I run a casino in the immortal realm.

The relief of Yuanyang Prefecture was only the beginning of this East China Sea sea monster tide.

Three days later, the imperial reinforcements finally arrived.

Leading the group was the ninth son of the current emperor, the Ninth Prince Long Yuan.

Accompanying Long Yuan were 100,000 Imperial Guards from the capital, as well as three Refinement Realm experts and one Integration Realm expert, all of whom were royal retainers.

With the intervention of the imperial court's main forces, the war situation was completely stabilized.

However, the scale of the sea monster tide was too large, and behind it was a sea monster called "Azure Dragon" that was equivalent to a human in the fusion stage, secretly controlling it.

This fierce tug-of-war lasted for a full six months.

For six months, Zheng Yifei led the anti-smuggling team, acting as the sharpest blade, always at the forefront.

They do not participate in large-scale positional warfare; their sole responsibility is to hunt down high-level sea beasts, cut off their retreat routes, and rescue besieged cities.

This team, composed of cultivators from the Southern Wilderness, won the respect of all participating troops with their extremely fierce fighting style and fearless attitude.

Zheng Yifei, through continuous battles, honed his skills and broke through to the peak of the Nascent Soul stage once again.

Six months later, the royal retainer at the Integration Realm stood on the shore of the East Sea and fought three deadly moves against an eighth-tier Azure Dragon.

The wounded dragon let out a long roar and led the remaining sea beasts back into the deep sea.

The war has finally ended.

During the past six months of fighting side by side, Ninth Prince Long Yuan and Zheng Yifei have forged a deep friendship.

Long Yuan is just over thirty years old this year. He is handsome with sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes, and he has no trace of the arrogance and debauchery of a royal.

He was a cultivation genius, having reached the mid-stage of the Void Refinement realm at a young age. Moreover, he was extremely generous and upright, and often took the lead in battle.

He greatly admired Zheng Yifei.

He not only admired Zheng Yifei's command skills and bravery, but also his ability to manage his subordinates and "make money" by developing so many industries in Tanzhou County.

One night after the war, on the city wall of Yuanyang Prefecture, Long Yuan, carrying two jugs of strong liquor, found Zheng Yifei, who was on night patrol.

The two sat on the ramparts, looking at the blood-stained land outside the city, and silently drank their wine.

"Yifei, come back to Kyoto with me."

Long Yuan took a swig of wine, turned to look at Zheng Yifei, and said sincerely, "It's a waste of your talent to stay in Tanzhou. As long as you agree, I'll guarantee you a position in the Ministry of War, at least as a powerful fourth-rank general."

Zheng Yifei smiled but didn't reply. He simply tilted his head back and took a sip of his drink.

Long Yuan sighed, gazing at the deep night sky, his voice becoming somewhat low: "I know what you're worried about. Do you feel that the court is too treacherous, and that someone like you with no background would just be cannon fodder if you went in?"

"Your Highness is too kind. I just feel more comfortable working in the local area."

Zheng Yifei answered calmly.

"Freedom? You couldn't even get a proper promotion from fifth rank to fourth rank, so where does this freedom come from?"

Long Yuan sneered, turned his head, stared into Zheng Yifei's eyes, and suddenly lowered his voice: "The one who's holding you back is Lao San's man, right?"

Zheng Yifei paused slightly in his grip on the wine pot, but did not deny it.

"You don't need to hide it from me. Zhu Zhenbang knows about it, so how could I not know?"

Long Yuan chuckled self-deprecatingly and said bluntly, "Yi Fei, you're a smart man, so I won't beat around the bush with you. The current situation in the court is far worse than you see."

Long Yuan took another big gulp of wine, the liquid flowing down his chin and into his collar, but he didn't care. He continued, "The current Crown Prince, who is also my elder brother Long Kun, is my biological brother from the same mother."

Our maternal clan was weak, and my maternal grandfather was merely a minor tutor with no real power. My eldest brother was kind and compassionate, caring deeply for the common people, and enjoyed considerable prestige in the court.

"However, the Third Prince Long Zhan is different. His mother is the Empress, and his maternal family is the Zhao family, the most powerful family in the capital. They have immense power and influence. Almost half of the real power positions in the six ministries of the court, including the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Personnel, and the Ministry of Justice, are controlled by the Third Prince's people."

He has money, power, and troops; he has long coveted the position of crown prince.

A cold glint flashed in Long Yuan's eyes: "Back then, you destroyed the branch of the Canal Gang in Tanzhou and cut off the Third Brother's annual tribute of tens of millions of taels of gold. His withholding your official position was just a warning to you."

If you climb any higher, or dig any deeper, he will absolutely kill you.

Zheng Yifei remained silent for a long time before slowly speaking: "Your Highness is telling me all this to try and get me to choose sides?"

"No, I want you to help my older brother."

Long Yuan looked at him seriously: "The third brother is ruthless and will stop at nothing to make money. He is behind the smuggling of the canal gang and the corruption of local officials. If he is allowed to ascend the throne, the Tianlong Dynasty will be doomed sooner or later."

My brother needs someone like you—capable, resourceful, and able to make money.

Looking into Long Yuan's sincere eyes, Zheng Yifei felt a touch of emotion.

But he did not agree immediately. Instead, he raised his wine pot and clinked it against Long Yuan's: "Your Highness, matters of the court are too far off. Right now, Tanzhou County has just experienced a great calamity and everything needs to be rebuilt. I should take care of the present matters first."

