Chapter 195: Eat Them All Whole

Clip-clop!

The sound of the carriage procession came to a halt before the headquarters of Xi Yang House, and then Li Luo, Jiang Jiang Qinge, and Cai Wei stepped out of the carriage under the watchful eyes of the crowd.

All gazes converged on Li Luo and Jiang Jiang Qinge.

"Oh my, what a lively scene."

Li Luo looked at the Alchemy Masters staging a sit-in protest before the main gate of Xi Yang House headquarters and smiled.

Elder Zheng Ping hurried forward and gave a detailed account of the situation, then said with a bitter smile, "Young House Master, Young Lady, this matter is not easy to handle. Some of the Alchemy Masters here were merely swept along, but the one pushing things behind the scenes is most likely Manager Pei Hao."

Jiang Jiang Qinge's golden eyes swept across the field and said, "Li Luo is the President of Xi Yang House. He will handle these matters himself, I won't interfere."

Elder Zheng Ping gritted his teeth and said, "Young House Master, perhaps we should be decisive and simply excise the West Ridge Prefecture branch from Xi Yang House, so they stop flying our banner and damaging the reputation of our Xi Yang House and the Luo Lan Mansion."

Jiang Jiang Qinge actually somewhat agreed with this. Her personality was already sharp and decisive; she preferred to cut through tangled threads with a single swift stroke. Since the West Ridge Prefecture branch was controlled by Manager Pei Hao, it was the perfect excuse to cut it away entirely. Although some of the branch's Alchemy Masters might be caught in the crossfire, there was no helping it. Besides, these people surely weren't unaware of Manager Pei Hao's schemes; they had simply chosen to acquiesce under the pretext of being powerless to resist.

Li Luo's gaze swept over the branch's Alchemy Masters. He was silent for several breaths, but did not accept Elder Zheng Ping's suggestion. Instead, he stepped forward slowly and said to the two middle-aged men leading the group, "You must be Tang Yun and Lu Lu Xiaofeng, the two branch presidents, yes?"

Looking at Li Luo, Tang Yun and his companion were a little startled, because they could see the shadows of Li Taixuan and Dan Tai Lan in the young man's face, which made them feel somewhat constrained for a moment.

After all, Li Taixuan and his wife held far too high a prestige within the Luo Lan Mansion. Even though they had been missing for years, their residual authority still lingered.

"Y-Young House Master..."

Li Luo smiled and said, "Stand up and speak."

Tang Yun and Lu Lu Xiaofeng exchanged a glance. Though Li Luo's words were mild, they seemed to sense an inexplicable pressure, so they didn't dare remain seated and hurriedly rose to their feet.

Off to one side, Pang Pang Qianchi saw that the two men's momentum had been completely suppressed by Li Luo, and immediately sensed something was amiss. He had experienced the Young House Master's methods firsthand before, so he quickly stepped forward: "Young House Master, since you've shown yourself, please give these brothers of the branch an explanation."

"We're all people of Xi Yang House, so why do the headquarters and the Tian Shu Prefecture branch receive Mi Fa source water, while the West Ridge Prefecture branch gets none? Is the Young House Master playing favorites?"

Elder Zheng Ping glared furiously. Why doesn't the West Ridge Prefecture branch have any? Don't you have any idea why?

"Pang Pang Qianchi, you've already been sidelined. What right do you have to speak here?" Elder Zheng Ping rebuked sharply.

Pang Pang Qianchi snorted coldly, "Although I've been sidelined, I'm still an old hand of Xi Yang House. I've rendered meritorious service to Xi Yang House's development. The people of the West Ridge Prefecture branch used to work alongside me, and now that they're being treated unfairly, I naturally have to speak up for them!"

"If the Young House Master feels I've overstepped, you can simply expel me from Xi Yang House."

This Pang Pang Qianchi was still as cunning as ever, his words ringing with lofty righteousness. From such a moral high ground, if Li Luo truly expelled him outright, it would likely only cause his standing in the hearts of the West Ridge Prefecture branch's Alchemy Masters to soar.

Li Luo swept a glance at the seated West Ridge Prefecture Alchemy Masters, and indeed saw that quite a few were filled with righteous indignation, while their gazes toward Pang Pang Qianchi had also grown much more respectful.

This fellow really was a slippery old fox, always thinking about winning people over.

"Then what do you think should be done?" Li Luo smiled and asked Pang Pang Qianchi.

Pang Pang Qianchi answered without hesitation, "The Young House Master should provide the West Ridge Prefecture with a sufficient supply of Mi Fa source water every month. If the Young House Master doesn't have time to refine it, you could also give the West Ridge Prefecture branch a copy of the refining method for the Mi Fa source water, so we won't have to trouble you with shipping it in the future."

Elder Zheng Ping beside them laughed in spite of his fury, itching to slap him across the face. You shameless cur, you've got some nerve asking the Young House Master to hand over the refining method for the Mi Fa source water to the West Ridge Prefecture.

Why don't you just drop dead.

A little further back, Cai Wei also furrowed her delicate brows slightly and said to Jiang Jiang Qinge, "This guy is purely here to cause trouble."

