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"Young Lady, congratulations on finally driving off that annoying Xin Yue. Nobody will dare to try and marry Young Lady now,"Hong Yuan said with a giggle as master and servant made their way back.

Yet she couldn\'t but feel like there was something wrong about congratulating her master on her inability to get married.

Xu Miaoran appeared as indifferent as ever. "This matter isn\'t over yet."

"Eh?" Hong Yuan was shocked. "Is Xin Yue going to come back?"

Xu Miaoran snorted. "\'Xin Yue\'? He\'s done for in this life. I\'m talking about the people behind Xin Yue."

Xin Yue\'s marriage proposal was only an excuse. What he was really after was the immense wealth under Xu Miaoran\'s control, or perhaps one could say it was those teleportation formations.

Anyone who controlled the teleportation formations would control a sea of resources. And what they didn\'t know was that the teleportation formations were even linked to the Martial Lord\'s hidden realm.

Xin Yue\'s failure didn\'t mean the people behind him had given up.

Even a True Lord\'s daughter couldn\'t hold off the greed of the determined. At best, they wouldn\'t try marriage again, but if they would come up with something else eventually.

Hong Yuan got worried after hearing Xu Miaoran\'s explanation. "Then what do we do?"

"You… All you know is how to play. You should learn how to use your head a little. Even if you had only half of Xian Tao\'s ability, it would still lighten my load a little." Xu Miaoran jabbed a finger at Hong Yuan\'s forehead.

When Xu Miaoran wasn\'t around, Xian Tao managed the trade in the Blood River. She was steady and mature, and Xu Miaoran was always able to relax when she was handling the job.

In response to Xu Miaoran\'s scolding, Hong Yuan grumbled, "It\'s because I can\'t think of anything that I don\'t even bother."

As they were talking, they returned to Xu Miaoran\'s Rainsong Pavilion.

Rather than going to her bedroom, Xu Miaoran took a seat in the hall and said, "If that\'s the case, then just stand there and watch. Don\'t say anything."

"\'Watch\'? \'Watch\' what?" Hong Yuan was confused, but as Xu Miaoran had spoken, she didn\'t dare to ask anything more.

After a while, a voice came from outside. "Fan Chenglong, He Songxu, and Luo Anbo seek an audience with the Pufeng County Lord!"

"Enter," Xu Miaoran calmly replied.

Fan Chenglong\'s group entered and deeply bowed to Xu Miaoran. "Chenglong is deeply grateful for County Lord\'s assistance."

Xu Miaoran replied, "Brother Fan is my senior, and now you will be the next Young Lord. Your status ceased to be below mine long ago, so there is no need to be so polite."

Fan Chenglong replied, "Although Chenglong is a crude person, he knows how to repay gratitude. Xin Yue was above me in cultivation and reputation, and even the likes of Junior Brothers He and Luo were my equal. Without County Lord\'s assistance, I would have had no hope. Even though I am now the next Young Lord, I would never be impolite to County Lord."

Luo Anbo added in, "Originally, none of us would have been able to beat that Xin Yue. Senior Brother is honest and sincere, so him being selected is good for all of us, and that is not even considering the ample compensation County Lord provided."

He Songxu added, "Unity is better than division, but people tend to compete against each other rather than help each other. Without County Lord serving as the needle and thread to sew us all together, we three would have never worked together."

Befitting his status as the top scorer in the civil examination, he spoke with great eloquence.

Xu Miaoran couldn\'t help but chuckle. "Senior Brothers, please stop calling me County Lord. It\'s almost like we\'re strangers. I know that it is out of respect and concern, but outsiders might think that I was putting on airs. Since we\'re all on the same side, let\'s not act so courteous. Is there anything wrong with calling me Miaoran or Junior Sister?"

The three laughed.

He Songxu said, "I have long heard that Junior Sister Miaoran is a hero among women, and I now know that these were no mere rumors."

