The Heavens: Falling Ink From Douluo

Chapter 1675 Nalan Yanran's Visit
Breaking off an engagement is not the same as breaking off a marriage.

If it's an engagement, it's natural to announce it widely, as it's a joyous occasion. Since ancient times, there's been a saying about the four great joys in life: rain after a long drought, meeting an old friend in a foreign land, the wedding night, and passing the imperial examination. Although engagement isn't one of these four joys, it can be considered a prelude to the wedding night. For some families with ample resources, preparing a generous gift and spreading the word is a way of showing their respect for the other party in the engagement process, and it serves as a clear declaration.

Take Nalan Yanran as an example.

If Nalan Yanran hadn't come to annul the engagement...

Instead, she was taken by her grandfather, Nalan Jie, to discuss their future marriage.

The Xiao family was more than happy for the Nalan family to promote them.

In fact, it's possible that the Nalan family is too lazy to promote themselves.

Note that it's simply laziness.

It's not that we mind publicity.

To put it bluntly, they are unwilling to spend resources on such useless things.

After all, no matter how good the publicity sounds, it's just a superficial project.

Whether a family prospers or fails ultimately depends on its strength.

In short, as long as the Nalan family does not reject publicity.

The Xiao family didn't mind handling the arrangements at all.

Don't underestimate the power of publicity.

The influence of propaganda is terrifying.

For the Xiao family, entrenched in the third-rate city of Wutan, if Nalan Yanran were to marry into the family, or rather, if Nalan Yanran's engagement to Xiao Yan were confirmed, and the news were to spread, if the patriarchs of the Jia Lie and Ao Ba families did not pay a visit the following day to apologize for their past rudeness, then the Jia Lie and Ao Ba families might as well consider making their own coffins. Although the Nalan family could not compare to the behemoth that was the Jia Ma royal family, they still had some connections in the military, and moreover, Nalan Jie, a Dou Wang... If they were alive, everyone would have to give them some face. The Nalan family even had several Dou Ling, any one of whom could wipe out the Jia Lie family and the Ao Ba family. In other words, the only way for the Jia Lie family and the Ao Ba family to survive was to sell all their existing fixed assets to the Xiao family at a low price, and then run away with their family members to live in other cities. There was no way they could run away secretly. The only outcome of running away secretly was death. At that time, both the people and the money would still belong to the Xiao family. They might as well just accept their fate.

If the Xiao family is willing to give them some face.

We will purchase at the lowest price available on the market.

For example, a shop located in a prime location, with booming business, is worth a thousand gold coins, while a shop located in an ordinary location is only worth a hundred gold coins. When the Xiao family acquires a shop, they will not discuss the price based on the known value of a thousand gold coins, but will instead purchase it based on the offer of a hundred gold coins. This can be considered very unreasonable, but in the face of absolute power, the Jia Lie family and the Ao Ba family have no choice but to accept the offer of a hundred gold coins if they do not want to be wiped out by Nalan Yanran's maternal family.

This is what is known as low-price acquisition.

Discounted to the point of fracturing bones.

It's practically the same as selling at a loss.

After swallowing the businesses of the Jia Lie and Ao Ba families, the Xiao family will become the most powerful force in Wutan City. Although there are still entities they cannot afford to offend, such as the Mittel Auction House and the City Lord's Mansion, compared to these two that must abide by their own rules, as long as the Xiao family does not rebel and does not target the direct descendants of the Mittel family, neither of them can do anything to the Xiao family. After all, let alone the fact that the City Lord's Mansion does not have the ability to deal with Nalan Yanran, even if it did, it would have to consider the attitude of Nalan Jie and the military first. Nalan Jie only has this one granddaughter, and cutting off the family line is a taboo under any circumstances. Moreover, if the Xiao family has not committed any wrongdoing, and the City Lord's Mansion dares to send troops to destroy the Xiao family, families in other cities will also break ties with the City Lord's Mansion. To put it bluntly, if the Xiao family is taken down on trumped-up charges today, will our family be confiscated and exterminated on trumped-up charges tomorrow?

The backlash from this was something the city lord's mansion in Wutan City couldn't withstand.

Even the royal family of Gama couldn't withstand it.

Therefore, this is the rule that the City Lord's Mansion must abide by.

When faced with matters that are being blown out of proportion.

The only recourse is to escalate the matter to a more serious level.

They can't even do the smallest thing.

Therefore, for the Xiao family, publicizing the marriage agreement is quite advantageous.

It can eliminate the opponent without bloodshed.

In other words, if one were truly ruthless, they could simply buy up all the properties of the Galley and Oba families for a single gold coin. Even if the Galley and Oba families were unwilling, they would have no choice but to accept it under the threat of force, reluctantly transferring these fixed assets and leaving their homes.

However, a cornered dog will do anything.

If we actually did that...

