The Cui Clan's Eldest Young Lady

After finishing the Biographies of the Lords, Zhang Yuan took out a tome recording the current aristocratic clans of the various kingdoms. It was exceptionally thick, however, so he only had Chen Xinqiao skim through it to gain a general understanding.

First came the Five Surnames and Seven Houses. Aside from the familiar Eastern Bian Li, Western Bian Chu, and Aohai Cui, the remaining houses were the Hengyang Lu, Ya East Cui, Jingyang Li, and Wenshui Deng, based in the Heng Kingdom, Ya Kingdom, Jing Kingdom, and Wen Kingdom respectively.

Below the Five Surnames and Seven Houses were the first-tier aristocratic clans, of which there were nine across the Thirteen Kingdoms.

One tier below those were second-tier aristocratic clans like the Wang Household of Dragon Creek City. Since there were too many second-tier aristocratic clans in the Thirteen Kingdoms, the book only listed a few representative examples with a chance of vying for first-tier status.

The lords of the realm, the Five Surnames and Seven Houses, and lineages great and small were spread across the various kingdoms.

Such was the current state of the Azure Sky Dust-Stained Realm.

"Though the Azure Sky Dust-Stained Realm is vast enough to be called boundless, thirteen major kingdoms are still a few too many. There's no telling when the flames of war might ignite," Zhang Yuan said after briefly assessing the situation.

"Dad said that too," Chen Xinqiao suddenly said.

"Your dad understands these things?" Zhang Yuan asked in surprise.

Chen Qinkuai had been a farmer for so many years and could barely read. It was quite unexpected that he could see the state of the world so clearly.

"He heard it from a storyteller in the city. Dad said that if war broke out, he'd join the army, and then we wouldn't be