Chapter 153: v7c3 - The Sixteen Imperial Capital Families (8)
Volume 7 Chapter 3 – Part 3 The Sixteen Imperial Capital Families (8)
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A brief break time.
Yeon So-hyeon lifted the water cup placed in front of him and drank the last remaining sip.
And then, he looked at the water bottles that had been pre-arranged on the table.
Those luxurious glass water bottles had already been empty for a long time.
“Ahem.”
The former patriarchs had already drunk all the water.
“Ahem, ahem.”
Perhaps because their throats were burning after exchanging sharp conversations with each other, they let out cracked dry coughs.
Even though there was not even a butler to attend to them in this strictly controlled garden.
None of them tried to bring fresh water.
‘This is precisely their essence.’
If someone brought water, they would look down on that person as if they had become their subordinate.
However, if they only brought their own share, they would be regarded as a selfish and lacking person who only knew themselves.
Therefore, no one brought water.
Looking at them, Yeon So-hyeon sent a sneer full of contempt inwardly.
* * *
Yeon So-hyeon smiled broadly on the outside.
“With these operator selection rights, the lords…”
The old devils focused their gazes on Yeon So-hyeon, their eyes shining.
“…simply need to select the Sichuan Tang Family and the Dali Duan Family as the operators.”
At those words, everyone wore an expression as if they had been hit on the head.
Carefully studying those expressions, Yeon So-hyeon continued his explanation.
“Instead of clumsily dominating strong families in Sichuan and Yunnan with this, you will become the benefactors of the two families that possess dominance greater than the Sixteen Families in each region.”
“Indeed!”
The old devils had already caught the scent with their unique sense.
In that way, they realized the picture Yeon So-hyeon had drawn, both intuitively and empirically.
“That is a choice that absolutely no one else could make!”
“Because the financial profit that can be gained with that single selection right is indeed a massive fortune to most!”
“But the practical benefit we need right now is not ‘such things,’ but political profit!”
Just like a beggar devours delicious food placed in front of their eyes in an instant.
They pounced on the bait presented by Yeon So-hyeon and devoured it greedily.
“Good! Very excellent! Then, I, Gongson Na-gang, will select the Sichuan Tang Family with that selection right!”
“No! Are we not all of the same mind anyway? It will suffice if the Eldest Young Master represents us and appropriately distributes those selection rights to the two families!”
Yeon So-hyeon shook his head.
“There is no need to do that.”
“Could it be…?”
By this point, even if they were not old devils, they were bound to realize the way Yeon So-hyeon played his moves.
“Yes, the selection rights have already returned to the two families ‘who had delegated those selection rights to me in the first place.'”
The two families naturally referred to the Sichuan Tang Family and the Dali Duan Family.
The gazes of the former patriarchs turned to the bundle of envelopes Yeon So-hyeon was holding.
“Then what is that…?”
Yeon So-hyeon shrugged.
“What is inside this is indeed the actual selection rights. It is just that they have all been used already, so their validity has expired.”
Yeon So-hyeon distributed the envelopes containing the selection rights to them one by one.
“However, it is also an item needed as immediate evidence when the lords return to your respective main families.”
“….”
The former patriarchs shared a subtle expression upon receiving the envelopes.
Watching that sight, Yeon So-hyeon chuckled inwardly.
And soon, the question Yeon So-hyeon had been waiting for burst out from a former patriarch.
“Very well. It is excellent so far. However, are there not still reefs in the Chongqing Urban Development Project and the Yangtze River Waterway Expansion and Maintenance Project, which are commonly bundled together and treated as a single project?”
“Indeed. Since the reason this project is currently delayed in the first place has not been resolved…”
Everyone nodded.
Even though what Yeon So-hyeon had done for them so far already exceeded the level of showing off their presence upon returning to their main families.
Now they were acting with the mindset of demanding even the bundle.
“That is true.”
However, Yeon So-hyeon, who had been waiting for that question, readily agreed instead.
“The two families at the core of that project are the Sichuan Tang Family and the Dali Duan Family.”
It was Gongson Na-gang who took over Yeon So-hyeon’s words.
“But that Sichuan Tang Family and Dali Duan Family have been continuing their confrontation for hundreds of years.”
“And it is this very project that has driven their confrontation to hostility recently.”
The Sichuan Tang Family could not tolerate having to conduct a project together with the Dali Duan Family in Chongqing, which belonged to Sichuan land.
And since the Dali Duan Family had already secured a sufficiently large share of Chongqing.
The conflict between the two families was inevitable.
“That is correct. However…”
Allowing them a brief moment to chat and form a consensus, Yeon So-hyeon opened his mouth.