This is also a potential problem for the Xiao family.

This isn't the first time a family has done this.

Their fate is either isolation or being wiped out by a coalition of other families.

To put it bluntly, you can win, but you can't let the losers go hungry.

We should at least give the losers some dignity.

In this way, if you lose in the future, other families will respect this dignity and buy the property at a low price, instead of giving you and your descendants nothing and kicking them off the table.

In other words, under this tacit understanding.

Even the worst losers will only fall into poverty.

They will not be reduced to commoners or vagrants.

They went to other cities and bought some farmland and shops.

The family line will still be able to continue.

As for staying, that's not out of the question.

But the three parties have been fighting for so many years.

The level of trust is pitifully low.

If you're not afraid of being treated unfairly, you can naturally stay.

Therefore, most of the failed families still choose to venture out, just like the Xiao family back then. After Xiao Lin's death, they chose to leave Jia Ma Imperial City and come to Wu Tan City. This is the fate of the losers.

In contrast, there is the Nalan family.

Because Nalan Jie did not die.

Therefore, the Nalan family gained a firm foothold in the capital.

Therefore, paying a little more money in exchange for peace within the rules is a worthwhile trade, at least until a powerful figure emerges in the Xiao family capable of overthrowing the Jia Ma Empire. Adhering to these rules will undoubtedly be beneficial.

As for what would happen if a powerful figure emerged in the Xiao family capable of overthrowing the Jia Ma Empire…

For more details, please refer to Yunlan Sect.

Directly demarcate and govern the territory.

They turned the entire mountain range where the Yunlan Sect was located into territory controlled by the Yunlan Sect.

This includes the appointment of officials in several nearby cities.

And maintaining order in the town—that's all decided by the Yunlan Sect.

The Yunlan Sect even has the power to form an army!

It can be seen!
The main reason why Yunlan Sect dares to do this is its strength. It has the power to overthrow the Jia Ma royal family and the Jia Ma Empire. However, in the eyes of the Yunlan Sect's higher-ups, doing so is not in the interests of Yunlan Sect. Yunlan Sect will suffer losses as a result. Before Yunlan Sect has overwhelming strength, it is better to live a peaceful life and farm. Every year, it can also recruit students from the regions of the Jia Ma Empire. This is a way of killing with a soft knife.

In short, it's about knowing when to say what.

In the assumptions that do not consider realistic factors.

This kind of publicity is beneficial to the Xiao family.

Of course, this is also beneficial to the Nalan family.

After all, although Nalan Jie was only a Dou Wang, not a Dou Huang with a lifespan of over three hundred years, and therefore not worth the Jia Ma royal family's immediate and urgent pursuit, they were still wary. A Dou Wang could already overwhelm a Dou Huang, as seen in the example of the three Dou Wang elders of the Yunlan Sect besieging the Ice Emperor Hai Bodong. Within the Dou Wang and Dou Huang realms, quantity can compensate for quality. Conversely, between Dou Ling and Dou Wang, or Dou Huang and Dou Zong, even a nine-star Dou Ling facing a one-star Dou Wang could only passively endure the attack, because a Dou Wang possessed air superiority. Unless the nine-star Dou Ling possessed a flying Dou Technique, but... As we all know, flying combat techniques are extremely rare, and their skill ceiling is not high, so their audience has always been small. This is especially true for Dou Huang and Dou Zong. Yun Shan defeated Ling Ying and Hai Bodong instantly upon his appearance. Although he did not completely suppress them, he broke through their ultimate moves in the blink of an eye, which shows the difference in skill. Moreover, Yun Shan was only a pseudo Dou Zong, the kind who broke through using a Breakthrough Pill. His aura had not yet stabilized, and he could not skillfully use the spatial power that only Dou Zongs could master. If it were the Dou Zongs from Zhongzhou, their performance would be much stronger.

Therefore, for Nalan Jie, who held a portion of military power, his existence was indeed a threat to the Jia Ma royal family. Fortunately, Nalan Jie was cautious and never gave the Jia Ma royal family a chance until he grew old and handed over military power, at which point the matter came to an end.

But this is only the end of the story.

This does not mean that the matter has been resolved.

To put it bluntly, if Nalan Yanran had married a young talent from the Mu family or the Mittel family, the Jia Ma royal family would still be on edge. This would mean that two or three Dou Wangs would join forces. If Jia Xingtian dared to sneak off to a certain place, he might be ambushed and killed by Dou Wangs such as Nalan Jie, Mittel Tengshan, and the Mu family patriarch. It's a pity that Xiao Lin is dead; otherwise, the pressure on the Jia Ma royal family would be even greater.

