Face

When it comes to the royal family of Li Country, most people know about the King's Liqiu Palace, the Crown Prince's East Palace, the Zongzheng Temple, and the residences of the Ten Princes of the East City. But in fact, in a corner of the Imperial City, behind the East Palace, there is a hidden Baisun Yuan.

This place collects the children of the king, sometimes the crown prince, and his concubines who have no official status. According to the patriarchal system, these are all illegitimate children without the right to inherit the throne, but they are still the legitimate bloodline of the king. Moreover, in the extreme case of the sudden death of a legitimate grandson of a powerful clan, the Imperial Clan Court would arrange for a noble family to adopt the mother of these illegitimate princes as a foster daughter, thus selecting some puppet crown princes to succeed to the throne and ensuring that the position of king continues in the legitimate bloodline.

Of course, these illegitimate grandsons could never leave the Baisun Yuan for their entire lives, and were only kept in captivity for one generation. They were merely a safety net and puppets for continuing the imperial line. In most cases, after the legitimate heirs with the support of maternal relatives ascended the throne, the illegitimate sons in the Baisun Yuan would be quietly disposed of to prevent the bloodline of the imperial family from flowing out and causing trouble.

Therefore, although the Li Country has experienced various upheavals and calamities, such as rebellions by vassal kings, warlord uprisings, foreign invasions, and demonic uprisings, even losing the Jingji, the bloodline of the Li Country's ruler has been passed down to this day thanks to this emergency system, and it is still largely intact. The princes and grandsons who can succeed to the throne, no matter how they are born, all come from the direct lineage of the Oldest One Immortal Venerable Ziwei Yuan and the Empress Nangong.

Therefore, even though the Nangong Family has not intermarried with the royal family of Li Country for a long time, due to this bloodline and patriarchal relationship, the Nangong has not completely broken ties with the royal family of Li Country. In name, he is still the immortal army guarding the vassal state and cannot get rid of the legal constraints of being a subject.

Although it might not be Qingyue's first time, it was indeed Li Fan's first time stepping into the Baisun Yuan, hidden in the shadows of the Imperial City.

It really was just a small courtyard, surrounded by high walls. When you looked up, all you could see were the arrow towers on top of the green walls and the Vermilion Bird King's flag of the Li Country.

It's alright now; there aren't many people in the courtyard, just a few wet nurses and old eunuchs taking care of the three infants in swaddling clothes.

These three are all offspring of Li You, no, the former king Li Heng. They are illegitimate sons born from his affairs with maids and dancers during his debauchery. If it were some kings who had reigned longer, kept alive by elixirs, or crown princes who had lived for sixty years, this place would truly be overflowing with people. After all, there is a reason why it is called the Baisun Yuan.

The upcoming enthronement ceremony will be quite simple. The princes and younger brothers of the feudal lords, chosen by the royal family, will undergo a secret ritual and drink the royal blood of these illegitimate sons. Of course, it won't be that bloody and barbaric; it will probably just involve stabbing someone in the center of their finger and having them drink a small dish of the blood along with some wine.

Then the Zongzheng Temple would exchange the royal registers held by both sides, and the selected prince of the rightful age would be adopted into Li Heng's lineage in the genealogy, continuing the royal line and becoming a new king and two princes of the new generation of the Li Country.

Of course, if they were older, these 'illegitimate' children would definitely be strangled. In the past, during the most bloody and intense era of struggle among the imperial lineage, even these three infants would not have survived. However, the Li Country family of Li Kingdom had been sidelined for a long time, so there was no need for such bloodshed among the royal family members. In the future, these three children would be sent to the residences of other princes to be raised as true illegitimate children, and their names would be recorded in the records of the Imperial Clan Court.

Perhaps, if they're exceptionally lucky, one of their descendants might somehow find their way back and inherit the rightful lineage.

Of course, whether this was actually the case or whether this was the answer given because Li Fan personally asked, remains unknown.