“There is one fact that the lords do not know.”
Yeon So-hyeon brought out the answer without waiting for a reaction.
“And that is the fact that along Chongqing and the Yangtze River basin, the Emei Sect has secretly purchased a massive amount of land.”
“The Emei Sect?! Those who merely run academy businesses grandly?”
“It was not their funds.”
“If so?”
“In truth, the Emei Sect had been receiving funds ‘on behalf of the Dali Duan Family’ and purchasing those lands.”
A former patriarch clapped his hands.
“Indeed! There was no way the Sichuan Tang Family would watch idly while the Dali Duan Family obediently purchased land!”
Only after the Emei Sect had purchased enough land on behalf of the Dali Duan Family did the alliance between them come to light.
By the time the Sichuan Tang Family sensed a strange vibe and checked, it was already too late.
“But you said the Emei Sect, whose power has grown rapidly lately, showed movements of resisting the Dali Duan Family’s high-handed domination.”
“Legally, the ownership of those lands belonged to the Emei Sect, and that was why the Dali Duan Family could not exert sufficiently strong pressure on the Emei Sect.”
Using that as an excuse, the Emei Sect was in the midst of gradually carrying out their will while adjusting so that the Dali Duan Family would not become completely enraged.
“So that was why!”
Their gazes gathered on Yeon So-hyeon.
“Because of that, the Eldest Young Master obtained the Emei Sect’s surrender document in such a complicated and troublesome way!”
“Exactly.”
Yeon So-hyeon unfolded the surrender document.
“The Emei Sect relinquishes all land included in each project area and transfers its ownership to the Dali Duan Family and the Sichuan Tang Family.”
In that letter, the demands of Yeon So-hyeon, which had been delivered to the Emei Sect through the Dali Duan Family and the Sichuan Tang Family, were precisely realized.
“…What the Emei Sect did not want to let go of until the very last moment.”
Among them who were momentarily speechless, the one who noticed first opened their mouth.
“Providing a pretext…!”
For the Dali Duan Family, the Tea Fan Maidens served as an extremely important pretext to sever ties with the Emei Sect, which was starting to become annoying, and to receive back at least half of the shares in the project area.
Moreover, once the project got rolling, the shares taken by the Sichuan Tang Family would not even be missed.
“Eldest Young Master, wait a moment!”
A former patriarch called Yeon So-hyeon.
“The Sichuan Tang Family only received shares in the project area. Yet, the Dali Duan Family permitted them to conduct the project together in the Tang Family’s territory? The math does not add up.”
“Exactly.”
Yeon So-hyeon smiled.
“The Sichuan Tang Family had been working hard to advance into Luoyang, which had been like an impregnable fortress until now.”
However, it was impossible because the Medicine Fairy Sect, whose business field overlapped, was the partner of the Luoyang Sword Family.
And that was also the reason why the Fourth Young Master had to be content with “insufficient and small support” compared to the other heirs.
“So, for their sake, I decided to provide the foundation for that advancement behind the Sword Family’s back.”
All the old devils shouted.
“The Valley of Sin!”
That place was the scheduled site for the joint project that the Eldest Young Master had obtained by employing schemes.
The original scheduled site, Walnut Village, which was merely the size of a single village, and the Valley of Sin differed in scale and location conditions.
To the extent that the Sichuan Tang Family could use it as an excellent bridgehead for advancing into Luoyang.
However, this involved deceiving the eyes of the Luoyang Sword Family in Luoyang, containing too many risks.
It was something the young Fourth Young Master, who had not yet greatly proven his ability, could not do.
Therefore, the Sichuan Tang Family’s trust in that transaction was directed toward the Eldest Young Master, who had proven his ability and caliber.
Furthermore, since the Eldest Young Master was running a joint business with the Fourth Young Master, who inherited the Tang Family’s blood, was it not the icing on the cake?
Yeon So-hyeon smiled.
“Exactly.”
At that moment, another old devil shouted.
“Not yet! Not yet!”
Splattering spit, he asked Yeon So-hyeon.
“But all of that premise begins with this project being operated ‘normally’!”
“Indeed. It is hard to think that the two hostile families will proceed with the project smoothly just because they started it together.”
It would be fortunate if the other families or merchant groups holding business rights did not flee due to the conflict between the two families.
“As expected, are the results of the lords’ calculations the same?”
Yeon So-hyeon wore a meaningful smile.
“That is why I have gathered ‘all’ of the lords in one place like this.”
A smile brighter than ever hung on Yeon So-hyeon’s face.
“The lords have been appointed as the administrators of these two projects.”
