Shang Ya Zi said: “I lost, but I have not failed completely yet. Father sent me to the slave capturing group for three years, but after three years, I will be back. But before that, I have some things to give you.”
Saying so, Shang Ya Zi passed a few documents to Shang Yi Fan.
Shang Yi Fan took the documents and gave them a look. The documents contained Shang Ya Zi’s secret assets, his spies and some close aides.
“Brother Ya Zi, this is…” Shang Yi Fan gave a shocked expression.
“Brother Yi Fan, you are the person most likely to become young master among our siblings. I will lend you a hand here and hope you manage to win. As for these resources, feel free to use them. After three years, I will be back, just return them to me then.” Shang Ya Zi sighed.
He was forced to train in the slave capturing group, he could not bring his servants and subordinates along. He was not going there to enjoy, but to be punished.
Now that he lost his young master identity, these forces would collapse eventually, he might as well hand them to Shang Yi Fan while he still had the power and let him take care of them. After three years, Shang Ya Zi will return, and would not have to restart all over again.”
Shang Yi Fan quickly stood up, cupping his fists: “I will not forget brother Ya Zi’s help. In the future, if I become young master, I will repay you tenfold.”
“Sigh, we are brothers, there is no need to talk about repayment. Hehehe…” Although he said so, Shang Ya Zi’s lips curled into a smile.
After they conversed, Shang Yi Fan sent Shang Ya Zi to the door as he left.
Seeing he had left, Shang Yi Fan’s smile turned cold.
“Shang Ya Zi, what a great plan you have, wanting me to preserve your forces for you? Hehe, then I shall use this opportunity to take over all of your assets and absorb them, this is called borrowing without returning .”
He knew Shang Ya Zi’s plan from the start.
“Three years? Many things can happen in three years, do you still think you have a chance. Hmph, naive! Such naivety, no wonder Fang and Bai tricked you. You are a disgrace to us Shang clan!” Shang Yi Fan laughed.
But thinking of Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing, his expression turned dark.
“Shang Xin Ci…” He kept muttering her name.
As Shang Ya Zi fell, he thought this young master position was in the bag. But to think Shang Xin Ci appeared out of nowhere and became his biggest obstacle.
Shang Yi Fan’s eyes squinted, as he analyzed to himself with shining eyes: “Shang Xin Ci’s greatest advantage is father’s affection. Father dotes on her more than his other children combined. But there are clan rules, as everyone competes for the young master position openly, father would not be able to cheat blatantly.”
“In fact, because of lord father’s favor, it caused our other siblings to have ill feelings towards Shang Xin Ci, or even hostility. Shang Xin Ci’s greatest advantage is also her greatest weakness.”
“Shang Xin Ci’s second advantage is her actual strength, that is Fang Zheng and Bai Ning Bing! These two are truly…”
Thinking of the two, Shang Yi Fan’s face showed strange, envious, jealous, and unbelievable expressions.
“These two, I don’t know what they are after! They rejected the role of external elder to help Shang Xin Ci!”
This feeling, is like someone giving up on a watermelon to pick up sesame seeds.
“How did Shang Xin Ci convince them? Her luck is really good, easily getting these two strong generals. That Bai Ning Bing is already rank four, and Fang Zheng can even defeat Ju Kai Bei!”
She gained two Gu Masters with rank four battle strength just like this.
Even their eldest brother Shang Qiu Niu did not have a rank four subordinate.
Among the ten current young masters, only the young clan leader Shang Tuo Hai had two rank four subordinates.
But those two subordinates were not Shang Tuo Hai’s private force, but sent by the clan to assist him.
As the young clan leader, Shang Tuo Hai controlled a caravan. When he traded outside, he needed sufficient strength to deal with all sorts of situations.
But now, Shang Xin Ci was not even a young master, yet she already possesses the help of two rank four experts.
This situation caused many of Shang Yan Fei’s children to feel jealousy and fear.
“But, even with help from those two, so what? The position of young master belongs to me!” Shang Yi Fan licked his lips, as he thought of something, his spirit was lifted.
…
At the same time, at Nan Qiu garden.
“Shang clan has a complex and complete system of clan rules. Especially the part on successors, the rules are extremely rigid.” Wei Yang stood beside Fang and Bai, in front of Shang Xin Ci, as he explained.
“If Lady Xin Ci wants to ascend to young master, you will have to pass the Shang clan test. This test is a tradition, and there is only one type of test, which is trading.”
Shang clan used trade to flourish, the development of Shang clan cannot be separated from business. When Shang clan chooses a new young master, they would test their business skills.
“Do not look down on trading, thinking this is only a method to earn money. Trading can assess a successor’s qualities, as many problems often occur when you do trade. The test is on your intelligence and planning, how you adapt to situations, your cultivation strength, and others.”