Meanwhile, the previous dynasty was still decorating with lanterns and making grand preparations for the coronation ceremony of the new emperor, while the prime ministers and pillars of state in purple robes had all come to this small corner to line up and squat.

After all, these nobles of Li Country might not know how many people starved to death every day at the foot of the high walls of the Imperial City, but they were well aware that the Li Country Kingdom's royal family had produced a 'Li family patriarch' who had hanged and brutally killed the gods of Nangong and Hengshan.

Suddenly, an old eunuch with eyebrows as long as willow catkins reaching his cheeks leaped over from the other side of the green wall like a frog. Then, to Li Fan's bewildered gaze, he stretched out his hands, prostrated himself on the ground, and crawled like a snail to Li Fan's feet.

"Your Majesty~~~"

Li Fan squinted and glanced at the other person out of the corner of his eye, and the hairs on his neck immediately stood on end.

Damn it, when did this old bastard approach silently from the other side of the wall?! No! No! This guy is actually a Divine Transformation?!

The purple-robed eunuch, who was also kneeling outside the Baisun Yuan with his backside sticking out, trembled upon seeing this, breaking out in a cold sweat. He forced himself to crawl in, forcing a smile, and kowtowed as he spoke.

"Guan Nei Hou Guannei, please forgive me, the Dachangqiu is old and can no longer see clearly!"

Ancestor! This man is from the family of the Guangling Heir. He is currently the Guan Nei Hou and the Mountain Lord, not the King.

"Guards, please escort the Ancestor back to rest."

"Not the King?"

The old eunuch with long eyebrows also raised his head, looking completely bewildered, and obediently let the two young eunuchs help him away.

Old? How many years would a Grand Eunuch at the Transformation Stage have to live to look this old?

Li Fan frowned and looked at it for a while before confirming that this was probably not a show of force from the Liqiu Palace.

This old fellow's spiritual consciousness was weak, and his divine light was dim. It was unclear whether his primordial spirit had been shattered during his tribulation. He looked dazed and confused, and did indeed resemble someone with Parkinson's disease.

However, this guy's physical body is truly quite strong. His hands are like jade carvings, gleaming with a faint light. Moreover, he didn't use external elixirs; he reached the Nascent Divine Transformation Realm purely through martial arts cultivation! Even if his brain is completely rusted away, a slap from him would still kill him...

Li Fan remained outwardly calm, but in reality, a layer of cold sweat covered his back. Only after the old man was helped away did he look at the purple-robed eunuch kneeling at his feet, and further back in the hall, at the seventeen or eighteen Nascent Soul Realm dignitaries kneeling in a huddle.

And who are you?

The purple-robed eunuch, sweating profusely, said with a fawning smile, "I am Qiu Liang, the current head eunuch of the Imperial Household Department! I have long heard of your great name, Guan Nei Hou of Honglu Shaoqing Court of State Ceremonies! I only regret that my fortune is too shallow to wait for your summons!"

"It's rare that Your Excellency has some free time today, so you've come home to sit for a while. This servant has gathered all the children and grandchildren to pay their respects to you!"

"Greetings, Lord Marquis!"

Then the group of high-ranking officials in purple robes who had probably walked out—generals and nobles alike—actually kowtowed to Li Fan with fawning smiles, as if they were his children and servants.

The Honglu Shaoqing... Oh, you mean Wang Lang? Not counting the one with Parkinson's from earlier, this Eunuch Qiu is probably a descendant of that Eunuch Wang, the leader of the palace eunuchs and a pack of wolves in the western city...

Li Fan glanced at the group. Apart from Eunuch Qiu and two generals who appeared to be martial arts experts, most of the others were powerful figures who had used Divine Infant Pill and the Divine Ranking to boost their cultivation to the Nascent Soul Realm, the kind of people he could easily kill.

However, in the Liqiu Palace, there are probably more than one patriarch like the Dachangqiu from earlier. Although they are obviously too old to be of any use, they can still intimidate people from time to time.

