Seven days.
Seven whole days.
Officials from all over Shalin had waited in Blackwater City for seven days, in a state akin to house arrest, anxiously awaiting the arrival of their new lord, Richard.
During those seven days, they had no idea what Richard had investigated throughout Shalin. They did not even know whether Richard had begun investigating before that—after all, when the carriage from Xia Ya came to a drifting stop, the one who stepped out was the eccentric Bi Bi, not Richard. Almost no one knew exactly when Richard had left the carriage and let Bi Bi drive alone. Perhaps the two of them had parted ways the moment they left Xia Ya.
But regardless, the day of the announcement had arrived. Seven days later, Richard formally arrived in Blackwater City and summoned all the officials to a meeting.
The officials had waited so long for this moment that their eyes were bloodshot and the bags beneath them swollen like eggs. The moment they received the notice, they hurried impatiently to the venue. They had assumed it would be a fairly ordinary oath-taking ceremony, where they would pledge loyalty to the new lord and discuss the taxes each jurisdiction would submit next. But when they arrived, they discovered that things did not seem so simple.
Seven days later, in a hall within the Blackwater City theater.
The place had been hastily cleared and arranged as a meeting venue. After Shalin's officials of every rank had taken their seats, Richard strode in and walked toward a wooden table on the stage.
The Shalin officials instinctively rose to their feet, glancing around from the corners of their eyes as they wondered whether they were supposed to salute the new lord or do something else. After all, they had never