“The clan will give any competing children a start-up fund of a hundred thousand primeval stones. Three months later, whoever earns the most would become the new young master.”
Wei Yang was clear of the clan’s rules.
Then, how much do we need to earn to win this competition?” Fang Yuan asked.
The Shang clan young master competition was well-known in the city, the entire Shang clan placed great attention on it. Fang Yuan knew that he had to follow the rules here.
“Normally, as long as Lady Xin Ci has around three hundred thousand by the end of the three months, she would eliminate most of her competitors. If she has six hundred thousand, there would be a high chance of winning. Seven to eight hundred thousand is the first class result of previous years’ assessments. But…” Here, Wei Yang paused.
“This time, among the competitors, there is one whose mother is Lord clan leader’s cousin. In Shang clan, he has a rather big force, he is called Shang Yi Fan, the most favored competitor in this young master competition. With his mother helping him secretly, he would at least have six hundred thousand at the end. If you want to beat him, Lady Xin Ci would need even better results.”
Shang Yi Fan would have at least six hundred thousand, thus to get the young master position, Shang Xin Ci would need to get first class results.
But Shang Xin Ci had no authority or force in Shang clan, her mother was even a Zhang clansmen, causing her political weakness. She would not receive any help unlike Shang Yi Fan.
Her only backer is Shang Yan Fei, but as the clan leader, he cannot side with her openly.
Thus, the pressure on her was extremely high now.
After Wei Yang finished speaking, he looked at Shang Xin Ci worriedly. He knew that earning seven to eight hundred thousand was usually due to special circumstances. Very few young masters in the previous years could achieve this. This needed talent, help, and more so, luck.
Originally, Shang Yan Fei did not expect Shang Xin Ci to vie for the young master position so quickly.
It was all due to Fang and Bai influencing her.
After Shang Xin Ci heard Wei Yang’s words, she was quiet for a while before asking: “May I know, what was the best result in Shang clan city’s history?”
“Wei Yang was stunned: “Of course it exceeded eight hundred thousand, reaching nine hundred thousand. But very little people in history managed this, the total is less than twenty. Our current young clan leader Shang Tuo Hai only got to eight hundred and ninety thousand, and that caused a huge commotion already. But your father, back then, he reached nine hundred and twenty thousand. Just this alone, it went into Shang clan’s historical records.”
As he spoke, Wei Yang paused again: “But, the best result in Shang clan history is one million one hundred and ten thousand. He is called Shang Gui Cai, having a monsterous talent, but unfortunately he was a ten extreme physique…”
“Nine hundred and twenty thousand, one million one hundred and ten thousand…” Shang Xin Ci listened as her eyes glowed brightly, as she clenched her fists tightly.
She had great talent in doing business. Although Fang Yuan greatly encouraged her for this competition, she was a willing participant herself, and was not forced to do so.
Seeing Shang Xin Ci’s expression, Wei Yang felt assured: “Alright, I have to go. But before that, I’ll give you some advice. Shang clan’s entire attention is on this competition, do not try to take shortcuts or loopholes, and violate the rules. Trust your brother Wei, all those who tried cheating in the past had never succeeded.”
Young masters were the future of Shang clan, it was extremely important and no mistakes could be tolerated.
Shang Ya Zi was a young master, but because of one fake accounting, he was exiled, it shows how much importance Shang clan places on the young masters and their actions.
Shang Yi Fan had his mother’s clan’s backing, but they could only help him within the boundaries of the rules, they did not dare to cheat.
Soon after, Wei Yang gave a few more heartfelt advice before leaving Nan Qiu garden.
He was an important elder of the clan, and was Shang Yan Fei’s aide, according to rules, he should avoid meeting them. But he still entered and left Nan Qiu garden, explaining so much for Shang Xin Ci, it showed how much of a friend he was.
“Brother Wei is taking on a lot of pressure for us. We cannot trouble him any further.” Shang Xin Ci said.
Fang Yuan remained silent.
Bai Ning Bing frowned: “Earning six times the initial amount in three months of business, it is easier said than done.”
Although she was a natural genius, she had zero talent towards trading and business, feeling extremely troubled now.
But Shang Xin Ci’s eyes shone as she smiled, saying confidently: “Actually I have a good plan. As long as we succeed, I’m sure we can earn six hundred thousand.”
“Oh, what plan?” Bai Ning Bing asked.
Shang Xin Ci looked deeply at Fang Yuan, stating her plan: “I got my inspiration from brother Hei Tu’s battles when I went to watch him in the battle stage, we can do business regarding intel.”
“Selling information?” Bai Ning Bing frowned.