"Alright, I'll get straight to the point. I gathered you all here for no other reason than to hear that you've made quite a bit of money building houses these past few years, right? Could you share some with me?"

Li Fan smiled and rubbed his hands together at them.

"Yes! Yes! It's all ready for you! Quickly! Bring it on!"

Qiu Liang smiled so hard his eyes narrowed, and he bent over and moved aside to make room. Then the eunuchs filed in and placed four trays in front of Li Fan.

The eunuch Qiu, as if presenting a treasure, unveiled the silk on the tray and introduced each item one by one.

"These are the three swords of the Ancient Immortal Palace emperor, one of which is called 'Xiaolian.' During the day, it is seen as a shadow but not as light; at night, it is seen as light but not as form. When it touches something, it passes by swiftly and immediately closes in, striking with lightning speed without drawing blood..."

Why is it flying sword again... Oh, it's a ceremonial sword worn by ancient emperors as part of their robes. It's the kind of sword that's over four feet long, so long that if an assassin tries to kill you, you can't even draw it.

Of course, Li Fan could also tell that this sword was genuine. He didn't know if the Sword Sovereign was severely injured and shattered, or if it was sealed away; his Divine Sense couldn't detect it. But in any case, it was clearly a high-quality item for Divine Transformation. However, he really had too many swords in his hands...

Seeing that Li Fan merely curled his lip and showed no interest in such a legendary and precious weapon, Qiu Liang broke out in a cold sweat!

No, wait a minute! Aren't you the one who loves using swords the most??

Despite failing to flatter Li Fan on the first attempt, the eunuch gritted his teeth and remained composed. He quickly uncovered another tray, revealing an ancient zither, and while introducing it, he carefully observed Li Fan's expression.

"This zither Nanfeng, and it is eight feet six inches long. It was broken like a snake's belly. The so-called seven strings are in accordance with the seven stars. The large string represents the ruler, and the small string represents the minister. In ancient times, King Wen and King Wu of the Ancient Immortal Palace added two strings to symbolize the harmony between ruler and minister..."

Li Fan showed some interest. These people were quite interesting, actually very generous. They were handing out treasures at the Divine Transformation stage right off the bat. This zither even had a spirit within it—was it called the Qinjun? Probably third rank...wait, three, five, seven...

Seeing that Li Fan seemed interested, Qiu Liang breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile,

"This zither has another wondrous feature: just by plucking a single string, one can summon the Qinjun to appear and accompany it. In this game, there are seven Qinjun in disguise! Moreover, their incarnations are all modeled after the most renowned beauties of all time, those who could topple kingdoms throughout history! Truly, beauties are paired with heroes..."

Holy crap! My family only has three members and we're already fighting on the front lines every day! If you add seven more, who the hell can handle that?!

Li Fan immediately rolled his eyes and waved his hand to indicate that he had passed.

Huh, huh??? You don't even like this???

Qiu Liang was drenched in sweat and could only wipe away the cold sweat.

"This, this is a meteorite from the heavens! A divine weapon from beyond the realm! It's the very Auspicious Sign that recently fell into the Li Country! As the saying goes, a divine mandate descends, and destiny returns to its source..."

Li Fan rolled his eyes, picked up the piece of meteorite iron, and weighed it in his hand. "This weight is not bad. I can take it back and make a pot. I'll take it, thanks."

"Ah, no, but this is Auspicious Sign, ah, it is..."

This divine weapon, which took countless lives to retrieve, is now just a pot...

Qiu Liang was numb. He hesitated for a long time, wanting to speak but holding back, before finally lifting the last plate.

This is a Golden Bowl, and next to it is a Golden Chopsticks; they are actually Divine Transformation stage!

Li Fan looked at the bowl and chopsticks with curiosity. "What? Even the emperor needs Golden Bowl to eat?"

Qiu Liang knew that Li Fan had never seen this before, so he picked up the Golden Chopsticks as a demonstration and tapped the bowl. Then, with a clattering sound, countless Divine Astral Coin poured out.

