"Can you enter the palace and become an official with your identity?” Li Huowang asked the old man in front of him.
“Yes. The disciples of the Minglun Hall are all disciples of Confucianism too.”
“Are you alone?”
“I apologize, but with our current situation, it won’t be easy for me to contact the others. However, if we revive the palace of the Qi Kingdom, they might catch wind and come assist us.”
Liang Yuxuan paused a moment before continuing, “Daoist, when I was on my way here, I coincidentally encountered the leader from the Mo family. He had caught wind of the news in the You Capital and wanted to help.”
“Oh? Then that’s good news.” Li Huowang didn’t care who it was as long as they could help. The more, the better.
He was here to help the Qi Kingdom, and there was a limit to how much Li Huowang could do on his own.
Liang Yuxuan hesitated when he heard Li Huowang’s answer. He glanced at Chan Du, who had stopped rotating his prayer beads.
“Daoist, I’m not sure if I could say this...”
“What do you want to say? There’s no need to ask for my permission. Speak.”
“The people from the Mo family do things differently. You need to be careful.”
Li Huowang heard him and remembered what he had heard when he worked for the Surveillance Bureau. Different branches had formed within the Mo Family. The Mo family from the Liang Kingdom was orthodox, but the Mo family from the Qi Kingdom was an evil sect.
“Are they an evil sect?" Liang Yuxuan remained silent in response to the question, yet Li Huowang could tell it was a tacit agreement.
Li Huowang looked at Chan Du. If the orthodox sects are like this, I wonder how bad the Mo family must be for everyone to label them as an evil sect.
“Is the Sitting Oblivion Dao an evil sect?”
“Yes.”
“I see. Go ahead and focus on your work for now.”
Li Huowang decided to stay put and wait for the leader of the Mo family from the Qi Kingdom to arrive.
Li Huowang didn’t care if they were an evil sect or not. He was sure that the leader of the Mo family wouldn’t be stupid enough to stir up trouble in the current situation.
There were three individuals from the military within the western ruins. They were holding swords dripping with blood to maintain order.
Li Huowang was satisfied with the scene in front of him. Even though it was still scrappy, order was slowly being introduced back to the You Capital.
“Not bad.”
Li Huowang’s praise made Liang Yuxuan bow down a little lower. “It’s just part of my duty.”
Even though it wasn’t his expertise, he had people working under him who once worked in magistrates and local administrative offices. With the soldiers and food at their disposal, maintaining order among the refugees was a relatively simple task.
"Daoist, the Qi Kingdom is too big. We don’t have enough people to extend aid to everyone, especially since we lack carriages and horses right now. Traveling would prove challenging, so I plan to first revive our society here.
”People will flock here once the You Capital is up and running again. Then, we can organize them and assign them to work in the fields to grow food.
“Our current issue is not lack of food, but rather lack of manpower. Distributing free porridge will only foster a group of lazy individuals who refuse to work. We need them to work in exchange for food. This way, we’ll be able to mobilize everyone. With everyone working, the Qi Kingdom will slowly recover."
Liang Yuxuan dared not speak in jargon and explained things as simply as he could to Li Huowang.
“Then let’s make it quick. The fewer people we lose, the better.”
“Daoist, you are indeed right. I will do my best to chart out a path of survival for the people of the Qi Kingdom. My master taught me that those who wish to unify the land should first fix their country. To fix their country, the leader must first unify the people. To unify—”
“Shut up.”
“Yes.”
At that moment, a quarrel erupted in a corner of the western ruins. An elderly man was pulling on a young person, exclaiming, "You insolent child! You’re not selling Kaolinite! It doesn’t fill up my belly!"
“Stop slandering me! I’m eating the same things I’m selling!”
Soon, a crowd gathered around them. Two soldiers approached to break up the fight.
Li Huowang wanted to leave when he saw the little altercation when he stopped. He noticed someone was observing the fight.
Upon witnessing the little altercation, Li Huowang decided to leave. However, before he did so, he came to a sudden halt as he caught sight of someone observing the fight. Li Huowang and the man locked eyes simultaneously, and Li Huowang immediately knew that the man was none other than the leader of the Mo family.