How can this be!
The generals had put on a composed front all day to avoid appearing small-minded in front of the prestigious family, but at this moment, they completely broke down.
Demanding the Tianfeng physique right off the bat, how could they allow that?
The system exclaimed in admiration, How cunning. The female cultivators of the cultivation world are going to have their hearts utterly shattered. As expected of the chief favorite by the Lord God’s side; the moment he got romantic, he captured the world’s darling.
Mo Zhi: ……If I said this wasn’t my intention. It was an accidental harvest; he only wanted to find an excuse to stay by the male protagonist’s side and figure out his next steps slowly.
The system: You said it out loud yourself, that you want to meddle in Jian Guichi’s inner courtyard. Don’t play dumb; you got the benefits and are still acting coy.
Mo Zhi was lost for words. He genuinely only wanted the status of a lover, not a formal spouse that countless women would turn green with envy over.
The bedroom wasn’t suitable for conversation, so they relocated to the council hall.
Along the way, everyone harbored their own hidden thoughts.
With gloomy expressions, the generals looked at Mo Zhi, who was trailing closely behind Jian Guichi like an eager puppy, and began scheming.
The Jian family could easily have used someone else to replace Jian Guichi in fulfilling the marriage contract, or simply ignored this marriage alliance that Zhoucheng City itself didn’t even know about. The fact that Jian Guichi came here in person showed that the Jian family honored their commitments. Since it was agreed to be the late city lord’s daughter, they should stick strictly to that point; absolutely no one could let Mo Zhi be given away.
If the betrothed object was changed to Mo Zhi… an hour ago, had the head of the Jian family proposed this, they would have agreed without blinking an eye. It was swapping sesame for watermelon anyway, turning a white sesame into a black sesame was guaranteed profit!
Everyone was daydreaming: Tian Ying would marry into the Jian family, and Mo Zhi, with his Tianfeng physique, could be matched with yet another powerful family. Backed by two towering, influential in-laws, Zhoucheng City’s rise to prosperity would be just around the corner.
Lord City Lord…
The bearded general patted Mo Zhi’s shoulder, urging him to cooperate with him later. Without even glancing back, Mo Zhi slipped away and sat right beside Jian Guichi.
Leaving no opportunity for whispered schemes and manipulation.
The table in the council hall was a large square banquet table. The city lord, who should have stood on the same united front, was smiling smugly across from them. Pressing his furrowed brows, the bearded general assumed that the sudden surge in cultivation had made the two of them overly flustered, and their fierce expressions had frightened their timid and cowardly city lord. Besides, Jian Guichi must have whispered a few sweet nothings when they were alone, causing Mo Zhi’s heart to fly over to the other side.
The generals, both male and female, knew about Mo Zhi’s Tianfeng physique, and every single one of them was present. The city lord had never lost his temper before, so everyone thought he was soft-natured and easy to fool. A few nice words might just persuade him to help elevate their cultivation levels.
They weren’t greedy; they just wanted to stand beside Mo Zhi like they did during the day, gaining whatever little benefit they could.
The servant bringing in the tea was puzzled. When he came in the morning, Mo Zhi had acted as if nothing mattered, sitting far away and drinking tea all by himself. Now, he was beaming with happiness and taking the initiative to sit on the right side of Patriarch Jian.
The generals had completely dropped their eager attitude toward Patriarch Jian, replacing it with a trace of superficial vigilance, acting as though Jian Guichi was going to rob them of their money. If anything, they should be the ones bleeding the Jian family dry.
Everything was bizarre, yet Patriarch Jian remained as poised, calm, and peerlessly handsome as ever.
The steward stepped forward to speak, If the Patriarch is close with the City Lord, there will be plenty of opportunities to spend time together. Why bother changing the marriage contract?
His implication was practically spelling it out, telling Mo Zhi to use his identity as an ultimate dual-cultivation furnace to win favor.
Although the vice-patriarch didn’t know Jian Guichi’s true intentions, he understood that Jian Guichi would never let Mo Zhi live a nameless existence like other ordinary cultivation furnaces. Since he wanted to keep Mo Zhi by his side, he naturally had to give him the best. Since they want to be close, isn’t changing the marriage contract even more proper and justified?
