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Xue’Er answered, "Father told us that his artifact-refining technique is also a type of skill that can be handed down, with many of its previous generations’ masters having already passed on. He said that this technique can only be handed down to those who are direct disciples, and since we can be considered his students, Father tells us that he can teach this technique to us as well. However, since Master is an outsider, Father wants us to swear to never leak this technique out, not even to you!"

Miao Yi’s footsteps came to a halt as he looked at the two young ladies curiously. Qian’Er then quickly added, "We haven’t agreed to it yet. We told Father that we have to ask for your permission first, and because of this he got very angry!"

"And here I was wondering why it felt like the old man had a strong urge to punch me in the face. So it turns out it was because of this!" Miao Yi shook his head and laughed. Waving his hand, he continued, "There’s no difference between teaching it to you two and teaching it to me. I doubt you two are going to become as small-minded as your father, who treats his own junk as if it was treasure, just because you’re learning his technique. Go ahead and learn it. I’m fine. I still have to focus my efforts on my own cultivation. There’s no time for me to learn other skills. That said, even though I said its fine for you to learn your father’s artifact-refining technique, remember to pay attention to your own cultivations as well. Don’t neglect it because of this."

The two young ladies were ecstatic—they no longer needed to mull over this dilemma. They repeatedly nodded in excitement...

As the seasons passed, the time for the annual tribute eventually came, much like it did every other year. This event was the whole basis on which the rules of the present-day cultivation realm were established, and how everything came to be. It was the biggest happening of the year.

As always, the time for the annual tribute fell upon the winter season. However, the climate within Raincloud Manor was not seasonal, but warm and humid all year round. While South Edict Manor was most likely covered in heavy snow around this time of the year, there was no chance of seeing even the tiniest snowflake here. The trees and forests were still evergreen, the flowers were in full bloom as usual, and the lakes rippled gently like they always did. The notion of winter was completely unheard of here.

Wen Fang came early on to visit her Big Brother and bring gifts, making sure to see him before things started getting busy with the annual tribute. It could also be considered her first visit of the year, as she knew that Miao Yi wouldn’t have the time to see her if she came late.

She managed to rack up a bunch of sales this year, so she was able to bring more luxurious gifts than the ones presented the first time she met Miao Yi. With her connections in the Chamber of Commerce, she was able to procure some very unique items. However, she knew that her Big Brother Miao Yi wouldn’t be interested in such frivolous things, so she simply brought items that Qian’Er and Xue’Er would like. After all, fawning over those who share the same pillow as her Big Brother was just as effective. And indeed, she was able to catch the two young ladies’ fancy.

After visiting Miao Yi, Wen Fang quickly galloped off again on her own. Naturally, she still had to visit Thousand Lake Manor’s Zhao Fei and Mulberry Cloud Manor’s Sikong Wuwei as well. She even mentioned that she was going to head to the First Earthly Branch and visit Yan Beihong after everything was settled on this side. That was going to be quite the journey.

Miao Yi asked Wen Fang to send Yan Beihong his regards. At the same time, he handed her a spirit feather to pass to the latter and instructed her to get another one from Yan Beihong to bring back to him once she returned. That way, they would be able to get in touch with each other easily. Naturally, Wen Fang accepted the task with glee and guaranteed she would succeed!

Since he’d handed the other party a task, Miao Yi naturally needed to send her off personally. As he stood by the edge of the lake and watched Wen Fang leave, Miao Yi turned to Qian’Er and Xue’Er and smiled, "This girl isn’t afraid of hard work at all, and always greets people with a smile on her face. For the sake of achieving her objectives, she can be as persistent as a cockroach. It’s too bad she’s with the Chamber of Commerce. Otherwise, I’d use any means necessary to get her to be my subordinate!"

Covering her smile, Xue’Er said, "Wen Fang isn’t doing too poorly in the Chamber of Commerce either. Earlier, she told us that she has a high chance of being promoted to a managerial position within the Raincloud City branch next year, as her superiors were all very satisfied with her performance this year. She told us that it was thanks to Master’s grace."

