Chapter 183: Not Ruthless Enough
As they returned to the domain, Hsu Yi felt a bit uneasy and asked, “Did I cause trouble?”
“No, what trouble could you possibly cause?”
“When I was arguing with the envoy, I shouldn’t have mentioned that I’m from the Hsu Clan, and I certainly shouldn’t have told them my name.”
The fact that Hsu Yi had thought of this herself saved Wei Yuan the trouble of explaining.
In truth, even if Hsu Yi had revealed her identity, it wouldn't have been a big deal. She was, after all, the daughter of a distinguished clan. Never mind something as trivial as colluding with horse bandits, even if she had killed someone, as long as she could come up with even the slightest plausible excuse, she wouldn’t have to face the death penalty. If the victim was a commoner, she wouldn’t even need an excuse; she could simply pay compensation and settle the matter, and the amount wouldn’t be much.
On the way here, Wei Yuan had been pondering the purpose behind Yuan Qingyan’s dispatch of an envoy. After much deliberation, he concluded that the most likely scenario was that the commandery administrator intended to frame him for a crime. If he couldn’t resist striking back, it would play right into Yuan Qingyan’s hands.
The realm stone was erected by Wei Yuan. As the realm lord, Wei Yuan should have been the de facto commandery administrator for a hundred years. Only after a hundred years, or if the realm lord himself had transferred his title to another, would the commandery administrator be replaced. When the time came, the royal court would appoint a new commandery administrator, and the territory would officially be returned to Great Tang.
This was a long-standing custom of the dynasty: the founder of a new realm retained exclusive rights to its profits for the first hundred years. After a century, when an ordinary realm stone had matured and no lingered required a realm lord, the territory would be returned to Great Tang.
However, the establishment of Qingming represented too much profit, so much so that the King of Jin himself couldn’t resist getting a piece of the action. If Wei Yuan had merely been a disciple of a small sect, the matter could have been settled with a simple takeover. However, he was a cherished disciple of the Palace of Absolute Beginning, who also caught the eye of an Immortal Lord—thus, he could not be dealt with lightly.