Li Fan glanced at the arrangement of the incantations on the bowl when the spell took effect and immediately understood that it was a storage magic item similar to Storage Jade and Pixiu, with the other end probably connected to Xiao Jin in some dragon vein.

Qiu Liang smiled obsequiously, "These gold and silver items are our tribute to the Marquis, amounting to approximately 150 million strings of cash."

So Li Fan looked at the bowl, then expressionlessly turned to the eunuch, "... How much did you say?"

Qiu Liang froze for a moment when Li Fan suddenly glared at him, and then someone outside took the opportunity to call out.

"That's 14,820,000 Divine Astral Coin! That's four years' worth of the Ministry of Revenue's annual revenue! My Lord! It's all earned by your humble servant!"

Li Fan then turned his head to stare at the Golden Bowl, pointed at it, and said, "Who are you! Come out and answer!"

Then, from the crowd behind, an old man with a goatee, dressed in purple silk, and with a jade hook and gold fish pouch at his waist, emerged, knelt on the ground, and bowed three times, saying, "Li Hongxian, Imperial Censor of Li Country, pays respects to the Guan Nei Hou."

Li Fan turned his head and stared at him.

Qiu Liang leaned closer and whispered, "It was Doctor Li who insisted on coming along. If you don't want to see him..."

Li Fan waved his hand, "Come out and talk."

So Qiu Liang immediately shrank into a corner and pretended to be dead, while Li Hongxian immediately crawled over and kowtowed, smiling obsequiously.

"In response to your question, Lord Marquis, the Li Country is now surrounded by powerful enemies on all sides. As subjects of the Li Country, we are deeply indebted to the Emperor. How can we not share the Emperor's burdens and serve the court?"

Therefore, all of you gentlemen have generously donated your family wealth to support the affairs of the state. I have been entrusted with the trust of my colleagues to manage and allocate these funds. I have thus fulfilled my mission, contributing my modest efforts to the nation's strategy and the mobilization of resources across the land..."

So this guy started to boast, first praising the various powerful officials and ministers of the Li Country who were present. In order to share the burden of the country and serve General of the South, they all generously donated their vast wealth to support the national defense project and the development and construction of Changsi City, so as to alleviate the country's urgent needs.

Then he went on to describe how hard he had worked, how much he had toiled, and how he had traded so skillfully that he could make a copper coin count as two and two copper coins as four. Finally, thanks to his exceptional talent, the Li Country's treasury was full and its army was well-equipped after a few years. He had also completed various construction projects and had not failed the trust and entrustment of the court.

Along with all this gold and silver, it's all thanks to everyone's faith in the Li family's ancestor, Qingyue, and their investment in you. Spend it as you please; buy pills if you want, forge swords if you want. If you need more money, just tell your family; your elders care about you! kiss

Well, although the surrounding dignitaries weren't as eloquent as the Imperial Censor, their fawning nods and expressions of agreement suggested that if they weren't afraid Li Fan would draw his sword, they would have practically pounced on him and groveled before him.

Li Fan didn't interrupt him, but stared expressionlessly at the Golden Bowl. Only after Li Hongxian finished speaking did he ask a question indifferently.

"I heard that many people in Changsi City have gone bankrupt. Is that alright?"

Li Hongxian's eyes darted around, and he immediately fell silent, while Qiu Liang hurriedly knelt down and cried.

"It's all the fault of us subordinates. I've also heard that some of them have gone too far. I will immediately arrange for the Three Departments to take charge and thoroughly investigate those corrupt officials who have embezzled and abused their power!"

Li Hongxian glanced at everyone's expressions, his eyes darted around, and then he spoke again.

"My lord is understanding, but with war looming, it's uncertain when Changsi City will be engulfed in flames. It wouldn't be surprising if the properties in Changsi City were to disappear at any time. The construction of the palace is merely to stabilize the people's hearts and demonstrate to the world the strength of our Li Country!"

