Please, Young Master, Slay the Demon!
Chapter 499 - 77: Where Did This Poor Relative Come From? 【Thanks to the Alliance Hierarch "Glacierangel"】_1

Chapter 499: Chapter 77: Where Did This Poor Relative Come From? 【Thanks to the Alliance Hierarch "Glacierangel"】_1

Huh?

Hearing this classic title, a series of images immediately came to Chu Liang’s mind: a queen, a bald guy, a talking pig, a monkey, and so on.

But people in this world definitely wouldn’t know about these things.

The Emperor wasn’t wrong though, after all, they were originally on equal footing, so they wouldn’t lose face if he was given the title of ’Imperial Younger Brother’.

But the problem is that the people in the whole world don’t know about Empress Feng’s origin, moreover, the imperial family wouldn’t publicize her situation. No one would know that Chu Liang was favored by his master, they would just think that the current Emperor suddenly recognized a talented young man as his brother.

How is this any different from Xu Baishan’s sudden sworn brotherhood?

Probably, there is no difference at all.

It’s just that the dignity attached to Emperor’s position wouldn’t allow him to kneel and worship the heaven and earth, so he adopted the form of granting ’Imperial Younger Brother’, but the actual meaning doesn’t differ much.

Could it be that these high-ranking officials all like to play this game?

But upon thinking about it more carefully, Chu Liang might have guessed the crux of it.

It’s a long story.

Since Taotie City rose and grew rapidly, the then imperial court intended to fully control it since it was making so much money. It was like a money-gobbling behemoth in the North Region.

Strictly speaking, as Taotie City was initially constructed by the human dynasty to resist the Demon God, and it still lies at the border of Nine States, it should technically belong to the human dynasty.

However, Taotie city did not agree.

Even if I have indeed developed from a human dynasty stronghold, it was done by a human dynasty three thousand years ago, right? In the following years, Nine States have undergone several changes. When Taotie City was so poor that it could barely afford its pants, no one showed up to help. Now that it sees me thriving, it suddenly remembers me and wants me to return to my roots?

Give me a break.

After the Demon God’s rebellion, the human land was in a state of disrepair, and many of the strongholds built during the war had died out, which was normal. But trying to annex them later was somewhat unreasonable, and the major immortal sects disagreed with this decision. Thus Taotie City confirmed it had nothing to do with human dynasty.

However, such a treasure trove can hardly stop anyone’s greedy intentions. Although Taotie City’s offerings to the court were always ample, it occasionally fell victim to some maneuverings. Thanks to the immortal sects who did not want Taotie City to belong to the dynasty, they managed to keep it intact.

It was not until the Yu Dynasty was established that they faced the same problem faced by every major dynasty in its early days — lack of money.

The general public lacked food and jewelry, cultivators lacked heavenly material and earthly treasures, anyway, it was all just different forms of poverty.

The Yu Dynasty still cared about its reputation.

They didn’t scheme against Taotie City, but they came up with a related solution. Taotie City was set up on the barren North Region, so I could definitely do the same here in Yu Capital City, a prime location in Nine States. Wouldn’t the cultivators prefer it here? Wouldn’t I be rolling in money?

With such a beautiful vision, the Yu Dynasty even allocated a piece in its expanding city as the "Immortal District" specifically for cultivators’ activities and transactions.

But reality gave them a harsh slap.

It doesn’t mean that you can successfully run a business just because you have people, money, and resources. Taotie City is just about making money, but what are you people doing in Yu Capital City?

Chu Liang’s first problem when running Red Cotton Peak was the difficulty of attracting businesses. The Yu Dynasty didn’t have this problem initially. Their problem was that there were too many people wanting to open a shop.

Since the construction of the Immortal District began, all forces got involved. The royal family, high-ranking officials, noble families, civil officials, military generals... they all wanted to get involved. This was basically like drawing a line on a cow and fighting over which part would be in whose pot.

But, the problem is your cow isn’t even pregnant yet, right?

After the area was built, the Yu Dynasty quickly encountered the first problem. If there’s already a well-established Taotie City in the same location, why would I come here?

Chu Liang’s response on Red Cotton Peak was to waive the rent for shops, offer discounts to customers, and use Berry Playground to attract a large crowd. It burned a lot of money and took some time for Red Cotton Peak to get on the right track.

But the interest groups composed of royalty and nobles at the time didn’t have this awareness at all. They wished they could profit immediately. Who would be willing to burn money to attract customers? The whole Immortal District was disjointed and many measures could not be implemented.

Some insightful people in the court also noticed this problem, but the Emperor at the time couldn’t directly challenge these interest groups and could only subsidize them through the national treasury, allowing the shops to reduce prices — which meant the court took on the part of burning money.

But upon seeing this, these interest groups didn’t even have to sell things to make a profit because this money was already made, right? Whether it was earned from customers or allocated from the national treasury, does it matter?

They directly ate up the subsidy, and nobody really wanted to run their business properly. The worse the business, the more continuous subsidies the court would give them. If there were more customers, the court would stop allocating funds. Running a business earnestly is too hard.

Without any price advantages, the scattered customers weren’t interested at all.

When the shop first opened, everyone was keen to check it out, but in the end they realized that Taotie City was more cost-effective. You triple the original price and then reduce it by half and tell me it’s a grand opening bargain? Isn’t this fooling a fool?

And for those large immortal sects like ’Nine Heavens and Ten Lands’, they were fighting for speaking rights with the imperial power at that time and they definitely wouldn’t want the Immortal District to succeed, let alone do business with you.

