With the rise of my family, I can summon the Daoist Soldiers' Nest.

The soldiers quickly tidied up the Wang family hall, and the five family heads sat down to discuss the fate of the Wang family.

Liang Feiyu was also seated among them. He was the Supreme Elder of the Qingyuan Sword Sect and had contributed greatly to the destruction of the Wang family. Although he was not from Qingyang Prefecture, the various lords dared not refuse him a seat at the meeting.

The first issue was the handling of the remaining members of the Wang family, which was decided quickly by everyone.

Now that the core of the Wang family has escaped, all that remains are some collateral relatives.

Looking at their ugly behavior of robbing and fighting amongst themselves in the chaos, it's clear they've become disaffected and can no longer cause any trouble.

Lin Ye and the rest of the Lin family had previously harbored the desire to avenge their fallen clansmen, but after witnessing this scene and considering that none of the people present were important members of the Wang family, and that they were unaware of the collusion with the Northern Xiongnu, their thoughts of revenge faded.

"Let the imperial court handle it," Wei Yuan decided. "The imperial court will naturally deal with families that collude with the Northern Xiongnu in the appropriate way."

Everyone nodded in agreement, and the matter was settled.

Next, the group began to discuss the distribution of the spiritual plants and wealth left behind in the three counties of the Wang family.

According to the consistent practice of the Northern Han court, once a lord like the Wang family, who colluded with the Northern Xiongnu and rebelled against the court, was destroyed, the court would take 30% of the profits, and the remaining 70% would be distributed among the forces that participated in the battle.

Otherwise, why would the three lords be so eager? They could simply wait for the imperial army to arrive.

Although the exact number of spiritual plants and the amount of wealth are still being tallied, everyone who just took a look at the Wang family's treasury knows that the harvest was substantial.

Especially the spiritual plants. The Wang family possesses a second-rate nest, with a vast area of ​​spiritual land nurtured by them. The plants are of superior quality and have been accumulated over many years, making their value immeasurable.

After some discussion, the allocation ratio was quickly determined.

The conspiracy between the Wang family and the Northern Xiongnu was first exposed by the Lin family. Moreover, the Lin family attracted the main force of the Wang family, suffering the most casualties and injuries. They played the biggest role in the entire operation, and therefore the Lin family alone accounted for 50%.

The three lords of Wei, Gao, and Su each received one-tenth, and the Qingyuan Sword Sect also received one-tenth.

The lords were actually quite satisfied. Apart from the Chen family, who had fought a battle in Xiang County, the other three families had almost no bloodshed. They not only eliminated the Wang family, who had been looming over them for many years, but also gained abundant resources for free.

As for the Qingyuan Sword Sect, Elder Liang Feiyu remained indifferent, showing no interest in that resource.

He came here this time for a much bigger matter, according to the sect leader's plan.

Finally, and most importantly, what to do with the three counties vacated by the Wang family?

After the den is destroyed, according to the laws of the Northern Han court, the original territory will be taken over by officials dispatched by the court until a new lord suppresses the den and is then officially enfeoffed.

However, during this "ownerless" gap period, the situation is often quite awkward.

The county magistrate sent by the imperial court had a limited number of warriors and men with him. Without the suppression of the lair, the monsters would slowly multiply and even increase in number.

The county magistrate and others alone were unable to eliminate the monsters, which led to the gradual abandonment of the county town.

Therefore, it was customary for local powerful families to assist the county magistrate in managing the area, while also sending out martial artists to clear out the monsters and protect the county town.

This "local powerful family" is usually the original lord, the family whose territory was wiped out.

After all, the local area only had the most warriors from the former lord's family, and they were also the most familiar with the area.

For example, the Wei family, after their second-rate stronghold was wiped out, was responsible for assisting in the management of the two counties when they were taken over by the imperial court.

However, the Wei family was powerful enough to squeeze out almost all the real power of the county magistrate, turning the assistant magistrate into the one in charge, which meant that he could rightfully continue to be the master of the house.

