Just as Liu Biao had said, Huang Zu and the others truly had no way to wipe out the entire family. Lady Cai returned home with Cai Mao, her mood complicated. Her second son, Liu Cong, who had originally remained by Liu Biao's side, had been sent to his older brother Liu Qi when Liu Biao began harboring those thoughts.
Liu Qi was currently serving as Prefect of Changsha. The moment he discovered that something had changed in Jingzhou, he took his younger brother and headed north through the night to Yueyang, the newly built city beside Dongting Lake.
Three years ago, the Cui Clan of Qinghe in Hebei had moved here. In those three years, a small new city had risen from the ground. The Cui Clan of Qinghe had only relocated after Yuan Shao's defeat, during Liu Bei's administration.
Moreover, they had managed to build a small city within three years, and whether in planning or design, it was far more advanced than all of Jingzhou. So, although the Cui Family's explanation—that they had sold all their industries in the northern lands to obtain the necessary resources—seemed perfectly reasonable on the surface,
no fool would believe there had been no support from the north.
After all, looking across the many clans in the northern lands, how many had managed to remain completely intact in Wang Xuan's hands?
Yet the Jingzhou clans acted as if they could not see it. No one had ever made things difficult for the Cui Family. Instead, their overt and covert interactions had increased considerably. After all, if something happened—if something really did happen—the Cui Family might well be a way out. As luck would have it, the Cui Clan of Boling under Sun Ce's rule in Yuzhang Commandery was also thriving, wasn't it?