The next day, Ren Tianye woke up early in the morning.
He set up a sign at the city gate to recruit soldiers and horses.
At the same time, he ordered his guerrilla generals to distribute the equipment obtained from the imperial guards and begin training. Everything was developing in a tense yet orderly manner.
The strength of Yunji City was unknowingly growing more and more powerful.
Ren Tianye was busy until the evening before returning to the General's Manor. However, he only hastily took a few bites of food before diving back into his paperwork.
His deputy general, Wang Ming, stood guard outside the door to ensure his safety.
Suddenly, the sound of a carriage and horses could be heard.
Stepping out of the General's Manor to take a look, he saw a carriage slowly approaching. The carriage was luxurious, made entirely of solid wood and carved with intricate patterns, which not only showed its elegance but also gave a sense of extraordinary nobility.
Wang Ming recognized it; this was the Su family's carriage.
Moreover, it was the carriage of the Second Miss, Su Xiu.
He could not help but frown slightly.
The Great General's wedding with Su Xiu was approaching, so why did the Second Miss Su Xiu come over in person?
Wasn't this Second Miss always dissatisfied with the Great General? If it weren't for Su Jin and his second uncle persuading and even threatening her, this marriage would inevitably have ended up as a forced arrangement.
So why was Second Miss Su Xiu here now?
However, no matter what, she would become the Great General's woman in the future. Wang Ming did not dare to be arrogant, and immediately walked quickly forward to stand respectfully to the side.
The carriage stopped, the curtain was lifted, and a woman stepped out.
She was somewhat pretty and her clothes could be considered luxurious.
But compared to the everyday clothes of the Su family members, they were still far inferior.
Wang Ming then saw clearly that the person who came was not Second Miss Su Xiu at all, but rather her personal maid.
He had been busy with the Great General's wedding alongside Su Jin these days, so he recognized her and remembered that her name seemed to be Xiaotao.
Frowning, he asked, What are you doing here?
How dare a mere maid like you ride in your master's carriage?
Usually, Xiaotao was quiet, obedient, and hardworking in front of Su Xiu, but away from Su Xiu, she showed a completely different face.
Cold, arrogant, and aloof, she somewhat resembled Second Miss Su Xiu.
Hmph!
I came on my young lady's orders, why can't I ride in my young lady's carriage?
For a mere deputy general, you certainly stick your nose where it doesn't belong.
Deputy General Wang Ming's expression instantly turned somewhat ugly.
Ever since the Great General took command of the region and became the lord of Yunji City, even brothers with much higher military ranks than him treated him politely and did not dare to slight him in the least.
It had been a long time since he had received such a reprimand.
However, he was kind-hearted after all and did not want to argue with a young woman, so he suppressed his anger and said, What exactly did you come here for?
Call your Great General out. I need to say a few words to him on behalf of our young lady.
Call the Great General out to speak for your young lady?
Deputy General Wang Ming was stunned for a moment.
He thought to himself that even if your young lady came, she would have to wait obediently outside until the Great General was free to see her. What kind of a thing are you?
He shouted coldly, Nonsense!
The Great General is busy with military affairs. How could he see you just because you want him to?
If you have something to say, say it quickly.
If not, hurry up and go back.
Xiaotao's pretty face was instantly filled with anger. What arrogance! I represent my young lady. Your Great General truly does not know what is good for him.
And he dares to make me wait?
These words were spoken quite loudly, already alarming a few of the personal guards at the gate of the General's Manor, which made Deputy General Wang Ming feel a bit anxious.
If the Great General heard these words, this Xiaotao's head would probably fall to the ground immediately.
He hurriedly said, Quiet!
Do not shout.
If you alarm the Great General, it won't end well for you.
Pausing, he said impatiently, What exactly is the matter with you? If there is nothing, hurry back and don't disturb the Great General from handling official business.
This cold eviction order made Xiaotao so angry that her chest heaved. Her pretty face was covered in frost, and her fingers cracked as she clenched her fists.
