"Big Brother, you lost the bet. Don't forget the gift for the full-month banquet."
"Rest easy. But judging by this man's temperament, he is narrow-minded indeed. I fear he won't let the matter rest."
"Your concerns are exactly the same as mine, Big Brother, but it doesn't matter. It's only the Zhong Household. If he dares go to them, we'll use their hands to blunt the Wu Household's edge and let Qingjiang's aristocratic clans nibble it away."
"The Fang, Wang, He, and Cao clans have long tired of watching the Wu Household lord it over Qingjiang County."
Hearing this, Xu Mingwei couldn't help laughing. "A Yuan, I truly can't match your grasp of people's hearts. I even think you're better suited to being household head than I am."
"I trust Father's choice."
Xu Mingyuan looked at Xu Mingwei with a smile. Xu Mingwei shook his head and laughed at himself. "Your elder brother was overthinking things."
"Handle the Wu Household's affairs as you see fit, but don't expend too much effort on them. Advancing along the martial way should come first."
Xu Mingyuan nodded slightly.
The Wu Household was far too ambitious. Though he had considered making it a vassal of the Xu Household, after hearing Wu Zhan's words, he ultimately abandoned that idea.
Stripping it of its power as an aristocratic clan and reducing it to an ordinary wealthy household was already a concession made for Wu Rushan's sake.
Wu Zhan fled Dongxi Village like a dog that had lost its home and headed toward Qingjiang County.
Yet not far from the city gates, he abruptly reined in his horse, his eyes bloodshot and filled with resentment and hatred.
"No! The Xu Household humiliated me like this. Even if I have to perish with them, I'll make them pay