Jasmine ended up being less impressed with her clan's inheritance than him. She really wanted it to help her beat Chen Wentian and vent some frustrations. She was peeved that her blessing would actually benefit him.
Chen Wentian wanted to spank her rebellious butt but had to hold himself back. The emergence of her mother's spiritual imprint in the Tear of Chang Xi put a weird strain into their budding relationship. He wasn't sure if Jasmine would complain to her mother at the next full moon if he teased her too much. A more experienced woman would surely recognize the signs of his perverted personality.
Thankfully, he was distracted from his dilemma by a message from Moonlight City. The events of the Full Moon Revelry had kicked off a series of events that completely transformed the entire political structure of the kingdom. It was now time to conclude the old chapter in its history and move it onto a new path, one that was completely under the control of his sect.
Chen Wentian, Lin Qingcheng, and Jasmine flew together to Moonlight City and entered the same grand ballroom where the Revelry was held. Today, it was completely transformed into a royal meeting hall with a mass of nobles standing by rank, scores of ministers at the front, the elderly king on his throne, and interestingly, only the third prince Mingyue Jian by his side.
They all watched it aww as their goddess, the lord of the province, and the Golden Madam entered with a blast of spiritual energy. They could not help but bow down and worship them.
"Our Bright Moon Kingdom welcomes Goddess Jasmine, Immortal Blue Dragon Chen Wentian, and the Golden Madam!" They all cried out.
Jasmine today wore a formal yet modest set of white battle robe. She also had on a veil that hid her angelic beauty from view. Chen Wentian had insisted on this because he didn't want her to be ogled and he didn't want people having weird thoughts about his girl. Despite this, her radiant charm and appeal could not be stopped and everyone stared at her slack jawed.
The trio arrived in front of the king and Mingyue Jian who both got up after a few more bows.
"Goddess Jasmine!" The king wheezed, "Welcome to the kingdom, this servant is at your command!"
"Good, I trust the matters we discussed have been handled?"
"Goddess Jasmine," It was Mingyue Jian who spoke up this time, "My two criminal brothers have been imprisoned and are awaiting trial. Their key supporters are all under house arrest, each with pending investigations into past activities. Once that is finished, I will be take my father's place as king."
This was indeed what Jasmine and Chen Wentian had come up with to completely bring the problematic kingdom under their control. Nobody in the kingdom was blameless and everyone was complicit in the rampant human trafficking and sexual slavery that was happening. However, they did not want to bother micromanaging a bunch of mortals so the existing political structure had to be somewhat preserved.
The third prince was intelligent and relatively less vile than the other two princes. The crown prince seemed kind and gentle out in the outside and just but a quick investigation into his brothels revealed that he was no better than the second prince. The third prince was thus allowed to take power, quickly ending what would have been a long fight for the throne.
"Okay, go ahead and announce it." Chen Wentian nodded to Mingyue Jian.
Mingyue Jian bowed and faced the crowd, raising his voice so it echoed across the hall, "People of Bright Moon Kingdom! Goddess Jasmine has descended from her heavenly realm to take the place of Goddess Chang Xi. She has seen our devotion and she is willing to bless us. Thus, our kingdom shall prosper for a millennium!"
"Praise Goddess Jasmine!"
"Goddess Jasmine's blessing is much stronger than the what Goddess Chang Xi can provide. She has chosen to give out blessings for one hundred and forty-four Holy Lunar Priestesses every year!" Mingyue Jian declared.
The crowd went wild. This was double the number from before! It was truly astonishing!
"Her powers are immeasurable. Her blessings can last over a whole year so therefore the Full Moon Revelry shall be replaced by a single Mid-Autumn Festival! From now on, every year our Goddess Jasmine shall descend upon our kingdom and bless one hundred and forty-four new priestesses!"
"Praise Goddess Jasmine!"
Mingyue Jian finished with a satisfied smile. With this, the nobles fully accepted their new goddess and any doubters would have a hard time finding support. With the additional benefits, they were willing to fall in line and this would lessen the chaos the next part of the plan would cause.
It was now Jasmine's turn and she floated up above the throne and addressed them all.
"I, Jasmine of the Moon Clan, appreciate all your dedication and worship. However, I found out some things that brought me great displeasure. Many of you are vile men who steal women from their families and enslave them to serve you. This goes against everything I stand for."
Her voice was like a knife that sliced through their souls, and they all could only nod along dumbly in agreement.
"All Holy Lunar Priestesses that serve me must be willing! This is law!" Jasmine's voice rose as her moonlight aura became almost unbearable for the men prostrating below her.
"Yes, Goddess Jasmine!" They cried out fearfully.
"The Golden Madam and her House of Paradise are true adherents and do things the right way. They have my appreciation and thanks. As a reward, all of my future priestesses will only come from the House of Paradise, I will not bless anyone else!" Jasmine finally dropped the bombshell.
The ministers and nobles were shocked. They looked at each other in confusion but the intelligent ones quickly figured out the implications. It would be a huge hit to their finances but their goddess had already spoken… how could they disobey her?
Mingyue Jian and the king already knew about this and were not surprised. This was the plan all along, to force all the major brothels in the city to fall under the House of Paradise. If they remained stubborn and tried to stay independent, they would never be able to receive the goddess' blessing and would quickly become irrelevant. They would also immediately be investigated by the royal guards for crimes that displeased the goddess and be completely destroyed.
"…Yes, Goddess Jasmine!" They all bowed once more.
How could they not see the tidal wave of change that was transforming the kingdom? All they needed to do was obey and hope their crimes were not the worst among their peers. Each one silently prayed that their rivals would be purged instead and that they could still enjoy the spoils of power and wealth under the new regime.
The meeting was adjourned and Chen Wentian, Jasmine, and Lin Qingcheng was led to a private room to negotiate the final details with the king and the third prince. Actually, this wasn't so much a negotiation as a couple mortals agreeing to whatever two immortals told them to do…
This was the hypocrisy of the Immortal Association's loose policies. While immortals were generally discouraged from interfering with the lives of mortals, even a casual sentence from an immortal was like words from a god. Mortals had to obey or risked being wiped out. Nobody would come to their defense. This was why all provinces that had an immortal sect would fall under their total control sooner or later. The only thing mortals could do was to join the immortal's side in some way or another.
The final negotiations were specifically for this purpose. The Mid-Autumn Festival was chosen as the time when Mingyue Jian would be crowned as the new king. It was still many months away and would give the him time to consolidate his rule among his people. However, he also had to assure Chen Wentian that the kingdom would not be led astray.
It was decided that Mingyue Jian and all future kings had to choose their queen from the House of Paradise, preferably one of Lin Qingcheng's direct disciples. Although he was still allowed to have consorts, only the son of the queen could inherit the throne.
This irretrievably tied the royal family to the House of Paradise and to Chen Wentian by proxy. It meant that Lin Qingcheng could trust Mingyue Jian to execute her orders properly via the queen and that she would be able to move on and follow Chen Wentian on new adventures.
Lin Qingcheng was happy with the result and Chen Wentian was happy for her. Her yearlong effort in the kingdom was rewarded wonderfully. Effectively, the kingdom was hers. Not Jasmine's, not Zhou Ziyun's, it was hers.
It was indeed fitting for his first disciple to be the cornerstone of the largest mortal faction in his province!