Luo Anbo scratched his head and chuckled. "Now that I think about it, we have to thank Xin Yue. Without him, we would have never been able to truly walk together with Junior Sister."

These people had generally only heard about each other, simply nodding and greeting each other if they ever happened to meet. After all, they were all from different generations. But through this matter, Xu Miaoran had managed to build relationships with quite a few elite disciples of the sect.

Before the Young Lord contest, everyone had been unable to relax around each other, as there was no telling who might be a traitor. After all, one could know a person for a long time without understanding who they really were. Now that the Young Lord contest was settled, they could drop their guard and let go of their apprehensions. Gone was their caution and defensiveness, replaced by confidence and appreciation.

The conversation went on for some time, and they got along so well that they almost resented the fact that they hadn\'t met earlier. They talked until early evening, and Xu Miaoran personally saw them out.

Returning to the hall, Xu Miaoran asked, "Did you understand what you saw?"

Hong Yuan asked in confusion, "Didn\'t they just come to thank you?"

"Idiot," Xu Miaoran sighed. "It wasn\'t just to thank me. Hong Yuan, you have to understand that relationships between people sometimes require an opportunity. I\'m a True Lord\'s daughter, so there are actually quite a few people trying to get close to me to recruit me or get into my good graces. But I never cared about it in the past, nor did I think that this would do me any good. After Xin Yue\'s matter, though, I now see them as a source of power. This isn\'t the power of an individual, but the power of a group, the power of wealth."

Xu Miaoran paused for a moment before continuing, "Disaster and fortune come together, and successes and failures come in turns. The weak must always understand how to fully use everything they have. At the time, I didn\'t quite understand what these words meant, but now I do. With the matter of Xin Yue settled, I have two choices. I can go back to before, leaving business as business, but that will end up with me spending a lot for minimal benefit, like how I spent tens of millions to reject a single marriage, and it means I\'ll have to keep dealing with more trouble. The other choice is to use this opportunity to set up my own faction."

"\'Set up your own faction\'?" Hong Yuan was dumbfounded.

"Yes, Xin Yue was a rope that ties us all together. While those people who took money and resources from me might have helped me out, from their perspective, they just did something they were already going to do for a considerable reward, so they are naturally brimming with gratitude toward me. Particularly Fan Chenglong\'s group basically did nothing for immense rewards. But this isn\'t the most important part. What\'s more important is that they saw my wealth. If I can take out this money now, I can naturally take out more in the future. Money has to be spent eventually. It\'s just a matter of who it is spent on. I could use it on Fan Chenglong, or I could use it on some other Li or Zhang. Since we\'ve already established a relationship through Xin Yue, why not keep up this relationship? They need my money, and I need their power."

"I see!" Hong Yuan exclaimed. "So they came today to place themselves under you?"

"As a True Lord\'s daughter, I have a powerful backer, and as the manager of the inter-domain trade, I control immense resources, so it\'s not strange for people to want to come under me. But if they want to come under me, they need to see my personality and if I\'m trustworthy. Thus, they came today not to follow me, but to probe me out first. After all, we haven\'t been working together for very long, so they need to observe. Importantly, they also came to see if I\'m interested."

In the past, Xu Miaoran definitely wouldn\'t have been interested.

For her, wandering the world with Tang Jie would be the best, and she had no interest in participating in plots and conspiracies.

But now that Tang Jie\'s status was uncertain, internal strife had arisen in Horizon Ocean Pavilion. To protect the property that Tang Jie had left behind, she had no choice but to fight. Establishing her own faction to contend against those people who craved her wealth was the best option.

Tens of millions of spirit coins had bought not just Xin Yue\'s defeat, but also a group of fellow disciples who favored her. Only by seizing this opportunity would Xu Miaoran truly gain the authority to speak in Horizon Ocean Pavilion. Otherwise, she would have to spend tens of millions to deal with every new crisis, and even Xu Miaoran couldn\'t sustain this level of spending.

