"Soon the Huang family will be even richer than my Major Hall. I'll need to get to work if I want to keep my position."
Hall Master Fang was the first one to speak and congratulate the matriarch. The situation was a bit awkward because the gifts from the two young women were indeed superior to those of the family heads. In a strict sense, they were not, because some pieces of art were absolutely unique and worth much more money. But on the other hand, pills and demonic cores were much more useful for cultivators. In order to get rid of this awkwardness, the best thing to do was to deprecate oneself.
"True, the younger generation really will overtake us." Governor Leng followed suit. "Oh? But Hall Master is still in the younger generation. Sorry, sorry."
After the two main characters outside of the Huang family spoke, the other family heads felt better. Many congratulations and joking comments were made.
As the celebration was coming to an end, Huang Cixi heard a voice in her head. Speaking telepathically during such a celebration was rude for the other guests but she soon forgot this when she recognized the voice.
"Huang Cixi, come and see me in my chambers later."
Matriarch Huang Yufeng was inviting her!
The guests delayed their departure as much as possible as a sign of respect. They acted as though leaving the presence of the matriarch was heartbreaking for them. And when leaving, they all gave many words of praise both to the Huang family and to the two young women vying for the position of matriarch. Just to be cautious, they all made sure to praise them both equally. One of them would become the next matriarch for sure, and the other would be no less powerful and influential. The best thing was to try and make friends with both without offending either.
Finally, Governor Leng and Hall Master Fang also left. They spoke at length with Family Head Huang Yi and Elder Huang Jian. When came the time for them to leave, they also offered praises to the two young women. But there was something more in Hall Master Fang's praises. Very subtly, he told Huang Cixi that he would meet with her soon again. The woman understood that he had information to report to her. As of now, she had given him several tasks. For one, he had to let Ye Zhiyun manage the assets of the Huang family handled by his hall. In terms of handling business, he also had to invest in various venues Huang Cixi had chosen with the help of Ye Zhiyun.
She was thoroughly convinced that there wouldn't be any problem with both of these tasks. But when she heard Hall Master Fang, she had the ominous feeling that something had gone wrong. She immediately thought about her last task. He had to use his information network to gather many pieces of intel, on her family, on the Cao family and on Gui Bei. Most likely, he had failed in some capacity. However, that was to be expected. As long as he had good intel on some of those matters, that would be fine with her. Moreover, she had also tasked Ye Zhiyun with gathering more news from his sources in the Imperial City. Unfortunately, the Imperial City was rather far from Baziyun City. Even with the use of demonic beasts, sending and receiving letters could take several months. There was an array formation the governor could use to communicate directly with the Imperial City. But it consumed a lot of resources and could only be use in case of major events.
For example, Governor Leng had used this array formation to warn the Imperial City of the presence of a 9-core demonic beast near Baziyun City. The possibility of a demonic beasts stampede was indeed a grave matter that needed to be reported promptly.
After all the guests had left, Matriarch Huang Yufeng left some words for the younger generation and flew up in the air before disappearing completely. In the end, the elders left first. Then, the youths showed their admiration to Huang Cixi and Huang Si now that the elders were gone. Being among their peers, they were not intimidated and they could speak more freely. Eventually, the youths gradually dispersed as well.
"Sister, you were really good today! Frankly, all those ceremonials bore me. I can't wait to see you beat up this stupid Gui Bei. You know that back then... Well, I really didn't want to side with him, right?"
That was the best Huang Lü could say to apologize for her behavior before the poetry gathering. Huang Cixi didn't really mind what had happened. After all, Huang Lü had suffered more from it than she had.
"Do not worry, Sister. I know you were just playing around... And you knew when to stop too."
"Well... After you beat that little rascal, I hope we can fight together. I can't wait to see what you're truly capable of."
While they were talking, Huang Si left without saying a word. She was worried by this upcoming fight. Right now, she and her rival were on equal footings. If Huang Cixi were to lose, she would fall from grace. However, it wouldn't be good for her family either. On the other hand, if she won, that would terrible for her. But intervening for Gui Bei would be akin to treason. Many plots were hatching in Huang Si's mind. For the first time, she was confused on the right way to take care of things. Should she really just let things unfold without acting? Huang Cixi was not an idiot, if she had given a month to Gui Bei, it meant that she was confident enough.
With many thoughts in mind, Huang Si went back to her chambers with Cai Ying. It turned out that she would have no time to care about this lack of a clear plan for the foreseeable future. As a matter of fact, she would soon receive some worrisome news and she would be too busy taking care of her own business all over the Wu province and even in other provinces.
-
Huang Cixi found herself in her study with Bao Zhong and Zhao Guodong. Secretly, Huang Liyue was still monitoring the situation and she felt that someone was walking toward her room. After sending a telepathic message to Huang Cixi, her young mistress asked her servants to leave her alone for some time. Of course, the Spirit Warrior stayed close.
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The man who knocked on her door was expected, Fang Shaolong. During the end of the ceremony, Huang Cixi had known that she would receive his visit almost immediately. And here he was. The last time he had seen the young women, he was nervous about his secret being discovered. Now, he was still nervous, albeit for another reason. Among all the news he had to report to her, some were rather bad.
As she knew he was about to talk business with her, Huang Cixi lead him in her study and closed the doors. With her senses, Huang Liyue could clearly hear what was being said, but thanks to the Void Nurtured Platinum, her spiritual senses couldn't penetrate the walls and doors. Apart from Matriarch Huang Yufeng who had a small chance of being able to pierce this study with her spirit, no one could in the Huang residence. And unless they were very close, like her bodyguard, even the senses of a Spirit Warrior would not pick up their conversation.
