Before long, with Wanmeng mediating, Xianzhou Daiyu intervened decisively in the life-and-death crisis facing Xianzhou Yuanqiao.
"Helmsman Lin, is there anything you want to say about the situation inside Xianzhou Yuanqiao?"
Qingzhu sat cross-legged in Yuanqiao's Helmsman seat, looking at the Helmsman of Yuanqiao, who stood obediently before her with his head lowered.
Lin looked up, intending to say something, but the moment he saw Qingzhu's stern, intimidating eyes, he wilted.
"I... I know..."
"You knew, and you still didn't take action! Must you wait until Yuanqiao suffers the same tragedy Daiyu once did before you regret it?"
Qingzhu was deeply reluctant to recall what she had been through, for it was the past Daiyu least wanted to remember. But more than that, she did not want to lose the courage to face it.
So she would not be afraid to face the past, because only by facing past failures could she reflect on them and correct them.
That was also why she had been so furious to learn that Lin, despite being Helmsman and knowing what was happening inside the Xianzhou, had done nothing.
"I... it's not that I didn't want to intervene. Both sides are simply too important to the Xianzhou. They're both dear to me."
On one side were the nobles, who controlled the vast majority of the Xianzhou's wealth. On the other were the commoners, the most fundamental category of people on the Xianzhou.
Xiahou Chan slammed his palm on the table. "What's there to hesitate about? Just cut these nobles down and make an example of them! The Xianzhou belongs to everyone on it, not to this bunch of nobles as their private garden!
"If you don't dare, then let me be the villain! They want to turn the Xianzhou into their private garden? They'll have to ask me, General Youding, whether I agree first!"
Without waiting for Lin to say anything, Xiahou Chan turned and walked out of the Sky-Faring Commission. Lin tried to follow and stop him, but Qingzhu gave a light wave of her hand, and the long sabers of two Manifest Existence soldiers immediately barred his way.
The hilts of the polymer cutting blades trembled slightly. It was not their hands shaking, but the blades themselves: the sabers' combat mode had been activated.
Because the long sabers were so sharp and destructive, their attack mode was normally switched off. The fact that it had now been activated said a great deal.
If you don't dare do it, we'll do it. Don't like it? Then come fight me!
Ten minutes later.
The square in front of Yuanqiao's Sky-Faring Commission.
Under the gazes of the people around them, the Manifest Existence soldiers escorted the leaders of Yuanqiao's nobles-the people who had oppressed the commoners most severely-to the square.
At that moment, a middle-aged man dressed in noble attire stepped off a starskiff that had just landed in the distance. Seeing his own people's soldiers escorting several men dressed as splendidly as he was, he could not help growing curious.
"Hey, friend, what are those soldiers doing? What did those people do?"
The Yuanqiao commoner the man had interrupted saw his rich, luxurious clothes and looked at him with undisguised disgust, but answered anyway. "Heh, I heard those soldiers are from Xianzhou Daiyu, which came back from the dead after a thousand years. Daiyu's General Youding is going to execute you nobles who devour people without spitting out the bones."
Though the commoner explained, his tone was unfriendly. The man had already learned about Yuanqiao's current situation before coming, so it was only natural that the other man would be unfriendly to him. He did not take offense, simply stepping out of the crowd.
"General Xiahou! Please wait!"
Xiahou Chan looked over with a frown. Upon recognizing him, he said calmly, "Mr. Lu, what do you mean by this?"
Mr. Lu hurried to Xiahou Chan's side and whispered in his ear, "General Xiahou, wouldn't it be too merciful to execute this fellow like that? Have you forgotten? They're Long-Life Species. Unless their alchemy commissions are destroyed, they can't die.
"Besides, if they die, what happens to their estates? And we're a civilized army. How about this? Once I've swindled... bought their property, it won't be too late for you to act."
Xiahou Chan hesitated. What Mr. Lu said was not without reason. Daiyu was currently in a stage of development, and if it wanted to return to its former heights or even surpass them, trade between Xianzhou was inevitable.
Now there was a business opportunity right in front of them. If there was money to be made, why not make it?
Xiahou Chan glanced at him. "Wait a moment. I'll ask the Helmsman."
Xiahou Chan turned around and told Qingzhu what was happening.
When Qingzhu heard him, she did not know whether to laugh or cry. She knew what Mr. Lu was like: he was greedy for money, but his greed had limits.
As for those bloodsucking parasites... he would have no qualms about fleecing them.
And once he took over their businesses, the commoners could even have stable places to work.
After a little thought, Qingzhu agreed. Lin, standing beside her, wore a bitter expression. What could he do? He wanted to deal with these parasites himself, but it was difficult for him to act against them. As for their businesses... forget it. He would give them to Daiyu.
And so, with Qingzhu's approval, Mr. Lu happily went to negotiate with the nobles. The terms were simple: the businesses under their names in exchange for a chance to live.
Of course, some refused to cooperate. They had merely fallen asleep, though.
With those examples before them, Mr. Lu's swindling... business dealings went smoothly. Then, under the shocked gazes of the surrounding commoners, long sabers pierced the alchemy commissions of all the nobles kneeling on the ground, shattering them and killing them on the spot.
Mr. Lu looked at the man before him, who had still been glaring at him with venom as he died, and mercilessly kicked him aside. Then he wiped his foot with a handkerchief in disgust and casually tossed it onto the ground.
At the thought of how this man had been calling him brother while negotiating terms with him just now, his stomach churned.
"Pah, what kind of thing are you, to think you're worthy of calling me brother? And you call yourself a noble... a fool who only knows how to suck blood and nothing about sustainable development. If you suck them dry in one go, who'll still be willing to work for you?
"Modest, elegant, refined, intelligent-you're none of those things, and you still think you deserve to be called a noble? Learn how to be a proper noble in your next life."
With that, he walked straight over to Xiahou Chan. As the greatest noble on Daiyu, he knew the art of survival well. The best rule for survival was to attach himself to Daiyu-and not to Daiyu's higher-ups, but to Daiyu itself.
As long as he stayed out of trouble and paid his taxes honestly, Daiyu's higher-ups could do nothing to him. Although he could not get rich overnight that way, it was stable at least.
In any case, there was no difference between earning a hundred thousand Existence Currency more than he spent each day and earning a billion more. If there was anything left over, that meant he still had a surplus after completing his plans for the day, so what did it matter how much was left? As long as he did not starve, that was enough.
"General Xiahou, I've decided to hand sixty percent of these properties over to Daiyu. I hope Daiyu continues to prosper. May the Goddess of Existence bless you and me. Uphold existence, never fall into Nihility, and may all things endure forever!"
"Very well. In that case, on Helmsman Qingzhu's behalf, I thank the Lu family for its donation."
The actions of the two men left the surrounding Yuanqiao commoners dumbfounded. Was this really the kind of noble they knew?
"Huh? What are you so shocked about? Master Lu has always been like that. He's the leader of the nobles on our Daiyu, and he pays huge amounts of tax to the Sky-Faring Commission every year."
The speaker was a Daiyu commoner who had come along with the Manifest Existence Army to transport supplies. He did not understand why they looked so shocked.
"Brother, let me ask you something."
"Huh? What is it? Go ahead. I only immigrated to Daiyu a little over ten years ago myself, but I still know a few things."
"Is Daiyu still accepting people?"
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