I Just Won't Play By The Book
chapter-331

As a large county in Feng Province, Lulin County had a total of 58 counties. Due to the shortage of food, the population of each county was about 20,000. It was definitely incomparable to the current population of 200,000 to 300,000 in a county.

Almost every one of the 58 counties had a clan that was driven by the sect. This was also why Jiang Beiran had said that the sect's influence had spread across almost the entire Fengzhou, and that there were no civilians outside the sect's jurisdiction.

At noon, the huge hall was almost filled with guests from all the big families. The guest halls in the east, west, north, and south were basically full. This was because the sect had invited them this time not to coldly invite them to a meeting, but to a gathering. Many people had brought their families along, and it was very lively for a time.

"Your Majesty, all the clan leaders on the invitation list have arrived."

The middle-aged butler came to the side room and reported after Li Minggao arrived.

"Got it."

Jiang Beiran nodded and left with Muyao and Deng Xianghan.

Before the meeting, he planned to get to know these clan leaders who "dominated a region".

They first arrived at the Royal Blessing Hall in the Western Courtyard.

"The emperor has arrived ~"

The middle-aged butler stood at the door and shouted.

In an instant, the hubbub in Chen You's hall suddenly quieted down, leaving only a few Haitong's playing around.

"Welcome, Your Majesty."

The moment Jiang Beiran stepped through the door, all the clan leaders and their clan members bowed in unison.

It was impossible for them to kneel. Many of these clan heads were Mystique Adept or even Mystique Spirit realm experts. They had already given the Returning Heart Sect enough face by bowing to Jiang Beiran. Of course, if the Sect Master had personally ordered them to kneel, they would kneel as well. However, they would definitely remember this humiliation in their hearts.

Nodding, Jiang Beiran said," Welcome to this place, clan leaders. It's been a long journey. Thank you for your hard work.""

Hearing Jiang Beiran's words, the clan leaders heaved a sigh of relief. After all, they had heard plenty of rumors about the new Emperor. Being tough was one of his characteristics. They had been worried about how they would respond if the new Emperor were to show them his might as soon as he arrived.

Who would be the one to stand out? No, what if the late emperor really treated them as pushovers?

Now that she saw that the new emperor was quite friendly to them, the entanglement in her heart was finally put down.

Amid the compliments, Jiang Beiran slowly made his way to the host's seat.

On the way, he suddenly saw three identical faces sitting there with tense expressions, as if they didn't care about him at all. However, the one sitting on the right couldn't help but glance at him from the corner of his eye, pretending to be admiring the scenery.

Noticing Jiang Beiran's gaze sweeping over, the person sitting in the middle hurriedly turned his head to the other side, and the three of them looked in the other direction.

"Sigh ~"

Jiang Beiran sighed inwardly. He had already expected the three Yu sisters to show up here.

After all, when he went to Ting Lan Waterside Pavilion, he learned from Protector Yu that the five golden flowers had applied for leave together. The reason was that his father was here, so he wanted to visit.

Jiang Beiran had initially been worried that the five of them would be " unnecessary ", but now that he saw how they were trying their best to avoid arousing suspicion, he felt that they were quite promising.

Sitting at the host's seat, he said,""Clan leaders, please take a seat."

They cupped their hands at Jiang Beiran and sat down.

Judging from the seating arrangement, the Yu Clan was at the top. Just like what was written on the list of names given by the Sect Master, the towns in the northern mountains of the Yangtze River all followed their lead.

As the representative of the various families, a middle-aged man from the Yu Family stood up and cupped his fists at Jiang Beiran.""I am Yu Kangan. Greetings, Your Majesty. I am extremely impressed by the policies that Your Majesty has implemented after you ascended the throne. I have always wanted to find an opportunity to see the heavens. Now that I have seen it, Your Majesty is indeed wise and divine, with an extraordinary bearing."

Listening to Yu Kangan's flattery, Jiang Beiran naturally knew that he was flattering the Sect Master. In the eyes of the Clan Master, he should be the spokesperson of the Sect Master. After all, it was the Sect Master who had called them over.

However, no matter who this flattery was directed at, at the very least, it meant that he, Yu Kangan, had no intention of taking the initiative to stir up trouble. He was absolutely calm.

"So it's Clan Leader Yu. I've heard about you many times in Chu Baishan. They say that you've done a good job and contributed a lot to the development of the sect over the years."

"Zhu Baishan is too kind. If not for the support of the sect, my small family would have long been homeless."

"Clan Leader Yu is truly humble. I will need your help in many areas in the future, and I hope that Clan Leader Yu will spare no effort."

"Of course. As citizens of the Sheng Kingdom, it is our honor to serve the Emperor."

'Wow…This was the first time she had seen such a senior brother.'

Although the three sisters knew that their senior brother was not just an in-name disciple like he appeared to be, they still treated him as a peer. Now, seeing their father, who usually had an extremely lofty image, fawning over him, they felt that their senior brother's image had become much higher.

However, as the number of senior brothers and fathers increased, the three sisters 'attention slowly shifted to other places.

For example, Yu Guishui was now looking at Muyao.

'There are indeed many beauties in the palace…If even the servant girls were so beautiful, then how beautiful were the concubines in the harem?'