But speaking frankly, if something were to happen, the officials in the court have already prepared their abodes in Ink Bamboo Mountain, ready to take refuge at any time. What would become of the common people in the city, who are unable to relocate from their ancestral homes?

Therefore, I have taken the liberty of thinking of some drastic measures to push forward the policy of developing the South Border and relocate the population to the south for development. Sometimes I am a bit too decisive, but this is really a last resort!

Moreover, the imperial court gave each household 100 strings of cash as a property purchase fee. Although this amount is not much, now that 200,000 households have been relocated from the capital and surrounding areas, the total expenditure is 20 million strings of cash. In addition, much of the expenditure is calculated in kind, such as cattle, livestock, carts and boats, which need to be allocated from the border defense treasury. Furthermore, the border defense must be given priority, which is a difficult task for the Ministry of Revenue!

Perhaps some local governments are short-handed, resulting in some goods not being distributed or being in short supply, which inevitably causes public resentment. But since Your Excellency has inquired, we will certainly arrange to make up for it! Please just give me some time and understand the difficulties we face!

"Yes, yes, it's tough, it's tough~~" Qiu Liang nodded repeatedly.

Good grief, it turns out that Ink Bamboo Mountain made you do all of this.

Li Fan looked at the bowl again.

Li Hongxian understood Li Fan's meaning and explained, "These have nothing to do with the imperial court; they are just a small contribution from everyone. It is true that the Divine Astral Coin has depreciated significantly in recent years, but it is still a token of filial piety. Please accept it without hesitation."

"It's just a small token of my appreciation!" Qiu Liang nodded repeatedly.

Well, 20 million strings of cash is quite a lot, and 150 million strings is just a small token of my appreciation. Shouldn't we share some with him and say thank you?

Li Fan looked at the 'Xiaolian', hesitated for a while, and finally knelt down in front of Li Hongxian, bowing his head to ask him.

"Does the Imperial Censor know that the slaves and servants in the city are of lowly status, bound by indentures, and unable to leave Changsi City?"

The old man's eyes darted around three times, and he immediately understood what Li Fan meant, then slapped his thigh.

"Yes! The court is now developing the South Border and needs manpower. Releasing slaves and developing manpower is of utmost urgency! Thank you for the advice, Marquis of Guan Nei Hou!"

Now that the new emperor has ascended the throne, he can announce to the whole country a general amnesty, and all those who have not committed the ten heinous crimes can be pardoned and restored to the status of good people. As for private slaves, the palace can issue an order to release them. According to my estimate, there are still more than a million people of low social status in the capital. If we follow the previous rules and provide them with another 20 million strings of cash to settle down and start businesses, that should be enough.

It's one thing if it's the elderly, weak, sick, or disabled, but wealthy families probably wouldn't be willing to terminate the contracts of all those who are still useful. Moreover, some servants probably wouldn't want to lose their jobs, and might even cause trouble...

"But it's not difficult! I'm willing to set an example first. I can terminate the indentures of the servants in my household and then re-sign them as contract workers. After all, with the current high prices of grain, wages need to be recalculated. This way, my trusted subordinates can feel at ease..."

Ah, it seems that those who can become Imperial Censor are truly capable. In the blink of an eye, he not only arranged everything perfectly, but also began to persuade the powerful and influential figures around him, starting to do ideological work.

Li Fan stood up, picked up the golden rice bowl and tossed it to Li Hongxian, then clasped his hands and bowed to the surroundings.

"Here I have a favor to offer. I would appreciate it if the Imperial Censor could arrange for the release of the lowly slaves from the Li Country and their resettlement in my Moshan to cultivate the land."

As you gentlemen have heard, if someone is truly loyal and finds it difficult to leave their former master, I will not force them. However, if someone in their family wishes to leave, I ask that you do me the favor of giving Qingyue your freedom.

"If this is accomplished, I, Qingyue, will owe you all a favor."

Everyone present repeatedly said they dared not, and quickly stepped aside to return the courtesy, indicating that they must give face to the Guan Nei Hou.