Dealing with It

One day ago, Dawan Village.

A magnificent courtyard sat nestled against the mountainside, its exquisite structures rising and falling with the terrain in a well-ordered, layered arrangement that exuded a rustic and elegant beauty.

Stepping out from the main gate, one was greeted by the vast river valley plains of Dawan Village, a view that instilled a sense of openness and tranquil detachment in all who resided there.

However, The atmosphere inside the main hall shattered that mountain serenity with its volatile heat.

"Father! I absolutely refuse to accept this!"

A young, hot-blooded voice echoed through the hall.

"We spent eighty spirit stones to grease the palms of Second Master Lai just to secure the management of Dawan Village!"

The young man, barely over twenty, stood up with a face full of rage and slammed his hand against the table, his voice brimming with resentment and fury.

"It was clearly agreed upon that the term would be ten years. Only six have passed, and now they expect us to pack our bags and get lost with a single, flippant sentence!"

"What kind of nonsense is this? Is there no justice left in this world?!"

At this very moment, Shen Shaochong—the young man whom outsiders usually fawned over and addressed as Second Master Shen—was shouting at the top of his lungs.

He could not help but be enraged.

To the direct descendants of the Shen Clan, Dawan Village might have been nothing more than a barren, godforsaken patch of land, remote and far removed from the center of the clan's power.

But for those of them belonging to a distant, collateral branch of the Shen bloodline, it was a rare and precious foundation!

Dawan Village possessed a total of twelve mu of spirit fields, with a single harvest yielding roughly 1,200 catties of spirit grain.

As clan property, the Shen Clan took a fixed cut of 1,000 catties per harvest, leaving the remaining 200 catties for them.

Do not be fooled by the heavy tax—taking over eighty percent might seem like working all year for nothing, But in reality, this was a lucrative position!

One must understand that these twelve mu of spirit fields were not theirs to begin with;

The entire Dawan Village was property of the Shen Clan, and they were merely managing it on the clan's behalf.

Naturally, the cut would not be low.

Furthermore, The price of spirit grain fluctuated around ten catties per spirit stone.

This meant that the 200 catties of spirit grain were worth twenty spirit stones.

Since the spirit fields produced two harvests a year, Their annual income amounted to forty spirit stones!

What's more, They did not actually have to toil in the fields themselves. The work was done by mortal martial artists who had been pressed into service, criminals sent there as punishment, or those who sought a path to immortality and worked themselves to the bone in hopes of gaining a single technique.

Regardless of their origins, in the eyes of a cultivator, they were nothing more than lowly martial peasants.

If one were kind, they provided enough meat and oil to ensure the laborers had the strength to work without dropping dead from exhaustion.

If one were hard-hearted, or simply wanted to cut costs, they could scrap the meat and oil entirely; if the laborers died, one simply sent a letter to the mortal realm, and a new batch would be delivered.

This was, for all intents and purposes, a business with zero overhead, A way to rake in over forty spirit stones a year just by lying back!

Such a family fortune—

Who could easily let it go?!

Finally, If they were to leave Dawan Village, they would be forced to return to the Shen Clan manor in Tiannan City to scramble for other opportunities.

Though the Shen Clan was vast, every position was already occupied;

The good spots had long been claimed, so how could they, members of a distant collateral branch, ever hope to get their hands on one?

If they returned to Tiannan City without connections or a position, they might well end up like those destitute rogue cultivators, forced to gamble their lives out in the wild!

This was a foundation that no one could easily abandon!

"This Dawan Village belongs to our family, and no one is going to take it away!"

"I'll take some men over there right now and break that brat's legs. Let's see if he still dares to come and take over!"

Shen Shaochong held his head high, his tone defiant and unruly.

In the vicinity of Dawan Village, He, Shen Shaochong, was the Second Master Shen whom the local minor cultivation families and small-time landlords scrambled to flatter.

Out and about, he was always surrounded by a throng of lackeys.

Relying on the reputation of the Shen Clan, he lived quite comfortably in the surrounding areas, occasionally even pocketing some extra profit.

But once he returned to Tiannan City, Once he returned to the Shen Clan, You, Shen Shaochong, are nothing but a piece of trash!

He was the one least willing to leave Dawan Village.

It was precisely for this reason that, Not long ago, after receiving a message from the old man while he was out carousing, he had practically rushed back overnight.

He wanted to persuade the old man not to just hand over this foundation for nothing.

"Second Brother, don't act rashly."

At this moment, a steady voice spoke up, cutting through Shen Shaochong's rage:

"This Dawan Village is clan property; it can hardly be considered our own foundation. We are merely managing it on behalf of the clan. Since the clan has made a decision, we can only obey."

"Furthermore, when Father sent word to you, he didn't make it clear: the person coming to squeeze us out has a background that is not simple. He is a son of the current Clan Head. Although he is a concubine-born son, he is still the Clan Head's own flesh and blood!"

