183: Tang Cheng's dilemma

Village Head Chen replied repeatedly, then mentioned what he had said at the beginning, "Lord Town Head, would you like to move to the Office first?"

Tang Cheng waved his hand, "No need, I want to go in and take a look first."

He pointed his hand at the seven-story building of the commercial center in front of him, which had upturned eaves and a simple, grand appearance.

Village Head Chen found it hard to stop him. Just as he was about to say he would accompany him, a deep voice came from the sky.

"The Town Head has arrived, why didn't you inform this old man? That way, I could fulfill my duty as a host and provide a detailed explanation for the Town Head."

Chu Jingyu slowly descended from mid-air. With the arrival of someone from the Main Family, Village Head Chen tactfully retreated back among the villagers.

Tang Cheng was not surprised by Chu Jingyu's arrival. "Then I shall trouble Clan Chief Chu."

The two walked side by side across the flat square outside the seven-story building and entered the building through the entrance.

At a glance, the field of vision was extremely vast. In the central area of this first floor, there were no buildings or decorations; there were only "bright light stones" overhead emitting a gentle glow, illuminating the interior like daylight.

Looking towards the outer side, wide-open shops were presented before their eyes.

Only a small half of the shops were open, with items inside and figures moving about.

"This first floor mainly consists of shops selling daily necessities for the villagers. It's just that the village population is sparse, so only these shops have been opened," Chu Jingyu explained to Tang Cheng.

Although there were few shops in operation, most daily necessities were available, including rice and grain stores, tailor shops, ironware shops, wine shops, tofu mills, and restaurants, covering all the daily needs of the villagers.

It was just that there were few open, and the space on the first floor was too large, so it was somewhat empty after all, appearing a bit desolate.

Tang Cheng took the initiative to walk into the nearest jewelry shop, where several young girls in their teens were holding pearl and jade ornaments from the counter, gesturing against their heads to see which looked better.

Such a situation would definitely not have appeared in the previous village. Even the children of families in the upper village would not be willing to let their daughters browse a jewelry shop.

Such a scene could only be frequently seen in the town or the County Seat. Not wanting to disturb the shop's business, Tang Cheng backed out of the shop.

"Are these shops opened by the villagers themselves?" Tang Cheng was somewhat curious. Could the villagers of Qixia Village have the capital to open such shops?

Chu Jingyu shook his head slightly. "No, these shops currently all belong to our Chu Family. The villagers looking after the shops are all hired by us. The Chu Family bears the profits and losses, and they receive a monthly salary."

Tang Cheng nodded slightly and did not express any opinion.

The two looked at a few more shops, confirming they were indeed all shops for daily necessities, and did not continue browsing but prepared to go to the second floor.

The commercial building was built in a circular shape, so every certain distance there would be a curved staircase leading to the second floor. There were six in total, which was quite convenient for all guests.

While climbing the stairs, Chu Jingyu spoke again: "We have only put the first and second floors of this building into use. It's still the same problem—not enough people. I wonder where the Town Head bought those people from before? Is there any channel?"

Hearing this, a smile appeared on Tang Cheng's face, but he did not answer directly. "Let's look first and talk after we've seen everything."

Entering the second floor, the layout was not much different from the first floor.

The internal space of the shops on the first floor was about a hundred square meters, but after arriving at the second floor, the internal space of each shop was about three hundred square meters, equivalent to three times the size of the first-floor storefronts.

However, what was sold on the second floor was not ordinary items, but items related to Contract Masters.

For example, near the stairs was a Medicine Beast Shop, next to it was a spiritual materials shop, next to that was a Spiritual Artifact shop, and there was also a Source Beast spiritual food shop.

Only these four shops were open on the entire second floor; the remaining shops were all empty.

In fact, after these four shops opened, many villagers came to visit and look, but the consumption inside was conducted using Origin Rune Stones, which no villager Family could afford.

Only those few families who owned "Pasture Yellow Oxen" and the servants and Maidservants within the Chu Family who were Contract Masters had visited a few times.

Furthermore, Source Beasts were indeed not very suitable for sale in such a shop; not only was raising them very troublesome, but it was also not good for the Source Beasts' mood and circumstances.

So, after the Chu Family Father and Son discussed it, they decided to only open one Medicine Beast Shop here; in the future, the Source Beast business would be conducted directly at the pasture.

These shops related to Source Beasts were naturally incredibly novel to those villagers who had never seen many Source Beasts or spiritual materials.

But for Tang Cheng, a Town Head from a Noble Family, there wasn't much novelty, and most of what was sold were ordinary spiritual materials and medicinal herbs.