One of the generals gave a soft cough and politely offered a rejection: Patriarch Jian, marriage is not child’s play. What the late city lord agreed upon with your grandfather was Miss Tian Ying; we have no standing to agree to a substitution.
Mo Zhi pointed at himself, What if I agreed?
Don’t start turning your elbows outward just yet, the bearded general took a deep breath, City Lord, please don’t fool around.
The generals considered it their duty to look out for the younger generation. With the late city lord gone, they had been entrusted with looking after his children. If they bit down hard and refused to budge, surely Patriarch Jian couldn’t resort to shameless bullying? To put it bluntly, they could tell Jian Guichi was a man of principle. If it were any other lawless, overbearing powerhouse, they wouldn’t even dare breathe loudly, let alone try to reason with them.
Mo Zhi leaned affectionately close to Jian Guichi, arm pressed against arm. Jian Guichi glanced at the generals and patted the back of Mo Zhi’s hand.
The vice-patriarch locked eyes with Jian Guichi for a second, puffed out his chest with sudden realization, sat up straight, and spoke with calm poise: The marriage contract can proceed as originally scheduled. However, please have the real eldest Miss Tian brought here to marry; the Jian family does not accept impostors.
Hearing this, the expressions of several generals shifted, and they asked with suspicious doubt, The young lady suffered a fright and ran away; it’s not like she isn’t coming back. Do you really think we would grab just anyone to substitute for her in marriage?
Are you certain she still dares to return?
Seeing him act as though he knew something, the generals fell silent. Countless thoughts flashed through their minds as they guessed where the leak had originated and how much the Jian family had found out.
In the book, Tian Ying fled the city on the very day she was nearly assaulted and never appeared again.
Zhoucheng City could not give a reasonable explanation for her disappearance, and since the Jian family was initially unsatisfied with the match anyway, they didn’t pursue the matter further, and the marriage was called off. Opinions varied regarding this abruptly runaway woman, some good, some bad, but the common consensus was that she had been holding a golden rice bowl only to starve, suffering genuine injustice. Yet, since her purity remained intact, why throw away such a great marriage prospect?
So Tian Ying had long ceased to be the late city lord’s real daughter.
The true Tian Ying had unfortunately died in an accident along with her younger brother more than a decade ago. Unwilling to let go of a golden son-in-law with a boundless future, the old city lord had quietly found a young girl who looked strikingly similar, kept her locked away at home for years, and raised her in secret.
The generals who knew the inside story had thought the old city lord was simply consumed by the grief of losing a daughter, until the marriage proposal arrived, at which point they played deaf and dumb while hosting the Jian family. Today, the fake Tian Ying had discovered their intentions, terrified that the lie of substituting her would eventually be exposed by the Jian family. Trembling with fear, she had desperately sought an excuse to ruin the marriage.
Tian Ying was useless now; could it be that they really had to marry off the Tianfeng physique instead?
A general made a final struggle, Patriarch Jian, the City Lord has several other daughters who have always been raised outside. How about we have them brought over for you to take a look? What do you think? Unpresentable illegitimate daughters, they couldn’t really show them off with much confidence, but they were clutching at straws in case the Jian family reluctantly agreed.
Jian Guichi finally spoke: I want Mo Zhi. With those four words, he stopped, clearly and concisely expressing his absolute stance.
Mo Zhi yelled hysterically at the system, Why is he like this?!
The system didn’t understand, What’s wrong? What’s wrong?
Mo Zhi: The way he talks like that, isn’t he trying to kill me?!
The system: …Stop flirting.
The matter was settled. The vice-patriarch impatiently demanded Mo Zhi’s identity token from them and left alone to go back and finalize the engagement contract.
Jian Guichi maintained his polite demeanor, Regarding today’s events, please keep your mouths shut.
Once the cultivation world learned that a Tianfeng physique had appeared, it would inevitably create waves that shook the heavens. Knowing that Patriarch Jian only wanted to let Mo Zhi live a few more days of peace, everyone nodded in agreement.
