Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 333 "White Mountain" Turns into "White Wolf"

"Female ruler" is the oldest term used by the Mohe people, which they learned from the people of the Central Plains.

Of course, people in the Central Plains didn't actually use that term. If a female emperor really did emerge in the Central Plains, try calling her "Empress" or "Queen" in front of her.

Do you think your entire family's lifespan is too long?
Even Empress Wu Zetian never suffered such an insult!
The terms "female ruler" and "female emperor" are products of the fact that these Hu and Yi people did not learn the Central Plains language well. For example, they also like to call male emperors and monarchs "male ruler" and "male emperor," which is like trying to distinguish between male and female animals.

However, as these Hu and Yi people's regimes became increasingly Sinicized, inappropriate terms like "male ruler" and "male emperor" gradually disappeared, and the term "female emperor" also vanished. Terms like "female ruler" and "female prince," however, were still somewhat retained, generally appearing in places where Central Plains culture hadn't fully penetrated, such as…

Western Liaoning.

"Call me..."

Murong Ruyan pondered for a moment, recalling the book she had recently read in the sect's library, "Starting from Zero to Conquer the World Series - The Legendary Heroes of a Chaotic Era: The Power Struggles of the Three Major Financial Groups," and decided on the title that appeared for the first time in this timeline: "Call me 'Lord'."

"Lord!"

White Mountain Black Wolf—no, now perhaps it should be called White Wolf Black Wolf (what a weird name!)—bore a deep bow with utmost respect and readily accepted the good advice.

However, he was filled with doubt: Could this be a title that immortals like to use? Calling a "princess" "my lord"? He had heard that people in Jiaozhou like to speak backwards, could this be a custom in Jiaozhou? How strange!

"Of these three industries, I can grant you one of them, and you can choose whichever you like. But for the remaining two, I want to see faces other than those of the White Mountain... White Wolf Clan. Do you understand?"

White Wolf and Black Wolf hurriedly replied, "Your Majesty, I understand!"

……

Three days later, the Baishan clan of Guangning Prefecture, now known as the Bailang clan, gathered in their ancestral home. The three brothers who controlled the entire Bailang (Baishan) clan of Guangning Prefecture sat solemnly in front of the main hall.

“Brother, we have always respected your leadership of the Baishan Clan in Guangning Prefecture. Even if we were to change the name from ‘Baishan Clan’ to ‘Bailang Clan,’ I would have no objection. But these ‘three projects’ and the idea of ​​pledging loyalty to the ‘Lord’ are just too… too ridiculous!”

The third-ranked Bai Shan... Bai Lang Liu Ge was filled with shock, and even pointed to his head, turning to ask the second-ranked Bai Lang Xie Ye, "Second brother, do you think eldest brother has lost his mind?"

"You're the one who's out of your mind!"

White Wolf and Black Wolf couldn't help but curse, then patiently explained, "You've been living in comfort for too long, you probably don't know that the world is about to change drastically!"

"Let it change, what can it become? This place is the middle of nowhere, what can it possibly become? And no matter how it changes, there's no reason why the official we follow should get lower and lower! It's one thing for her to go from being the emperor to the empress dowager, at least she's the emperor's mother, her official rank is low but her seniority is high, but now she's become a princess, what's going on? The sixth princess at that! She has absolutely nothing to do with us! I heard that this sixth princess's mother is a princess from the neighboring Bohai Kingdom, brother, what are you thinking, switching allegiance to Bohai Kingdom? That doesn't make sense! Bohai Kingdom is so shabby, the emperor's palace is smaller than my outhouse, would our Baishan clan even look at that desolate place? No way!"

Seeing that Bai Lang Liu Ge was talking more and more incoherently, Bai Lang and Hei Lang simply stepped forward and slapped Bai Lang Liu Ge on the forehead to stop his "nonsense".

"Ouch! Big brother! Why are you hitting me?!"

"That's what I'm going to do!" White Wolf and Black Wolf were so angry their hands were shaking. "You idiot! It's one thing to be ignorant and incompetent, but you're also not smart enough!"