Only in the Medicine Beast Shop did the "Medicinal Fragrance Powder-Eared Rabbit," serving as the shop's treasure, earn a slight glance from him.

He did not stay there for long and followed Chu Jingyu to the Office that Village Head Chen had been mentioning.

Although called an Office, Tang Cheng saw that this Office was built no less grandly than his own Town Chiefs Mansion. Whether in terms of building area or the completeness of the facilities inside, it even surpassed it in some places, only perhaps being slightly inferior in terms of materials used.

"I see this Office of yours; there's no difference if it were directly renamed the Town Chiefs Mansion."

Hearing Tang Cheng's somewhat playful words, Chu Jingyu's heart calmed down a bit. Being able to speak like this indicated that Tang Cheng did not care much about these actions of the Chu Family in his territory.

"The Town Head overpraises us. Our Chu Family has no experience in building houses for villagers, so we always wanted to build them comprehensively so that we wouldn't have to make frequent changes. Who would have thought that as we built, it would turn into what it is now?"

"It's also to blame that our Main Family didn't explain clearly, so the people below built as large as possible."

Regarding Chu Jingyu's polite talk, Tang Cheng was noncommittal. If it weren't for the full assistance of his Spirit Rank Source Beast, it would be a wonder if this so-called 'Qixia Village' could have been built in such a short time.

However, Tang Cheng did not intend to expose him but was considering deeper issues.

What kind of attitude should he hold towards the current Chu Family?

Should he pretend not to see it and let their Family carry out large-scale construction or other actions under his nose?

Or should he support them vigorously? That would require some procedures and providing some official policy support, but this also faced some risks.

The Chu Family's current actions were clearly not in compliance with regulations. If the higher-ups punished them, he, as the supporting Town Head, would obviously be punished as well. But if he pretended not to see, at most it would be a crime of oversight, which wouldn't be much for them.

Or should he stop it now? Then everything would return to how it was before, with neither merit nor fault.

But doing so would clearly offend the Chu Family. Although the Chu Family was not showing its full potential now, with this thriving momentum, who could know how far this Family could go?

So, while Tang Cheng's face didn't show it, his heart was extremely conflicted. In such a complex mood, the two, along with the members of the Inspection Guard Team behind them, arrived inside the Office.

In a reception room inside the Office.

Tang Cheng and Chu Jingyu sat opposite each other, and the late-arriving Chu Qinhui took the lowest seat.

Initially, the atmosphere was quite harmonious, but as soon as Tang Cheng spoke, the atmosphere in the hall suddenly changed.

"The Chu Family built this village well, but it is somewhat beyond regulations. Buildings of this scale have not been reported to the town, nor have they received permission from the County Seat."

"It's not according to the process. No matter how exquisite and practical your construction is, if the higher-ups tell you to demolish it, you must demolish it."

Hearing these words, Chu Qinhui's expression changed most obviously; the smile on his face vanished instantly, and his brows furrowed slightly.

The smile on Chu Jingyu's face only faded a bit. "When the clan was established, didn't the town place the jurisdiction of these four villages entirely under my Chu Family?"

"Reasonably speaking, how our Chu Family manages this territory now should not be questioned, as long as we pay the full amount of taxes that should belong to the town, right?"

After speaking, Chu Jingyu looked at Tang Cheng with burning eyes, seeking an answer from him.

"Clan Chief Chu is right, but your Chu Family only has the right to manage the villages; you don't have the authority to establish another town."

"If I turn a blind eye to your Chu Family's actions today, then tomorrow every Noble Family will follow suit. The county will not be a county, and the town will not be a town. How are we to manage?"

Tang Cheng spoke with righteous indignation. Chu Jingyu's brows furrowed slightly, but it was hard to find a reason to refute.

Seeing that he had given enough of a warning, Tang Cheng did not want to push too hard, so he continued:

"However, since you have worked hard to build this new village, it wouldn't be right to just abolish it."

Chu Jingyu sighed inwardly. This Tang Cheng no longer had the sincere appearance of half a year ago; he had now begun to use the carrot-and-stick approach.

"Then does the Lord Town Head have any good plan? If we can cooperate, our Chu Family will certainly do our best."

"In my opinion, this village is built extremely well. It would be a bit of a pity to just call it a village. Why not treat it as the new town of Heyu Town?"

"With the title of a town as cover, although these buildings are novel, they won't be so conspicuous. And with this reason, the residents of the town can move here openly, which can be considered enriching the population of this new town."