But this time, the situation is completely different.

In Qing County and the other two counties, most of the martial artists are members of the Wang family or vassals of the Wang family. Now that the Wang family is colluding with the Northern Xiongnu, it would be good enough if these members of the Wang family and their vassal families were not purged by the imperial court.

Once the imperial magistrate arrives, these families will not be allowed to assist in the administration, and the magistrate will not have enough warriors. With more and more monsters, the city and land will soon be abandoned.

In such cases, it is necessary for the nearby lords to step forward and assist the magistrate in managing the affairs.

If done well, it could even render the county magistrate powerless and turn the assistant administrator into a de facto ruler.

The profits involved are enormous.

Therefore, the most important spoils of this war were not the spiritual plants and valuables, but the distribution of administrative control over the three counties, especially Yang County. The essence of the three counties under the Wang family was almost entirely in Qing County.

Whoever obtains the auxiliary management rights of Qing County will have firmly grasped this prosperous city and the surrounding fertile fields and spiritual lands during the window of opportunity.

At this moment, the four family heads, Wei, Su, Gao, and Chen, all looked at Lin Ye and Liang Feiyu with unusual eyes.

They knew very well that the Lin family and the Qingyuan Sword Sect now had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to directly apply to become the new lords of Qing County.

For the Lin family, this is not difficult.

The Lin family already possessed two third-rate strongholds, while Qinghe County was merely a newly established territory with a shallow foundation.

He could completely abandon Qinghe County, apply to the imperial court to move to Qing County, use his stronghold to suppress the local area, and officially become the lord of Qing County.

The imperial court might very well agree, since it would be far better to see Qing County gradually fall into ruin because it has no nest than to see Qinghe County become desolate due to the lack of a nest.

Unlike those families, who only have one stronghold and whose shortest territory has been established for twenty years and is deeply rooted in the local area, making it difficult to break away, and the imperial court may not even allow them to relocate.

As for the Qingyuan Sword Sect, it has even more confidence.

The Sword Sect controls numerous lairs, with lairs in several counties of Xining Prefecture, and all can apply to occupy them.

The top-tier strongholds of the sword sects are already capable of suppressing an entire prefecture.

The fact that these dens are located in various county towns is actually a waste.

The reason why the Sword Sect has set up its lair in Xining Prefecture over the years is not because it does not want to place it in other prefectures, thus expanding outwards.

However, the imperial court consistently disagreed, and other prefectures in Wuwei County also joined forces to resist, preventing the Sword Sect from establishing itself and occupying land in other places.

But this time, the situation is different.

The Qingyuan Sword Sect's active participation in the destruction of the Wang family, even sending the Supreme Elder Liang Feiyu, a martial artist with acquired skills, was clearly not just to help the Lin family.

The Sword Sect has always planned to expand into Qingyang Prefecture and occupy a piece of territory.

Moreover, in recent years the Northern Xiongnu's offensive has become increasingly fierce. In order to mobilize all forces to fight against foreign enemies, the imperial court has gradually relaxed its suppression of the major lords and sects.

Not long ago, in the battle of Shuofang City, didn't Ning Wuji, the Supreme Elder of the Qingyuan Sword Sect, take action?

Who can say there wasn't an exchange of benefits involved?

If the Sword Sect were to take advantage of the Wang family's destruction and propose relocating a third-rate stronghold to Yang County, the imperial court would very likely approve it.

Firstly, Qingyang Prefecture currently lacks any first-rate lords; it is composed entirely of third-rate forces, making it utterly powerless to resist the Sword Sect.

Secondly, the imperial court also needed to take this opportunity to win over the sword faction so that they would contribute more in future wars.

Thinking of this, the four family heads felt a chill run down their spines.

The Wang family, this huge tree that has been weighing on our heads for so many years, has fallen. But what if, instead of them, the Qingyuan Sword Sect takes over Qing County?

That feeling was probably even more unbearable than when the Wang family was alive.