The news that the Regent King intended to issue an edict granting Black Wind Stronghold Master Jiang Dali a title spread through the Sacred Dynasty like a whirlwind, reaching the ears of every major power almost immediately.
Within the He family estate, grand as the imperial palaces of certain Vassal States, the main hall known as the Hall of Devotion held an enormous dining table laden with dozens of delicacies from land and sea. Yet only four people sat around it, while two rows of people stood behind them—the He family's advisers and subordinates, as well as the servants attending them.
The four seated were naturally all members of the household. In the seat of highest honor sat the He family patriarch, He Jin. Beside him sat the He family's eldest daughter, He Lingxu, second daughter He Hongzhi, and third daughter He Lingyue.
As everyone knew, although He Jin was known as Golden Invincible, with extraordinary methods and immense wealth, he had no sons—only three daughters.
He Jin was also an especially unusual man. Though he knew the He family's vast estate had no male heir to inherit it, he had never sought to take concubines and sire sons. He had even always allowed his three daughters to take part in daily discussions of family affairs, as though he intended to train them to succeed him in the future.
Such broad-mindedness would ordinarily be considered a virtue worthy of everyone's admiration. But compared with the He family's enormous fortune, it could no longer be described as mere open-mindedness. In the eyes of many, it was ruinous behavior, a disregard for the He family's thousand-year legacy.
Yet He Jin was such a shrewd businessman that he should not have made such a losing deal. Few could guess his true intentions. Of