"May I ask, Minister, what should we do?"
As Yuwen Dao and the others from Great Xia were about to leave the grand hall after receiving their orders, Yu Bin from Xiling couldn’t help but speak up, though his tone clearly carried anger.
Currently, the over ten thousand Earth-digging Realm controlling the station were all people from Zhaoyang, Xiling, White Abyss, Dongkang, Yucheng, Song Yuan, and Changning.
The Earth-digging Realm of the seven families naturally had to be led by the leaders or top members of the seven families.
Previously, after Xia Hong conquered Long Mountain, at most he only allowed Chen Yingba and Wu Tianxing to take control of the military powers of Yucheng, Song Yuan, and Changning.
Xia Chuan had just arrived and had swiftly taken all military power from their hands, so not only Yu Bin, but Hou Jing, Dong Zhong, and Wu Ningyuan also looked displeased.
Yu Bin was ostensibly asking what he should do, but in reality he was expressing dissatisfaction about having his military power taken away, and everyone present could hear it. Those like Yuwen Dao, who had been about to leave the grand hall, immediately stopped and stared at Yu Bin with unfriendly gazes.
Being stared at by fifteen people at once, Yu Bin’s expression instantly showed some regret.
The others could hear it, and needless to say, so could Xia Chuan.
"Leader Yu, do you still want to mand troops?"
Xia Chuan did not answer but candidly exposed Yu Bin’s intentions, asking him directly if he still wanted to lead troops.
Even though Xia Chuan’s tone was calm without any hint of threat,
Yu Bin, looking up to meet his extremely indifferent gaze, felt a jolt in his heart and immediately lowered his head.
"I dare not!"
After Yu Bin said these four words, the expressions of Hou Jing, Dong Zhong, Wu Ningyuan, and the other six dimmed slightly, showing obvious disappointment.
"So long as you dare not, it’s fine. You seven have just joined and might not be familiar with our rules. All personnel in the Earth-digging Realm and above in Great Xia are unified under the jurisdiction of the Hunting Department, one of the Six Ministries. The current Hunting Department Director is Yuwen Dao before you."
Xia Chuan paused slightly at this point, then continued, "So from now on, not only those over ten thousand Earth-digging Realm, but you seven as well have to follow Director Yuwen’s orders, do... you understand?"
Xia Chuan deliberately emphasized the last four words.
The seven people’s bodies stiffened slightly, then they wisely turned around and bowed in unison to Yuwen Dao, saying in unison:
"We pay our respects to Director Yuwen."
"No need for formalities. We must soon reorganize the over ten thousand people, and I will rely heavily on your cooperation. Please!"
Yuwen Dao, with remarkable acumen, instantly grasped Xia Chuan’s intentions, and directly requested the seven to cooperate in reorganizing the Earth-digging Realm.
After being suppressed by Xia Chuan’s series of measures, the seven naturally dared not voice any opposition, all bowing repeatedly, displaying utmost cooperation.
"Chen Yingba, Wu Tianxing, you two are to depart immediately to inventory the current population, stockpiles, and various minerals at the seven stations of Zhaoyang, Xiling, White Abyss, Dongkang, Yucheng, Song Yuan, and Changning. Inform everyone in the seven stations to start packing within these two days. By no later than the tenth, I will send a large force to relocate all of them to Xia City.
If anything goes wrong, I will hold you accountable!"
Chen Yingba and Wu Tianxing both showed a bit of bitterness on their faces. Hearing Xia Chuan suppress Hou Jing and the others earlier, they already had a bad premonition, and being assigned such taxing and laborious tasks confirmed that Xia Chuan was blaming them for the assassination attempt on Xia Hong last night.
Yet, with guilty consciences, neither dared to object at this moment and hurriedly bowed their heads, "We obey."
"Alright, night is falling soon, go tend to your tasks!"
Everyone bowed and quickly walked out of the grand hall.
Xia Chuan turned and bowed slightly to the high platform behind him before also exiting.
"To seize Hou Jing and the others’ military power so impatiently, do you still expect them to obediently serve Great Xia? Dream on!"
In the chamber behind the high platform of the grand hall, wrapped in a fleece blanket, Li Xuanling half-sat on the bed, watching Xia Hong beside her cultivate, her laughter cold.
Xia Hong sat cross-legged, motionless, blood energy swirling around him. The flesh beneath the skin membrane subtly undulated with his breathing, seemingly oblivious to her words.
"Every camp in Longyou is not much different from our Long Mountain model, all ruled by one or two surnames at the top. The reason those seven families defected this time is merely due to their hatred for us at Long Mountain. To truly integrate the entire population of these seven families into Great Xia, you must not treat Hou Jing this way..."
"Enough nonsense, I will never spare the Li Family!"
Li Xuanling’s expression slightly stiffened as she was interrupted, first clenching a delicate fist under the fleece blanket, then her eyes reddened and her voice softened suddenly, "Since you’ve already decided to have me marry into your family, why must you kill them? You wouldn’t want your future bedfellow to be someone who always wants to kill you, would you?"
Whoosh...
Xia Hong took a deep breath, and the blood energy surrounding him instantly flowed back into his body through the pores, then he turned to look at Li Xuanling beside him, suddenly smiling.
"So you knew how to play soft after all?"
Suddenly inspired, he pinched Li Xuanling’s chin with a disdainful smile, "Your biggest flaw is being arrogant, mistaking weeds for treasures. In your eyes, besides what you deem precious, everything else is worthless!
Did I ever say I wanted Hou Jing and the others to serve me obediently?
Zhaoyang, Xiling, White Abyss, Dongkang—for my purposes, it’s always been about winning over the majority among these four families’ eleven thousand people, not the so-called upper echelons. If they really could unite everyone under them like a single band, they wouldn’t end up like your Long Mountain, eventually getting swallowed by my Great Xia.
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