White Wolf Liu retorted defiantly, "How am I not smart enough? Our mother praised me, saying I'm the most clever of the three brothers!"

White Wolf and Black Wolf snorted and mocked, "What nonsense! That was just our mother fooling you, and you actually believed her? You're such an idiot, is your brain filled with a pool of water that you can't get it out? I bet even the White Wolf River has more water in your brain!"

Unable to win an argument with White Wolf and Black Wolf, White Wolf turned red with anger and hurriedly turned to call for help: "Second Brother! Look at Big Brother!"

"Alright, alright, you two should stop talking," White Wolf said, trying to break up the fight as usual. "Brother Liu, listen to what our elder brother has to say first. There must be a reason why he's doing this."

"What logic is there? I think he'll wipe out the Bai Shan clan of Guangning Prefecture sooner or later!"

White Wolf and Black Wolf stopped arguing with their younger brother, who seemed to have a bit of a screw loose. Instead, White Wolf said to Black Wolf, "You've all heard about the White Stone Immortal Sect, more or less. I used to think it was all just rumors, but this Sixth Princess, from being nowhere to be found in the palace to now being the Grand Princess of Xiao Kingdom whom everyone bows to, it's almost like a change overnight! And yet, we haven't heard of any remarkable achievements this Sixth Princess has made. Why do you think that is? It can't be that His Majesty suddenly discovered that his sister was wronged and wanted to make amends, can it? Don't forget, His Majesty has about ten sisters in the palace!"

White Wolf Liu Ge scratched his head, frowning as he pondered: "Hmm? Oh right, could it be that the Sixth Princess is actually His Majesty's half-sister, but due to the concubines' infighting back then, they were forced to be switched at birth? Now that the truth has come to light, His Majesty wants to make amends, and that's why..."

"You little brat!"

These words made both the white wolf and the black wolf blush – they were furious!
"That's because our Sixth Princess, who is now the Grand Princess of Xiao Kingdom, is a true 'immortal'! She is also a direct disciple of a true immortal! Even our Emperor has to be mindful of her feelings now!"

"Hahahaha! That's hilarious!"

Upon hearing White Wolf and Black Wolf's explanation, White Wolf Liu Ge burst into laughter, tears streaming down his face. He bent over, leaning on White Wolf Xie Ye for support. After laughing for a while, White Wolf Liu Ge realized his second brother wasn't laughing. He looked up in confusion and asked, "Second brother, why aren't you laughing? Look how funny Big Brother is! 'Immortal'? If she's an 'immortal,' then I'm still 'Grandma Hu San'! Others might not know, but we certainly do! We funded the construction of these five temples, and even the temple keepers who perform the shamanic rituals are our own people. Where did these five immortals come from? They're all—"

"shut up!"

With a loud shout from White Wolf and Black Wolf, a palm-sized, yellow piece of paper suddenly flew from his hand and stuck to White Wolf Liu Ge in the blink of an eye.

Then, a flame suddenly burst forth from Bai Lang Liu Ge's body, and within a few breaths it grew larger and larger, frightening Bai Lang Liu Ge into a state of panic.

Soon, the fire reached his skin, burning him so badly he screamed.

With a blank expression, Bai Lang Xie kicked Bai Shan Liu Ge to the ground, then kicked him around on the ground, sending him rolling about. The flying dust did extinguish the fire, but Bai Lang Liu Ge was clearly caught off guard and shouted excitedly, "Mommy, Second Brother, what are you doing! What are you doing?! Ouch—it hurts!"

Seeing that the fire was about to burn away all of Bai Lang Liu Ge's clothes, Bai Lang and Hei Lang threw out another water-condensing talisman. In mid-air, a water ball instantly condensed from the crack in the talisman. The water ball grew larger and larger until it seemed unable to hold on any longer and fell down, pouring right onto Bai Lang Liu Ge's burning buttocks.