"We simply don't have the strength to offend such a person."

The speaker was Shen Shaochong's elder brother, Shen Shaoguang.

At this moment, although there was unwillingness on his face, the look of fear was clearly more pronounced.

He did not approve of confronting the other party head-on.

"So what?!"

"Just because he's the Clan Head's son, does that mean he can ignore reason?"

"Besides, normally, relying on that blood connection to the Clan Head, even if he were doing poorly, he should at least be sent to a town to enjoy a comfortable life. The fact that he's coming to such a remote place means that brat is definitely a dispensable, abandoned concubine-born son. What is there to be afraid of!"

Shen Shaochong retorted, neck stiffened.

He wore the look of someone who feared neither heaven nor earth and was determined to step up and fight it out.

It was just that his words lacked a certain amount of conviction.

Among the tens of thousands of members of the Shen Clan, there was a vast disparity in status between the main lineage and the distant, concubine-born branches.

Even if the newcomer was not highly regarded, he was still the Clan Head's son.

And they were merely distant relatives whose bloodline was so diluted it was impossible to trace, who had to rely on using spirit stones to grease the palms of Steward Lai Er just to secure a good position.

If a conflict were to break out, it was hard to say who would win.

For a time, The main hall fell into silence.

Amidst the oppressive atmosphere, The two brothers turned their gazes toward their father, Shen Shiying, who sat in the seat of honor.

In this situation, Only their father, as the head of the household, could make the final call.

At this moment, Shen Shiying sat in the seat of honor, his tall frame possessing the presence of a coiled dragon and a crouching tiger. His face was hidden in the shadows, so gloomy it seemed as if water could be wrung from it.

Without a doubt, He was also extremely displeased at having to lose the job of guarding and managing Dawan Village for no reason.

However, he was also very clear.

An arm cannot twist a thigh.

This position would ultimately have to be handed over.

But how to hand it over while preserving his own interests as much as possible—that required careful consideration.

"Shaoguang is right; we cannot change the fact that the higher-ups have decided this."

"But Shaochong is not wrong either. If we let ourselves be driven away like beaten dogs just because a mere concubine-born son arrives, where would our reputation go?!"

"When we return to Tiannan City in the future, wouldn't any Tom, Dick, or Harry be able to ride on our backs? How would we ever compete for benefits again?!"

At this point, a flash of ferocity crossed Shen Shiying's dark face, and a cold glint flickered in his eyes.

"Shaoguang, go and move every last grain of spirit rice, gold, and silver from the village treasury! He wants Dawan Village, does he? Then I'll give him an empty village!"

"And you, Shaochong, based on the distance, that brat should arrive tomorrow. When he does, take some men to the village entrance and find some excuse to give him a show of force!"

"Let the others know that our family is not a soft persimmon that they can just squeeze at will!"

Shen Shiying's voice was filled with decisiveness and ruthlessness.

Compared to his two sons, He considered things more broadly and comprehensively.

Having crawled and fought through the Shen Clan for decades, he knew the character of his clansmen all too well.

Once you exposed a hint of weakness in front of others, what you would face next were countless hyenas rushing up from behind, eager to tear you apart and devour you!

They would probe you incessantly, until they finally chewed you to pieces and swallowed you whole!

He had already obtained a general picture of the situation regarding that illegitimate son named Shen Changchuan, who was arriving soon to take over, through various connections.

Shao Chong was right; that boy was indeed an illegitimate son who held no importance whatsoever.

His birth mother was merely the daughter of a common martial artist, having relied on certain schemes to gain a single night of favor from the Clan Head, only then luckily giving birth to him.

Among the Clan Head's fifty-some children, he belonged to the most inconspicuous and lowest-status category, always a non-entity who likely held less standing within the Shen Clan manor than even the most favored servants and stewards.

It was probable that the Clan Head did not even remember he had such a son.

A person with a low-born mother, a dispensable figure within the clan.

If I don't choose you to establish my authority, who else could I choose?!

Shen Shiying thought to himself.

If he were to swallow such a bitter pill tomorrow in front of an inconspicuous illegitimate son with no power or background, and show no reaction at all, it was easy to imagine that

upon returning to the Shen Clan manor, there would certainly be more people pressing down on them in the names of various young masters, carving them up like fat meat on a chopping block!

On this point, given his understanding of certain people in the Shen Clan, it was almost a certainty!

Therefore, a show of force to establish his stance was absolutely necessary.

If things were to blow up, he could simply claim it was a misunderstanding between children.

Of two evils, choose the lesser.

By now, Shen Shiying already had a rough plan in mind.

Of course, it was precisely because he knew the specific details of Shen Changchuan's background that he dared to act this way.

Otherwise, had it been any other young master or scion, he certainly would not have dared to harbor any such thoughts; he would have simply escorted the person respectfully to the central courtyard in the back mountains of Dawan Village, and then had his entire family pack up and scram.