Good, very good. Since your Great General dares to treat me like this, when I go back, I will definitely report everything to my young lady in full detail.
You can tell your general to look out for himself.
Don't regret it!
After speaking, Xiaotao still did not dare to fail to complete the task entrusted to her by Second Miss Su Xiu.
After jumping off the carriage, she waved her hand and called the two servants she had brought with her to take out several chests of things from the carriage.
They placed them one by one at the entrance of the General's Manor.
Deputy General Wang Ming looked on with a bewildered expression because he recognized these chests. He had personally delivered them to the Su Manor; they were precisely the betrothal gifts for Second Miss Su Xiu.
What was this?
Was this marriage going to be unilaterally canceled?
That couldn't be!
This was settled only after Su Jin begged him not to tell the Great General, making several private trips behind the Great General's back, and then Su Jin's second uncle took charge and applied forceful pressure.
Although Su Jin's second uncle was not yet the true head of the Su family right now, after Su Jin's father passed away, the grandmother had taken overall control of the Su Manor's power, in reality, he was the one handling all matters, big and small, on his own.
He had obtained the approval of the Su Manor's grandmother, issued the order, settled the marriage, and even informed the relatives and friends of the Su Manor.
And they still dared to break off the engagement?
They must be crazy!
However, Deputy General Wang Ming was clearly mistaken.
He only heard Xiaotao say, My young lady said that these pieces of junk are not worthy of entering the Su Manor, and she doesn't care for them.
If the Great General wants to marry her, he must do so according to her rules.
Deputy General Wang Ming's heart, which had just settled down, hung in suspense again.
Rules?
What rules?
Could it be that Second Miss Su Xiu wanted a top-grade betrothal gift?
Wang Ming had been following Su Jin these days, constantly busy with the Great General's marriage, and was already clear about the ins and outs of it.
Marriage emphasized social equality. As a Great General, Ren Tianye marrying a merchant's daughter and giving a low-grade betrothal gift could already be considered a blessing.
Now they were given a mid-grade one, but she still wanted a top-grade one?
One must know that to receive a top-grade betrothal gift, the woman's family background had to be a royal princess, a duke's daughter, or a prime minister's daughter.
How could Su Xiu, a merchant's daughter, have such audacity?
Listen clearly to my young lady's rules, and explain them clearly to your unruly Great General later. Don't remember them wrong.
Xiaotao still looked furious and said coldly, To marry my young lady, all six traditional rituals must be fully prepared: proposing, asking for the name, matching horoscopes, presenting betrothal gifts, setting the wedding date, and the groom personally escorting the bride. Not a single one can be missing.
As for the gifts, there must be a pair of Hetian jade discs, eight pairs of pure gold eight-treasure pearl hairpins, ten strings of Eastern pearl bracelets, two coral trees...
Listening to Xiaotao read out a string of items on the list, Wang Ming's suspended heart finally died.
She really was demanding a top-grade betrothal gift!
How dared a mere merchant's daughter do this?!
At this moment, Xiaotao changed the subject and said, Of course, these are not the most important things.
The most important thing is that your Great General must write a letter of guarantee. After marrying my Second Miss, he must obey my young lady's orders in everything.
He is not allowed to make her unhappy.
If my young lady is unhappy more than three times, she can divorce your Great General.
And at the time of the divorce, your Great General's family wealth, including but not limited to the soldiers and horses under his command, must be divided in half with my young lady!
Did you hear me clearly?
If you heard me clearly, then have your Great General write the letter of guarantee so I can take it back to my young lady.
...
't think I'm that capable, I'm just trying my best to stay alive. I've been kind all my life, never did anything bad, yet worldly suffering spared me not one bit. The human world is a nice place, but I won't come back in my next life. A kind young man, who wanted to just get by singing, but through repeated deceits and betrayals, has gone down an irredeemable path.
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
