Qian Family

"Damn it!"

Qian Yuanqing angrily snatched up his horsewhip, lashing out frantically at the tables and chairs in the main hall. The surrounding Qian clansmen hung their heads, their faces ashen.

A few days ago, the Bai Merchant Guild had negotiated a massive trade with a major merchant guild in the prefectural city. All the deals had been struck. A full eighteen thousand shi of grain, along with various goods, were meant to travel north along the Luochuan River to Nanyang Prefectural City.

The Luochuan River was a massive waterway within Nanyang Prefecture. The river was broad and the waters calm. Countless merchant ships traveled that route, and there had never been any large-scale trouble with river bandits.

Furthermore, the Bai Merchant Guild had always been steady. They had never suffered an accident.

It was exactly because of this foolproof certainty that the Qian family had borrowed heavily, buying three thousand shi of grain in a single breath. They wanted to follow the Bai family and make a fortune. As long as this venture succeeded, the Bai Merchant Guild would establish ties with the prefectural city and soar to the heavens. The Qian family would also reap enormous benefits.

The higher their standing with the Bai Merchant Guild, the broader and brighter their future would be.

But who could have imagined that the Bai family, which had never stumbled, would suffer such a massive disaster this time!

"Three thousand shi... even if we sold off our entire Qian family, we couldn't scrape together that much money!"

"Didn't the Bai family arrange for two Immortal Masters, along with so many skilled fighters? How could they still be robbed by river bandits?"

Qian Yuanqing stared at the ancestral tablets in the main hall. His Qi and blood surged backward, his vision suddenly went black, and his body collapsed backward.

"Clan Head!"

The surrounding Qian clansmen panicked and rushed forward, hurriedly helping Qian Yuanqing into a chair to rest.

"What are we going to do?" some of the women wailed.

The Qian family had taken on massive debts to buy that much grain. If they couldn't repay it, the men would be sold off as slaves, and the women would be sold to the brothels as prostitutes.

"I don't want to be sold to a brothel."

"Father, wake up quickly."

"It's over, everything is over. Before the debt collectors come, let's flee."

A crowd surrounded Qian Yuanqing, weeping endlessly, until their commotion finally woke the unconscious Clan Head.

He slumped in his chair, sweeping his gaze over the surrounding clansmen, his heart filled with sorrow.

How was it that everyone in his Qian family was so mediocre?!

Qian Yuanqing sneered. "Flee? Flee where?"

"Our Qian family's foundation is right here. Where can we go? Do we become wandering refugees or mountain bandits, only to be hunted down by the authorities in the end?"

His words smashed into their hearts like thunder, silencing the Qian family in utter despair.

"Things have come to this, and we lack the power to reverse heaven's will." Qian Yuanqing let out a long sigh, as if exhaling his final breath. "We can only sell the land."

The Qian family owned two hundred and thirteen mu of land. On average, each mu produced five shi of grain a year. After deducting the mouths to feed and the exorbitant taxes, they could save about two hundred shi annually.

But three thousand shi was a colossal sum. Even if the Qian family brought out all their accumulated grain from the past few years, there was still a gap of one thousand seven hundred shi.

His heart was wrung with regret. This time, he had been too eager for quick success. Blinded by profit, he had gambled away the Qian family's decades of foundation.

But who asked his family to be so devoid of foresight? Every single one of them was incredibly short-sighted. Not a single person had stepped forward to dissuade him, allowing him to make such a fatal error.

As the old saying goes: To live to be old and not die is to be a thief. Qian Yuanqing was precisely such a shrewd old thief.

He had managed the Qian family exceptionally well. Even when the other families overtly and covertly suppressed them, he had easily dissolved their schemes, growing their business larger and larger.

But he had one fatal flaw: an eagerness for quick success. He knew perfectly well that there were no absolute certainties in the world, yet for the sake of the Qian family soaring into the clouds, to secure a firm foothold in the Bai Merchant Guild, and for immense profit, he had still chosen to take a desperate risk. He had bought a full three thousand shi of grain.

If he had succeeded, the Qian family would have reaped a massive profit of several hundred taels. They could have stepped out of Baixi Village, riding the winds of change.

