Protect Our Chief

"Who told you my family’s fallen on hard times? My family’s doing just fine~" Emperor Longchang said with his hands behind his back, full of anger, "Also, I’m going to break the rules and show you something. I’ll give you a lively lesson, teaching you not to vouch for people recklessly. Who knows, I might even be a spy~~"

Wu Xue Ning, standing to the side, put a hand on her forehead and turned her head away, not wanting to acknowledge this ancestor.

Someone kindly vouched for you, and you actually want to trap them? Ancestor Grandpa, the older you get, the more careless you become, living however you please.

"Haha, you wouldn’t do that." The owner of the "Dingjiang Ship" laughed, "Even though you’re hot-tempered and look clueless, deep down you’re not a bad person, let alone a spy. I’ve traveled the world for over a hundred years and even helped the Wang Family capture many spies and wanted criminals in Ping’an Town back in the day. My eyes are pretty accurate when it comes to judging people."

Accurate my ass!

Emperor Longchang rolled his eyes in annoyance.

If your judgement was accurate, how come you didn’t see I’m an emperor? How come you didn’t see that Wang Shouzhe fellow is a great villain disguised as a virtuous man?

"Alright then, I’m busy. You three should try your luck in Xinping Town. If it doesn’t work out, you can join the Wang Family’s construction team and do some odd jobs. The wages for someone in the Spirit Platform Realm are pretty good." The owner of the "Dingjiang Ship" patted his shoulder again, gave a few instructions, and then left briskly, "If you really encounter any difficulties, just mention my name."

"I am ’Dongfang Cangqiong’."

Dongfang Cangqiong?

Emperor Longchang’s face froze.

Are these over-the-top names becoming popular among the lower classes of the Daqian Kingdom now? And that old man, how many times did he pat my shoulder?

"Master, this Xinping Ferry is grand in scale, like a small city," Old Yao said, "Let’s find an inn to settle down first and plan our next move."

"Yes. Let’s first find a place to stay, then slowly pick on Wang Shouzhe’s flaws." Emperor Longchang nodded approvingly.

"Grandpa, Patriarch Shouzhe is really nice, why do you always have to oppose him?" Wu Xue Ning couldn’t stand it anymore, pouting as she spoke.

"He’s nice? Xue Ning girl, don’t get poisoned by the Wang Family." Emperor Longchang retorted, "Look at him, entering a family’s territory requires checking left and right, issuing temporary passes as if it’s a nation within a nation. What’s he planning? Closing the doors to self-proclaim as an emperor? Hmph~ He’s a man with ambitious designs."

And so.

Emperor Longchang began nitpicking and finding faults on the Wang Family’s territory.

First, he started with the relocated households.

"Hey, I’ve heard your ancestors were all residents of Ping’an Town. During the relocation process, did you suffer any grievances? Was there forced demolition? You can tell me any dissatisfaction."

"Grievances? We got five times the compensation, how could there be grievances? Is your house being demolished too? Let me tell you, one must live with conscience, the Wang Family treats people so generously, you can’t bully them."

"Hey hey hey~ Old man, are you a spy? Who doesn’t know the Wang Family is extremely generous with relocations, and the relocated families are all living wealthy lives."

Emperor Longchang asked several people, receiving similar answers, until he asked a slovenly middle-aged man who gave a different answer: "Grievances? Oh, I have grievances! I feel so wronged~! The Wang Family is too tricky, they forcibly demolished my house and requisitioned my twenty acres of farmland."

"Come, come, tell me your problems," Emperor Longchang got excited.

After so much hassle, he finally found a flaw in the Wang Family.

"Grievances, of course. The Wang Family only compensated our family with four thousand Qian Gold, or offered to exchange for three hundred acres of farmland and a house in Xinping Town," the man clamored, "I want to report them, the Wang Family is oppressing civilians."

Emperor Longchang’s face turned black: "Still not satisfied with that? How much compensation do you want?"

"At least twenty thousand Qian Gold, or exchange for a thousand acres of farmland."

"Get lost!"

Emperor Longchang promptly kicked the rascal away.

Emperor Longchang and his party split up, visiting many relocated households secretly, but never found an answer he was satisfied with. Instead, he repeatedly felt the Wang Family’s generosity and the humanitarian actions reflected in the relocation process.

Only a very few people had complaints about the Wang Family, yet each of them was such a scoundrel that even Emperor Longchang couldn’t help wanting to beat them, so they didn’t count.

Their actions also alerted the defense mechanisms within the Wang Family.

Soon, the capture team surrounded the inn where they stayed.

Naturally, Emperor Longchang was unwilling to be captured. He exercised the might of the Lingxu Realm, silently tearing a spatial rift and "escaped" to the territory of Ping’an Town, leaving Old Yao and Wu Xue Ning behind to look at each other in dismay.

Should they escape or not?

Forget it~ it’s better to surrender, they really don’t want to accompany the emperor’s antics anymore.

Not mentioning Old Yao and Wu Xue Ning being captured, on the other hand, the disgruntled Emperor Longchang went to the Wang Clan Academy.

He had already scouted out the location of the Wang Clan Academy. Originally, if they hadn’t been "captured," their next stop would have been the Wang Clan Academy.

The Wang Clan Academy was a place of mixed opinions.

Some say it is a "sanctuary," others call it "purgatory."

But whether it’s a sanctuary or purgatory, Emperor Longchang wanted to use "his own eyes" to take a look. After all, he had heard from letters exchanged with the Wang Family that his five beloved little wolf cubs had been studying at the academy...

It’s been thirty years, and they still haven’t graduated.

He also wanted to see what tricks this legendary Wang Clan Academy was playing.

As a dignified emperor, sneaking into the Wang Clan Academy was naturally no hard task. Once inside, with a slight movement of his vast divine thought, he found those five little wolf cubs.

When he first saw those five little wolf cubs... no, now they can no longer be considered little cubs, they should be considered adolescents.

Thirty years later, all five of them had been promoted to Tier Five, with their sizes much larger than before, squatting and taller than a person.

All sorts of memories surged into his mind, and the emperor’s eyes showed a hint of nostalgia.

"Huh?"

Emperor Longchang suddenly was taken aback, discovering they seemed to be punished, each with a pitiful look, lined up to have their paws smacked by the clan academy teacher using a ruler.

"You five, after all these years, how come you still can’t pass the graduation exam? Not passing is one thing, but to dare cheat!" The elderly clan academy teacher’s expression was furious, scolding harshly while beating, his tone without politeness, "I’m very disappointed in you!"

Seeing this, an uncontrollable fury flared up in Emperor Longchang’s heart.

In a flash, he dashed over, intercepting the ruler in the clan academy teacher’s hand and said angrily, "Even I, as the emperor, couldn’t bear to hit them, yet you old coot won’t stop!"

The clan academy teacher first paused for a moment, then also angrily retorted, "Who are you, you old coot? They are my students, and if they make mistakes, they have to be punished, not even Patriarch Shouzhe can interfere at will."

Patriarch Shouzhe?

Upon hearing these words, Emperor Longchang’s anger increased, and he immediately shouted, "I was just looking to pick a fight with him! Get him here. I need to ask him why he allows people to hit my little wolf cubs?"

...