Protect Our Patriarch

Book 2: Chapter 1: Eighth-rank noble family

Spring of the 3153rd year of Daqian Long Chang era - February 17th.

Nearly eight years had passed since Wang Shouzhe's transmigration.

It was a season of blooming flowers and the revival of all things.

At the Dingpu ferry crossing.

A large ferry slowly docked at the deep-water port.

As soon as the connecting bridge was laid flat, the crowd orderly disembarked. They held a card in their hands, passing through the gate one by one.

The card was no bigger than a child's palm, but it was exquisitely made, resembling gold but not gold, resembling jade but not jade, presenting a faint purple color under the sunlight.

Inside the card, a piece of card paper was embedded, on which were written the holder's place of origin, name, age, and simple physical features.

As long as the cardholder passed through the gate, the fully armed gatekeepers would just give it a quick check, then smile and greet them through: "Welcome home."

And the passers-by would respond with thanks: "Thank you for your protection."

However, those without a card had to go through another gate. That gate was more crowded, the gatekeepers' faces were stern, scrutinizing each passer-by, and required them to provide an official Daqian guide. Those without a guide were immediately sent back on the spot.

Even if they had a guide, they would be interrogated about their origins, purposes, and how long they planned to stay in Ping'an Town. The interrogation was extremely strict, and if anything seemed off, they would be sent back immediately.

After the interrogation, they would be issued a thick paper card, warning them not to stay in Ping'an Town for more than a month, and charging a processing fee of one large copper coin.

They could refuse, but they would have to pay their own way back on the next ferry.

On the ferry, a few people dressed as traveling merchants formed a small caravan. Because they had carriages with them, they were arranged to disembark last.

At this moment, a young traveling merchant in his twenties, looking at this scene from a distance, asked, "Big brother, what is that light purple card?" Apparently, it was his first time doing business in Ping'an Town.

The goods loaded on their caravan were some fine salt, coarse salt, pig iron, copper, and other materials, all of which were best-sellers in Ping'an Town. Especially the fine salt and pig iron, which would be bought at high prices by blacksmith shops and grocery stores as soon as they were unloaded.

And they would buy some snowflake sugar, coarse cotton cloth, brocade cotton cloth, ordinary porcelain, and other high-priced items from Ping'an Town. After a hard trip, they actually made a decent profit.

"The purple card." An old traveling merchant in his forties or fifties, said with envy, "That's the identity card for the locals of Ping'an Town. Nowadays, Ping'an Town is not what it used to be. If outsiders want to move to Ping'an Town, they need to buy at least twenty acres of land and a house in one go to get an identity card. With the identity card, they can come and go freely in Ping'an Town."

"My goodness, I heard that the price of land and houses in Ping'an Town is very high now." The young traveling merchant said with envy, "Does that mean even those lowly tenant farmers are also issued identity cards?"

"Watch your words." The old traveling merchant hurriedly stopped him.

But it was too late.

Several burly men dressed in fine cotton clothes next to them glared at them: "What's wrong with us tenant farmers? Where are we lowly?"

The old traveling merchant quickly apologized for the young man: "I'm sorry, gentlemen. The young man is ignorant. He doesn't know that the tenant farmers of Wang's Clan in Ping'an Town now have a high status."

The high status comes from their high income and the importance Wang's Clan places on them.

Nowadays, the per capita annual income of Wang's Clan's tenant farmers has exceeded 30% of the per capita income of Ping'an Town's self-cultivating farmers. The only explanation for such an inverted result is that the income from Wang's Clan's farms has become very high, and the tenant farmers benefit from it.

You should know that the self-cultivating farmers in Ping'an Town, because they are cultivating Wang's Clan's No. 9 good seeds, and can enjoy the preferential price of pest control by the Spirit Bug Masters, are already much higher in income than the self-cultivating farmers in other places.

This shows how high the income of Wang's Clan's tenant farmers is, beyond many people's imagination.

Those tenant farmers of Wang's Clan waved their hands and didn't bother to argue with them. They each chatted and laughed: "I heard that Old Zhang's daughter married a self-cultivating farmer? I remember that girl works in the silkworm farm, right? I really don't know what he was thinking, letting his daughter marry down like that."

"He has fifty acres of good land? And the boy is a blacksmith apprentice? In that case, it's a good match."

"Old Liu, I heard that your family bought a shop in the second phase of Zhuwei Luxury Garden? Did you put all your family's savings into it?"

"Yes, that's right. My third son has some talent in sewing, and he will graduate in a couple of years. Opening a tailor shop can support himself. Our Liu family can't always be farming, can we?"

"What's wrong with farming? It's not easy to become a tenant farmer of Wang's Clan now. You have to check your identity, test your skills, and work in the peripheral farms for a few years first..."

"That's true, but having a tailor shop and a craft, the income is not low, and the shop is a good investment."

