Protect Our Clan Leader

Cao Bangning had long known that he wouldn't agree easily, so he conveniently pulled a gold note from his storage ring and thrust it into his hand, sincerely saying, "Tianming brother, you must help me! You're the only one I can rely on now!

And I don't ask for much, just let your daughter speak on my behalf and ask the Purple Abode Old Ancestor of the Zuoqiu family to please grant an audience to my family's Old Ancestor to have a discussion. That would be enough for me."

"Ah~ how can I accept this?"

Liu Tianming rubbed the texture of the gold note and discovered that it was a purple gold note. The smile on his face instantly became much more sincere. Upon hearing that Cao Bangning only wanted to have a conversation with the Zuoqiu family, his heart instantly felt at ease.

He immediately pocketed the purple gold note, promising, "Brother Cao, rest assured, as soon as I get home, I will ask my daughter to speak to them for you. However, as to whether anything will come out of it, I can't guarantee. I must make you understand this in advance."

"Of course, of course. You agreeing to help is already doing me a great favor. Whether this matter succeeds or fails, I won't fault you for it, brother Tianming."

Naturally, Cao Bangning was nodding repeatedly, without any arguments.

The two of them chatted idly for a bit more, and their dinner was soon over. Before long, Liu Tianming departed from Seafood House.

After he left, the forced smile on Cao Bangning's face fell apart, disappearing in an instant.

"Ah~"

He sighed heavily, feeling trepidation in his heart.

With his aunt recklessly killing the Sky Pride of the Zuoqiu family, they have deeply offended the Zuoqiu family.

Although on the surface, when a family's offspring joins a sacred land or an academic palace, they become part of the sacred land, and the family can remain uninvolved. But, the Zuoqiu family losing a Sky Pride and the exposure of such a great scandal, instantly making them the laughingstock of several prominent families, how could they let it go?

They couldn't do anything to the sacred land so they will surely take out their anger on the Cao Family. Even if they don't act overtly, they will surely sanction the Cao family secretly.

Compared to the Zuoqiu family of Qing An Prefecture, who dominate the region, and have four or five Purple Abode Old Ancestors right out in the open, the Cao family is just an ordinary Grade Five Prominent Family. Not to mention only having a single Purple Abode Old Ancestor in the family, their foundation, their business enterprises, are completely overshadowed by the Zuoqiu family.

If the Zuoqiu family really made a move to sanction the Cao family, they simply wouldn't be able to withstand it.

Now, the most prudent solution he could think of was to have their family's Old Ancestor meet and talk with the Purple Abode Old Ancestor of Zuoqiu Qingyun. If the talks go well, although the Cao family might have to pay a price, they would also manage to weather this disaster. If the talks don't go well…

Ah~

Cao Bangning couldn't hold back another sigh.

This Liu Tianming is slippery and crafty, and his actions may not be reliable. He couldn't put all his eggs in Liu Tianming's basket; he should prepare for both possibilities.

He paced slowly with hands behind his back, brainstorming countermeasures while slowly exiting Seafood House.

"Farewell, Family Head."

At the entrance of the Seafood House, the shopkeeper stood with a group of assistants in a row, respectfully. Only after seeing Cao Bangning enter the carriage did he heave a sigh of relief, feeling like he just narrowly escaped a disaster.

…

The "dispute" between the Zuoqiu family of Qing'an and Cao's family of Liaoyuan, which caused a change in the situation, temporarily has nothing to do with Wang Shouzhe.

As Wang Shouzhe became a Great Heavenly Proud and no longer had doubts about his return to the family, he devoted himself entirely to his intense work.

A new round of expansion has finally started for Wang family that had been accumulating power for more than twenty years.

For the Wang family, this expansion is a matter of necessity.

Though the Wang family's annual income reaches several million Qian Gold, after heavy expenditures, they are only able to save just under two million Qian Gold. Though it seems like a considerable amount, as the family's Sky Prides and Great Heavenly Prides gradually reach the Heavenly Human Realm, the funds will become insufficient.

Moreover, the younger generation of the Wang family is continually being born. Under the Wang family's principle of producing high-quality offspring, future expenses will only keep growing.

In addition, the total population of Ping'an Town has already exceeded 150,000, showing signs of overcrowding, and internal development has hit a bottleneck.

Only by inheriting the aspirations of the old ancestor Zhou Xuan to expand outward can they find a fundamental way to develop.

Zhou Xuanguan! Your next journey awaits at My Virtual Library Empire

The gate originally built by the old ancestor Zhou Xuan, costing tremendous resources and a great deal of effort is providing protection to generation after generation of Wang disciples, as well as tens of thousands of people in Ping'an Town.

Once you leave Zhou Xuanguan, you'll come across a narrow cliff corridor, which is a must-pass place leading to the outer region from Ping'an Town.

All along, independent cultivators and prominent family disciples would embark on adventures in the outer region from here. If unlucky, one would end up dead. If lucky, one would gain immense rewards.

Nowadays, a cement road more than four yards wide, made of imported cement, is under construction on this corridor. (In Great Qian Land, the word "imported" carries neither positive nor negative connotation, it merely signifies goods from overseas.)

The construction of a cement road requires the soil to first be compacted with a stone roller, then a thick layer of crushed stones spread over, then the crushed stone layer further compacted with a stone roller, and finally, the concrete layer poured with cement and surface treatment of the concrete.

The process sounds simple and the core material is cement.

The cement currently sold by the joint industry is priced at around two copper coins fifty shillings per dan (one hundred catties), which is only half cheaper than ordinary food prices.

This shows that cement is a luxury-grade construction material. Therefore, not every prominent family can afford to build a cement road.