Chapter 049: Playing the Fool to Catch the Tiger

At present, Zhao Zhigao was already supervising the construction at the city gate alongside Magistrate Wang. After all, Magistrate Wang would soon become the new Prefect of Yan City and would be in charge of this place, so naturally, he had to be attentive to every detail. With them were also members of the Murong family and soldiers from the Li Kingdom’s army.

The reason the army was involved in the supervision was because Yan City was destined to become a major military stronghold. This was the main reason Li Xiuling had chosen to build a city in this location. A garrison command office would be established within Yan City to command all the troops stationed there. Thus, in the future, the highest authority in Yan City would not be the Prefect, but the Commander who held military power. The Prefect’s words within the city might not even carry as much weight as those of the Murong family, for the Murongs’ authority in Yan City was granted directly by the royal family of Li Kingdom—a business arrangement between the royal house and the Murongs. The so-called city Prefect, to put it plainly, was just another official working for the royal family, collecting a monthly stipend.

Because many houses within the city were still under construction, Song Ye’s teahouse had not yet been dismantled. In fact, not only had it not been removed, but business was booming. Many carpenters, stonemasons, blacksmiths, and laborers would come to his stand for a cup of tea whenever they grew weary from their work. Now, with the growing and increasingly complex crowds, Song Ye would often remind Song Yan not to wander off, and had even instructed the little black tree in their courtyard to keep a close watch on her. So whenever Song Yan tried to step out of the yard to see the lively scene outside, the little black tree would promptly scoop her up with its branch-like arms and bring her back. This diligent little guardian was kept busy at all times, never idle for a moment.

At this moment, those gathered before Song Ye’s teahouse were mostly laborers, but suddenly, four figures in splendid attire approached, creating a stark contrast with the group of workers at his stand. These four—two men and two women—all carried long swords and wore garments tailored from the finest silk, clearly marking them as scions of a powerful family. Yet Song Ye observed that among them, the young woman in a green ruqun kept her head bowed as she walked, deliberately slowing her pace and never daring to step ahead of the others. It was obvious that her status was lower than that of her companions.

Song Ye immediately used his ability to probe their names and cultivation levels.

First, the two men:
Murong Jingtian: Profound Spirit Realm, Fifth Level.
Murong Jingliu: Profound Spirit Realm, Third Level.

Then, the two women:
Murong Qing: Tempered Bone Realm, Sixth Level.
Murong Qingyi: Profound Spirit Realm, Ninth Level.

To Song Ye’s surprise, the young woman in the green ruqun, who walked so timidly behind the others, was actually the most accomplished cultivator among them—Murong Qingyi. Yet, despite her superior cultivation, she acted as if she were of lesser status. Was she merely pretending to be meek, or was her standing within the Murong family truly low? In such a great clan, status was determined not merely by cultivation, but also by seniority, whether one was born of the main line or a concubine, from the first house or the second.

Soon, these four Murong family scions arrived at Song Ye’s stand, but Song Ye did not call out to invite them in for tea. Aside from Murong Qingyi, the other three all carried an air of arrogance; how could they possibly deign to sit at a roadside tea stand frequented by laborers?

Sure enough, Murong Jingtian cast a disdainful glance at Song Ye’s humble stand and turned to Murong Jingliu, “Third Brother, why hasn’t this little tea stall been torn down yet?”

“Don’t worry, Second Brother, it will be. This area is designated for residences—several grand mansions will be built here, and on that side, two commercial streets running north to south are planned. All of it will belong to our Murong family!” Murong Jingliu replied.

Murong Jingtian nodded, “Our family’s domain must be imposing. The commercial streets need restaurants, teahouses, brothels, gambling houses, and entertainment halls—everything in abundance. Little tea stalls and noodle stands like this mustn’t appear on our family’s streets.”

“Rest assured, Second Brother; we’ve already made the plans. You won’t be disappointed!” Murong Jingliu promised.

Hearing this, Song Ye thought to himself that Qiu Yu Village would soon be transformed by the Murong family into an ‘entertainment city’—restaurants, brothels, gambling dens, and entertainment halls, all lucrative businesses. Naturally, they looked down on his humble tea stand.

Just then, the Murong youths walked over to the site of the former old village chief’s house. The old chief’s mansion had already collapsed, and now construction was underway, apparently to build a grand new estate.

Murong Jingtian surveyed the busy site and nodded approvingly, “This spot has excellent feng shui. Third Brother, when this mansion is complete, let it become my new residence in Yan City. What do you think?”

Murong Jingliu glanced at the city plans and replied, “Second Brother, this mansion isn’t being built by our family. But if you really like the location, it’s easily settled—we can speak to Commander Ke and buy it for a good price.”

“Oh? So this one doesn’t belong to us, but I do like it. Then let’s just pay for it,” Murong Jingtian said.

“You won’t be able to buy this mansion,” a voice interjected.

Everyone turned to see a group approaching from the distance, led by a young man in luxurious robes.

Murong Jingtian recognized him at once and his expression turned sour. “Huangfu Xiaoyun, what are you doing here?”

The Huangfu family was also one of the four great cultivation clans of the Li Kingdom and often competed with the Murongs, so relations between the two were far from friendly.

Huangfu Xiaoyun approached, attended by a retinue of maidservants, gently waving his folding fan and smiling lightly. “Oh? Surprised to see me here? If your Murong family can come to Yan City, why should I, Huangfu Xiaoyun, not be here as well?”

Murong Jingming immediately questioned, “Why did you just say we can’t buy this mansion? Did you beat us to it?”

“Not at all,” Huangfu Xiaoyun shook his head. “This grand estate being built is for His Highness Prince Xiang. Even if I had ten lives, I wouldn’t dare lay claim to it!”

At this, everyone was taken aback to learn that the mansion was being built for Prince Xiang himself.