C77

For these twelve clans, the position of the Ximen and Ouyang Families were relatively close. West of Jinling. It was connected directly to the sea. These trades were very important to the families of the two families. The elders of the two families knew the importance of this matter, so the two families negotiated and divided the places that were traded by the sea. The Ximen Family was a little to the west; the island they lived on was the middle of the island and the Ouyang Family's sea area was to the east. As such, the two guilds did not interfere in each other's business.

Because these two clans were a little far from Jinling, Nangong temporarily did not set them as their targets. As long as they did not take the initiative to make things difficult for Jinling, they could just ignore them for now.

The Dongfang family, as the name implied, was on the east side of Jinling, and their main force was on a large mountain in the east. There were quite a few poisonous snakes and ferocious beasts on this mountain. However, the Dongfang family had lived here for a long time, so these jungle creatures had formed some good friendships. These jungle creatures had also become a barrier to the Dongfang family.

The Dongfang family was on the mountain. Naturally, they relied on the precious plants and animals on the mountain as their main source of income. Fortunately, the Zhongli family knew that the survival of the clan was inseparable from this forest, so they protected this forest quite well.

No one in the Rao Clan knew where they were, so for the time being, they were not their target.

Therefore, the only families that could be considered targets were the Zhao, Zhang, Li, Jun, Lin, Wei, Liu, and Song Families.

Right now, the Ghost King was in a small city not far from Jinling, while Nangong was still in Jinling. Thus, the Zhang, Song, and Zhao Families were the weakest in Jinling.

Firstly, in Jinling, the Zhao Family had been found out to be secretly collecting and selling seafood, and the manager of the Zhao Family's business had been caught and brought in.

Jin'ling had a rule that marine products could not be bought or sold as they pleased. They required the approval of the government. The Zhao Family also had papers, but for some reason, the government had suddenly taken them away a few days ago, saying that they needed to change them. The relationship between the Zhao Family and the government officials had always been good. Of course, they would not think that the government officials intentionally harmed them, so they handed over the paperwork. Who knew that within two days, someone would come to investigate and say that since the Zhao Family didn't have any documents, then it was naturally against the law. Thus, this shopkeeper was unlucky enough to be caught.

The head of the Zhao Family knew about this as soon as he got wind of it. He was also a little confused. "The relationship between the Zhao Family and the government has always been good. Why would something like this happen?" He decided to invite the Jinling officials over tonight.

Usually, Jin'ling's officials would come as soon as they were invited, but today, the head of the Zhao Family was waiting left and right. Even the servants that were sent to invite them did not come back.

The Zhao Family Patriarch realized that the problem seemed to be serious.

He quickly had someone prepare the carriage and went straight to the house of the gatekeeper of Jinling.

Usually, the relationship between the head of the Zhao Family and this guard was the best. Every time he came here, he would go in without any notice, but this time, the treatment seemed a little different. Although the guards were still as polite as before, they didn't have the intimacy they usually had and just waited outside.

Not long after, the person who went to inform him came back, but he said helplessly: "Sorry, Boss Zhao, my master said that we can't see anyone today. As for your gift, Master said that you can't accept it without merit, so please bring him back." As he spoke, he had the people bring back the gifts he had brought with him.

The head of the Zhao Family finally realized that the problem was very serious, so he pushed it away and pretended to be angry, "Look at what you said, what kind of relationship do I have with the general? If the general is one, then I'll come again next time. As for this gift, General will not accept it. How about you … " The head of the Zhao Family was indeed an old fox. He had thought of such a countermeasure so quickly.

"Patriarch, you think too highly of me. I really don't dare to accept these things." "I'll tell you the truth. My general said that he can't interfere in this matter and it's not something he dares to interfere in. So, you should leave." That person directly spoke out everything that had happened.

"Can't control it?" The Zhao Family's hands trembled involuntarily, and the gift fell to the ground, shattering into pieces.

The servant of the Zhao Family who was at the side jumped in shock. He hurried over to support the Patriarch of the Zhao Family.

"In that case, I'll be leaving first." The Zhao Family's Patriarch left the General's house in a daze.

Looking at the broken pieces on the ground, the guard stood at the door and sighed, "Who can you support? It's actually the pillar of the Qin family. It seems that the Zhao family won't be able to stay here for long."

"Remember, we won't see anyone from the Zhao Family. We won't accept anything from the Zhao Family. If anyone dares to violate this rule, they will be executed." With that, the guard left.

"Yes, General." "Yes," the soldier replied.

The Zhao Family's Patriarch did not immediately return home. Instead, he went on to visit the other officials in Jinling. But after one night, the Zhao Family's Patriarch became more and more worried.

Because the result of the whole night was like this:

Jin'ling's big and small officials had matters to attend to tonight, so even the words of those beside Jin'ling were the same. "Our master doesn't dare to interfere in this matter. Please don't come back."

None of the gifts were given out. In the end, when the head of the Zhao Family accidentally asked where he had sent to invite the servants of these masters, those people had replied, "Patriarch, you must also know that the Prince has been very concerned about this matter of colluding with the officials recently. You sent these people here so brazenly, and if the Prince found out that we were talking about something he couldn't explain, then we would have already handed them over to Jinling's biggest official, Jinling's House Master, who is responsible for handling everything."

Hearing this, the head of the Zhao Family lost his usual calm, "This is to kill the Zhao Family!" The head of the Zhao Family was thinking about nothing else and headed straight back home.

Returning to the Zhao Family, the Patriarch couldn't understand why such a situation would occur. The butler, who was watching at the side, suddenly said, "Is it because we offended the Prince?"

Hearing this, the Zhao Family Patriarch immediately understood that the current Nangong wanted to overturn the Qing Family's rule, but it just so happened that our Zhao Family had a relationship with Qin Feng at this time. His Royal Highness couldn't do anything about Qin Feng now, but it was more than enough to deal with a small family like the Zhao Family.

Having thought this through, the Zhao Family's Patriarch was no longer as flustered.

"Go, send someone to invite the Song and Zhang Family Patriarchs over for a chat." The Patriarch of Zhao Clan made a prompt decision. "Since we can't allow Prince Nangong to live, then we might as well support the Qin family."