New town... Chu Jingyu pondered for a moment; it seemed acceptable. "But the management..."

Tang Cheng rubbed his fingers. "Since it is on Chu Family territory, the management authority will naturally be entrusted to your Chu Family. Our old town will just provide off-field guidance and inspection."

It seemed Tang Cheng didn't come specifically to make things difficult, but rather to resolve potential hidden dangers for the Chu Family in advance.

Chu Jingyu's heart relaxed slightly. "The Town Head has considered everything thoroughly. My entire Chu Family thanks the Town Head for his foresight."

"Your Chu Family building this new town better is the best reward for me. Town heads like us won't stay in this town for long."

"If your Chu Family builds it well, it can also add a stroke to my resume. If you need any policy support in the future, as long as it's not excessive, feel free to come to the town and mention it to me."

This was almost an explicit indication of Tang Cheng's support for the Chu Family.

Perhaps before coming suddenly, he didn't have the idea of such full support, or perhaps seeing the Chu Family's care for the villagers under their jurisdiction made Tang Cheng finally make such a decision.

Regardless, with the Town Head's support, the Chu Family's future construction finally had no more worries.

"The Chu Family should not always remain quiet internally; you must also allocate some energy to look outward and be wary of external enemies."

"Originally, regarding this construction of your Chu Family, I planned to turn a blind eye and pretend not to see it, but I couldn't stop someone from reporting it on the grounds of exceeding regulations, which led to today's visit."

"Why doesn't the Chu Family guess who this informant is?"

Chu Jingyu's heart stirred, and a sarcastic smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Looking at it this way, it can only be that Shi Family. Those people of the Shi Family all look honest, but I didn't expect them to love tripping others up in secret now."

"Clan Chief Chu's guess is right, but not entirely right."

"It's not just the Shi Family, but also the families in the County Seat standing behind them. I'm not yet clear on which specific Family it is."

"However, reporting to the town is likely just the first step. If I handle it with a heavy hand but a light touch and the results don't satisfy them, I'm afraid the matter will be reported to the County Seat next."

"No favors and no grudges, the hands of the Noble Families in the County Seat are too long; they're actually managing things all the way down to the town level." Chu Qinhui was somewhat dissatisfied.

Tang Cheng spoke in a faint tone, "Heyu Town first produced a Chu Jingyu who made a natural Breakthrough, and then a Zhang Family girl appeared who became pregnant shortly after entering the Xiao Residence, and the Zhang Clan Chief actually broke through to the Spirit Rank in no time."

"Suddenly having two more Noble Families that could potentially rise to the Eighth Grade, the resources of the entire county are only so much; they have to take precautions in advance."

Clearly, Chu Qinhui was not yet accustomed to the schemes of these Noble Families.

Chu Jingyu's expression was calm, and he did not show any emotional change because other Noble Families had informed on them.

"Our Chu Family has another request. Relying only on the population migration from the town probably won't satisfy the population gap of this new town."

"I wonder where the Liu Family's people from before, and the people the town newly bought after the last defense, came from?"

"That's easy; you just need to spend some Origin Rune Stones. The current market price is still stable: young men and women are one Origin Rune Stone each, elders over forty are one Origin Rune Stone for two, and as for children under fourteen, it's two Origin Rune Stones for three."

"This trade in population can only be conducted through official departments. You can submit the funds and the type of population you need to buy to the town, and I will handle it for you then."

Chu Jingyu listened to this price; it wasn't very expensive. It was just that these ordinary people might not be able to save a few Origin Rune Stones in a lifetime of work, yet when they were bought and sold, the unit of consumption was directly Origin Rune Stones.

Next, Chu Jingyu and Tang Cheng discussed some details regarding the new town. The Chu Family played host, and they shared a meal before Tang Cheng led his team back to the town... Qianling Prefecture City, Qianling Academy, Qinghan Palace.

This was already the tenth day since Chu Shengfan arrived here. During this period, he had very few opportunities to meet his teacher; it seemed his teacher was particularly busy.

Besides Cultivating, he wandered around this Qinghan Palace. After a few days together, he had become quite familiar with the layout of Qinghan Palace and the faces of some of the servants.

Moreover, various high-grade spiritual items were used by him and his Source Beasts, causing their Realms to rise rapidly.

Just yesterday, he and his two Source Beasts had both broken through to the Spirit Rank. It wasn't as arduous and difficult as his grandfather's Breakthrough; his Breakthrough was like water flowing into a channel, extremely smooth and natural.

And with the two Source Beasts officially reaching the Spirit Rank, they finally unlocked all of their Racial Skills.