"Pfft-"

The fire was extinguished instantly by the water balloon, exposing Bai Lang Liu Ge's bare buttocks, which were covered in several burn blisters. His thick fur coat was also burned with holes here and there, with one large hole revealing Bai Lang Liu Ge's buttocks.

White Wolf and Black Wolf suppressed their smirks, putting on a dark expression. Amidst White Wolf Liu Ge's pig-like screams of pain, they lectured, "Now do you know how powerful this is? These are just two insignificant talismans bestowed by an immortal! I, your elder brother, have personally witnessed the abilities of that White Stone Immortal! He can summon wind and rain, and ride the clouds. It's said that he can travel from White Stone Mountain in Baozhou to our Guangning Prefecture in less than three hours!"

White Wolf was still somewhat resentful, but the pain in his buttocks reminded him of how his older brother had "abused" him. So, after a long while, he finally asked in a wronged tone, "Really?"

The tone of his voice was unconvincing.

Seeing that they still couldn't subdue Brother Liu after all that, both White Wolf and Black Wolf were about to laugh in anger.

He was completely exasperated and waved his hand helplessly, saying, "Fine, I don't care what you say. Just stay put and don't cause me any trouble. I'll call your sister-in-law tomorrow. I can't explain it to you, but you can definitely explain it to her!"

Because Bai Lang Liu Ge was the youngest and most favored son in his family, he married the very powerful eldest aunt of the Xi Lie clan, a prominent Mohe family in the area. The two elders knew that Liu Ge was not capable of establishing himself in the family, so they simply found him a powerful wife to manage things.

The Nüxi Lie clan were originally slaves of the Baishan clan, but they were originally Mohe people from the north who were captured by the Baishan clan and became slaves.

Later, as the Xiao Kingdom gradually abolished the Mohe slave system, the Nüxi Lie clan gradually became independent, and this branch of the Black Wolf ancestors, who were also slaves of the Baishan clan at that time, remained in the Guangning Prefecture area.

However, in order to counterbalance these two families, there was actually another Mohe noble family in the area that was more powerful than the Nüxi Lie clan and even comparable in power to the Baishan clan of Guangning Prefecture: the Jiagu clan.

The Jiagu clan was a Mohe tribe from the Shihan River area further north. When the Mohe people moved south, they first followed the Baishui clan, but later fell out with the Baishui clan and then followed the Murong clan. Therefore, they were not among the core Mohe tribes at the time.

However, the Jiagu clan was a large clan with a large population, so the Murong clan treated them very kindly and settled them near the Baishan clan, which was not very close to them, namely Huining Prefecture and its northern region.

Although the Mohe people are straightforward, they are not stupid.

Whether it was the Jiagu clan or the Baishan clan, they understood the emperor's intentions almost immediately. So for many years, the two clans have been putting on a show of mutual animosity but being unable to do anything about each other. They are always accusing each other, and there is never a moment of peace.

The main problem is that once the two clans are truly at peace, the nobles in the capital will have sleepless nights.

but……

Now, isn't Liaodong the fiefdom of the princess, or rather, the "lord"?

The "disagreement" still needs to be performed, but didn't the lord say that he wanted to see a face that didn't belong to the White Wolf Clan?
He would first bring along a female member of the Xi Lie clan, and then, "holding his nose," offer up a member of the Jia Gu clan. That showed his utmost loyalty!

Thinking of this, White Wolf and Black Wolf immediately instructed White Wolf Xieye, "Second Brother, go to Jia Gu's place tomorrow and explain the situation. I have no patience to see those idiots!"

White Wolf nodded readily: "Brother, I understand."

"What the hell? You're looking for the Jia Gu family? No, brother, are you crazy? You're going to give those three 'projects' to the Jia Gu family?"

White Wolf Liu's eyes widened in disbelief as he turned to his second brother: "Second brother, has eldest brother gone mad? Have you gone mad too?"

White Wolf and Black Wolf's faces were as black as the bottom of a pot. They kicked White Wolf Liu Ge's blister-covered buttocks and cursed angrily, "Get the hell out of here! Go find your wife!"

(End of this chapter)