I, the villainous eldest prince, will suppress everything!

Qin Li didn't give Dong Jin a chance to refuse; he was determined to treat him to dinner.

The fact that some people can't come, or that not all of them can come, is something Dong Jin should worry about, not something he should worry about.

"Alright, let's move on to the next thing."

"Is there anything else?"

Dong Jin must have had the worst luck in the world to end up entangled with Qin Li.

The dinner invitation is still unresolved, but Qin Li has another matter to attend to?

Needless to say, it was a task he couldn't complete.

Qin Li was deliberately making things difficult for him so he could find an excuse to kill him.

"Tell me, what are the martial arts sects in Jiangnan?"

Qin Li asked.

"Why does Your Highness ask this?"

Dong Jin was very puzzled.

Why would you ask about martial arts sects out of the blue?

"Just say it when I tell you to."

Qin Li's tone became more forceful.

Dong Jin dared not refuse to speak, and told him everything he knew.

After listening, Qin Li waved his hand, dismissing Dong Jin.

They didn't even leave him a bite to eat for lunch.

After Dong Jin left, Zhou Biao led his men to surround him.

Seeing their expectant eyes, Qin Li said, "Don't ask. Go and cook some fish soup first, and we can talk while we drink. Also, go and invite Madam Wei over for me."

"yes!"

Zhou Biao and the others dared not slack off and went off to do the two things separately.

Fish soup is cooked right by the stream.

As for Madam Wei, it was Zhou Biao who personally went to invite her.

When Madam Wei arrived, the fish pieces had just been put into the pot.

"sit."

Qin Li, indifferent, pointed to the seat next to him.

He really didn't know how to treat Madam Wei, whether to be warm or cold.

Lady Wei did not sit next to Qin Li, but chose to sit opposite him.

She couldn't help but scold them for not even knowing how to cook fish soup. In the end, she couldn't stand it anymore and cooked fish soup herself so that they could learn how.

After looking at the "virtuous" and "household-managing" Madam Wei, Qin Li addressed the crowd:

"We're almost in Jiangnan, and our good days along the way will come to an end."

Upon hearing this, no one felt sorrow.

Instead, they seemed eager and ready to try.

"Your Highness, please just tell us what we need to do."

"We're already tired of sightseeing, eating and drinking all this time."

"Not only have my fists gone limp, but even my knife is starting to rust."

From the day they left the capital, they knew that their trip to Jiangnan would not be peaceful.

Unlike the dangers on the border that come from the open, the dangers in Jiangnan come from the shadows.

You never know when an enemy will shoot a sneak arrow.

You might not even know who the enemy is or from which direction the arrow is coming.

But they weren't afraid; in fact, they were quite excited—the more enemies, the better!

"Let's put that aside for now and first sort out who the henchmen of these powerful families in Jiangnan are."

"Henchmen? What henchmen?" Madam Wei asked.

The henchmen of powerful families are usually very well hidden.

Why would they easily let anyone know? Let alone outsiders like them.

"Madam, you may not know this, but the martial arts sects are the henchmen of these aristocratic families."

"We don't know about their other henchmen, but these martial arts sects have a very prestigious reputation."

"Your Highness, let me start. The martial arts sects in Jiangnan can be roughly divided into two schools, three valleys, four sects, and eight pavilions."

"Among them, the two strongest are the leaders of these Jianghu sects. They are the Dragon Tiger Sect and the Sword Sect. The Dragon Tiger Sect has produced the Zhang brothers, Zhang Long and Zhang Hu, both of whom are half-step Grandmasters and are famous throughout the world. The Sword Sect was founded by Li Fuyao, one of the three great Grandmasters of our Great Zhou, the Sword Immortal Grandmaster. All the disciples in the sect practice swordsmanship."

"The Three Valleys are Medicine King Valley, Beast Valley, and Hundred Weapons Valley. As you can tell from their names, each valley has its own strengths. Medicine King Valley is good at making medicine, Beast Valley is good at controlling beasts, and Hundred Weapons Valley is good at forging weapons."

"As for the four sects, they are Spring Breeze Sect, Summer Rain Sect, Autumn Frost Sect, and Winter Snow Sect. These four sects are actually not worthy of their names. They were pushed up by the powerful families and their strength is not that great."

"The final Eight Directions Pavilion consists of: the Flowing Cloud Pavilion, for lightness and agility, and stealth tracking; the Mystic Strategy Pavilion, for strategic planning and intelligence gathering; the Trial Edge Pavilion, for forging weapons and dismantling them; the Clear String Pavilion, for using music to defend against enemies and bewitch minds; the Crimson Cloud Pavilion, for refining elixirs and using medicine and detoxification; the Ink Shadow Pavilion, for concealed weapons and mechanisms, and for disguise and stealth; the Trembling Mountain Pavilion, for practicing external martial arts and becoming invulnerable to swords and spears; and finally, the Star Divination Pavilion, for observing stars and divination to predict good and bad fortune."

"Apart from these sects, the others are all small fry and nothing to worry about."

Actually, it's already explained in great detail, and there's no need to add anything. Dong Jin just said the same thing.

"After talking about so many martial arts sects, are they all just lackeys of powerful families?" Madam Wei was somewhat skeptical.

The martial arts sects that are forcibly promoted by powerful families are their henchmen.

However, some sects have been passed down for a long time, many for hundreds of years, and some for thousands of years.

She didn't believe that those sects were also henchmen of powerful families.

If that's true, the power of aristocratic families is terrifying; they would have united to rebel long ago.

"Of course not."

Xia Liu said, "I've heard that more than half of the people in the Eight Directions Pavilion are henchmen of aristocratic families, especially the Zhenyue Sect and the Cuifeng Pavilion, who have done a lot of bad things for these families. There are also some in the Three Valleys, namely the Beast Valley. As for the other sects, I don't know."

"However, the Sword Sect is definitely not one of them. Sword Immortal Li Fuyao hates nothing more than being tainted by worldly affairs. He once sternly warned his disciples to focus on sword cultivation! Those who disobeyed would be expelled from the sect."

While everyone was talking, the fish soup was ready, and it smelled delicious.

Qin Li served himself a bowl and slowly savored it.

"Sword Gate definitely isn't, but Dragon Tiger Gate is half!"

Qin Li took a sip of fish soup and said.

"Why is it counted as half?" someone asked.

"Old Snake once told me that Zhang Long and Zhang Hu of the Dragon Tiger Sect, with their strength as half-step Grandmasters, were invincible in Jiangnan. However, they were troubled by their inability to truly advance to the Grandmaster level, so they started to have crooked thoughts."

"Perfect timing! Those powerful families can help them, so the Dragon Tiger Sect and these families can be considered to have a cooperative relationship, or at least a partial one!"

Upon hearing this, everyone nodded.

"So, what exactly does the Crown Prince want to do!"

Lady Wei, being straightforward, asked the question.

Even if we know which martial arts sects are henchmen of powerful families, so what?

Could we possibly wipe out these sects on their own turf?

Qin Li narrowed his eyes and said, "What I want to do is to go and challenge them, defeat all the lackeys and sects of these powerful families, and make an example of them!"

"Defeat them all?"

Lady Wei thought Qin Li was daydreaming.

On someone else's turf, how can you expect to defeat them, and defeat them all?

If Qin Li succeeds, these martial arts sects can close down now.

If she were the leader of these sects, she would definitely be too ashamed to take on any more disciples.

However, judging from Qin Li's expression, he didn't seem to be lying. Lady Wei asked, "Your Highness, are you serious?"