Protect Our Clan Leader
Chapter 1140 - 85: Longyan Ascends to the Purple Abode! The Great Emperor in Disguise Visits Incognito_4

"The Old Ancestor from our family has arrived, I'll invite her in now," Wang Shouzhe said.

"Please don't!" Zhong Xingwang suddenly became very anxious upon hearing this, "I don't want my senior sister to see me so withered and ugly."

However, before Wang Shouzhe could respond, the cool voice of Longyan Old Ancestor was already resounding in the room: "Zhong Xingwang, even before, you weren't particularly handsome."

"Senior, senior sister..." Zhong Xingwang felt a wave of embarrassment.

"Shouzhe, Old Master Xiangyang, would you both please step outside," the voice of Longyan Old Ancestor sounded.

"Yes, Old Ancestor/Longyan Old Ancestor," Wang Shouzhe and the others replied, and together with a group of younger family members, they all promptly left, leaving only Zhong Xingwang by himself.

After everyone had left,

Longyan Old Ancestor gracefully appeared inside his room. With a flick of her sleeve, a vast and cold Mysterious Energy surged, sealing the entire room off.

Wang Shouzhe and the others then conscientiously waited outside in the courtyard.

After a period equivalent to the burning of an incense stick,

a slight ripple appeared next to Wang Shouzhe, and Longyan Old Ancestor materialized out of thin air, her figure drifting like a mist of ice, impossible to capture.

In her cool eyes was hidden a hint of grief that could not be concealed.

"He is gone," she said.

"Old Ancestor, please accept my condolences," Wang Shouzhe's heart clenched as he sighed in solace.

Upon hearing this, the nephews and grandchildren of Zhong Xingwang immediately rushed in, bursting into loud tears.

"Old Master Xiangyang, are there any fierce beasts nearby in the sea?" Longyan Old Ancestor asked with icy coldness in her voice, as if there was a surge of anger in her heart that she could not vent.

Old Master Xiangyang's face stiffened, and after a moment of hesitation, he said, "Five hundred miles south of the Hundred Islands Guard, there's an Evil Jiao Island that harbors a Level Six evil jiao. We've attempted several encirclements to capture it, only to let it escape each time. Afterwards, it always returns to Evil Jiao Island to wreak havoc and exact revenge, causing much harm to our Hundred Islands Guard's fishermen."

"Then it shall be this one... Shouzhe, if you have no other business, stay at the Hundred Islands Guard to give my junior brother his last rites," Longyan Old Ancestor said. "Once I'm done, I will return directly to the Wang family to go into seclusion."

As soon as she finished speaking, she took a casual step forward and, in the next instant, appeared above the main residence of the Zhong Family, then transformed into a white frost-like crane, heading southwards.

"This, this, this... such a strong aura, terrifying speed," Old Master Xiangyang's face was full of shock, "Could it be that Longyan Old Ancestor's cultivation base... has already..."

"This happened not long ago, and for the time being, our Wang family doesn't want to publicize it," Wang Shouzhe said with a bow. "I would ask both Old Masters Xiangyang and Wannian to keep this a secret for us for now."

"We will surely keep our lips sealed," Old Masters Xiangyang and Wannian hurriedly responded with a bow.

Simultaneously, their hearts were like a tumult of raging waves, utterly shocked.

Longyan Old Ancestor wasn't that much older than Zhong Xingwang, right? She has reached Purple Abode already!?

In this way, doesn't the Wang family become a bona fide Fifth Grade Prominent Family?

With the inclusion of some other underlying strength of the Wang family, even if they come across a slightly weaker Rank Four Prominent Family, they would be utterly unafraid.

This filled their hearts with all sorts of emotions.

Once upon a time, the Wang family was a small Prominent Family that needed to look up to them. But in the blink of an eye, they had transformed into such an enormous presence, to the point where the burgeoning Hundred Islands Zhong Family could only look up to them in return.

This is truly a remarkable miracle~

...

While Wang Shouzhe was being escorted on his last leg by the Hundred Islands Guard along with Zhong Xingwang, a large dual-purpose cargo and passenger ship floated downstream from the middle reaches of the Peace River into the lower reaches.

The owner of the large ship was a merchant with a background as an Independent Cultivator. Over the years of trading, he had gradually accumulated original capital. As his business grew, he outright purchased a second-hand large ship to venture into big trades.

Since he himself had started as a Peddler and risen to wealth, the ship owner took special care of Independent Cultivator Wandering Merchants. He permitted them to hitch a ride for a fee or rent some of the cabins. Thus, the ship was a motley crew of passengers.

At the bow,

stood two elders, leaning against the ship's gunwale, gazing at the riverbank of Peace River. A bright-eyed girl accompanied them.

The three, despite their simple attire, could not conceal their refined and noble aura, setting them apart from the genuine Peddlers on the ship.

Especially the elder standing in the middle with his hands behind his back, just his presence alone gave off an unshakeable mountain-like impression, clearly no ordinary person.

He looked at the high river embankment along Peace River and asked, "Is that the...the 'Peace River Flood Embankment,' whose cost is so staggering as to leave one speechless?"

"Old Master," the beardless elder beside him with a smile on his face responded, "Looking at that structure and scope, it probably is. The Wang family's flood control work team has been working for a full thirty years, and so far a thousand-mile embankment has cost six hundred ninety million Qian Gold..."

"Hmph, no wonder that Wang Shouzhe has been bustling about, wanting to launch some grand Peace River hydraulic project," the dignified elder said with raised eyebrows, muttering, "Who knows how much has been embezzled in the process..."

The three figures were, of course, Emperor Longchang and Old Yao.

Now that Emperor Zi'an had been overseeing the country for decades and had accumulated a wealth of experience, able to handle state affairs independently, Emperor Longchang thus increasingly found himself with nothing to do.

Idle hands are the devil's workshop.

As for the other plainly-dressed "girl," she was none other than the Imperial Family's Greatest Genius, Wu Xuening.

She had been cultivating in the Sacred Land for years. This time, she was returning home to visit her family, but the playful Emperor Longchang had whisked her away to join him on an incognito visit.

If judged by the standards of ordinary folks, she was already over forty, yet she still looked like a young girl. In the provinces, many girls her age were already married. But by the standards of Shangjing, she was still a child~

Wu Xuening said with a helpless chuckle, "Old Ancestor, no, Grandfather. I've heard from Anye that the Wang family is building the water conservancy project at cost price. Master Shouzhe has even subsidized it quite a bit over the years. You might not believe Master Shouzhe, but surely you can't distrust Anye's words, right?"

"Of course, I trust what Anye says," retorted Emperor Longchang, tilting his head haughtily, unsatisfied, "But I'm afraid Anye might be deceived by some people. That Wang Shouzhe is incredibly cunning, with his so-called return to farming being nothing but a ruse. Which one of Emperor Zi'an's economic development policies doesn't have his shadow lurking behind?"

"In my opinion," he continued, "they shouldn't bother writing back and forth anymore. Emperor Zi'an might as well move the court to Changning Wei~"

Every word he spoke was laden with jealousy.

Emperor Zi'an overseeing the state and not consulting him, an emperor with over three thousand years of experience, always mingling with Wang Shouzhe—how could he stand it?

Hmph, having been the emperor for thousands of years, could my experience truly be inferior to that of Wang Shouzhe?

The Changning Wang family claims to be the "local emperor" of Longzuo County. This time, I must take a good look and see for myself what they have made of their domain.

...