Jiang Jiang Qinge's expression remained quite calm as she said, "He said this deliberately to provoke Li Luo. Once Li Luo loses his temper and lashes out with harsh words, it will only incite the dissatisfaction and rebellious hearts of these West Ridge Prefecture Alchemy Masters."

She raised her lovely face, her gaze drifting toward the nearby restaurant buildings. Although she couldn't see him, she could sense that Manager Pei Hao was likely watching this place from the shadows as well.

Was he wanting to see how much trouble his casual push could bring them?

A flash of killing intent passed through the depths of Jiang Jiang Qinge's eyes.

After Pang Pang Qianchi finished laying out his conditions, he looked at Li Luo, but to his slight disappointment, the latter did not fly into a sudden rage; instead, he appeared lost in thought.

Under the gaze of many eyes, Li Luo looked toward Tang Yun, Lu Lu Xiaofeng, and the others, and said, "You want the Mi Fa source water, is that it?"

Tang Yun nodded and said haltingly, "Young House Master, the Mi Fa source water has a nourishing effect on us Alchemy Masters as well. If we could use it long-term during refining, it would greatly enhance our Alchemy Arts."

Li Luo smiled faintly and said, "It seems the West Ridge Prefecture branch hasn't been paying tribute fees to the headquarters in recent years?"

Lu Lu Xiaofeng hesitated and said, "Young House Master, we don't know anything about that. The branch pays its tribute fees faithfully every year, but... whether those fees actually reached the headquarters, we're not entirely sure."

This was clearly being slippery. They had handed the tribute fees to Manager Pei Hao, and it would be a miracle if Manager Pei Hao passed them on to the headquarters.

Li Luo looked at the two men with a smile on his face, and under his gaze, Tang Yun and Lu Lu Xiaofeng's expressions grew somewhat awkward.

Li Luo had spoken to them quite civilly, but they didn't seem entirely sincere in return.

However, Li Luo ultimately did not rebuke them. After a brief moment of contemplation, he looked at the branch's Alchemy Masters and said, "I can provide you with the Mi Fa source water."

The moment these words left his mouth, shock rippled through the crowd. No one had expected Li Luo to choose to back down!

Elder Zheng Ping hurriedly tried to speak up, but Li Luo waved him off and said, "However, there is a condition. I will conduct a one-month assessment for you. During this assessment period, you will need to refine Spirit Water Odd Light at the headquarters, and during this time, you may use the Mi Fa source water as you wish."

"Your treatment will be exactly the same as that of the headquarters' Alchemy Masters. As you should already know, when I took office, I raised the treatment of Xi Yang House's Alchemy Masters, far higher than before..."

"If you perform outstandingly during this month, once the assessment is complete, I will provide the West Ridge Prefecture with the Mi Fa source water."

"How about it?" His gaze swept over the stunned Tang Yun, Lu Lu Xiaofeng, and the others as he smiled.

The West Ridge Prefecture branch's Alchemy Masters present exchanged glances, then began whispering among themselves. They were clearly somewhat tempted by Li Luo's proposal.

They had come to the headquarters to protest precisely for the Mi Fa source water and the treatment offered here. Yet now, Li Luo had agreed to everything. As for the assessment period, they felt that passing it shouldn't be much of a problem.

Tang Yun and Lu Lu Xiaofeng looked back at the many Alchemy Masters behind them, understood their choice, and finally cast a deep look at Li Luo before them.

"The Young House Master has already conceded. If we still refuse, we'd truly be going too far." They said as much, essentially accepting Li Luo's proposal.

Pang Pang Qianchi, off to the side, was not very satisfied with this outcome. What he wanted was for Li Luo and the West Ridge Prefecture branch to fall out. What was the meaning of backing down like this?

But Li Luo had already conceded this much; what good would further provocation do?

Couldn't he see that the branch's Alchemy Masters were all quite satisfied with this?

Cai Wei was also somewhat surprised by Li Luo's solution and said softly, "Since when has the Young House Master become so easy to talk to?"

Jiang Jiang Qinge smiled and said, "Because his appetite is very large."

Cai Wei thought for a moment, then raised an eyebrow: "The Young House Master wants to take in all these branch Alchemy Masters? Among them, there are probably quite a few planted by Manager Pei Hao."

"That's inevitable, but weren't there plenty of Manager Pei Hao's people in the Xi Yang House headquarters before? And now?" Jiang Jiang Qinge said.

Cai Wei nodded her lovely head lightly. This all came down to whose ability to assimilate was stronger. The Young House Master's move truly showed great boldness.

Greatness lies in inclusiveness.

With Li Luo's decisive word, those seated branch Alchemy Masters rose one after another and finally began streaming into the headquarters.

The onlooking crowd also gradually dispersed.

Li Luo stood at the main gate, his gaze sweeping over the taverns lining the surrounding streets. A smile surfaced on his face, then he cupped his fists toward the four directions, and laughter rang out.

"The gift may be light, but the sentiment is heavy. I'll accept this gift pack first."