I, the villainous eldest prince, will suppress everything!

a few days later.

The heads of the other five great families rushed to Jiangxia City from all over Jiangnan.

"Master Pei, why did you summon us all here in such a hurry?"

"That's right, that's right. Hurry up and tell me what it is. After you finish, I'll be leaving. There's nothing good about Jiangxia City. Only you, Pei Yunhe, treat this place like a treasure. I'm going back to collect rent."

"Tch, no ambition whatsoever. With the Zheng family in your hands, they're doomed."

"Hey! Who did you say was finished? Say it again if you dare!"

"I'm talking to you! Still collecting rent? You still have the mind to collect rent? I heard that the head of your Zheng family's Flowing Cloud Pavilion died in battle, and you're frantically searching for that mother and son to get revenge?"

Seeing that the other two family heads were about to start arguing over a single word, Pei Yunhe, who was sitting in the main seat, couldn't help but slam his fist on the table.

"boom--"

The room fell silent immediately.

With a cold sweep of his gaze across the room, Pei Yunhe roared, "Shut up, all of you! If you dare to argue again, get out of here and start arguing!"

The two family heads who had been arguing immediately fell silent, but their eyes were still full of resentment as they looked at each other.

The other family heads had different expressions; none of them tried to persuade them, all of them looking on with amusement.

After the room fell completely silent, Pei Yunhe said, "It wasn't me who summoned you to Jiangxia City, but His Highness the Crown Prince."

"The Crown Prince? Qin Li?"

Some people couldn't help but raise their voices.

"Exactly!"

Pei Yunhe replied.

"He told you to call us, so you did?"

Someone couldn't help but sneer.

"Exactly! How can you, Pei Yunhe, listen to Qin Li so obediently? This isn't the capital, it's Jiangnan. You're the head of our six great families, how can you listen to Qin Li like a dog?"

The slap had already landed on Pei Yunhe's face, but Pei Yunhe could only grit his teeth inwardly, powerless to do anything about it.

Because the person who slapped him was Lu Ruanxiong, the head of the Lu family.

This man was different from the other family heads; he had been a bandit in the mountains in his early years and had a strong bandit-like air about him.

By a stroke of luck, he succeeded as the head of the Lu family and challenged the Pei family for the top position among the six great families every year.

Every year when the heads of the six major families meet, he always targets him.

Pei Yunhe glared at Lu Ruanxiong and said irritably, "It's not that I want to act like a dog, it's that we all need to act like dogs."

Lu Ruanxiong frowned, his thick eyebrows furrowing, and asked, "What do you mean?"

"A while ago, that kid from the Dong family invited us to a gathering at the Yellow Crane Tower in Qin Li's name, but you said no one should go, or else we would be expelled from the six great families."

"You forgot what you said as soon as you turned around?"

Upon hearing this, the others also looked at Pei Yunhe, demanding an explanation from him.

If Pei Yunhe doesn't give an explanation, they wouldn't mind joining forces to kick the Pei family out of the six great families.

The Pei family doesn't want to be the head of the six great families; there are plenty of other families who want to be in the top position.

Pei Yunhe said casually, "My Pei family has already formed a marriage alliance with His Highness the Crown Prince. You can decide what to do next."

These words were like a bomb dropped into a deep lake, creating a huge splash.

"What?!"

"Pei Yunhe, if you dare, say those words again!"

"Yes, say it again!"

Everyone slammed their fists on the table and stood up, glaring angrily at Pei Yunhe.

Pei Yunhe remained seated, unmoved. He even picked up his teacup, took the lid, and gently brushed away the tea foam, saying, "I said that my Pei family has formed a marriage alliance with His Highness the Crown Prince. The three documents are now enshrined in my Pei family ancestral hall. If you don't believe me, you can go and see for yourselves."

The heads of the five great families exchanged glances, knowing that Pei Yunhe wouldn't joke about this.

After a brief moment of shock and anger, they all calmed down and sat back down.

"Pei Yunhe, are you really going to sever ties with us?" Lu Ruanxiong said coldly, glancing sideways, while gently skimming the tea foam from his teacup.

The others looked at Pei Yunhe, wanting to hear his answer.

Pei Yunhe said, "Patriarch Lu, you've truly misunderstood. We've always been in the same boat, so how can you talk about drawing a line between us?"

Lu Ruanxiong angrily retorted, "Then why did you form a marriage alliance with Qin Li? Don't you know that Jiangnan will eventually break away from the Great Zhou and establish a new country?"

This idea had already been agreed upon by the six men, and they had even agreed that if a new country were established, the emperor would be the emperor in rotation among their six families.

"Oh, so Patriarch Lu knows we're planning to break away from the Great Zhou and establish a new kingdom?"

Pei Yunhe couldn't help but say sarcastically, "Since you know that, why have you allowed your people to go so far all these years? The memorials impeaching you are piled up like a small mountain on the Emperor's desk."

"And you all, one by one, don't criticize each other, you intercept taxes, refuse to pay tribute, privately maintain armies, expand your retinues, arbitrarily change officials, appoint your own subordinates, and overstep the bounds of propriety, acting like emperors... Now the whole world knows that we in Jiangnan are about to rebel, all thanks to you all."

"What do you think Qin Li is up to by suddenly going to Jiangnan this time? He's investigating us."

"If I don't marry him, it won't be long before the executioner's blade falls on our heads."

"Oh, I see. Patriarch Pei is trying to win over Qin Li and lull him into a false sense of security."

Someone said, "Given time, once Qin Li is no longer of any use, Patriarch Pei will kick him aside."

"Not bad, not bad, they can even use Qin Li as a hostage to blackmail the Great Zhou Dynasty."

Hearing these words, Lu Ruanxiong's face grew increasingly grim.

He absolutely refused to believe that Pei Yunhe's purpose was this; Pei Yunhe must have some ulterior motive.

But since everyone is saying this now, he can't openly disagree.

He could only offer a perfunctory bow to Pei Yunhe and say, "Master Pei, please don't be offended. I misunderstood you."

After saying that, Lu Ruanxiong changed the subject: "But how can we let Patriarch Pei bear this humiliation alone? My Lu family has plenty of daughters who can marry into Qin Li's family."

"No!"

Pei Yunhe refused outright.

Upon hearing this, Lu Ruanxiong laughed, while the other family heads exchanged bewildered glances.

Pei Yunhe realized he had been tricked by Lu Ruanxiong, and his face turned even uglier than if he had eaten shit.

Over the years, Lu Ruanxiong has become increasingly difficult to deal with. No one would believe that Lu Ruanxiong doesn't have a master backing him.

Lu Ruanxiong chuckled and said, "Patriarch Pei, this is not good. You can marry your daughter to Qin Li, so why can't we? Then we'll have to carefully examine whether you really want to form a marriage alliance with Qin Li or not."

"Patriarch Pei, why aren't you saying anything?"

Lu Ruanxiong deliberately mocked.

Pei Yunhe took a deep breath and said, "Lu Ruanxiong, we've known each other for so many years, and you don't even trust me? The one who got married isn't my own daughter, but Pei Qingluan from the Pei family. You should know Pei Qingluan better than I do what kind of person she is."

"Isn't Pei Qingluan your elder brother's daughter? The daughter of the Sword Immortal, Pei Yuanhe? You're really going all out to use her to win over Qin Li!"

Lu Ruanxiong completely ignored Pei Yunhe's explanation, convinced that Pei Yunhe must have ulterior motives...