Protect Our Patriarch

After performing two almost identical plays in a row, Chen Fangjie felt overwhelmed and bored.

On the other hand, Wang Mei seemed to enjoy it and became even more spirited. It seemed that she really liked this kind of life.

Wang Shouzhe could never have expected that Wang Mei, an ordinary family member, would start to pursue him.

With that matter settled.

Overall, Wang Shouzhe was quite satisfied with the completion of the second phase of the mission. Not only did he sell forty thousand dan of Chen grain at a high price, but he also planted a deadly seed in the hearts of Liu Yongzhou and Zhao Dingtian, serving as a preparation for the third plan.

Afterwards, according to the original plan, the Chen Clan in Donggang used two large merchant ships, which were specially unmarked. Wang Clan also transported the grain to Fenggu Farm in advance, using a large number of manpower to transport the grain to the large merchant ships overnight.

Although it seemed like a waste of manpower and resources to transport the grain back and forth, in such a special period, the more cautious they were, the safer it would be.

For a Xuanwu Clan that could be passed down through generations, the most important thing was not huge profits, but stability!

Achieving stability was not easy, but it ultimately came down to two main directions: the ability to avoid risks and the ability to resist risks.

If Wang Clan was not currently facing internal and external troubles, Wang Shouzhe would not want to confront the Liu Clan and Zhao Clan so quickly. He hoped to manage the overall situation, lay out a long-term plan, and ultimately crush his enemies with a strong momentum.

However, given the current situation, he could only find the best solution.

Time passed day by day.

On this day.

Wang Shouzhe practiced cultivation as usual. When he went to the martial arts field at the hour of the Rabbit, there was a hint of suppressed brilliance in his eyes, and his aura became sharper.

"Master, have you made a breakthrough?" Wang Gui, the servant boy, felt the powerful aura and exclaimed in surprise.

"I just broke through to the seventh level of Qi Refinement." Wang Shouzhe remained calm, but couldn't hide his joy. He had already reached the peak of the sixth level some time ago, and after consolidating and refining for a while, he felt a sense of enlightenment tonight. He directly swallowed a 【Nurturing Origin Pill】, and with a piece of spiritual stone in his hand, he made a breakthrough.

With his profound accumulation, resources, and luck, he successfully made the breakthrough.

From today onwards, Wang Shouzhe possessed the strength of the later stage of Qi Refinement at the age of eighteen!

In the entire Changning Wei, this was quite an impressive achievement. Looking back, even the Old Ancestor Long Yan only achieved such a feat at the age of eighteen, just half a year earlier than him.

After the breakthrough, both the quality and quantity of his True Qi, as well as his physical fitness, had significantly improved.

In the following days, he needed to cultivate diligently and familiarize himself with the new level of power as soon as possible. However, reaching the eighth level of Qi Refinement was not an easy task, nor could it be achieved in a short period of time.

In the martial arts field, Wang Shouzhe practiced Xuanwu combat skills, body techniques, swordsmanship, and string control. He could clearly feel that he had become much stronger than before. He didn't dare to say that he could defeat two of his previous selves, but he felt that he could barely defeat two ordinary sixth-level Qi Refinement cultivators. The premise was that they were ordinary...

After a period of cultivation, when the sun was scorching, and his whole body was sore, Wang Shouzhe finally went back to take a bath.

Then, in the side hall, he brewed a pot of Shanyang Xiaoling tea and calmed his mind before dealing with some miscellaneous matters.

"Master, these are the recent intelligence about the Liu Clan and Zhao Clan." Wang Gui presented some letters and information.

Wang Shouzhe browsed through the intelligence, and his brows gradually furrowed. When he reached the end, he slapped the table with a loud bang, his eyes filled with coldness. "The wolf clan is indeed the wolf clan. Even if they put on human skin, they can't hide their greed and cruelty."

Although Wang Shouzhe had anticipated that the Liu Clan and Zhao Clan would not be gentle in their implementation of the annexation strategy, he didn't expect their methods to be so vicious and greedy.

Take the Liu Clan for example. They had about two thousand households under their influence, and the total amount of arable land reached around thirty to forty thousand mu. In this insect disaster, these self-cultivating farmers suffered severe damage, and many poorly managed families had no grain left after paying the grain tribute.

But among these farmers, there were also many middle-class and even wealthy farmers.

They had abundant resources and were accustomed to hoarding grain. Therefore, although the self-cultivating farmers in this area still lacked grain overall, they could borrow from each other and endure the hardships to barely survive the disaster.

However, when the Liu Clan intervened, they first arrested a group of middle-class farmers who had some hoarded grain. It was because they dared to lend grain to others privately and even made a contract to repay twice the amount of grain after the autumn harvest.

In the end, these middle-class farmers had to contribute a part of their land to obtain the Liu Clan's "understanding".

That was not all. Some wealthy households voluntarily helped the poor families in the village, without charging any interest.

This undoubtedly infringed on the fundamental interests of the Liu Clan. They secretly recruited some unruly and ruffian-like vagrants among the scattered cultivators, who went to the homes of those charitable wealthy households every day, demanding "relief" and causing those wealthy households to retreat for self-preservation.

