…
"I understand this matter." Wang Shouzhe was already thinking about it, and changed the subject, "Wang Shoulian, your fourth sister-in-law made some snacks for me. I am reluctant to eat more, so I will save some for you."
Wang Shoulian's face changed slightly, and he forced a smile: "Thank you, Brother Si, for your compassion. I just ate some dry food on the way."
"You're a big guy, how can you just eat dry food?" Liu Ruolan blamed slightly, "You eat some snacks to fill your stomach first, and the fourth sister-in-law will cook for you in a while."
Wang Shoulian's face was extremely pale, he forced a smile and said, "Thank you Sisao."
Wang Zongchang's calf was shaking, and he said, "Fourth Uncle, I'm going to complete the task right now."
"Why are you in a hurry?" Liu Ruolan looked like a sister-in-law and aunt, "You are all young and middle-aged, and you have to eat before you do anything. No one is allowed to leave, and everyone stays for dinner."
Then, Liu Ruolan went to prepare meals.
She said that today she will cook by herself.
The faces of the three Wang's men were all heavy, and the atmosphere was oppressive, as if the end was coming.
…
Almost the same time period.
To the northwest of the Acropolis of Changning, there is a large pasture with rich water and grass, stretching as far as the eye can see.
Here, there are herds of cattle and sheep, as well as groups of strong horses, running and training under the urging of herdsmen.
This is the famous "Huangfu Ranch", which is one of the main pillar industries of the Huangfu family, a family of heaven and man.
The Huangfu family has taken root in Changningwei for hundreds of years, and has completed an alternation of heaven and man. It can be said to be prosperous forever, and its status is as stable as Mount Tai.
In the middle of this vast pasture, there is a ring-shaped volcano that has been silent for a long time.
This is a ring-shaped volcano, which caused a lot of volcanic rocks in the land of this large pasture, so that it was difficult to cultivate a large area, and it was difficult to reclaim stretches of good fields.
However, the large amount of volcanic ash and minerals contained in the land are suitable for the growth of pasture in large quantities, which is conducive to the development of animal husbandry.
It also makes the beef and mutton produced by Huangfu Ranch are of high quality, and the horses are also very strong, which has generated a lot of economic benefits.
Right in the middle of the ring-shaped volcano, at a depth of more than a hundred feet below the crater, there is a huge red rock.
On the rock, built a stone house.
Next to the stone house, there is a red lake with a radius of tens of feet. But in this small lake, what accumulates is not water, but red magma that keeps rolling "bobo".
The scorching high temperature permeated the air, and the surroundings were distorted.
From time to time, there are magma bubbles churning up from the magma lake, the bubbles burst, and black smoke rises. It is the ashes formed by the burning of impurities in the magma that cannot bear the high temperature.
The temperature in the entire area of the magma lake is terribly high. Ordinary people entering here will be burnt within a short while.
However, in such a desperate place, there is a red-haired old man sitting cross-legged on a piece of red exposed volcanic rock.
That piece of volcanic rock is located in the middle of the magma lake, and magma bubbles are constantly bursting around it, as if bursting into red flame flowers. The surrounding air is also distorted, obviously the temperature is extremely frightening.
However, the red-haired old man was still at ease in this environment, as comfortable as a fish in water.
His eyes were closed tightly, his breathing was long, breathing like a dragon.
Every time he inhales, the surrounding extremely high-temperature air will be sucked into his lungs in large quantities, and every time he exhales, a white wave of air will be spewed out.
With every breath, the temperature of the surrounding air seems to have dropped a bit, and the magma in front of it was even more shaken and stirred up layers of waves.
So, again and again.
His face gradually turned red as if he was drunk with old wine, and there were bursts of blue smoke rising from the top of his head.
Right now.
On the stone steps leading to the interior of the crater, a majestic middle-aged man in Chinese clothes was descending rapidly.
His breath is steady, and he walks like a tiger. Although his speed is fast, it is as if his feet are on the ground, and he has a calm demeanor.
On his body surface, there was even a thin layer of red aura, helping him resist the terrible high temperature in the crater.
But even so, when he walked to the stone house by the magma lake, his face was already sweating, and his face was flushed with heat, obviously it was not easy.
But he still only dared to watch the red-haired old man from a distance, not daring to disturb him at will.
After a long time, the red-haired old man received his merit.
With bare feet, he stepped on the tumbling magma and arrived at the small stone house as if walking on flat ground.
It wasn't until this time that the middle-aged man in Chinese clothes with extraordinary bearing cupped his hands and said, "I've seen my ancestor."
As he spoke, he shook off a coat with his own hands and put it on for the ancestor.
"Jinhuan." The red-haired old man glanced at him lightly, "You know that my "Red Dragon Mantra" is at a critical juncture. If there is nothing important, I believe you dare not disturb me."
