Chapter 205: Chapter 174: A Glimpse of the Sharp Edge

「Imperial Calendar, June 1454. The southern city of Penzes, inside the Viscount’s Mansion.」

Ye Wen Ni’s desk was piled high like a mountain. Countless matters were waiting for her to handle. Many of the documents’ covers were marked as important, and Ye Zi was prioritizing them.

After a long time, she finally lifted her head from the desk. She patted her smooth forehead with a slender hand, then rubbed her temples and muttered to herself, "I knew it would be like this. Xiaoyu is coming back tomorrow, that’s great! I’ll finally be free!"

After all the children were brought back from Wutang Town, Yisha went into seclusion at the Viscount’s Mansion. Meanwhile, the Gandalf Clan faced near-total annihilation! The nobles’ fury practically burned to the heavens. How dare this merchant family, reeking of money and having only just received their noble title, stand them up! The immense pressure crippled the Gandalf Clan’s medicinal ingredient business. Due to the restrictions imposed by the great noble clans, almost no one dared to do business with them anymore.

At this critical moment, the Gandalf Clan’s former leader, Mosie Gandalf, stepped forward once again, just six months after his resignation. He took on the family’s disastrous situation and issued a statement, claiming that the Gandalf Clan did not possess the Beauty Pills; they were the personal property of his granddaughter, Yisha. He also clarified a misunderstanding: Yisha had already left the Gandalf Clan, and her noble title belonged to her alone, not to the family!

The statement immediately caused a public uproar. ’What a joke! A noble title obtained by a child of your clan doesn’t belong to the clan? Who else could it possibly belong to?’

Almost everyone believed this was just an excuse. In mid-April, just as the furious nobles were preparing to impose further sanctions on the Gandalf Clan to force them to resume selling the Beauty Pills, a new auction house suddenly appeared in the southern city of Penzes.

The Ling Auction House!

It announced that it would resume selling Beauty Pills in May!

In an instant, all eyes turned to this southern port city!

The name "Ling" seemed to explain so much!

Just when many people thought the Huangpu Clan had been abandoned, someone discovered that the person in charge of the Ling Auction House was none other than the eldest daughter of the Huangpu Clan—Huangpu Yue!

That same month, Wulan Clan Leader Wulan Xiong publicly rebuked his prospective daughter-in-law, Huangpu Yue. He condemned the Huangpu Clan’s brilliant young businesswoman for her ambiguous relationship with Ling Xiao and for working for his political rival’s family!

According to sources, Wulan Xiong’s outburst only came after several failed negotiations with the Huangpu Clan. At the same time, he declared his intention to suppress the Huangpu Clan with his full might.

Huangpu Yue never responded, but the Huangpu Clan issued a threat of its own: if their clan was attacked, sales of the Beauty Pill would cease immediately!

Although the Wulan Clan was powerful, they were by no means strong enough to oppose all the other nobles, let alone the Royal Family, foreign nobles, and foreign royalty.

A bitter resentment festered in the hearts of everyone in the Wulan Clan. This was especially true for Wulan Tuo, who felt as though he’d swallowed a fly. Ever since the day he had provoked Ling Xiao, bad luck had followed him relentlessly. Now, even his fiancée had run off with another man! Such a humiliating affair would normally have been kept quiet, but it seemed a noble in the know had unintentionally let it slip at a high-society banquet. They revealed that the head of the soon-to-open Ling Auction House was not only the eldest daughter of the Huangpu Clan and their first-in-line successor, but also the fiancée of the Wulan Clan leader’s son!

This was a huge piece of gossip. For the noblewomen who had taken the Beauty Pill and regained their youthful looks, their greatest concern was ensuring the supply of this Top-Grade Elixir never ran out. Consequently, they paid close attention to the Huangpu Clan. Besides, the clan’s eldest daughter, a business prodigy, had always been a hot topic in noble circles.

As a powerful, long-established noble clan of the Empire, the Wulan Clan certainly couldn’t stomach such a humiliation. This led to the incident where Wulan Xiong, faced with the strange looks of many other nobles, finally erupted in anger.

Ultimately, however, this was all just a sideshow. The biggest bombshell was that this miraculous elixir actually came from the Ling Family! Stories of Ling Xiao’s exploits were once again brought to light for all to see.

Even those who originally held strong prejudices against the Ling Family and Ling Xiao had to plug their noses and admit one thing: the Ling Family had to have an incredibly powerful backer!

How could they dare to sell Beauty Pills so openly in their own fief without considerable power and a strong backer?

The evasive statements from Ling Xiao’s subordinates in Penzes City only seemed to confirm this suspicion. None of them would admit their Lord had a powerful backer. Some even brought up the time Ling Xiao repelled a Sword Sect expert during the New Year festival as an example, claiming, ’Our Lord is powerful in his own right. What’s all this talk about a backer?’

But the more they insisted, the less people believed them!

’What a joke. Ling Xiao... that kid had opened his Celestial Vein less than six months before that. Repel a Sword Sect expert? They must have misheard. Maybe it was a powerful Sword Attendant...’