There was also one wealthy household with a strong backbone who continued to secretly help others. As a result, a group of scattered cultivators sneaked into their house at night, and all the dozen or so members of the family were killed.

The goal of the Liu Clan was only one: to make those families that had run out of grain mortgage their land in exchange for their Chen grain. According to the intelligence, although not many self-cultivating farmers had reached this point so far, as time went on, the "famine" caused by various factors would become more and more severe, and some people would eventually be unable to endure it and exchange their land for the "skyrocketing" price of Chen grain.

In this insect disaster, in order to avoid a large number of refugees causing various consequences, it was usually necessary to block various regions, making it difficult for commoners to move around. This also brought various conveniences to the Liu Clan's plan.

The Liu Clan only wanted "a little", which was to annex one-tenth of the land in their jurisdiction. With more ruthless means, they would definitely achieve this in two months.

Of course, as an aristocratic family, the Liu Clan would not openly violate the laws of Daqian.

They would use the method of "Dantai Heyu" to trade with the Liu Clan, known as Top Gold mortgage lending, to ensure that no criminal charges would be recorded in the official documents.

This was what they called having policies at the top and countermeasures at the bottom. Especially for rural aristocratic families, they were like local emperors to the commoners. If they didn't care about their reputation, they could do whatever they wanted.

At this moment, Wang Shouzhe regretted selling the Chen grain to the Liu Clan and Zhao Clan.

But this thought only flashed through his mind. Even if he didn't take action, the Liu Clan and Zhao Clan would still obtain grain from other places and carry out the same plan. It would be equivalent to supporting their unscrupulous friends and allowing the situation to get out of control.

"The people's grievances have arisen. Notify Wang Zhong to set up a dragnet and start the sniper plan. At the same time, find out the whereabouts of the group of scattered cultivators who wiped out a whole family." Wang Shouzhe's face turned gloomy as he wrote a secret order to be sent out by his subordinates.

Although delaying it would accumulate more grievances, it would be more advantageous for Wang Clan's future plans to wait until the grievances reached their peak before taking action. However, at the same time, it would likely cause more tragedies for ordinary families.

After dealing with this matter, Wang Shouzhe drank several cups of Yangshan Xiaoling tea to calm his emotions.

"Master, don't forget that the Second Young Master of the Liu Clan will come to visit today." Wang Gui, observing his words and expressions, reminded him cautiously.

The Second Young Master of the Liu Clan?

With this reminder, Wang Shouzhe remembered the letter he received from the Liu Clan a few days ago, saying that the second son of the Liu Clan's Clan Leader, Liu Yuanrui, was scheduled to arrive at the Dingpu Ferry at noon today to visit the Wang Clan.

Wang Shouzhe and Liu Ruolan, the daughter of the Liu Clan, were already engaged. According to etiquette, it was the responsibility of Wang Clan to send appropriate personnel to welcome the guests. This kind of reception task was usually assigned to the Clan Leader's eldest son.

However, Wang Shouzhe had not yet married, and Liu Yuanrui would be his future brother-in-law, so he had to personally go to welcome him.

Preparing a carriage and some fruits, he brought along two family members.

The group headed towards the Dingpu Ferry, passing by the outskirts of Zhuxi Lake.

At this time, the surroundings of Zhuxi Lake had changed. More than a hundred young and strong members of the Wang Clan's tenant farmers were gathered here, clearing the reeds outside Zhuxi Lake, leveling the land, and building greenhouses.

The one in charge of this work was Wang Shounuo, the third son of the Shou Generation. The young man who had tanned skin and was tall and strong was originally organizing the young and strong to unload some timber and stones. When he saw Wang Shouzhe's carriage from a distance, he greeted him and continued working.

The construction of these sheds and other facilities served the next plan. Seeing the third son busy, Wang Shouzhe naturally didn't disturb him.

The carriage continued to sway and finally arrived at the Dingpu Ferry.

At this ferry, Wang Clan also had some shops and ferry businesses. However, they were mostly entrusted to the management of the Wang Clan's collateral branches and involved mostly laborious tasks with little profit.

Wang Shouzhe went straight to the deep-water pier and waited for less than a quarter of an hour before a ferry arrived and docked. Without hesitation, Liu Yuanrui and his entourage were the first to disembark from the ferry.

From a distance, Wang Shouzhe greeted him with a smiling face, "Welcome, Young Master Yuanrui. I apologize for not going out to meet you earlier."

Liu Yuanrui was not yet sixteen years old this year. Although his face looked a bit young, under the contrast of his vigorous clothing, he still exuded the charm of a handsome young man.

He also smiled and walked forward, shaking his hand in a greeting, "I have seen Brother Shouzhe. I am sorry for the impoliteness of my visit."

He was elegant and had a temperament that made people feel comfortable.

As descendants of the Xuanwu Clan, especially the direct line, they had received elite education since childhood, and their behavior and manners were strictly regulated. It was extremely rare to see those family members who caused trouble everywhere, were full of hostility, and often provoked others. At least in public, they would show a graceful and refined demeanor.

While they were exchanging pleasantries.

A lively voice of a girl came from behind Liu Yuanrui, "Brother-in-law, you are even more handsome than I imagined."

Brother-in-law?

...

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