These tenant farmers talked about income when they opened their mouths and investment when they closed their mouths.

The young traveling merchant was scared. This was not a tenant farmer, was it? The confidence and tone were more like a wealthy farmer from another place.

Making connections with self-sufficient farmers, and even looking down on them?

"Is the storefront in that Pearl and Willow Luxury Court very expensive?" The young traveling merchant asked timidly.

"It's okay, more than a hundred Top Gold." Old Liu said, "The savings of our family for many years have all been invested in it, and we have also borrowed a lot of debts."

"So expensive?" The young traveling merchant was shocked, "In other towns, this can buy more than thirty acres of land. Isn't Wang's Clan too greedy in selling shops?"

"Young man, don't talk nonsense if you don't understand." Tenant farmer Old Liu reprimanded, "Pearl and Willow Luxury Court is a place where every inch of land is worth its weight in gold. The land and house prices are rising year by year. Many wealthy people in Changning also come to Pearl and Willow Luxury Court to buy houses and land as their other courtyards. Not to mention the Feng Shui and other things, just the third-order guardian beast guarding one side of the Pearl and Willow Lake is enough to make the storefront worth that money."

A third-order guardian beast?

The young traveling merchant was horrified, and then couldn't help but be curious, and started talking with tenant farmer Old Liu. The more they talked, the more shocking it was. Ping'an Town was even more powerful and wealthy than he had imagined.

"Do you see that young master dressed in brocade fabric?" Tenant farmer Old Liu pointed to a young man patrolling on the dock. Wherever he passed, some soldiers saluted him.

"Is that... one of the direct young masters of Wang's Clan?"

"It is indeed a young master of Wang's Clan, but he is from a collateral line."

"My goodness, even the collateral line is so imposing, this Wang's Clan in Ping'an is not simple."

"Of course, our Wang's Clan in Ping'an is an eighth-rank noble family. The Clan Leader's wife also comes from the eighth-rank noble family, the Liu's Clan of Shanyin. When two powerful forces join hands, how can it be simple?"

The young traveling merchant was suddenly in awe. An eighth-rank noble family has at least three spiritual platforms. These two families together must have at least six cultivators in the spiritual platform realm. Their strength is indeed strong.

The pedestrians, independent cultivators, and traveling merchants on the ferry were orderly passing through the gate, checking what needed to be checked, and handling the procedures that needed to be handled.

Suddenly.

In the orderly scene, an accident occurred.

Far away on the dock, a robust Xuanwu practitioner was running fast. He rushed towards a ferry that was about to leave the port. The soldiers who tried to stop him were no match for him. They were punched and kicked and flew away.

"My goodness, he is a master, probably at the seventh level of Qi Refining Realm."

The crowd started to discuss, surprised. The Xuanwu practitioner seemed to be an independent cultivator. It was very rare for an independent cultivator to reach such a realm. And looking at his appearance, he seemed to be very good at fighting.

Suddenly!

"You hurt people in my Ping'an Town and dare to run?"

A roar sounded behind him, and a young man intercepted him at a faster speed. Not only was he extremely fast, but his figure was also like a willow catkin in the wind, swaying and extremely elegant and handsome.

With the entanglement and obstruction of the soldiers.

In a few moments, the young man caught up with the middle-aged independent cultivator Xuanwu practitioner. His sword was like a rainbow, opening and closing, and the sword light was flashing with a heavy white light.

The elegant and handsome young man was displaying the Xuanwu combat skills and body techniques, which were the secret techniques of Wang's Clan, the medium-grade body technique "Willow Catkin Body Technique", and the medium-grade sword technique "Wang's Xuan Yuan Sword".

Seeing him perform it smoothly, it was obvious that he had already achieved some small success.

"Wang Shouyong!"

The middle-aged independent cultivator shouted angrily, "I just hurt someone while eating, didn't I? You chased me for tens of miles, do you really think I'm made of mud?"

He pulled out a steel knife, and his knife technique was fierce and domineering, obviously not a good person to provoke.

This person was not weak in terms of Xuanwu combat skills or cultivation among independent cultivators.

The two of them fought fiercely, and they were evenly matched.

Some soldiers with low strength, and even the guards, dared not go up and add to the chaos.

"That's the fifth young master of Wang's Clan, Wang Shouyong!" Many people recognized the identity of the young man and encouraged him, "Fifth Young Master, come on, take down that independent cultivator."

"My goodness." The young traveling merchant was shocked, "This Fifth Young Master looks only in his twenties, right? He is at the seventh level of Qi Refining Realm, and his cultivation is so solid. I'm afraid he can reach the peak of Qi Refining Realm in his forties. He has a promising future."

"Of course, our young masters and young ladies of Wang's Clan are all top-notch."

With the encouragement of the crowd, Wang Shouyong became more and more courageous in the battle, gradually gaining the upper hand.