"Report to our ancestors." The middle-aged man clasped his hands and said, "Does our ancestors still remember Ping'an Wang?"
"Ping An Wang?"
The red-haired old man frowned slightly, as if he was thinking about something.
After a long while, he suddenly said: "I remembered. That foreign pioneer family called Wang Zhouxuan. There are also two heavenly and human families in my small Changningwei district. He even wants to attack the heavenly and human families. It's ridiculous~!"
The man in Chinese clothes said: "That's right, according to your ancestor's instructions back then, we took advantage of the momentum of the beast tide and casually set some obstacles for the other party, causing them to fall down."
He spoke very easily.
Back then, they had no grievances or enmities with the Wang family, but they just erased them casually.
The red-haired old man frowned slightly: "I also remembered when you said that. This family seems to have some relationship with the Longzuo Wang family. At the beginning, the Longzuo Wang family asked for a letter from the academy, so they saved it. That little family. Why did you suddenly bring up this little family? Could it be that they can still win the sky?"
"Old ancestor." The man in Chinese clothes said in a deep voice, "This small family is really going to be turned upside down now. Recently, there was news from our clansmen in the Zifu Academy that this Ping'an Wang family, for some reason, had a lot of troubles. Three Tianjiao. Two of them were trained as personal disciples by Wandie Valley and Xiaoyao Peak respectively."
"And their patriarch, Wang Shouzhe, is even more amazing..."
He explained to his ancestor some recent events in the academy.
Of course, the matter of Wang Longyan and Wang Lici was relatively low-key and unknown to outsiders, so they did not receive any news.
"Old Ancestor, if this goes on, within two hundred years, this Wang family may climb up on us. I don't know if the other party will investigate what happened back then?"
"The two in the academy are still too young to pose a threat in a short time." The red-haired old man said indifferently, "It is impossible for the teachers in the academy to intervene in disputes between local tyrants at will. The real threat is the one from the Wang family." Patriarch, Wang Shouzhe."
His eyes were calm: "Back then, due to the warning from the academy, weeds could not be eradicated. This time, we did it more covertly, and it is bound to hit the vital point with a thunderbolt."
"Yes, old ancestor." The middle-aged man said again, "In addition, our spies have also discovered a top-secret matter. The 'cement' that has become famous in Donghaiwei recently is actually a masterpiece of Wang Ping'an."
Speaking of this, his eyes lit up.
No wonder the Pingan Wang family has risen so rapidly in recent years, probably because they have earned a lot of resources from cement.
"Cement?"
The red-haired old man obviously didn't know this.
The middle-aged man explained to him, and said: "Cement is expensive. But in recent years, many buildings in Ping'an Town, including roads and embankments, have used a lot of cement. From this, it can be inferred that cement The manufacturing cost should be very low, which is a huge profit. If we can keep this business in our hands... ”
Hearing this, even the red-haired old man's breathing became slightly heavy.
If a family wants to grow and develop, it cannot do without resources.
The Huangfu family is very powerful, with numerous industries and a large scale. The total annual income has reached an astonishing 300,000 dry gold.
However, their expenses are even more staggering.
An ancestor of the Heavenly Human Realm, a dozen backbones of the Spiritual Platform Realm, two Celestial Human Seeds, a dozen Spiritual Platform Seeds, plus two to three hundred important clan members, including more than a hundred generals and priests , and the rest of the servants and servants, the number reached one or two thousand people.
With so many people, the annual expenses are astronomical.
How much of the three hundred thousand dry gold can be left over
As the saying goes, "every family has its own scriptures that are difficult to recite", the ninth-rank family has the difficulties of the ninth-rank family, and the seventh-rank family, although it seems to have unlimited scenery, has its own difficulties.
The family's accumulation is not enough, and the red-haired old man dare not open up to practice and attack the purple mansion, otherwise he will be a black hole of resources, and the rest of the family's descendants will not be able to develop.
At present, their plan and direction is to become a sixth-rank family.
But if they can take the cement industry as their own, based on their family background, the value of cement will be far higher than that of Ping'an Town.
At that time, not to mention the sixth-rank family, after one or two hundred years of accumulation, the Zifu family may be eligible to make a dash.
As the saying goes, if a man is innocent, he is guilty if he is pregnant. Ping'an Wang, this is looking for a dead end.
A hint of greed flashed across the red-haired old man's eyes, and a powerful and suffocating aura gradually spread from him.
"Jinhuan, feel free to do this matter. There is only one thing, it must be done without leaving any traces."
"Yes, old ancestor."
The middle-aged man lifted his spirits and realized that his ancestor had approved his idea.
He cheered up: "This is also in line with the rise of our Huangfu family. During this period of time, I will arrange the layout first, and when the disaster relief team from Zifu Academy leaves, we will start."
