Chapter 178: 178- Fang Clan Meeting [4]

Fang Yuan’s lips curved into a faint smile.

"So what do you mean by that, Zhaoyue?"

Lin Zhaoyue leaned forward slightly, her tone steady but sharp. "Think about it, husband. This village has been around for atleast four hundred years, and they still remain just a village. Look at Phungrei City. That was nothing but wasteland two centuries ago, and now it’s the busiest cities in the entire northern regions."

Fang Yuan shook his head slowly. "That city grew because it sat on a pure-grade spirit mine. Its rise was inevitable."

But Lin Zhaoyue only mirrored his gesture, shaking her head in quiet defiance. Her eyes glimmered with conviction.

"No, husband. From what I’ve heard from my beloved Elder Yin, every elder sent before her has tried to introduce new management, new techniques, new tools to improve Tushar Village. And yet... every single one of them was ignored. Does that not sound suspicious to you? There must be a reason."

Fang Yuan’s smile froze. He didn’t answer immediately, because he knew the truth.

Every elder dispatched to Tushar Village had been... defective. Either crippled in cultivation, disgraced, or quietly punished. They weren’t there to manage, they were there to disappear.

And unlike Zhaoyue’s impression, none of them had ever tried to improve the village. Not one. Except for Yin.

He thought back, his father had arranged for Elder Yin to take the role for this generation.

After Fang Yuan became clan head, he had left her be, uncertain what to do with the arrangement because she had taken the duty seriously. Too seriously, perhaps.

She was bright, enthusiastic, eager to throw herself into every little matter of the village.

Yet no matter how much effort she poured in, the outcome was painfully obvious.

The villagers shunned her.

Fang Yuan’s brow furrowed slightly.

He remembered what the system had once told him: the villagers had grown more open to Fang Yin, thanks to his younger brother’s act of valor, slaying a bandit group that had been plaguing their roads.

So why? Why now did they turn away from Lin Zhaoyue so completely?

What shifted so drastically that her words carried no weight?

His silence grew heavier, his expression unreadable.

Lin Zhaoyue, mistaking it for quiet contemplation, gently pressed on. Her eyes shone with conviction as she looked at him.

"Husband," she said softly, "Tushar Village is part of our Fang Clan’s land. We should make use of it, strengthen the clan as a whole, together. Let us not leave it to languish as it is."

Fang Yuan lifted his gaze, his tone calm but carrying the weight of command.

"As long as you don’t shed any blood, I’ll permit you to do as you like. But ensure you don’t worsen the situation."

Lin Zhaoyue’s eyes shimmered. She dipped into a graceful bow, her voice gentle, yet trembling faintly with suppressed excitement.

"As per your orders, my dear husband."

When she turned back to the elders, her smile softened, almost childlike, as her gaze found Fang Yin.

Fang Yin, ever simple, smiled and waved back. Lin Zhaoyue’s lips twitched, barely suppressing a grin that would’ve broken her mask before she drew in a slow breath and composed herself again.

Her tone shifted, crisp and formal now.

"Alright, Elder Jingyi, please give us your report."

Fang Jingyi rose and bowed politely.

"Greetings, Patriarch, Matriarch Fang. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to—"

"We don’t have all day, Elder Jingyi," Lin Zhaoyue cut her off, her words sharp as a blade despite the smile still painted on her lips. "We should skip the formalities."

"Lin Zhaoyue," Fang Yuan’s voice was stern, cutting across the hall, "you’re crossing the line."

The effect was immediate. Her body stiffened, then she dropped to her knees in one fluid motion.

Her forehead nearly touched the floor as she spoke, voice trembling with what sounded like genuine remorse.

"Forgive me, husband. I—I have committed a grave crime."

Fang Yuan rubbed his forehead, exhaling deeply. "As the matriarch, you must not show favoritism. Did you not call these elders the pillars of our clan earlier? Then treat them as such."

Her shoulders quivered. She lowered herself again, voice heavy with contrition, "I’m unfit to lead this meeting. Please forgive me, husband."

For a moment, Fang Yuan said nothing. Then he pointed at the seat beside him.

"Come. Sit here. We’ll listen to every elder’s voice and find solutions together. Is that acceptable?"

Her head snapped up, her eyes gleaming with barely concealed delight.

"Yes, husband. Thank you for your kindness!"

She almost skipped as she went to sit beside him, but at the last second forced herself into an elegant glide, folding her hands neatly in her lap as though she hadn’t been a heartbeat away from throwing herself at him.

Fang Yuan waved for his aunt to continue.

Fang Jingyi gave another bow and began.

"Several of our herb warehouses were burnt down in the past few days. Pill production has plummeted, and we are bleeding silver by the hour."

"And the cause?" Fang Yuan asked, his tone calm but edged with steel.

Fang Jingyi bowed her head.

"Our primary suspect is the Wu Clan. But they’ve denied all accusations. We are still trying to get to the bottom of it."

Fang Yuan’s gaze narrowed slightly, and he leaned back in his patriarch’s seat.

"Interesting. Tell me all about what the Wu Clan had been up to these past few days I’ve been away?"

At once, Fang Chen stood, his posture rigid, as though he had been waiting for this very moment.

His voice rang with a mixture of urgency and caution.

"Three months, Clan Head. You were absent for three full months."

He caught the flicker in Fang Yuan’s eyes and hurriedly pressed on before a rebuke could fall.

"During that time, the Wu Clan has grown... unusually aggressive in their expansion. But it isn’t just them anymore. The Xiao, He, and Zhi clans have all fallen in line under their banner. We have no clue about how they did it but as of now, it is the Fang Family alone standing against the Wu and it’s vassal families."