Tapping the Noble Families for Everything They're Worth (Part 2) [Monthly Tickets, Please]

"Pfft—cough, cough, cough! That rumor's real?"

After Wu Xian and Shen Tang had provisionally divided the spoils and carved up their respective territories, he couldn't wait to head back to Tianhai and take charge of the situation. The Tianhai Noble Family's one maneuver after another had made him keenly aware that they were gradually slipping out of his control.

He still had no clear idea how much control he had lost.

Afraid the situation would bolt like a runaway horse, he had to return and set things in order as soon as possible.

Wu Xian kept this plan to himself, not daring to tell anyone just yet. The army's return journey seemed leisurely enough, but every day weighed on him like a torment. Halfway there, he received an utterly absurd rumor, and his composure crumbled in an instant.

After coughing for a long while, he finally recovered enough to glare with eyes as round as copper bells. "Is this news true?"

His trusted messenger nodded firmly. "The information is reliable."

Wu Xian rubbed his throbbing temples.

He considered how this would affect him.

"...Such an absurd, utterly unrealistic rumor—where did it even come from? That it spread is one thing, but people actually believed it?" The gossip had even reached the noble families centered around Tianhai. Wu Xian suddenly felt more exhausted than ever. The circle of noble families hadn't been this stupid twenty or thirty years ago. How had they all turned brainless in the blink of an eye?

The trusted messenger said, "It dates back to the Dragon Slaying Bureau."

Wu Xian was taken aback. "Which one?"

The trusted messenger was exceptionally competent and had already gotten to the bottom of everything. "The rumor originated with Tao Yan—Tao Shenyu, the man who clashed with Lord Shen in public