When Xu Miaoran made the decision to set up her own faction, Fan Chenglong and the others sensed that Xu Miaoran had the desire to control her own fate. In these circumstances, it wasn\'t strange at all for the two sides to come together. Moreover, Horizon Ocean Pavilion was a sect that revered women, so there was nothing shameful about following Xu Miaoran. The only problem was that Xu Miaoran still wasn\'t an official Young Lord. but given that she was a True Lord\'s daughter, there was no doubt that she would become a Young Lord.

Of course, today was only a probe, only a beginning. More trust and affection would be established through additional interactions and time. But regardless, through this session, everyone had confirmed each other\'s desires, which made things much easier in the future. It wasn\'t just them. Others who had benefited from Xu Miaoran would also use the chance created by Fan Chenglong\'s group to join Xu Miaoran.

But Hong Yuan still seemed worried after understanding this. "The only concern is if your father causes trouble."

Xu Miaoran curiously asked, "Why would my father want to stop this?"

Hong Yuan replied, "How could your father not be angry at your defiance?"

Xu Miaoran chuckled. "Silly, you don\'t get what Father is thinking at all. He agreed to Xin Yue\'s proposal because he was worried that I couldn\'t be married off. I\'ve already used my actions to show my thoughts on the matter, so he won\'t try and force things again. As for setting up my own faction, Father would be happy to see it. Fathers are always like this. If I said that I wanted to wander the world and live a happy life, he would definitely be unhappy, thinking that I wasn\'t thinking about improving. If I said that I was setting about on some grand project, willing to go through whatever tribulations or pain were necessary, he would be overjoyed. It\'s like we were born just to suffer and that anyone who dares to try and just lie back and rely on the achievements of their parents is a waste and an unfilial child. Thus, now that I\'m struggling to swim against the current and seize power, he\'s probably elated, so why would he try to stop me? Just watch. Once the rumors of this matter get out, Father himself will come to back me up."

Hong Yuan was utterly dumbfounded.

Xu Miaoran\'s tone suddenly changed. "But while I say that, I don\'t actually want him to do it."

"Why?"

"The advantage of an elder intervening is that they can be of huge assistance, but the disadvantage is that they might meddle too much and show too much concern, questioning you on every little thing. If you don\'t act according to their designs, they are easily angered. One could say that they are the greatest source both of assistance and of trouble." Xu Miaoran sorrowfully said, "Father is a man who is stubborn in his ways. He will definitely help me, but he will also definitely want me to do it his way. Who is good and who is bad… I will have to take his opinion on everything and be in step with him. I\'m willing to step into the filthy and turbid currents of politics so I can control my own fate, so why would I accept doing things according to his way? Thus, while he might want to help me, I don\'t want it."

"Then… then what? Fan Chenglong\'s group still isn\'t enough, right?"

"It truly isn\'t enough," Xu Miaoran replied.

Tens of millions of spirit coins could bring the lower-level disciples under Xu Miaoran, but it wasn\'t enough to have the stronger ones following her commands, and they would continue to treat all transactions as strictly business, helping her once and settling accounts, and doing the same the next time around.

Thus, other than Fan Chenglong\'s trio, Xu Miaoran was sorely lacking for experts.

In addition, Xu Miaoran couldn\'t completely trust these people. Who knew which of them might be spies sent by others to undermine her?

She needed experts, but these had to be experts she could trust. This was the current problem Xu Miaoran was facing.

"So what do we do?" Hong Yuan asked.

Xu Miaoran shook her head. "You can\'t rush this kind of thing, only proceed step by step. But it\'s not like I\'m completely without solutions."

"And what is that?"

"We should be able to find allies beyond Horizon Ocean Pavilion," Xu Miaoran muttered. "Like the Basking Moon Sect. They receive so much money from me every year, so I should let them know of the troubles I\'m facing. Moreover, Tang Jie made so many friends in the Basking Moon Sect. If his wife is in trouble, shouldn\'t his good brothers offer a helping hand?"