Le Xaan got a little upset since he might lose a reliable supplier of Qi cultivation methods.
As the three of them made their way back to the Le Mansion on a horse carriage, Le Xaan spotted a brown horse carriage before the gate.
One of its flanks was engraved with the name 'Cyam'.
"The Cyam family?"
Le Xaan was surprised. After such a long time, the Cyam family finally came, as he expected.
He was in no fear. After dismissing the two guards, Le Xaan strode through the gate towards the drawing room.
As he drew near, he could see Le Finn entertaining a stranger. By Le Finn's side was a martial arts master with whom Le Xaan was familiar.
Apparently, the man was from the Cyam family.
His brows were bushy, his eyes sleek. He looked to be in his thirties.
"... How could my son possibly have done such a thing? You must be mistaken!" Le Finn was seated at the Head of Honor and said with a calm expression.
"Many people witnessed the process! How could we've gotten it wrong?"
The man, on behalf of the Cyam family, was so angry that his chest was rolling and falling.
"No matter how powerful your Cyam family is in Zewa, you have to realize that here's Gourian, not your Zewa!
If you want to bully our Gourian family, just have a try! If you continue framing my son, don't blame me for my harsh treatment! "
Le Finn snarled in an icy-cold tone.
The Cyam family's man was so infuriated that he was trembling all over his body, his finger pointed at Le Finn, yet at a loss for words.
"Good! Very good! The Le family's head does have the guts. I will tell word for word what you are saying to Lord Xionyee without fail! Farewell!"
The man stood up and took large strides out of the room.
Le Xaan brushed past him on the path. But the man clearly did not recognize Le Xaan and left in a huff.
Le Xaan was unsurprised at all. In this day and age, the Great Song dynasty was experiencing a significant decline in national power, gradually losing control over nearly all of its territories except the capital. And Gourian City is in Northern Realm, where the City Chief and the other local families were in dominance.
Even in the Central Land, a clan powerful as the Le family was virtually equivalent to a royal family.
The Cyam family seemed not to realize that Gourian City was not their sphere of power, even going so far as to send a man here to ask for apologies and amends.
The man then got into a horse carriage and left.
Le Xaan entered the drawing room and saw his father seated on a chair with a blank expression.
"Father, are you done with your business?"
Le Xaan asked and gestured for the guard to take his leave first.
Seeing that it was Le Xaan, Le Finn smiled but then sighed.
"Xaan, watch over your younger sister, do not let her wander around on the streets."
"I can't. She has a strong mind." Le Xaan shook his head with a bitter smile. "Dad, have you found what you are in search of? What is it, a person or an item? "
"It might be an item or a person. I can't explain to you clearly!"
Le Finn shook his head while adding,
"The City Chief is now more troubled by the Wein village's case and the Xavir family's case. Especially the one in the Wein village. So many sheriffs have been investigating it, yet have not made an inch of progress. And your second younger sister is also trying to solve it. But what assistance can she realistically provide? You must keep an eye on her and let her obediently stay home. "
"She is investigating the Wein village's case?"Le Xaan was stunned.
"So you do not know about it? The sheriffs have seen Cinci in the Wein village. She has been taking wanted criminals to the City Government every few days that almost all the government staff now have known her."
Le Finn helplessly said.
"So that's how it is..."Le Xaan furrowed his brows slightly. "Recently I have been collecting martial arts, and I didn't notice this."
"Collecting martial arts... your expenditure on that reaches nearly fiver thousand silver coins. How does it turn out?" Le Finn asked casually.
"I have already obtained quite a few sets. And I will compile them into books so that they could be preserved in the study, allowing us to train our guards more efficiently going forward."
Le Xaan replied with seriousness.
"I understand your intentions. Now it's a time of turmoil. The guards of our family are still too few. We need to train more experts loyal to us. That's why I support your attempts to gather martial arts at all costs."
Le Finn said.
"Our family has eighty-six guards, yet half of them have to protect the Mansion, thus only the remaining guards are available to be called upon for other duties."
Le Xaan continued,
"We have thirteen manors and sixteen shops that command protections. Therefore, the number of our guards are still not enough."
"I know what you mean, but... trustworthy men are hard to find..."Le Finn sighed.
"Why not take in orphans? In the City, there are many homeless children." Le Xaan suggested.
"Well... regarding this, we have to consider the three other families' thoughts..."
Le Finn said with resignation.
"It's true that we do not have enough hands. Why do we have to take into account their thoughts? Can't we do it secretly?" Le Xaan asked.
"This is a sensitive matter. In case the other families detect our move, they would definitely be unsatisfied with our ambition. The power balance will be broken then."
Le Finn slightly shook his head.
Le Xaan persuaded his father with more words, yet unsuccessfully.
Le Xaan then realized that Le Finn no longer had his drive. In his earlier years, Le Finn was penniless yet enterprising and resolute, establishing the currently prosperous Le family from scratch.
But now... he was dithering, always weighing the pros and cons.
Le Xaan could tell Le Finn's ambition to expand the family's power from his backing of Le Xaan's martial arts collection.
However, his father was still wavering and couldn't make up his mind now.