Dawn broke!
Streaks of golden light, like needles and threads, spread across the land. The outlines of the city walls in Baojiao County appeared as if draped in a layer of soft yellow chiffon.
The bluestone slabs of North Street were bright, sparkling with hints of gold amid the red.
A night of bloodshed had ended.
In the daylight, the outco revealed itself, undoubtedly sending shockwaves through the great and small powers within Baojiao County, including the sects and guilds.
「Inside Tongwen House.」
Jiang Shaoyou stood before the bookshelf and threw a hard punch into the air, his excitent palpable, "Hey, dicine King Hall is truly rising to power! Eliminating Firewood Iron Shop entirely overnight and even executing Thirteen Young Master Xie Qingfeng. It’s utterly exhilarating."
Tongwen House had a comrcial alliance with dicine King Hall within the city, so they naturally shared in the exultation upon hearing this news. This could be seen from the fact that Jiang Shaoyou had been sent to learn the Spirit Monkey Breathing Technique at dicine King Hall.
Within Baojiao County, the various guilds seed a chaotic mix, but in reality, they were all centered around three great interest circles established by the dominant guilds. Especially during the riverside eting, it was clear that Jiang Mohua and his son, Jiang Shaoyou, openly supported dicine King Hall.
This was much like the relationships between feudal states: three or five major states would dominate, setting the rules for all, while smaller states had to follow these rules and rely on their respective suzerains.
Without a doubt, Tongwen House, being neither a large nor small power, lacked the strength and qualifications to dominate the city on its own. Thus, it naturally chose to align with one of the giant powers to beco part of its interest group.
So rejoiced, while others worried.
With the destruction of Firewood Iron Shop, its subordinate Row Gang forces now found themselves without the support of a suzerain power. It was only normal that they were next to be swallowed up en masse by dicine King Hall, which would take control of their territories and profit margins.
The quicker-minded smaller guilds had already, upon receiving the news early in the morning, discreetly sent friendly terms of allegiance to dicine King Hall.
anwhile, powers like Twin Rivers Guild, which hadn’t openly sided with any major guild force and could be considered part of the ’Neutral Faction’, were now finding themselves in hot water.
「Within Twin Rivers Guild.」
Huang Muxia was the Sect Leader of the Interdiary guild. During the tripartite stand-off, he leveraged the guild’s position to facilitate monetary transactions, establish business contacts, and pave the way for comrce. This allowed him to deftly navigate between the major powers, seizing opportunities and maintaining neutrality under the shadow of the three dominant guilds.
They were much like a buffer zone. The Interdiary guild played a key role as a ’business hub.’ Whichever power first invaded and seized control of Twin Rivers Guild would undoubtedly throttle the lifelines of the other two major powers.
But now, Firewood Iron Shop had been destroyed. The Fish and Dragon Association had seed to vanish without a trace in just a few days, and the whole situation in Baojiao County now leaned entirely towards dicine King Hall’s dominance. For Twin Rivers Guild to maintain the sa level of neutrality as before, the natural foundation was now gone.
The elders of Twin Rivers Guild had gathered, all trying to persuade Huang Muxia.
"Sect Leader, at this juncture, we think you should first send a letter of homage to dicine King Hall," one of them urged. "Whether or not to join dicine King Hall’s interest group is a separate discussion, but at the very least, we must show our stance. Otherwise... we fear we won’t be able to sleep soundly.
"With Firewood Iron Shop eliminated and the Fish and Dragon Association lying low, if dicine King Hall doesn’t seize the opportunity to strike down the Fish and Dragon Association next, then they will definitely aim to take control of our Interdiary guild, this key business nexus."
"I have indeed considered this matter, but..." Huang Muxia stopped pacing, stood his ground, and turned to the gathered clan elders and guild mbers, speaking with a heavy tone, "The problem is, the one who is now set to dominate is not the Fish and Dragon Association, nor Firewood Iron Shop, but dicine King Hall!"
All the clan elders before him fell into a somber silence. They could subtly grasp the Sect Leader’s implied aning.
Their Twin Rivers Guild had the greatest conflict with dicine King Hall. This issue, after all, could be traced back to the matter of Huang Gun’s murder.
Twin Rivers Guild operated in the Interdiary guild sector, acting as a diator. It not only introduced business ventures to other forces but also recomnded ’professional shopkeepers,’ ’professional stewards,’ and even ’professional shop assistants.’ These professionally trained individuals, though lacking authority to interfere in the core secrets of other guilds, possessed seasoned managent abilities.
In this world of guilds and power struggles, life is fundantally about the art of managing people. Compared to various other skills and talents, the art of leading others is truly the most profound. Many found livelihoods through Twin Rivers Guild’s connections, supporting their families, and providing these professionals had beco a significant source of inco for the guild.
Back then, Second Shopkeeper Zhang Yuanhai of dicine King Hall was the Owner’s envoy, sent from Prefecture City to the local branch in Apricot Grove. He found himself isolated and without support. Therefore, relying on his family’s connections in Prefecture City, he sent word to the Twin Rivers Guild there. The Prefecture City guild then handed the business over to Huang Muxia in the county. Facing Zhang Yuanying’s request, Huang Muxia took on the business. He reasoned that since it was their line of business, there was no reason to decline, especially with the connections to the Prefecture City guild. Besides, among the three major trades in Baojiao County, dicine King Hall wasn’t the only power hiring ’professional stewards’ from his Twin Rivers Guild.
Reviews
All reviews (0)