Initially, Miao Yi had wanted Yang Qing to oversee the Suppressing Tenth Hall. The palace there was empty, but he still had to consider Yang Qing's safety. Once Yang Qing became the commander of the Suppressing Tenth Hall, if anything were to happen, the Suppressing Tenth Hall would definitely make a move on him. Not to mention, it would be inconvenient to communicate with the Suppressing Tenth Hall from a great distance. Hence, it was better to keep Yang Qing by his side.
By the time the banquet was over, the sky was already turning dark. Miao Yi asked Yang Qing to stay for a chat, while the others left the palace hall.
Many of these people probably only had one chance to enter this palace in their lifetime, and this one chance was enough for them to brag to others for the rest of their lives.
The group of handmaidens at the foot of the mountain were truly waiting at the foot of the mountain, all the way until the end of the welcoming banquet. Even Qing Mei and Qing Ju were like this. It didn't matter if you were a Cave Master's handmaiden, a Mountain Chieftain's handmaiden, or a Manor Head's handmaiden. At the foot of the Hall Master's mountain, it was not up to any of the handmaidens to put on airs. If you were told to wait, you could only wait.
Seeing that Qin Weiwei had come down without Yang Qing, Qing Mei and Qing Ju hurriedly went up to her and asked, "Why don't you see Lord?" Just now, a group of people suddenly ran over to watch over them. They had vaguely heard that someone was trying to assassinate the Hall Master up there, but they did not dare to barge in to investigate. Now that they did not see Yang Qing, they were worried that something might have happened to him.
At this moment, Qin Weiwei's mood was incomparably joyous. It was just that she had always appeared cold and indifferent on the surface. However, the high spirits in her eyes made Qing Mei and Qing Ju heave a sigh of relief. Qin Weiwei said, "The Palace Master has asked the Lord to stay for a chat. The Lord has asked me to bring you to the official residence first."
At this moment, a group of Mountain Chieftains and Cave Masters lined up behind them to greet Qing Mei and Qing Ju. "Elder Auntie, Little Auntie."
The two of them immediately realized that something was wrong. These people were looking at them with burning gazes, and their tones were abnormally respectful. The two of them looked at each other. Sir must be in control now. They could tell from the reactions of the people below.
After the group of people greeted the two aunts, they also greeted Qin Weiwei one after another, "Manor Chief Qin!"
He was already a Manor Lord! Qing Mei, Qing Ju, Hong Mian, and Lu Liu exchanged glances as well. He was secretly excited.
The others were led to the guest courtyard to rest, while someone else led Qin Weiwei and the others to the newly renovated Head Steward's official residence on the North Peak.
Previously, the people here had no idea why the Palace Master had urgently summoned a large number of craftsmen to expand this place. He had even sent dozens of cultivators to do manual labor, transporting all kinds of strange stones and transplanting all kinds of exotic plants from the deep mountains and forests. Only now did he understand that when the Palace Master took over the two halls a few months ago, he already had a candidate in mind for the position of Head Chief.
The mighty and solemn door was tightly shut. On the vermilion door, there were rows of brand new gold-plated nails the size of a fist. Someone pushed the door open from both sides and invited a group of people inside. At first glance, the grandeur inside caused Qin Weiwei, Qing Mei, and the others to look at each other in dismay.
The Head Chief's residence was only one-third the size of the main peak's palace. It was much larger than Yang Qing's original Prefecture Head's official residence. It was more than enough for Yang Qing's personal and public use. In truth, the Palace of the Hall Master was only built to show off his status and grandeur. Due to its size, most of the space in the palace was unusable, resembling an empty garden...
In the palace, after leaving his seat, Miao Yi led Yang Qing and Yan Xiu to the observation deck. A table and a few cups of tea had already been prepared on the observation deck. Miao Yi gestured for them to sit, and sat opposite Yang Qing. Even though Yang Qing and Yan Xiu's status was no different from Miao Yi's External Head Chief and Internal Head Chief … Yan Xiu still consciously stood behind Miao Yi.