"Miss, our operations are going extremely smoothly. Mister Ye Zhiyun is even more impressive than I had given him credit for. According to our projections, we'll raise the benefits of the Xiliang Mines alone by at least 7% this year. I won't talk about everything he did, but he must have had an extensive training. He's almost better than some of the highest ranked officials of the Imperial City. In a matter of years, he could very well become a member of the Myriad Cherry Blossom Hall's head branch. I'll just give you the reports on those matters."
That was to be expected. Huang Cixi knew about Ye Zhiyun's past and about his competence. Moreover, she had absolute trust in him and he in her. That was one of the greatest strengths of Haung Cixi, she knew how to surround herself with the right personnel and then delegate the correct tasks to each one of them. From his spatial ring, Fang Shaolong gave her hundreds of pages concerning the various assets the Major Hall was currently managing and the many propositions of her servant.
"Regarding the investments you asked, that is mostly done. I had to make very convoluted schemes so that no one could determine that a single entity was buying all of that, but the assets are secured. By the time someone figures out that something is going on, that will be too late."
"You should not underestimate her. But it is good to hear that everything is fine on that front as well. I do imagine that the problem lies with the gathering of information then..."
Huang Cixi had quickly identified the matter that was making her interlocutor nervous. For the time being, he had only talked about the business that was smooth. But she had known from the start that there was some complications in his work. Lowering his head, Fang Shaolong was forced to admit it.
"About the situation of Governor Leng and of the members of the Huang family, there is no problem at all. We already had networks in place to get that kind of intel. I added them to the previous documents. However, regarding the Cao family, this is much more complicated." For an instant, Fang Shaolong seemed a bit paranoid and looked all around. "To tell the truth, I was already looking at that myself. But even my own contacts in the Imperial City are not very talkative about the matter. They cannot explain to me how the Wolf Head Sect was found guilty of the massacre or why the Imperial City decided to intervene directly. Either they were hiding something concerning the demonic cultivators, the Cao family, or their own incompetence maybe. Another possibility is that they were hiding the real culprit..."
In subtext, Huang Cixi got several confirmations about what she already knew concerning Fang Shaolong. When she had tried to find more about him, she realized that something wasn't right in his past. Many things about his situation prior to his arrival in Baziyun City seemed fake. In fact, it almost seemed like his life until nearly thirty years ago had been fabricated. And it turned out that it coincided perfectly with something else that had happened in the Cao family. That was the time Cao Shui who was only fourteen at the time got engaged to the almost sixteen-year-old Cao Guang.
That could have been a coincidence. But just like Fang Shaolong, her life before this crucial moment was either missing or seemed empty and fake. Huang Cixi didn't want to confront Fang Shaolong about this yet. Moreover, she absolutely didn't want anyone else to hear about this, not even Huang Liyue, until she could act more freely. For now, it was necessary to gather more and more information. The time for deductions and confrontations would be later.
"That doesn't surprise me much. But it doesn't seem to be the point that truly upsets you."
Embarrassed, Fang Shaolong cleared his throat.
"I will endorse the full responsibility for our failure. My men lost track of Gui Bei deep in the mountains. Apparently, he was aware of our tailing him. For several days, he trained in a perfectly traditional manner. However, he did show signs that he was looking for something and being a bit restless. Clearly he wanted to ditch those spying on him but couldn't."
Huang Cixi had prepared for this eventuality. After all, he had been able to detect the spiritual senses of Huang Liyue on him. At the very least, if she couldn't find out his secret, she could still prevent him from becoming stronger way too fast. Huang Cixi was convinced that he would need to go back to wherever it was that he had gained his sudden growth in cultivation in order to improve even further.
"But then... the news of a possible stampede happened and I was forced to reassign some men to other surveillance tasks. And the few men still following him lost his track when Matriarch Huang Yufeng broke through. He was able to use this as a distraction. My men tried to find his tracks back but they simply disappear in the mountains. I don't know where he went but I assigned as many men as I could to keep watch over the entire area. Unfortunately, the area is rather large and the demonic beasts are getting restless. Not only do they have to stay alert for Gui Bei, but also for potential attacks. And I can't even send any more Spirit Warriors because we need them on other matters. I am sorry."
Hearing all this, Huang Cixi got thinking. She had been right about the reason of his sudden increase in talent. Gui Bei had found some special place and he went back there to try and become stronger than her. Thankfully the remaining time was short. But there was no telling what kind of opportunity he had found. As such, Huang Cixi had to be prepared for almost anything on his part. And she still wasn't sure about the best way to deal with him.
She was convinced that Gui Bei would go as far as trying to kill her or maim her, even if the fight took place in the Huang family residence. After many considerations, the young woman was still indecisive because his behavior reminded her of her first brother. Gui Bei could be very useful if she was able to make him see the error of his ways. However, she herself deemed that as wishful thinking. Huang Cixi, at heart, was a politician. And as such, she had to show that she was decisive. This problem should not be dealt with according to emotions but according to what she wanted others to see of her. What was the point of this duel?
"Hall Master, thank you for your service. I know that our collaboration is not based around mutual trust. But I sincerely hope that you will end up seeing me as a trustworthy partner. I anticipated many of your shortcomings because I knew those tasks to be difficult. Otherwise I wouldn't have needed a man of your caliber. You did accomplish most of what I asked of you. What do you say about forgetting your little indiscretions and forming a true relation?"
Surprised, Fang Shaolong wasn't sure what to make of it. Did she really mean that she wouldn't use his embezzlement against him ever again?
However, he had to admit that working with her was greatly beneficial, especially thanks to Ye Zhiyun. With his full cooperation, his Major Hall could thrive even more. But then, he would be indebted to this cunning woman...