But unfortunately, he had failed, plunging them into a massive mountain of debt.

He stared at the ancestral tablets, his mouth opening and closing soundlessly for a long time.

Back then, his father had banded together with several other families to forcefully slaughter the Li family. Three generations had poured out their blood and sweat to establish the Qian family's foundation, and today, it was going to be destroyed by his own hands.

"Go send word to the other four families. Tell them my family is selling land."

Qian Yuanqing waved his grandson over. In that instant, he seemed to age over a dozen years.

...

Zhou Ping sat in the Qian family courtyard, accompanied by his older brother and a servant. His heart felt thoroughly delighted.

For the past five years, he had exhausted his mind, venturing into the mountains for goods and leasing land to collect grain, just barely keeping up with the rapid expansion of the other families. He had already pinned his hopes for destroying the other four families entirely on Minghu. Never did he expect the Qian family to play themselves to death first.

Sitting directly opposite Zhou Ping were Liu Quan and the returned Liu Ming. Around the other two chairs sat several other figures: one was the Wang Clan Head, and the other was the Sun Clan Head.

Qian Yuanqing looked at the four parties, their gazes like ravenous wolves, and the sorrow in his heart deepened.

"I called everyone here today because a mishap occurred in our business. I wish to sell some fields to you all."

One thousand seven hundred shi of grain. A single shi was three hundred wen, and one tael of silver exchanged for a thousand wen. That meant he needed over five hundred taels of silver to survive this crisis.

But lower-grade fields were only five taels, middle-grade fields eight taels, and top-grade fields were only worth a dozen or so taels.

These bastards would absolutely crush the prices to death. To scrape together five hundred taels, he might have to sell over a hundred mu!

The more Qian Yuanqing calculated, the more desolate and desperate his heart became.

"Yuanqing, we've had decades of friendship. Since your family has encountered a hardship, we naturally have to help," the Wang Clan Head said with a wide grin.

Beside him, the Sun Clan Head chimed in, "We're all from the same village. It's only right to help each other out."

Only Liu Quan and his grandson maintained calm expressions. It wasn't that they didn't want to buy land. The Liu family had spent heavily supporting multiple sides previously; even if they emptied the entire clan's pockets, they couldn't scrape together much money.

Moreover, now that their family possessed an Immortal cultivation method, they needed to keep a low profile. As long as their household produced an Immortal Master in the future, they naturally wouldn't need to fear anyone else.

When the clan grew strong, even if Zhou Ping was also an Immortal Master, he absolutely wouldn't dare provoke their family.

Zhou Ping also smiled. "Uncle Qian, don't worry. No matter how massive the hurdle, you can always cross it."

Qian Yuanqing looked at Zhou Ping's excessively young face. He only felt as if a vicious wolf or a ravenous tiger was staring at him, sending a chill down his spine.

"Then let's begin."

"Qian Pulin's land in the east of the village. Which of you wants to buy it?"

"That plot is small, remote, and oddly shaped. When farming it, you can't even fit an ox plow in there. Two taels at most." The Wang Clan Head shook his head.

The Sun Clan Head cleared his throat. "While it's indeed a bit poor, it's close to my third branch's home. I'll add fifty wen."

"That plot is clearly one mu and two fen! How can it only be worth two taels!" a Qian clansman shouted angrily from afar.

"Five taels!" Qian Yuanqing gritted his teeth.

Once, he had similarly crushed the prices when buying fields from impoverished households. He never imagined that today, the same tactic would be used on him.

"Two taels and four hundred wen. Any more than that, and I won't buy it."

"Go a little higher!"

The two families immediately went silent, looking around with leisurely expressions. Right now, the one in a rush was the seller, not the buyer. As long as they sat firmly like fishermen holding their rods, no matter how low the price, the Qian family could only shatter their teeth and swallow them.

"Fine, two taels and four hundred wen!"

Forced by the situation, Qian Yuanqing had no choice but to sell the land for dirt cheap. The Qian clansmen in the distance glared until their eyes nearly split, filled with outrage.