"That’s not entirely true. Even though we did lend her some assistance, she was the one who persevered and took the opportunity with her own hands. Why else would I help her for no reason?" Miao Yi shook his head and smiled.

Raincloud City was Miao Yi’s vassal city with a population of up to ten million followers. As the time for the annual tribute neared, the City Lord visited with an entire envoy of carriages filled with gifts. Miao Yi didn’t meet him, however, and instead left it to Yan Xiu to take care of everything. He had to hand over his share of the tribute for the next ten years anyway, as part of his punishment from Suppressing Tenth Hall.

However, halfway through the procedure, Yan Xiu ran over to meet Miao Yi. When he saw that Qian’Er and Xue’Er were present as well, he became a little hesitant to speak, as though the matter he wished to talk about wasn’t appropriate to share out loud. Just as he was prepared to use voice transmission, Miao Yi asked, "What’s the matter? There are no outsiders here!"

Yan Xiu had no choice but to grit his teeth and say, "The Raincloud City Lord has brought five exquisitely beautiful women here. He says that they’re a gift to you, my lord. Should I accept them?"

When he said this, Qian’Er and Xue’Er immediately sent him a piercing glare. If looks could kill, then they probably would have turned Yan Xiu into a beehive already. The intensity of their gazes caused Yan Xiu to almost break out into a cold sweat.

The two young ladies’ eyes were filled with discontent. If their Master wished to partake in beautiful women from the outside, then as servants, they couldn’t really complain. They would still need to serve him like they always did, and maybe even ask if he was satisfied after the fact. However, Yan Xiu could be considered as half their teacher and master. How could he report such a thing to their Master? He should have just declined that City Lord straight away. Why did he need to mention it in front of their Master?

"Master Yan, how could you do such a thing? Little Sister and I can serve Master well enough. We don’t need any outside help!" Qian’Er was already complaining through voice transmission.

Yan Xiu replied in kind, "Can’t you see I’m doing this for you two? Otherwise, I could’ve just told the Master when you weren’t around, or just use voice transmission to inform him. Once the Master makes up his mind, then it would no longer be appropriate for you two to say anything against his decision."

The two girls finally realized that they had misunderstood Yan Xiu, who had actually thought of such a method to help them.

Miao Yi also noticed the indignant gazes in the two girls’ eyes as they glanced at him furtively. He coughed drily in response, realizing that some things were indeed better left unspoken even when there were no outsiders around. To be precise, some things were better discussed when outsiders were around, but absolutely not when one’s own people were present.

Truth be told, Miao Yi was quite curious about the five beautiful women the City Lord had brought for him. Since the other party had used the term exquisite, Miao Yi couldn’t help wondering if they were as beautiful as Fairy Hong Chen, and was very interested in taking a look.

Given his current status and prestige, it wasn’t much of a problem if he slept with multiple women. Even mortals who didn’t have his exalted position could do something like this without any issue. Meanwhile, he was an esteemed Manor Head with over ten million followers in his grasp. It wouldn’t be strange at all for him to accept those five beautiful women. Rather, it would be a very common thing to do. In the eyes of others, abstaining from other women was perhaps the more peculiar thing to do. This had nothing to do with whether he liked those women or not, nor was there anything related to love. It was just something that everyone did. It was a kind of common sense. Miao Yi never thought of wanting to be some saint that was different from everyone else.

However, Miao Yi also had to consider the person behind the two girls—Yao Ruoxian. If he were to take in any woman that came his way, that old coot would definitely pummel him to death with his mace. Sometimes, he couldn’t help wondering if it had been a good idea to let the two girls accept Yao Ruoxian as their adoptive father.

As he considered the consequences, Miao Yi eventually calmed his stirring heart. He waved his hand and said, "Have him take them back! Tell him to just focus on managing Raincloud City’s affairs, and to not put so much effort in such frivolous things from now on."

’Don’t put so much effort in it? That means he can still put in some effort then?’ A woman’s mind was capable of creating deep misunderstandings at times!

At Miao Yi’s side, Qian’Er quickly suggested, "Master! Why don’t you just bestow those girls to Master Yan then?"

