Peace Province, Yue Province, Yu Province—cries of misery filled the land!
Of course, those wailing to heaven and earth were the relatives of official families. As for the civil and military officials themselves, they had no time to weep. Instead, they prepared lavish gifts—gifts weightier even than the tributes they offered the Emperor during festivals—and swarmed like green-headed flies that had caught the scent of blood before Lin Qi's temporary residence, trembling as they awaited his audience.
The common people of the three provinces had no idea what upheaval had befallen their parental officials. Such matters had little to do with them to begin with. But for those officials, being stripped of their posts by Lin Qi concerned the glory and wealth of their descendants for generations to come!
At this moment, they hated Sea Stabilizing King Ying Yi to the bone! If not for his insistence on giving Lin Qi a show of force, how could they possibly have failed to welcome Lin Qi and Princess Qingli? But there was no medicine for regret. Faced with the immense pressure exerted jointly by Lin Qi and Princess Qingli, they could only beg Lin Qi for forgiveness.
Lin Qi's temporary residence was an estate belonging to Xian Qianshan, the wealthiest merchant in Peace Province. Covering nearly a thousand mu, this garden estate was a brand-new residence that Xian Qianshan had just completed as a place for his elderly mother to spend her final years. Hearing that Lin Qi had arrived—and knowing Lin Qi had yet to decide where his future prince's residence would be, nor did he have a place to stay—he immediately presented the estate as an offering.
The vast estate was thick with towering trees, every one of them a millennium-old ancient tree. Xian Qianshan had spent enormous sums