…
After a few days.
Changning Wei.
city capital.
As the political core of the Acropolis, the capital of the city is built in a square shape, with an upright atmosphere, but the details do not lose majesty. In the center, there is a tall tower, which can have a panoramic view of the entire Acropolis.
Outside the city capital, there is a large square in each of the four directions.
The square is paved with bluestone, dotted with rune bricks, forming a huge guardian array around the city capital.
It can be said that the capital of the city itself is an extremely strong fortress, even if there are seventh-order fierce beasts charging into the battle, it can resist for a long time.
However, at this moment, the four huge squares were already full of carriages. These carriages have different family emblems and belong to the major families who came to the capital of the city to attend the meeting.
But at this moment, in the main hall, the eighth-rank families have already arrived in sevens and eights.
There are Liu Gaowang, the patriarch of the Shanyin Liu clan, and Liu Zhisheng, the ancestor of Zhisheng.
Obviously, because the patriarch Liu Gaowang has not yet reached the Lingtai stage, he came to support the ancestor Zhisheng.
In addition, there is also the patriarch Chen Dewei of the Donggang Chen Clan.
He was originally the Patriarch of the Lingtai Realm, so only one person came.
Correspondingly, there is Gongsun Yan, the patriarch of the Gongsun clan in Shanyang.
Gongsun Yan is only twenty-three years old, but he is already at the peak of the seventh level of the Qi Refining Realm. He has a calm and introverted demeanor without losing his grandeur. He is the new generation patriarch of the Gongsun Clan.
As for his father, Gongsun Qiang, he had been the young patriarch all his life, but in the end it was not his turn to be the patriarch. After he reached the Lingtai stage, he became an elder.
As for Wang Shouzhe's mother clan, the Yingxiu Lu family, there are currently only two monks at the Lingtai Realm, who have not yet reached the threshold of an eighth-rank family, so they are not eligible to participate in this welcome meeting.
In addition, Xu Anbang, the patriarch of the Changning Xu family, an old eighth-rank family, was also waiting here early.
In addition, Dang Zhenghe, the patriarch of the Ningxi Dang clan, Huangfu Deyun, the patriarch of the former Ma Huangfu clan, and the heads of famous families such as the Wang Xialei clan have all arrived.
Among them, the former Ma Huangfu family and Wangxia Lei family are offshoots of the two celestial families in Changning, the Huangfu family and the Lei family. Under the care of the main family, they have developed into an eighth-rank family in just one or two hundred years.
In addition to the Ping'an Wang family, the eight eighth-rank families in the entire Changningwei area are now gathered together.
When Wang Shouzhe walked into the main hall under the guidance of a city guard general, the eyes of everyone in the room fell on him.
The Liu family of Shanyin, the Gongsun family of Shanyang, and the Chen family of Donggang naturally all cast kind and cordial glances one after another.
The eyes of Xu Anbang, the head of the Xu clan in Changning, were obviously much more complicated.
Once upon a time, the Xu family in Changning, as a veteran eighth-rank family, was aloof and proud. The relationship with Ping An Wang is also very complicated.
Over time, the contact between the two parties became less and less, and only Zhimai still maintained a state of occasional intermarriage.
But now, in just ten years, the Wang family of Ping'an has risen rapidly, and has monopolized a corner of Ping'an, a whole piece of land. Not only is its strength faintly catching up with the old eighth-rank family, but its future potential is even more immeasurable.
The other patriarchs of the eighth-rank family also looked at Wang Shouzhe with deep meaning in their eyes, as if they had their own scheming and plans.
"Cousin Shouzhe." Gongsun Yan, the youngest patriarch present, greeted Wang Shouzhe first, and cupped his hands, "Why did cousin come here? Everyone has been waiting for a long time."
"Cousin Yan." Wang Shouzhe replied with a smile, "I'm in Ping'an Town, with mountains high and rivers far away, so it's normal to come late."
Afterwards, Wang Shouzhe exchanged greetings with the patriarchs one by one.
Everyone is a person of status. It is normal for in-laws and allies to be intimate. Even if there was some friction with the rest of the patriarchs, they will not lose their demeanor on such a formal occasion. They greet each other with smiles. , talking and laughing happily, like a friend you haven't seen for many years.
However, in this scene, everyone said nothing nutritious.
When it is busy.
The mansion general outside shouted: "Huangfu Jinhuan, head of the Tianren Huangfu Clan, has arrived..."
Everyone who was talking and socializing suddenly stopped talking and looked towards the door.
I saw a middle-aged man in Chinese clothes stepping in with a swift pace.
He glanced around the room, and a smile appeared on his face: "Sorry everyone, I'm late."
After the general politeness, his eyes fell on Wang Shouzhe.
And Wang Shouzhe's eyes also fell on him.
The eyes of the two collided.
…