She was afraid that a certain someone would try to come up with ways to send those women to her Master’s bedside afterward. After all, she had borne witness to how skilled the people in Raincloud Manor were at currying favor. There was no choice but to take precautionary measures. Once those women were gifted to Yan Xiu, then there was no chance of her Master touching them no matter how pretty they were.

Still oblivious to her true intentions, Miao Yi immediately jumped at the idea. He nodded and teased, "Yan Xiu, it’s not good for you to stay single for so long either. You need someone to take care of you. Do you want them? If you do, then I’ll just gift them to you."

Yan Xiu hurriedly waved his hands and said, "I’m already old. I wouldn’t be able to take them. Why don’t we just send them back then?"

Xue’Er also suddenly chimed in, "Since these girls are a token of the City Lord’s appreciation, why don’t you just accept them, Master? The subordinate Deacons and Advisors have worked hard as well. Maybe you can just gift those girls to them instead?"

"Little Sister is right!" Qian’Er nodded expressionlessly.

Yan Xiu and Miao Yi looked at one another wordlessly, with one set of big eyes staring straight at another set of smaller eyes.

With how efficient the two girls were at finding ways to deal with those five women, Miao Yi finally had a vague idea of their intentions.

"I’ll leave it to you then." Miao Yi smiled drily.

Yan Xiu immediately acknowledged the order and left.

With just a couple of words from Qian’Er and Xue’Er, the fates of those five so-called ’exquisitely beautiful women’ had been decided. It wasn’t as though the two girls were merciless. Rather, there was probably no woman in the world who would stay her hand when it came to matters such as this. Even though they both knew that their Master would most likely get married and have a legitimate spouse one day, that was something to think about in the future. At the very least, that person hadn’t appeared yet. The two of them still called the shots in the rear palace. It didn’t mean that any woman could come in here if they felt like it. At least not the ones right now!

To decide a person’s fate with just a couple of words! From this incident, it was evident how prestigious the two Aunties’ positions were in this Manor. They stood only second to one person, but above countless others.

"Have some tea, Master!" Qian’Er suddenly became very gentle, causing the Great Manor Miao to feel a little unnerved. However, he failed to notice the glance that Qian’Er had secretly tossed to Xue’Er.

Meanwhile, Xue’Er had already followed Yan Xiu out. When she saw the City Lord, she immediately berated him, "The Manor Head is not interested in gifts like this. If you ever do such a thing again, then you can kiss your City Lord’s position goodbye. You’d better watch out for your head!"

Within Raincloud Manor, Xue’Er definitely had the right to say such things! If this City Lord made her unhappy, then she didn’t even need to mention anything in front of Miao Yi. She could just let Yan Xiu know, and he would immediately change this City Lord to a new one!

The City Lord was utterly terrified. He had never seen the new Manor Head ever since the latter took up post, and always just received his official decrees through Yan Xiu. As such, he couldn’t help wondering if the Miao Yi didn’t like him or something. This was also why he had spent so much effort to obtain these five beautiful women, and viewed them as precious gifts. He had thought that he would finally be able to meet the Manor Head with this, but little did he expect he would end up shooting himself in the foot.

When the five beautiful women were revealed, they were truly as exquisite as the City Lord had boasted. It was hard not to be tempted by them indeed, and even a woman would find her heart pounding a little once she saw them. Could things possibly get any worse then? Xue’Er immediately ordered for these women to be gifted to the subordinates. She wasn’t going to give Miao Yi the slightest chance at all, and had even gotten thanks from the subordinates on his behalf!

A little less than two days since the frightened City Lord was sent off, the interim Mountain Chieftains and their respective interim Cave Masters arrived in Raincloud Manor with the tributes they had collected.

Within Raincloud Pavilion, the tabulating of the annual tribute was naturally left to Qian’Er and Xue’Er to handle. After their experience in Mount Calming Sea, the two young ladies were already quite adept at these things. Meanwhile, Miao Yi started questioning the Mountain Chieftains that arrived one after the other.