern Three Counties. However, I’ve heard that Shang Kingdom has been unstable recently, their forr Prince suddenly returned to Shang Kingdom causing a political upheaval. That lad is ambitious, and if the coup succeeds, the Southern Three Counties will probably beco unstable," Qingfeng, old and scheming, had already learned so insider information about Shang Kingdom.
Shang Kingdom is small and weak, and if this is indeed a change of dynasty, it will inevitably seek expansion.
Having such a wealthy neighbor, if Prince Fa succeeds in seizing power, he will surely target the Southern Three Counties.
Moreover, that young lord of Duke Mansion is also unruly, spending only a short ti in Imperial City before offending the Ji Family of the Ministry of Revenue and their Yanyue Chamber of Comrce. With too much sharpness cos easy demise.
"You brat, just play nice, go apologize to your mother and pretend to make ands. This ti, since our shop did not make a move, Duke Mansion must be feeling sore. You should gift several of our properties in Linlan Street to Duke Mansion as a goodwill gesture to handle relations on the surface first. After they have spent a lot of effort and built up shops on Linlan Street, then hire local thugs to extort and blackmail them, letting them lose everything," Qingfeng touched his mustache, his face full of deep sches.
Upon hearing this, Qing Zizhu’s heart blossod with rage.
It was already impossible to make ands with Duke Mansion.
Hearing that Ji Yun also wants to deal with Duke Mansion, with the two evil young lords teaming up, they were not worried about Duke Mansion not collapsing.
Qing Zizhu thought secretly, he indeed wanted to see how long Duke Mansion could stay proud under their pincer attack.
Qing Zizhu’s sudden compromise, along with the sincerity shown by the Yanyue Chamber of Comrce, led the situation to deviate far from Yue Jinghua’s expectations.
Not only did Qing Residence repay the debt, but Qing Zizhu personally visited to apologize, and even kowtowed three tis to Chi Xi asking to take Chi Xi back to Qing Residence, and also brought out more than ten storefronts in Linlan Street as a form of apology and gratitude, thanking Yue Jinghua for taking care of Chi Xi during this ti.
Chi Xi urged Yue Jinghua to accept those shops, but she did not agree to Qing Zizhu’s request to return to Qing Residence.
"Zizhu calling ’Mother’ again made really happy, but returning to Qing Residence, let’s never ntion that again." After recognizing her child, Chi Xi seed to have grown ten years younger overnight, her entire being bursting with vitality, "I’ve also realized, I am Chi Xi, only when I am a rcenary do I truly feel alive. How could competing with won in a vast mansion compare to the freedom of being a rcenary in the open skies?"
Although Yue Jinghua was skeptical about the motives of the Yanyue Chamber of Comrce and this father and son, considering Chi Xi and those shops on Linlan Street, Yue Jinghua decided to temporarily set aside the conflict with the Yanyue Chamber of Comrce.
One day, Yue Jinghua received a ssage from Shalman, saying Yue Minzhi would wake up tonight.
Seven days and nights have passed, and according to Cheng Ying, Yue Minzhi’s poisoning situation was no longer a major issue, as long as the last acupuncture session was done tonight, he would be able to wake up safely.
Upon receiving the news, Yue Jinghua took advantage of the cultivators in Dragon Cave being unattentive and secretly left, rushing to the Imperial Hospital, it was ti to switch identities with her brother.
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