With blockades on either end, it would be surprising if the business could develop.

Today, after several hundred years and efforts of many generations of Emperors, a small business street has finally been established with a little scale, gradually showing some prosperous signs, but it’s still a far cry from the original expectations of the Immortal District.

Because of competition, the Yu Dynasty certainly wouldn’t openly participate in setting up shop in Taotie City. But the development of their own Immortal District was really difficult, so they would secretly operate industries in Taotie City under various identities. As for all the forces associated with the court, they wouldn’t cooperate with Taotie City openly and they’d avoid Taotie City in order to save face for the court.

This is the complex relationship between the court and Taotie City.

And the Red Cotton Peak operated by Chu Liang is similar to Taotie City. The Emperor was watching the investigation on Red Cotton Peak and sighed all night long a while ago, wondering how they could develop so well in a few months, whereas we couldn’t do well in hundreds of years?

If the Imperial Court agreed to open a branch on the Red Cotton Peak now, it would be the same as acknowledging the legitimacy of the Red Cotton Peak. After that, all major forces related to the Imperial Court would not feel any pressure when visiting the Red Cotton Peak.

This move may bring considerable backlash.

The first pressure definitely comes from within. Those who have sway in the Immortal District or have been avoiding troubles by skirting around Taotie City for many years will undoubtedly have complaints.

Hence, the Emperor was hesitating a moment ago.

However, he quickly came up with the optimal solution: to grant Chu Liang the title of Royal Younger Brother and put him in charge of all the shops. This way, these shops weren’t opened by the Imperial Court on the Red Cotton Peak, but were personal gifts from the Emperor to his Royal Younger Brother.

This completely changes the situation.

As such, public criticism will be silenced.

...

Although these were only Chu Liang’s individual conjectures, they were probably not far off. After some conversation, Lao Santai came in to report that Great General Wu Anmin had arrived.

The Emperor’s face suddenly became gloomy. After giving more instructions, he dismissed Empress Feng and Chu Liang.

The mentor and disciple duo left and saw two men waiting outside the Night Dragon Palace.

One was a middle-aged man in a purple robe with a sullen face; the other was a handsome young man in a bright yellow robe with fiery eyes and radiant skin, full of energy.

The two standing next to each other bore some resemblance.

Lao Santai, leading both of them out, spoke to the middle-aged man: "Great General, you may enter now."

The middle-aged man nodded, took a deep breath, and then entered the palace.

Presumably, he is the Great General Wu Anmin. When he set off on an expedition to Roupu Country, instead of gaining merits, he almost caused a calamity in the palace by bringing back people from Roupu Country. Although it was Mars stirring up trouble, he, as the person in charge, inevitably took the blame and was certain to be punished.

The man in the yellow robe turned to Lao Santai with a smile and asked: "Who are these two?"

Lao Santai introduced them, "These two are Empress Feng, the Peak Master of Shu Mountain, and Young Hero Chu Liang. This is the Second Prince of the Emperor."

The Emperor of Yu Dynasty has many children, but only three were born with Divine Fire Life: the Second Prince, the Sixth Princess, and the Thirteenth Prince.

Among them, the Second Prince was Empress Wu’s legitimate son and ranked highest among the three. He was regarded as the Crown Prince from a young age. Known for his diligent studies, he had a good reputation in and outside the court, and was highly likely to be a future emperor.

Therefore, both the mentor and the disciple knew who he was.

"Oh——" Empress Feng nodded with enthusiasm, "Little Two, I’m your aunt."

"Eh?" The Second Prince, who was about to greet her, paused.

His first reaction was, how come you’re cursing?

Lao Santai quickly whispered, "Your Highness, she really is."

"..." Realisation dawned on the Second Prince. He must have heard about Empress Feng’s infamous confrontation with the royal relatives, but he had no idea that his father’s second sister would be so young.

Gaining his composure, he smiled again, "I have heard of the Empress Feng of Shu Mountain since I was young. I never expected to have this familial tie with you. What a surprise."

Saying this, he shifted his gaze to Chu Liang quickly, not wanting to dwell on their age difference, "Young Hero Chu, renowned for defeating Tao Wu and saving people from poison, you definitely rank amongst the foremost in the present day’s Immortal Sects."

"No, no." Chu Liang quickly responds with a friendly smile, "Your Highness, there’s no need to be so courteous. We’ll soon be family."

"Hm?" The Second Prince looked back at Lao Santai.

Lao Santai whispered, "The Emperor just granted Young Hero Chu the title of Royal Younger Brother. From now on, he will be your..."

Uncle?

Looking at the vaguely smiling boyish face of his uncle, and then at the radiant, young face of his aunt, the Second Prince felt that he seemed somewhat redundant standing there.

"Having met for the first time, there should be a gift." Empress Feng nudged Chu Liang with her elbow.

"I have it, I have it." Chu Liang raised his hand and pulled out two hard cards, "Just a small token of appreciation."

"Really appreciate it." The Second Prince accepted with a laugh. At this point, he had no choice but to acknowledge their relationship, reluctantly saying, "From now on, please...come to the palace more often and get to know each other better."

"Sure, sure." Chu Liang also beamed brightly.

After some casual talk, the mentor and disciple finally left together.

Watching them disappear into the distance, the Second Prince looked down at the gifts in his hand: two specially made cards with the inscription "Red Cotton Peak Coupon, 5 Spirit Stone Coins off for every 10,000 spent."

"..." It really was a "small" gift.

The Second Prince could not help but look at their retreating figures again.

Where did these poor relatives come from?