Therefore, by publicizing the engagement between Nalan Yanran and Xiao Yan, the Jia Ma royal family could clearly pick up on this signal and understand Nalan Jie's meaning, which was that he had no intention of taking things further, but instead decided to use the remaining connections in the military to consolidate his foundation and support his descendants. Naturally, this would reduce the pressure on the Nalan family, and they might even change their attitude to focus on winning them over.

But since it's a annulment of the engagement...

Promote it again.

The meaning has completely changed.

Perhaps for Nalan Yanran, she was using this method to force her grandfather Nalan Jie to back down. After all, she had discussed it with her grandfather Nalan Jie many times before, and the answer she received was always negative. Since that was the case, she had no choice but to play the game of making the deed into a fait accompli, or acting first and informing later, and cancel the engagement first. Then, even if her grandfather wanted to save it, there would be no way to do so.

In addition, it was also using public opinion pressure to force Grandpa Nalan Jie to back down.

To put it bluntly, once the news spread...

When this matter became known to everyone in the Gama Empire.

Even if Nalan Jie went to the Xiao family to apologize.

It is absolutely impossible for them to renew their engagement.

Therefore, renewing the marriage contract under these circumstances already suggests a desperate attempt, which, in the eyes of outsiders, raises suspicions of selling one's daughter for personal gain.

Although the Xiao family is not worthy of the title "Rong" at present.

But this does not stop outsiders from belittling Nalan Jie.

As for the deeper calculations behind it, that's the problem with Yunling.

Lin Chaoci believed that his senior sister Yun Yun could see through the sordid scheme behind it. After all, in the original novel, Yun Yun seemed to have figured it out and agreed to Nalan Yanran's annulment of the engagement, but not immediately. She gestured for Nalan Yanran to calm down and let her communicate with Nalan Jie. However, she didn't expect Nalan Yanran to be so determined and to go down the mountain with her people to annul the engagement. With things developing to this point, even Yun Yun could only accept the outcome. Now, Yun Yun could naturally see it too. In addition, with the change in their status, Nalan Yanran in the original novel was the young sect leader of the Yunlan Sect, so she could not get married for the time being. But now, the young sect leader of the Yunlan Sect was Xiao Die, and Nalan Yanran was at most Yun Yun's second disciple. Yun Yun was even less likely to explicitly state that she wanted to annul the engagement. Such a lifelong matter must be discussed with the elders.

Master is master.

Parents are parents.

The master can help with the work.

It can even provide shelter.

For example, Nalan Yanran is obviously using seclusion to avoid marriage. She lives in a small courtyard on one of the many mountains of Yunlan Sect. As long as Yun Yun is alive, the Nalan family cannot urge her to marry at Yunlan Sect. After all, they can't just drag Nalan Yanran out of her secluded room and force her to marry, can they?
That would be a slap in the face to the Yunlan Sect!
But as for announcing the engagement...

Yunyun really couldn't make this decision.

As for why Nalan Yanran couldn't wait a little longer?
This requires taking Nalan Yanran's age into account.

Nalan Yanran is not young, but she is not old either.

Calculated based on the ages in the original work.

Xiao Yan is fifteen years old this year.

Nalan Yanran was about seventeen years old.

Because three years later, when Xiao Yan first went to Yunlan Sect to fulfill the three-year agreement, Nalan Yanran's age was exactly twenty. Although Xiao Yan's age at that time was described as seventeen instead of eighteen, considering the month and the difference between actual age and nominal age, a fluctuation of one year is normal. To put it bluntly, if Nalan Yanran was born in June and Xiao Yan was born in June three years later, then saying that the two were three years apart is no problem. But if Xiao Yan was born in May three years later, the difference between the two would be two years and eleven months. Although it is still three years in terms of years, in reality, the difference is still only a little over two years. In the future, they would still be in the stage of not being adults.

Experienced fighters know this.

They'd rather provoke those junior leaders in their thirties.

Don't get into fights with hooligans between the ages of fifteen and twenty.

Because these petty thugs act entirely on their emotions.

Once you get high, you really don't know your own strength when you do it.

Nalan Yanran was the same.

Suppressed by the engagement since childhood, she practiced swordsmanship every day from the age of six. The only concept instilled in her by Nalan Jie was that she had to work hard because her fiancé was a genius and she couldn't embarrass him.

He joined the Yunlan Sect at the age of ten.

This refers to the period a few months after Lin Chaoci and Xiaodie went on their journey.

I am seventeen years old now.

Four years of misguided indoctrination plus seven years of self-struggle.

Eleven years of conflicting thoughts.

Honestly, for a girl who is only seventeen years old, it is already a very cautious choice to hold back until now to reveal it.

It was only after confirming that they had a significant advantage that they chose to jump in and deal damage.

Therefore, after the Yunlan Sect's carriages arrived in Wutan City.

The storm immediately swept through the city of Utan.

And then Nalan Yanran came to visit.

This storm finally descended upon the Xiao family.

　Please subscribe.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)