Wang's Xuan Yuan Jue is a medium-grade cultivation heart technique. The more it is cultivated to the later stage, the more profound and powerful the Xuanqi is, and it is not exhausted in a long battle, and its endurance is quite amazing.

The independent cultivator saw that he could not resist gradually.

Suddenly, he took out a handful of red sand from his arms and threw it out, shouting: "Look at my poison sand."

Wang Shouyong was shocked and hurriedly retreated. His sword danced so tightly that water could not get in, blocking the poison sand. Unfortunately, he was fooled. Those were not poison sand at all, but ordinary red gravel.

The independent cultivator had already taken the opportunity to escape again, rushing towards the ferry that had left the port by five or six feet.

"Darn it!" Wang Shouyong inwardly cursed, realizing it was too late to pursue. If he rushed onto the ferry to fight, he might end up hurting innocent bystanders.

"Hahaha!" The rogue cultivator laughed maniacally. "Let's see if you dare to chase me onto the boat. Once I escape, I'll never return to Ping'an Town in this lifetime..."

However, his words abruptly halted, and his rushing momentum came to a sudden stop.

His face was filled with shock and fear, and cold sweat trickled down his forehead.

A young girl, around eighteen or nineteen years old, dressed in a yellow martial arts uniform, stood between him and the ferry.

With her hands behind her back, she merely stood there casually, effectively halting all the rogue cultivator's movements.

Her expression was calm and undisturbed, she didn't even bother to look at the rogue cultivator. An invisible pressure made the rogue cultivator's legs go weak.

"Wa, Wang... Wang Luoqiu!" The rogue cultivator's eyes were filled with terror and despair.

"Miss Six, it's Miss Six!"

From the crowd, someone excitedly shouted, "That rogue cultivator is so unlucky to run into Miss Six. I heard that Miss Six has already broken through to the eighth level of Qi Refining Stage!"

"That's old news, Miss Six reached the eighth level of Qi Refining Stage before the New Year."

"My goodness, Miss Six was only eighteen last year, right? Her cultivation speed is terrifying!"

"Not only is Miss Six's cultivation speed fast, her Basalt martial arts are also formidable. It's said that she has the terrifying ability to fight above her level."

The murmurs of the crowd sank the rogue cultivator's heart to the bottom.

He had been hanging around Ping'an Town for over a year, and naturally, he had heard of the reputation of Miss Six from the Wang's Clan.

However, he refused to surrender without a fight. He swung his steel knife and slashed at her with lightning speed, "Wang Luoqiu, move aside if you don't want to die!" He didn't believe that this young girl could be that strong in actual combat.

After all, he was a powerful cultivator who had slain fierce beasts in the outer regions, and his Basalt martial arts were naturally fierce!

"Ah, what a fool."

Wang Luoqiu sighed lightly, took a leisurely step forward.

That step seemed to shrink the distance between them, and in an instant, she was in front of him, landing a light punch on his chest.

"Boom!"

The rogue cultivator was sent flying backward as if he had been hit head-on by a ton-heavy beast. He flew several meters before crashing heavily to the ground. His chest caved in, and he kept coughing up blood, convulsing and unable to get up.

The onlookers gasped in shock, falling silent. They all knew that Miss Six, Wang Luoqiu, was formidable, but they never imagined she could be this powerful.

Just one punch!

Just one punch, and she had completely taken down the formidable rogue cultivator.

At this moment, the young hero Wang Shouyong rushed over, awkwardly saying, "Thank you for your help, Luoqiu. If this thief had made it onto the boat, it would have been a big problem."

"Wang Shouyong, you actually fell for such a simple trick?" Wang Luoqiu's eyebrows furrowed in dissatisfaction as she spoke with her hands behind her back, "You've let down our fourth brother's expectations. Go apologize to him yourself."

"Yes, I'll lock this man up in the jail first, then immediately go apologize to Fourth Brother." Wang Shouyong said with a bitter face.

"Hmph." Wang Luoqiu snorted and walked away without paying him any more attention.

Knowing Luoqiu's temper, Wang Shouyong didn't dare to delay any longer. He immediately arrested the man and threw him into the town's jail.

Then, without stopping, he returned to the Wang's Clan main house and hurried to his fourth brother's courtyard.

Upon reaching the courtyard, he felt a mix of fear and shame, and his steps faltered.

But before he could hesitate, a gentle yet authoritative voice came from the courtyard, "Little Fifth, how long do you plan to dawdle outside my courtyard? Come in."

Wang Shouyong shivered, quickly straightened his body, and respectfully said, "Yes, Fourth Brother."

As he walked in, he couldn't help but sigh. He felt that his fourth brother was becoming more and more unfathomable.

The more he tried to catch up, the more elusive his fourth brother seemed.

He was just standing outside the courtyard, yet his fourth brother had noticed him.

...