“…!”
“And therefore.”
Now, practically everyone was just staring at Yeon So-hyeon with blank faces.
“Now, the lords are not the ‘benefactors’ of the Sichuan Tang Family and the Dali Duan Family, but…”
Yeon So-hyeon’s gaze swept over each one of them.
“…you have become the ‘distinguished guests’ of all the large and small families and merchant groups that hold business rights and only wish for the project to proceed.”
And he added.
“If you return to your main families with this, you will become indispensable, distinguished guests within your families as well.”
The gathering was swept by a massive shock.
* * *
Time flowed in silence.
A former patriarch, who had been dazed for a long while, parted his lips.
“…In the first place, that was the decisive condition that made the Sichuan Tang Family and the Dali Duan Family agree to the transaction.”
“…Since only ‘all’ of the former patriarchs of the Sixteen Families would be able to smoothly manage that project.”
And at that moment, they realized.
“If so?!”
“The reason the Eldest Young Master frequented Mount Beimang like his own home was…!”
Yeon So-hyeon merely wore a deep smile without saying a word.
“Indeed! That was it! That was why he frequented the families of Mount Beimang like his own home!”
“Because only then would we all gather voluntarily…!”
The result of what Yeon So-hyeon did.
To the point that the last time they had gathered together was during the resolution of the Northern War.
Those who would absolutely never have gathered unless it was by the Emperor’s order gathered in one place “of their own accord.”
If he had tried to gather them in a different way, they would have been busy calculating, doubting, and weighing, and only time would have slipped away.
“….”
As the gathering sank into a heavy silence due to shock, time passed.
“Are you here?!”
How much time had passed, when a commotion arose from the other side of the garden.
“Ah, you cannot!”
“There was an order that no one enter the garden!”
The sound of butlers shouting desperately.
“You rude things! Let go of me this instant!”
“Whom do you dare think we are to do this?!”
After the sounds of something shattering and screams, a group of figures barged into the garden.
“Over there!”
After looking around for a moment, they confirmed that people were gathered in a corner of the garden and rushed over in one breath.
They were none other than the relatives of several families who had come to find and stop the former patriarchs.
Searching for the whereabouts of the elders, which no one knew in their respective mansions, they met on the main road.
And seeing the strange sight of the Eldest Young Master’s procession surrounding the front of the Gongson Family mansion, they ended up forcing their entry.
“Uncle! What on earth are you doing at the Gongson Family…?!”
All the blood drained completely from the face of the middle-aged man who had rushed over first.
“What are you doing? Have you found the elders?”
Those who chased after panting late froze like stone in the same way.
That would have been the case for anyone.
The Sixteen Imperial Capital Families.
Since as many as fifteen of the former patriarchs of the Sixteen Imperial Capital Families were in this one place.
“E-elders. What on earth are you here… No, why…?”
At the confused voice heard from the side, a member of another family also screamed.
“W-what on earth is this…?!”
At that moment, Gongson Na-gang, who stepped forward, said.
“What is everyone doing? Seize them all and lock them in the underground dungeon.”
Once his order fell, the security warriors, who had not dared to forcibly block the relatives of the other Sixteen Families, bound them without hesitation.
“What kind of nonsensical tyranny is this?! If the patriarch of the main family learns of this, there will be a huge uproar!”
“For the Gongson Family to lock up the relatives of other families! You will never be able to just get away with this!”
“It is no use silencing us! Once the story that the former patriarchs have gathered in one place enters the Imperial Capital, it will surely…!”
Their shouts gradually receded.
“Ahem.”
Letting out a small dry cough, Gongson Na-gang turned toward the gathering.
“Although we inevitably locked up the relatives of several families, I trust there are no regrets.”
He smirked and smiled.
“Because we are a community of destiny in the same boat. Is that not so?”
A deep smile like Gongson Na-gang’s hung on the lips of the old devils.
“Indeed. Thanks to the Eldest Young Master, our interests have aligned precisely.”
“In this rough journey, some among us might deceive or betray.”
“But that person must be prepared for the retaliation of all the remaining fifteen.”
“And above all…”
Everyone’s gaze aligned and turned toward Yeon So-hyeon.
“Crucially, will the Eldest Young Master here not coordinate from the middle so that friction does not arise between us?”
Yeon So-hyeon laughed heartily.
That appearance could be called a good-natured person itself.
* * *
But at the same time, Yeon So-hyeon was mocking the old devils in his heart.
He was deriding them.
In the deepest part of his eyes, contempt and hatred toward them were hidden.
Those emotions were so intense and so explosive that it was merely astonishing how he could hide them.