386 Tang Yuan’s Strategies (1/2)

Each powerful family had its own method of dealing with that rumor. The other candidates for the position of the family's lord were quite confident in their abilities. However, this rumor had still left them worried a bit. This rumor had faded away quite quickly, but it had done it job by creating mistrust. Consequently, many people had moved into action. And, the frequency of their campaigns had been increasing at a steady rate…

Some people knew that the rumor was probably false. But, they still intended to take advantage of that opportunity to place their sons… or maybe their fathers on top. Therefore, they began to scheme in secret as well.

These families seemed peaceful on the surface, but violent storms were raging in the dark of secrecy. Everyone was in a hurry. They'd move like the wind in a messy manner. Yet, they were also very cautious for the fear that they'd act carelessly and create a mess…

The only families which managed to remain aloof to this situation were the Jun and the Dugu Families. The later generations of these two military families weren't present there. Therefore, the existence or absence of such rumors didn't have any effect on them. These families were like a solid block on the inside. Water may be present there, but the container was water-tight.

The two families weren't affected by these rumors. Therefore, they had maintained their internal stability. However, the same couldn't be said for their military might. And, that was because their most trusted military subordinates had been dispersed along with other old officers. Plus, the followers of these two families had also started receiving a treatment that was different from the one that was dished-out to the followers of the other families. This was conclusive proof of what was coming. And, the two families couldn't get any opportunity to reverse the situation. They had been rendered defenseless as a result. It was almost as if they had been banished.

The Murong Family, the Meng Family, and the Tang Family were ”great” families of Tian Xiang. And, the elderly of these families were obviously the same as well. However, they'd seem idle and bedridden in the face of this chaos. In fact, the juniors of these families were very respectful and dutiful on the surface. But, they were similar to a double-edged sword in secret. Thus, these families had caused a lot of blood-shed.

There was another family that had remained considerably calm. And, that family was the Li Family. But, they had the great genius Li You Ran as their Eldest Young Master. So, the other youngsters of the family didn't dare to compete against him. He had used very heavy methods to suppress them early on. Therefore, the rumor of this battle for an heir was the least effective in the Li Family.

It was only obvious that some major forces had remained unaffected by this gust of wind.

For example…

The Proprietor of the Aristocratic Hall — Tang Yuan — had ignored these foreign affairs. He had only cared about the advancement of his establishment… and earning profits. So, it was becoming increasingly prosperous with every passing day. He had held several auctions, and had earned huge pots of gold every time. Jun Mo Xie had given many effective medicine bottles to Fatty Tang before he had left. And, Fatty's method of conducting business was exceptional. He had auctioned the first batch of those medicines, and their results had caused a huge sensation in the Capital City.

After that, Fatty had started to limit and control the sales. He would only sell 20 pellets of each medicine in one batch. And, one individual could only buy a maximum of 5 pellets. Moreover, the reserve price of the auctioned items had continued to increase. However, the number of people who would arrive for these auctions had also continued to increase.

The prices of these goods had soon started to reach frighteningly high levels because of their sensational popularity. But, the line of people of coming to buy these products was still endless. In fact, the customers would be willing to spend to any extent inside the Aristocratic Hall. And, the ones who didn't have hundreds of thousands… or millions… were only left to face embarrassment, and would remain tight-lipped as a result.

Fatty Tang gave the medicines very pleasant and trendy descriptions as he gave them out. He gave the Mysterious Yang Dan a very glorified description, ”Even the impotent men would have the sturdy strength of 500kg with the help of this thunderous Mysterious Yang Dan!” It had almost sounded as if he was offering impotent men an aphrodisiac. In fact, he had said that it would give them much more than that…

There was this so-called 'poem'— The young buy wine and romance. The fifty-year-olds settle into their marriage. But, even the eighty-year-olds' crotches would still seek more.

And, he gave the Missing Yin Pill an even more enchanting name; ”It improves one's appearance and makes the skin like that of a divine beauty that has maintained the countenance of a flower. Even a little amount of this will change an ugly woman into a beauty who can reverse the flow of a mighty river and move the stars — the Missing Yin Pill!”

Tang Yuan had seemed like a travelling performer who was selling sham when he had given such descriptions to these two medicines.

These two extremely trendy, awkward and vulgar sounding medicines had soon come to be known as the Divine Pills of the Tian Xiang City.

The descriptions didn't exactly roll off one's tongues. In fact, they were unreasonable. Most people would stutter at first. However, people soon started to recite these descriptions in a fluent manner. And, this was the effect that had been created on the people who hadn't even consumed these medicines. Who knows what would've happened if they had actually consumed these 'Divine Pills'?

Later, Tang Yuan cited that the establishment lacked sufficient manpower. He then used his official authority for private interests, and arranged for his fiancée Sun Xiao Mei to lend him a hand at the Aristocratic hall. This left Hai Chen Feng and Song Shang — the two Sky Xuan experts — to complain endlessly.

The two experts had revolted against Fatty's display of authority several times from the start. [Your entire Tang Family doesn't have a single Sky Xuan expert. Yet, you dare to incite us like this. Who do you think you are?]

However, Tang Yuan gradually figured a way out. He was dealing with Hai Chen Feng one day, and he simply spoke this line, ”Third Young Master said that you'd be the most suitable person for this job.” Hai Chen Feng got to work the moment those words exited Tang Yuan's mouth. Moreover, he was sharp, swift, and decisive in his actions. In fact, he seemed afraid of being slow.

This left Fatty to reconsider his approach. He was in a similar situation with Song Shang the other day. And, he applied the same method with him as well. And, the result was the same. Therefore, Tang Yuan assumed authority without proper pretext from that day onwards, and started to act in a tyrannical manner — [I don't think anything of who I am. I'm only Elder Brother Mo Xie's spokesperson in Tian Xiang. I merely handle Elder Brother Mo Xie's affairs. You obey whatever I'm telling you. Otherwise, I'll tell Elder Brother Mo Xie about you!]