SCT-Novel #289 - Give a share to White Snake?
#289 - Give a share to White Snake?
Lingzhou.
East City.
The Zheng Family Residence.
Inside the main hall sat the heads of the Zheng, Wang, and Sima families.
"What? Is this how the Zheng family treats guests these days? Not even a cup of tea after arriving?" The head of the Sima family was a gaunt middle-aged man, quick to find fault.
"Brother Sima, just say if you want tea," the Wang family head said. "I'm just afraid that even if the tea is served, you won't be in the mood to drink it."
"Hmph, what in Lingzhou could possibly make me unable to drink tea?" The Sima family head scoffed. "I'd like to hear it."
As he spoke, his eyes glanced at the old man sitting upright in the main seat.
"Everyone, something has gone wrong," the Zheng family head in the main seat said.
"What is it? What went wrong?" The Sima family head said with a fake smile. "Could it be something the main family ordered, that even makes you old folks neglect etiquette?"
The 'main family' he spoke of was not just the Wang family.
It referred to the main families of the three clans in their respective ancestral lands.
The Wang family head immediately frowned.
They were all heads of families in Lingzhou City in name only.
In reality, they still had to obey the orders of their respective main families.
Since Lingzhou had no spiritual veins and therefore no decent resources, being sent here as a family head was no different from being exiled for the family disciples.
The Sima family head had never let go of his resentment about this, and had been annoying for years. The other two, being older, didn't bother arguing with him.
"Indeed, something has gone wrong with this matter," the Zheng family head said. "Outside Lingzhou City, there is a White Maiden Temple."
"A wild temple, wanting to steal incense?" The Sima family head raised his eyebrows. "Send someone to destroy it."
To think he was summoned here for this! Truly absurd!
"Is there some difficulty? Brother Zheng, you might as well speak plainly, instead of dragging it out like this," the Wang family head urged.
Within large families, various factions fought and struggled against each other.
Even within a single branch, there was opportunism and backstabbing.
If things went well with the arrangements made by the main family, the benefits might not necessarily fall on him.
But if things didn't go well, he would definitely be blamed, leaving him no choice but to be anxious.
"In that White Maiden Temple, there is a white snake with some cultivation, quite a few demon attendants, and a protector with considerable ability," the Zheng family head said. "The other party has already obtained the position of a Proper God."
"Already obtained the position of a Proper God? Why is this only being reported now?" The Sima family head exclaimed.
Since last summer, they had been planning to use the government's hand to clean up the lewd shrines and wild temples throughout Lingzhou under the pretext of deceiving the people of their wealth.
They were all small temples without foundation, so they were demolished.
Those ignorant commoners dared not have any objections.
Only the City God and Earth God temples were temporarily untouched.
However, the officials in the state and county said that they had not seen any chief officials take office in the Proper God temples, so it didn't matter if they were touched or not.
This was to ensure that when the great event was completed, they could legitimately absorb the power of incense.
How could another Cheng Yaojin suddenly appear halfway?
"It appeared suddenly, its origin unknown. When I received the news, the other party had already killed King Toad and resolved the poison disaster in Song Family Village."
Master Zheng frowned, "Therefore, I quickly asked Immortal Li for information to inquire about the other party's background."
Song Family Village was a bit far from Lingzhou City, and there were some special features there, so his people had not paid attention to the movements there.
"After two days, no news came back, but instead, an order of censure from the Two Worlds River arrived," the Zheng family head said, with a bitter smile, "When I sent people to the Black Dragon Stronghold again, I saw that even Little Black King's lair had been razed to the ground."
It was burned so cleanly.
If the subordinates who were sent there had not often visited Little Black King, they might not have been able to find the place.
"King Toad is dead? Little Black King's lair was razed to the ground!" The Wang family head and the Sima family head quickly exchanged glances.
They had of course been paying attention to the Zheng family's movements.
Living in the same city, supporting each other, it was inevitable that they would also guard against each other.
But they did not expect such a big thing to happen.
The White Maiden was able to kill the Toad Demon and the Black Snake Monster one after another, showing how fierce she was!
How could they stop this?
"Not only that, but the White Maiden has now obtained the Heavenly Decree and has the position of a Ninth-Rank Proper God!" The Zheng family head said, "I am worried that she will ruin our plans."
"Have you found out which deity it is?" The Wang family head asked.
"Wait!" The Sima family head suddenly said, "Could it be that we have revealed our secrets and attracted the interference of other forces?"
The great clans of the Great Zhou were not just the three of them.
Their three families were still far behind the four great families of Lu, Cui, Zhao, and Li.
The families were divided into five classes, and the main family was only barely ranked in the third class.
There were many competitors.
The main family wanted to succeed, so they attached themselves to several cultivation forces to strengthen themselves. If other families found out and wanted to ruin their plans, it would be a matter of course.
After all, in order to preserve their own glory, in addition to increasing their own strength and suppressing others, it was one of the most beloved methods of the aristocratic families.
"That's impossible," the Wang family head immediately denied.
In order to avoid being discovered, they acted very secretly.
It was impossible, and it could not be that there was a problem on their side.
Perhaps the main family had leaked information.
"Or perhaps, there was a mistake in the other three places. Two Worlds River, Heavenly Remnant..."
"It's too early to say this now," the Zheng family head waved his hand to interrupt him. It was not yet time to shirk responsibility, so don't say those words that could easily offend people.
None of those three parties were easy to deal with.
"The White Maiden and others also want the power of incense," the Sima family head chuckled and laughed, "Then this matter is easy to handle."
"What is your plan?"
"The common people are like grass," the Sima family head sneered, "Anyway, they can't be killed, and they can't be burned completely."
"Brother Sima, how can you say such a thing?" The Wang family head said.
Some words are best kept in the heart, and should not be spoken out.
"Brother Wang, we are all our own people, why bother pretending here?" Sima De said, "Didn't your family kill people yesterday?"
Last night, evildoers rioted.
They even wanted to attack their homes!
"A few were killed," the Wang family head said.
He ordered the guards and retainers to be beheaded.
"Hmph, they are all pigs and dogs who do not know etiquette, righteousness, or gratitude!" Sima De cursed loudly. "Without us aristocratic families, where would they get their peace and happiness?"
"Now we even have to provide rice and grain to feed them! There is no reason for this!"
This morning, before dawn, Governor Qin came to the door, wanting to take out grain to relieve the disaster victims.
He said that the people's resentment had already risen, and he was afraid that it would cause a bigger, unmanageable mess. The newly appointed governor was the female emperor's favorite minister. The other party made it clear that if Lingzhou fell into civil unrest, it would be detrimental to his career, and he would never give up. He had no choice but to agree and take out some grain to relieve the disaster.
He was dragged out of his house early in the morning to transport grain, and his mood was naturally even more unpleasant.
The other two family heads also took out grain, all sighing slightly to show their injustice.
"Let's not talk about this for now," the Wang family head said, "Brother Sima, do you mean to give that White Maiden a share of the pie?"
"That is exactly what I mean!"