It was a fact, confirmed by countless people, that a Sword Sect expert had appeared in Penzes City during the festival. The expert’s subsequent disappearance without a trace proved one thing: there was definitely someone in the Viscount’s Mansion even more powerful than a Sword Sect master!

That third son of the Ling Family, Ling Xiao, had first opened his Celestial Vein, after which his power advanced by leaps and bounds. He put on an outstanding performance while training on the Mesopotamia Grassland. Then, in the Imperial Capital, he killed an injured Demon Swordsman!

An injured Demon Swordsman... that’s still a master! Even a grievously wounded Demon Swordsman’s deathblow would be fatal! And yet, Ling Xiao emerged completely unscathed.

Either Ling Xiao was incredibly powerful, or... he had someone protecting him!

The latter theory was the one more people believed.

Then there was the Ling Family’s eldest son, Lingzhi, and his outstanding performance in the elite military tournament. Although he didn’t reveal power exceeding that of a Great Sword Master, any discerning eye could tell that Lingzhi’s strength had absolutely surpassed that level!

Furthermore, some pointed out that the Ling Family’s youngest daughter, Ling Yun’Er, had already reached the level of a High-level Great Sword Master! Someone had apparently seen her practicing her sword techniques by chance and witnessed long streams of Sword Qi erupting from her blade!

The Ling Clan was on the rise!

This was the fundamental consensus among all the nobles. Some were delighted, some were enraged, some were envious, and some were jealous.

But one thing was obvious: for the time being, no one dared to make trouble for the Ling Clan!

Moreover, as the Ling Family garnered increasing attention, many discovered that Ling Xiao’s subordinates were already incredibly powerful. The well-known City Lord of Penzes City, Mo Qing, was originally only a Tier Six Great Sword Master. However, during a recent test at the Sword Guild, he had advanced to become a Sixth Rank Mad Sword Master!

The steward of the Penzes City Lord’s Mansion, Uncle Fu, also possessed the strength of a Demon Sword Master. The Grand Commander of Ling Xiao’s private army in Penzes City, Ling Wu, now had the power of a Second-rank Mad Sword Master!

If people knew that Ling Xiao also had Meng Li, a Tier Three Demon Swordsman, hiding in the shadows; that Ye Wen Ni had advanced to a First-rank Mad Sword Master; and that the maids Chunlan and Qiuyue had become Tier Five Great Sword Masters. If they knew that the aloof woman named Feng Ling, who lived in the Viscount’s Mansion and practiced her sword skills daily, had reached the peak of a Sixth Rank Mad Sword Master... one could only imagine their astonishment.

The power at Ling Xiao’s disposal had long since surpassed that of an ordinary great family with hundreds of years of history!

Yisha walked in, cradling a beautiful calico cat in her arms. Seeing the mountain of documents on Ye Wen Ni’s desk, she smiled faintly and said, "You’ve been working hard, Sister Yezi."

"Heh, you’re one to talk," Ye Wen Ni said with a light laugh.

Ye Wen Ni looked at Yisha, who had grown a little thin. She knew that Yisha was also incredibly busy every day and, on top of that, carried a heavy burden, constantly worrying about her grandfather and father back in the clan. Although the nobles had temporarily spared the Gandalf Clan due to the rise of the southern Ling Auction House, the blow to the family’s reputation had been immense.

The Gandalf Clan’s business was a pale shadow of its former self. Fortunately, Clan Leader Mosie Gandalf commanded great respect in his circles, and through his tireless efforts, he had managed to stop the steady decline. However, a return to their previous prosperity was now almost impossible.

Yisha’s departure, in particular, was a massive blow. The Gandalf Clan had become a laughingstock among both the noble and merchant families.

Although their noble status was still recognized by the Empire, it was universally scorned. The exact reasons for Yisha’s departure were unknown, but judging by Mosie’s resignation, reinstatement, and public statement, it was obvious the fault was not hers. In other words, the Gandalf Clan had most likely driven away their own golden goose, forcing out the only member of their family who actually held a noble title!

If Yisha were to issue a statement now, declaring that she was severing all ties with the Gandalf Clan, then every member of the family would lose their noble status!

Yisha hadn’t issued such a statement, but no one treated the Gandalf Clan as nobility anymore anyway.

The pursuit of profit can blind people and lead them astray. In their chase for short-term gains, most of the Gandalf Clan had reaped what they sowed. Even more critically, they still hadn’t developed an antidote for the virus in their blood. They didn’t dare let this information leak out. Otherwise, who would ever buy the Gandalf Clan’s medicinal ingredients again?

They had tried to find Yisha, but she had completely ignored them. Now, the members of the Gandalf Clan didn’t dare take a single step into Penzes City. Even a fool could understand by now: the powerful, dark-skinned young man from that night was one of Ling Xiao’s subordinates... or perhaps, he was Ling Xiao’s backer himself!

"Where is Brother Ling Xiao now?" Yisha said softly. "I wonder if he’s alright. I’m so worried!"

"Don’t worry. Nothing will happen to him!"

Huangpu Yue stood outside the door, a serene smile on her face. Looking at the two women, she said, "He’s far too cunning for anything to happen to him."