The sky was a dusky yellow. The surrounding scenery that could be faintly seen made one feel relaxed and happy. Yang Qing looked around and smiled, "What a great place."
Miao Yi pointed to the house on the North Peak. "That is your official residence."
Yang Qing focused his gaze and nodded. He turned back and asked, "May I know what orders Milord has for me to summon me here?"
Miao Yi slightly tilted his head. Yan Xiu, who was behind him, immediately moved to the side. Miao Yi pointed and said, "You know Yan Xiu. He has always been by my side. He is the Head Chief of this Seat's palace. You two will be in frequent contact in the future. Recently, he has been gathering information on the two halls. You two can have a good chat later. Ask him anything you need. He will tell you everything he knows. It will be easier for you to quickly grasp the situation of the two halls. "
Yang Qing was a smart man. He knew what to do. He immediately stood up and cupped his fists towards Yan Xiu, "Brother Yan!"
Yan Xiu immediately cupped his fists in return. He was also very emotional. The Manor Head who used to be high and mighty was now addressing him as a brother. Yan Xiu understood this clearly. Everything he had today was given to him by Miao Yi. Without Miao Yi, he was nothing.
Miao Yi gestured for Yang Qing to sit down. He then said, "I summoned you here because there is something I want you to know first. I do not want you to interfere with the positions of the Advisors and Deacons of the two halls because I have other arrangements. I am prepared to hire Red Lotus cultivators for all six Advisors and twelve Deacons of the two halls."
Yang Qing was stunned. He thought he had heard wrongly. He couldn't help but ask, "Milord, you are prepared to hire Red Lotus cultivators for all twelve Deacons as well?"
Miao Yi nodded. "There is no harm in having a strong army. In the future, whoever wants to invade my territory will have to think twice."
Yang Qing couldn't help but remind him, "Milord, with this, there will be eighteen Red Lotus cultivators for the two halls. I'm afraid the two halls won't be able to afford this expense. If we give them too low a salary, they will definitely not be willing to come."
Miao Yi said, "That's why I'm telling you this. As for Suppressing Tenth Hall, aside from paying the annual tribute, the yearly salary of a Hall Master will belong to you. As usual, you will need to raise three Red Lotus Advisors. That's already taken care of three of them. As usual, you will also need to raise six Deacons. So, you will have to set aside the salary of these six Deacons for me to raise the other Red Lotus cultivators. As for the remaining gap, I will use all of my earnings from Suppressing Ninth Hall. That should be enough. "
Yang Qing was speechless. 'If you're going to use all of the income of the two halls to raise people, then why are you the Hall Master of these two halls?' He couldn't help but remind him, "What about the income of a Hall Master?"
He didn't know that Miao Yi didn't care for this fixed income at all. This method of earning money was too slow. He didn't want to be like the other Hall Masters, spending thousands of years to accumulate resources. What he wanted was a strong army. What he wanted was power that no one dared to underestimate.
Miao Yi chuckled, "Naturally, I won't be raising them for nothing. There are still people outside who owe me a few million. When I get back, I will take them to collect their debts. Once I collect them, it will be enough to support them for a hundred years. I don't believe that I can't earn back all of this debt in a hundred years."
"Collect debts?" Yang Qing was stunned. The corner of his mouth twitched, and he was rather speechless. 'So you're not raising eighteen Red Lotus cultivators to oversee an area, but to intimidate others so that you can collect money.' Then, he quickly came to a realization. 'Didn't Miao Yi hire me with a high salary to oversee an area?'
However, Yan Xiu was already used to it. Back in East Arrival Cave, Miao Yi had done the same thing. If it weren't for the fact that he had a strong army, Miao Yi wouldn't have dared to go against Xiong Xiao back then. 'Do you think it's a joke for a Cave Master to lead his army to attack a Mountain Chieftain? Who would dare to do such a thing without strength?! '
Then, Miao Yi muttered, "But there's a problem. Everyone here is a Red Lotus cultivator. If we have to separate out the Advisors and Deacons, I'm afraid some people will be unhappy."
