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“Hey, quite a lively scene…

Your Prefectural Governor seems rather capable,”

Shen Second Master leaned on the ship’s prow, looking at Lyuzhou’s port, and whistled softly.

Though Shen Second Master looked somewhat gloomy, his actions resembled those of a reckless youth, which made Weichi Feihong furrow his brows in disapproval.

However, he had to agree with the other man’s statement to some extent.

He had heard about the situation in Lyuzhou before coming, how the events in Lyuzhou were bigger than any demonic incident in the north, but he hadn’t expected the place to gain decent popularity so swiftly, the new Magistrate really had some strategies up his sleeve.

“Rongsheng, Baiye, Donghua…

tsk tsk, five of the top ten merchant houses of Jiangnan are here, and it’s only been a few days?” Second Master chuckled, “It seems the Gate Deity of Lyuzhou is quite appealing.”

“Gate Deity?” Weichi Feihong was startled, “What’s that?”

“The General doesn’t know?”

Weichi Feihong hesitated, then shook his head.

When he received the order, all he knew was that his own direct-line Family Head brother had bungled things up, resulting in the death of a slew of officials in Lyuzhou, which led to Weichi Peng being recalled to the Capital City for punishment, and himself being transferred from the north to Lyuzhou to take up the post of Commander.

According to strategies outlined in his father’s letters, he was meant to continue his domineering demeanor, especially maintaining a disagreeable attitude toward the local officials.

Yet before he even reached Lyuzhou, after seeing the overwhelming serpent tide carrying Old Ancestor Shen’s ship toward the West Sea, he made an emergency report.

Following the Imperial Decree, he tracked them to the West Sea, which resulted in such heavy losses.

As for current intelligence on Lyuzhou, he was still a month behind.

“Then the General should really experience it for himself!” Shen Second Master didn’t elaborate and simply chuckled heh-heh before continuing to watch the bustling crowd.

With his extremely keen vision, he quickly spotted several heads of the merchant houses on the docks.

This scene was rather interesting.

Though Lyuzhou had recovered due to the Gate Deity, it was natural for many merchant houses to choose to restock goods here, but for such matters, sending any manager would suffice.

Now that several heads had made their way here, could it be that they were all attracted to the Spirit Liquid of the Mountain Deity?

Shen Second Master felt it wasn’t so simple, so he closed his eyes and silently activated his magical wheel, listening in on the surroundings.

“Mistress Ye is here as well?”

On the docks, chatting with a group of house heads was none other than Shen Yuyan of Rongsheng, a merchant entity directly operated by the Shen family, thus considered the biggest native snakehead force.

Shen Yuyan’s status was also extraordinary; within the group of house heads, he was a figure of flattery.

The one addressed as Mistress Ye was a woman in her early twenties— the head of the recently risen Tianhua Commerce Guild in Jiangnan.

This guild had a mysterious origin, yet abundant resources.

Upon settling in Jiangnan, the official path was smoothed for them, and their capital was certainly formidable.

In merely two years, they had secured their standing, and the current Mistress Ye was the most talked-about Iron Lady in the Jiangnan business circles.

“Are all the seniors here as well?” The woman smiled faintly, performing a curtsey with impeccable grace and etiquette that many young ladies from Jiangnan gentry families could not match, yet her facial features were somewhat distracting.

For this woman’s face did not adhere to the Central Plains’ standard of beauty, bearing instead the style of women from Western countries—with prominent features and fair skin, along with a pair of sapphire eyes rarely seen in Central Plains women.

Such a Western lady dressed in Jiangnan silk always seemed a bit odd.

“How could we not be here with the new Magistrate making such a grand move?” chuckled a short, portly merchant with a goatee, his gaze towards her carrying a hint of brazenness.

The woman didn’t mind; after all, female heads appearing in public were rare in those times, and she had seen too many strange gazes.

Shen Yuyan frowned slightly, apparently not fond of the portly merchant’s conduct, and thus he directly spoke, “I originally thought which head had the foresight to buy up Lyuzhou’s shop properties, but it turned out to be the hands of the Prefectural Governor himself…”

The other house heads nodded in agreement.

At first, their reactions weren’t any slower than Rongsheng’s, at most a delay of a day or two.

Upon hearing about the Gate Deity, they all immediately turned their attention to the shops in Lyuzhou’s South Street.

Yet, to their surprise, they found not a single stall left in the market; no one admitted to acting first after inquiring among themselves.

However, each had their own backgrounds and considerable power; after making some inquiries using their connections, they found out it was the Lyuzhou Magistrate himself who had made the purchases.

This move was something they, as merchants for so many years, had never seen before—the official sure was interesting…

“How do the seniors perceive this?” Mistress Ye asked softly for their opinions.

“This Magistrate is quite confident!” declared a burly man with a booming voice.

Shen Yuyan looked over at him—the man was the head of Donghua, and those who knew about his background understood that Donghua was connected to military powers, backed by several dukes from Capital City.

On the surface, the head of Donghua was surnamed Jiang, believed to be an injured ex-soldier retired from the northern battlefields.

Despite the man’s rugged appearance, he had a keen mind, saying lightly, “Before the Gate Deity became famous, he preemptively used the funds granted by the Provincial Governor to buy land in Lyuzhou.