Seeing that Zheng Yifei hadn't given a definitive answer, Long Yuan stopped pressing him and laughed twice, "Alright! Let's focus on the present!"

However, the trouble they faced was greater than they had imagined.

The army withdrew to the capital, but Longyuan did not leave.

On the first day after returning to Tanzhou County, an imperial edict from the capital arrived.

The contents of the imperial edict plunged the entire prefectural government into despair: the Ninth Prince, Long Yuan, was appointed as an imperial envoy to remain in Tanzhou Prefecture to oversee post-war disaster relief efforts, with a one-year deadline to restore the prefecture's livelihood, agriculture, and commerce.

This was originally a good thing, but the last sentence of the imperial edict drove Long Yuan and Zhu Zhenbang to the brink of despair. The imperial treasury was empty, and only five million taels of gold were allocated for disaster relief, which the imperial envoy was to manage at his own discretion.

"Damn it!"

In the back hall of the prefectural governor's mansion, Long Yuan slammed the imperial edict on the ground and cursed angrily: "Five million gold coins? Ten counties under the jurisdiction of Tanzhou Prefecture have been flooded by seawater, countless houses have collapsed, fertile fields have been turned into saline-alkali land, and twenty million disaster victims are crying for food!"

Five million taels of gold isn't even enough to feed them thin porridge for half a month! This is clearly the third brother causing trouble in the Ministry of Revenue, deliberately trying to make a fool of me and trap me in Tanzhou!

Zhu Zhenbang stood to the side, his face ashen, remaining silent.

He knew Long Yuan was telling the truth. Five million gold coins were a drop in the ocean for twenty million disaster victims.

If the disaster relief efforts are inadequate and cause a popular uprising, the imperial envoy Long Yuan will be the first to be held accountable, and the prefect will also lose his head.

"Your Highness, please calm down."

Zhu Zhenbang took a deep breath and said, "If the court doesn't provide funds, we can only find our own way. Although Tanzhou County has suffered a disaster, the foundations of those aristocratic families and wealthy merchants are still intact."

Your Highness is advised to convene a meeting of the prominent families in each prefecture to raise funds.

"This is the only way."

Long Yuan gritted his teeth. No matter how angry he was, he still had to face reality. If the issue of disaster relief funds wasn't resolved, his reign as the Ninth Prince might really be over.

Over the next three days, Zhu Zhenbang, in the name of imperial envoy and prefect, sent invitations to the top fifty aristocratic families in Tanzhou Prefecture and held a grand banquet at Zuixianlou to discuss disaster relief and fundraising.

The result was disheartening.

At the banquet, the heads of various families cried out that they were poor.

"Your Highness, Prefect, it's not that I'm unwilling to contribute, but this sea monster tide has completely destroyed all my shops in Yuanyang Prefecture, causing me heavy losses..."

"Yes, there are hundreds of people in the family to feed, and now we're struggling to make ends meet..."

A group of wealthy patriarchs dressed in fine silks and satins turned a meal into a grievance session.

Finally, under Long Yuan's almost murderous gaze, these family heads reluctantly handed over their money.

The Wang family contributed 1,000 taels of gold, the Li family contributed 800 taels of gold, and the Chen family contributed 500 taels of gold...

The fifty large families combined raised less than 30,000 gold coins.

This is not just a perfunctory response; it's a direct slap in the face to the Ninth Prince and the Prefect.

"Bang!"

Back at the prefectural governor's mansion, Long Yuan kicked down the mahogany door of the study, his eyes bloodshot: "These greedy bastards! They usually bully others under the protection of the court, but now that the country is in trouble and the people are starving to death in the streets, they won't even give a drop of the ocean! Do they really think I wouldn't dare to kill someone?!"

Zhu Zhenbang advised with a wry smile, "Your Highness, you mustn't kill them. These families are deeply entrenched, and they all have powerful figures in the capital backing them. If we forcibly confiscate their property and force them to rebel, Tanzhou County will immediately fall into chaos, and then the Third Prince will have even more excuse to impeach you."

Long Yuan slumped into a chair, burying his face in his hands, his heart filled with bitterness.

Night falls.

Long Yuan, without any attendants, changed into casual clothes, carried two jugs of wine, and went alone to the back residence of the Criminal Investigation Department to seek out Zheng Yifei to drown his sorrows in wine.

Zheng Yifei happened to be home. Seeing Long Yuan's appearance, he didn't ask any questions. He had the servants prepare some side dishes, and the two of them drank together at the stone table in the courtyard.

After a few rounds of drinks, Long Yuan recounted the fundraising efforts, shaking his head with a bitter smile: "Yi Fei, I'm such a useless prince. Seeing so many people without food or clothes to wear, I can't do anything about it."

Five million gold... Ha, the third brother is trying to force me to my death.

Just as Zheng Yifei was about to speak, a series of light footsteps came from the moon gate of the courtyard.

"Sister Wanqing, look at this batch of 'Void-Breaking Pills' I refined. Isn't the quality much better than the last one?"

A young woman, dressed in a light blue dress and possessing a refined and elegant appearance, walked in excitedly, carrying a jade box in her hands.

It was Zhao Ling, who had returned from the Heavenly Craft Academy to visit Su Wanqing. She had already broken through to the Void Refining Realm and become the youngest seventh-rank alchemist in the Heavenly Dragon Dynasty. During this time, she was refining Void Breaking Pills to help Zheng Yifei, Su Wanqing, and others break through to the Void Refining Realm.

She was looking down at the jade box, unaware that there were outsiders in the courtyard. When she looked up, she met Long Yuan's gaze.