Yan Xiu suddenly had a flash of inspiration, and said, "Milord, why don't we all become Advisors?"
Miao Yi was taken aback. He slowly turned his head to look at Yan Xiu and asked, "Eighteen Advisors. Is that appropriate?"
Yan Xiu replied, "It's not like we don't have to pay them much, and we even have the chance to become Hall Masters. No one will be unhappy, right?"
Miao Yi nodded. "That's true. Eighteen Advisors does sound like a good deterrent." He turned to Yang Qing and asked, "What does Head Steward think of the idea of eighteen Advisors?"
Yang Qing laughed dryly. "I don't have any objections. I'm just afraid that the Palace Lord will have some objections. If Milord can get past the Palace Lord, there shouldn't be any problems."
However, in his heart, he was muttering, 'You really have the guts to do this. But since you're willing to spend not a single cent of the income of the two Halls, what more do I have to say when the Hall Master is willing to go this far? It's not like I'm lacking anything. By raising so many Red Lotus cultivators, you can reduce external threats and relieve some pressure on me. What more do I have to say? '
However, what made Yang Qing sick of it was that he was very worried that Miao Yi would take the risk and act recklessly. If that happened, he would definitely have to follow behind Miao Yi all day, living in fear. This was what Yang Qing was most worried about. If it weren't for this, he would be completely at ease.
Miao Yi chuckled. "What objections could the Palace Lord have? It's not like I'm spending her money. I don't even have a single Purple Lotus cultivator on hand, so there's no way I can rebel against her. If she has any objections later, I'll just look for her and explain it to her. "
In the end, with his final decision, the matter was settled. When they were dismissed, Yang Qing invited Yan Xiu over to his place to sit. He wanted to understand the situation from Yan Xiu.
Miao Yi turned back to Ximen Yan's place. Those two handmaidens, who had been tortured to the point of hovering between life and death, could only open their mouths and curse Miao Yi. Even if he wanted to interrogate them, he wouldn't be able to get anything out of them. Miao Yi reckoned that these two fellows had been keeping an eye on him since a long time ago. It was just that they couldn't find an opportunity to get close to him and make a move. It wasn't easy for them to bump into Yang Qing and the others, so they decided to take the risk out of desperation.
Miao Yi admired these people who didn't mind sacrificing themselves to seek revenge on him. However, he couldn't let them go. Even if he did, they wouldn't appreciate it. It was very likely that they would come back a second time.
After Yang Qing's arrival, Miao Yi finally had a load off his mind. That night, he was in the mood to have a good time with Qian'Er and Xue'Er. The three of them enjoyed themselves to the fullest.
Before the sky had even brightened, the faint sound of galloping dragon steeds could be heard, causing Miao Yi to crawl out of the embrace of the two ladies' naked bodies.
Standing on the observation deck, Miao Yi could see troops moving in and out of the North Peak's Grand Steward's manor. Looking at the sky, Miao Yi guessed that Yang Qing had been preparing for the entire night, and had already begun to mobilize his troops to various locations.
"Milord, the air outside is heavy." Qian'Er, her hair a little loose, took a cloak and gently draped it over Miao Yi's shoulders.
Beside her, Xue'Er brought over a cup of hot tea. Miao Yi took a sip and returned it to her. He then turned around and chuckled, "Yang Qing is the best at handling these kinds of matters. With him taking care of the matters of the two Halls for me, I'll be able to relax in the future."
The two ladies exchanged glances. After all, they were both family members, and had been in charge of Raincloud Manor for several decades. Qian'Er furrowed her brows. She reached out to help Miao Yi straighten his cloak, which had been messed up by the wind. She muttered, "Milord, you've given him such great authority. Given Yang Qing's capabilities, wouldn't it be dangerous if he were to one day harbor evil intentions?"
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