Zhou Ping and the two men from the Liu family remained silent, sitting leisurely in their seats sipping tea.

At this moment, the four families didn't fight among themselves. They all tacitly joined forces to push the prices into the dirt. Their intent was to thoroughly cripple the Qian family after today.

An entire afternoon passed before the four families finally stopped, thoroughly satisfied. The servant Zhou Ping had brought was writing furiously, copying down the locations of the fields without a moment's rest.

Because the Zhou family had a sparse population, even though they had less land than the others, their yearly harvest was actually a bit higher. Paired with Zhou Ping gathering Mountain Clear Qi to sell, they could save over a hundred taels of silver every year-the most out of the four families.

He spent a full two hundred taels, purchasing over seventy mu of fields from the Qian family.

The Sun and Wang families each took out over a hundred taels, buying a combined hundred and twenty mu. Only the Liu family, strapped for cash due to recent events, could only scrape together a few dozen taels, yet they still bought over ten mu.

In a single breath, the four families bought two hundred mu from the Qian family, leaving them with a mere few dozen mu.

After seeing the four families out, Qian Yuanqing collapsed back into his chair.

No matter what, he had finally scraped together five hundred taels, preventing the entire clan from being sold into servitude.

But right then, he noticed that all the clansmen had gathered around him. A few were fidgeting restlessly.

"Is there a matter?"

One clansman lowered his head and whispered, "Clan Head, we... want to divide the household."

Qian Yuanqing's mind shuddered violently, nearly fainting on the spot.

He never imagined that at such a critical juncture, the rice weevils of his own family would actually ask to divide the household!

Normally, his management of the clan's fields ensured they had food to eat and water to drink. Now, not only were they refusing to weather the storm alongside the clan, they were kicking him while he was down!

"Qian Dachun, what nonsense are you spouting here?!" someone roared angrily.

But Qian Dachun remained unyielding. "The clan previously took away everyone's land and organized the clansmen to farm it together. That was wrong from the start! Now there's only a few dozen mu left. I just want my land back."

"Exactly, exactly. I even sold off four mu of my own land. My heart aches to death," someone echoed.

"You people are truly shameless! The Clan Head poured his heart and soul out for you all these years, giving you food and clothes. Now you throw stones at someone who's fallen down a well! You don't even deserve the surname Qian!" A young man cursed fiercely at the group.

The entire grand courtyard dissolved into endless, noisy bickering, thoroughly agitating everyone's tempers.

But Qian Yuanqing noticed more and more clansmen with shifting eyes, staring at him in silence.

He understood. The hearts of the people had scattered.

"Divide it! Give it all to you!"

He roared, instantly stunning everyone into silence.

"Clan Head, we can't divide!" someone cried out in anguish. They understood that the moment the household was divided, the Qian family would be completely finished!

Trying to gather everyone together again, trying to claw their way back up from digging for food in the dirt, would be as hard as ascending to the heavens!

Back then, the Qian ancestors had been refugee vagabonds, finally establishing a family through murder and arson.

Now, with the various local powers firmly established, it was absolutely impossible for such a thing to happen again. If they divided the household, the Qian family would shatter into several independent doors, reverting into impoverished peasants scratching a living from the soil!

"Since they want to divide the household, give it all to them!" Qian Yuanqing's face was ashen, his body trembling uncontrollably.

On that day, the Qian family's final forty-odd mu of land were divided clean amongst three branches and eight households. Even the old Qian ancestral home was split into several pieces. The east wing went to this family, the west wing to that one.

In a flash, the Qian family splintered into eight households. Those who should have been the closest of clan brothers were now strangers, and perhaps even enemies!

That evening, when someone brought Qian Yuanqing his meal, they found him hanging from a rope in front of the ancestral tablets, his eyes wide open in death.

For a time, the reactions among the various Qian households were a mixed bag. Some wept and wailed, mourning the stupidity of their clansmen. Others couldn't care less, even cursing the old bastard for scamming them out of their land.

Four generations of the Qian family's foundation turned to ash over a single event. Driven by greed and alienated from one another, the clansmen fell into ruin...