With a sense of absolute security, it seems he has a powerful backing that will not be questioned by the Imperial Court and is very confident about the land prices bouncing back.”

“It looks like both the Gate Deity and the Mountain Deity rumored a few days ago were prepared in advance.”

The other house heads nodded at this comment.

“If we want a share of Lyuzhou’s returning profits, I’m afraid we’ll have to pay a tidy sum to that Magistrate,” the portly merchant with the goatee chuckled again.

“Whether he has the ability to hold on to it remains to be seen!” The leader of the Jiang family said with a cold laugh, “I’ve looked at this Gate Deity for several days now, and it doesn’t seem to be a sham.

The Divine Temple on the mountain is also under refurbishment.

These things aren’t easy to defend; a mere Magistrate won’t be able to keep hold of them that easily.”

“Right…” As he spoke, the stout man turned to Shen Yuyan, “I’ve heard that this Magistrate even detained someone from your Shen Family?”

Shen Yuyan’s face immediately revealed an awkward smile.

He had not expected the Magistrate to dare lay hands on his family members, and to spread the word so blatantly, no less.

Nowadays, anyone with a bit of information knew about the detention of his family members, and it truly was a slap in the face.

“The younger generation has also heard about it.” Mistress Ye turned to look at Shen Yuyan, “So the newly-appointed official doesn’t give the Shen Family any respect?”

“Not in the least…” Shen Yuyan said with a bitter smile, “I’ve also personally visited, but I didn’t even get to see the face of the Prefectural Governor.

As soon as Officer Zhou, who was in charge of the documents, heard that I didn’t plan to offer money, he immediately kicked me out.”

“Ha…” The group couldn’t help but laugh when they heard this, “Could it be that even Master Shen has to suffer such a setback?

This is truly interesting, is this Magistrate some sort of foolish greenhorn?”

Shen Yuyan just smiled but didn’t say much more; he knew nothing of this new Magistrate’s background, but he was certainly no greenhorn.

He had been at the scene when the people from the three major houses were detained and had seen with his own eyes how his three nephews were instantly suppressed without a spark of resistance.

Though he was not a competent Magician, he was once a legitimate son of the Shen Family and had some experience.

The ability that the young Magistrate had displayed that day was enough to rival that of the Jiangnan Academic Governor!

The reports said he was only twenty-one years old; claiming such a thing would hardly be believed by anyone!

“Master Shen, you didn’t pay the money?” Mistress Ye asked with a smile brimming in her eyes.

Shen Yuyan too smiled, but didn’t reply.

The money wasn’t much; ten thousand taels per person was not a big deal for the Shen family.

In Rongsheng alone, any ordinary manager had the authority to access more than five hundred thousand taels.

But face couldn’t be lost; if those ten thousand taels were paid, he might be drowned by the spittle of his clan upon return.

“I see…” Mistress Ye nodded slightly when Shen Yuyan didn’t reply, “So our new Prefectural Governor is intending to establish his power by using the Shen Family as a stepping stone!”

At these words, everyone’s expressions turned strange.

Frankly, the current situation wasn’t hard to guess, but it still seemed unbelievable.

To set a precedent using the Shen family in Jiangnan…?

Has he lost his mind?

The backers behind each major commerce guild were no simpletons; after all, Jiangnan, apart from Tiandu and Yunzhou, was the richest land of Great Jin in terms of tax revenue.

Which influential power wouldn’t want to reach out?

But no matter how strong the external forces were, they were all courteous towards the Shen Family; everyone knew full well that the Shen Family…

was the centuries-old local powerhouse of this land!

“So, are we still buying that land?” the short, stout businessman with the mustache frowned.

“Buy, why wouldn’t we?” laughed the stout man, “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen such a bold civil official.

If he can get redemption silver from the hands of the Shen Family, I’ll be impressed, and I’ll buy no matter the cost, hahaha!”

The other leaders laughed upon hearing this, and even Shen Yuyan couldn’t help but find it somewhat amusing.

This young Magistrate using his family as an example was indeed a joke worth discussing…

As they were talking, a commotion erupted on the docks, causing everyone to frown and look in that direction.

Since the vessels of several major commerce guilds were there, who would dare to cause trouble on the docks?

But when they looked over, they were stunned.

“A military vessel…

Weichi Feihong has arrived,” the stout man said solemnly.

His tone clearly indicated a lack of enthusiasm for this general who had amassed tremendous military achievements in the north.

“This is going to get lively…” the mustached leader stroked his beard, smiling as if reveling in the misfortune of others.

Weichi Feihong’s reputation was known even in the south.

If the new Magistrate had set up a Gate Deity, naturally, he would want to seize control of the city gates.

To offend the Shen Family and confront the Weichi Clan’s madman was going to make today particularly lively.

It was worth their long journey by boat!

“Eh?

That woman is…” Mistress Ye’s pupils contracted when she saw a woman walking ahead of Weichi Feihong, “Oh, now it truly becomes lively.”

“Why has she come?” Shen Yuyan also felt a tingling on his scalp when he saw the person.

He had considered that his family would definitely send someone to restore their honor, but he never expected them to send that madwoman!

Now the trouble was real!!