As the generals pondered the consequences of completely offending the Jian family, they suddenly decided to reject the marriage outright to preserve their Tianfeng physique. Instead, they watched as the tail trailing behind Jian Guichi, who had supposedly gone to rest in the bedroom, followed right along.
They grabbed Mo Zhi and forced a hypocritical smile at Jian Guichi, Patriarch Jian, please rest well. We have a few private matters to discuss with the City Lord.
Mo Zhi told Jian Guichi, who was looking at him inquiringly, Don’t worry, they won’t bully me anymore.
The generals’ smiles froze. Finally managing to see Patriarch Jian off, they immediately turned their attention to giving a pep talk to the suddenly active City Lord: Don’t fall for him. Patriarch Jian may be handsome, but you are in a different league now. What kind of beauty wouldn’t want to be with you? Even if someone was more handsome than Jian Guichi…
The general thought about Jian Guichi’s facial features and temperament, then corrected himself: Once you enter the Jian family, it won’t be as easy to play around with others. Think this through carefully.
Mo Zhi had little interest in the city’s power struggles and let them fuss over him. Believing he was weak and easily manipulated, the generals assumed he would obediently listen to them, maneuvering among major powerhouses to exchange his physique for benefits for Zhoucheng City, yet they hadn’t expected him to turn his elbows completely outward!
They had looked down on Mo Zhi before, but now that he was precious, they self-righteously demanded that he secure benefits for them.
Mo Zhi finished listening in silence. Looking at the endlessly greedy crew, his expression gradually shifted into his familiar, deadpan calm: You guys are far too confident, or do you genuinely believe I possess the ability to manipulate people’s hearts?
Everyone choked.
Given the Jian family’s power and status, crushing ants like us is as easy as turning over a hand.
The bearded general felt a chill run down his spine. Because of their seniority and Jian Guichi’s easygoing, unpretentious demeanor, they had indeed temporarily blurred the lines of the social hierarchy. They had spoken without thinking, forgetting the ancient truth that greed knows no bounds. If it were any other wild and lawless lunatic, they would have refused and simply destroyed Zhoucheng City instead, why bother sitting down to negotiate as equals?
The easily manipulated City Lord was gone. Whether they had dropped the act or had been taught some sense by Jian Guichi, their expressions instantly turned cold.
I think you need to figure something out first: Jian Guichi is marrying me, not your late city lord’s children.
The bearded general furrowed his brows, What, are you planning to abandon Zhoucheng City and enjoy glory and wealth all by yourself?
And what can you do about it?
The system realized that without the male protagonist’s presence, the host’s emotional state felt like a power source running completely out of charge. His battery was draining rapidly, plummeting to rock bottom and returning to its original state.
The generals fell silent. Since the person designated by Patriarch Jian to marry into the Jian family was Mo Zhi himself, if he chose to completely sever ties with Zhoucheng City and refuse to marry under the title of City Lord, they wouldn’t reap a single benefit.
They finally saw it clearly: the City Lord was more eager about changing the bride than anyone else, single-mindedly determined to bind himself to Patriarch Jian.
City Lord, we were only giving you well-intentioned advice.
Thank you.
After acknowledging their good intentions, Mo Zhi turned around and left. This time, no one dared to stop him.
With gloomy and helpless expressions, the generals watched him go.
They had always believed they had the City Lord wrapped around their little fingers, privately carving up the city’s power and wealth. They never expected that the City Lord’s previous inaction stemmed merely from indifference; when he finally took an interest in calling the shots, they lacked any leverage to hold him back, leaving them completely helpless against his rebellion.
Along the way, until the host let out a muffled groan, the system snapped out of its daze from the fact that its host had just talked back to everyone, noticing that Mo Zhi was frowning with a look of endurance.
Just as the system was about to ask, it heard him ask: Quick, tell me where Jian Guichi is.
The system panicked, Let me check.
Mo Zhi took a deep breath, If I don’t go cuddle with him right now, I’m going to die.
…
He’s probably going to die of flirting!