"Feng Yan, take my calling card to the Dragon Tooth Guard and pay a visit to their second-in-command, Deputy Steward Zhou. Tell him that all business between our Duobao Dojo and the Dragon Tooth Guard is suspended for three years. Every commission they've entrusted to us will be returned in full."
The Dragon Tooth Guard maintained a million-strong army, and the expenses were enormous. The Kingdom's salary could keep the Dragon Tooth Guard well-armed and battle-ready, but it could hardly make every man in the Guard wealthy.
However, the Dragon Tooth Guard had its own ways of generating income. All proceeds from cases handled by the Guard were never turned over to the national treasury. Instead, they were consigned to the Duobao Dojo—sold off or auctioned.
This stream of revenue dwarfed the Kingdom's funding. It was the Dragon Tooth Guard's true source of wealth, their private coffers.
If this business were cut off, every last person in the Dragon Tooth Guard would have nothing to live on but their official salaries. The benefits of the private coffers would vanish overnight.
And those benefits had long become an unwritten rule within the Dragon Tooth Guard. Once they disappeared, the entire organization would descend into chaos—there was simply no way around it.
One had to admit, Shi Xiaoyao's move was more ruthless, more decisive than anything Elder Ning had done.
If Elder Ning at least left a thread of leeway when she acted, then Shi Xiaoyao, once he got it into his head to cause trouble, was a veritable demon of destruction—someone who dared to stir up the biggest catastrophe imaginable.
Besides, he had both the authority and the qualification to do it. Even if he made this decision, Zhuge Yan, the Sect Master of the Duobao Dojo himself, would have nothing to say about it.
After all, the face of a Deputy Sect Master was directly tied to the reputation of the Duobao Dojo. Whoever slapped the Deputy Sect Master's face was effectively slapping the Dojo's golden signboard. To not retaliate would be equivalent to destroying it themselves.
……
The Dragon Tooth Guard was the most powerful and influential military force in the entire Tiangui Kingdom.
Their authority was vast — they protected the royal family, guarded the Royal Capital, upheld the King's rule, and at the same time handled criminal investigations, intelligence operations, and public security, among many other functions.
It could be said that in the Tiangui Kingdom, there was no military institution that the Dragon Tooth Guard could not involve themselves in.
Moreover, the Dragon Tooth Guard answered to no department whatsoever. They reported only to the King himself. Only the King could issue orders to the Grand Steward of the Dragon Tooth Guard.
No one else — not even the King's own Princes — was permitted to do so.
From this, one could see just how immense the Dragon Tooth Guard's power truly was.
Of course, that power was enormous only in relation to the various factions of the Kingdom. Having great power did not mean they could cover the sky with one hand, nor did it mean they never needed anyone's help.
For instance, even the Dragon Tooth Guard would not dare to casually offend any of the Four Great Dojos.
The Four Great Dojos were forces of the Treasure Tree Sect, answerable directly to the Treasure Tree Sect itself. Forget the Dragon Tooth Guard—even His Majesty the King had to show the Four Great Dojos ample respect in private.
Offending the Four Great Dojos could potentially shake the very foundations of the Kingdom.
The Dragon Tooth Guard had a Grand Steward, a confidant of the reigning King of Tiangui Kingdom, bearing the compound surname Shangguan and the given name Shangguan Yi.
Shangguan Yi was a reclusive man. Though his power was heaven-reaching, he rarely showed his face in public. Most matters were left in the hands of his three Deputy Stewards to manage.
However, at this moment, three of the Dragon Tooth Guard's four Grand Stewards had gathered together.
Shangguan Yi cut a dashing figure, appearing to be around forty years of age, with the occasional strand of white hair at his temples lending him an air of mature composure.
A pair of eyes sharp as a dragon's and fierce as a tiger's radiated an extraordinary gleam, giving off an impression of boundless vitality.
His body leaned forward slightly as he patiently listened to the complaints of the other two Deputy Stewards.
"Grand Steward, it's not that I didn't put in the effort. I have no idea what madness suddenly came over Qianlan Southern Palace. That batch of equipment we ordered was agreed to be delivered half a month ahead of schedule. But then, all of a sudden, they turned around and said they didn't have time to ship it for the time being. Moreover, they're demanding that we settle all outstanding debts before noon tomorrow."
The one making this complaint was a short, stout middle-aged man—one of the Dragon Tooth Guard's four Grand Stewards, the third-ranked Deputy Steward, named Qi Tiannan. Within the Dragon Tooth Guard, he was the undisputed fourth-most-important figure.
Grand Steward Shangguan Yi smiled faintly and set down the teacup in his hand. "Old Qi, is there some sort of communication problem with the Qianlan Southern Palace? Wasn't it agreed that we'd settle that outstanding balance after we sold off our batch at the Duobao Dojo and collected the proceeds?"
The Dragon Tooth Guard itself had no businesses of its own, and commerce was strictly forbidden for them. As a result, their income depended heavily on their dealings with the Duobao Dojo.
All the spoils of war and seized contraband they confiscated were entrusted to the Duobao Dojo for consignment sale.
This was the Dragon Tooth Guard's single largest source of revenue.
Qi Tiannan let out a bitter laugh. "Grand Steward, you know as well as I do — the Qianlan Southern Palace has always been perfectly courteous in their dealings. I've racked my brain trying to figure out why they'd suddenly go back on their word. I'm even wondering whether we might have offended them somehow."
"Based on what I know, the Qianlan Southern Palace wouldn't turn on anyone without good reason. Old Qi, why don't you have a proper conversation with Elder Ning about this? If we really did offend them, we should offer a sincere apology — there's no point being stubborn about it."
"Understood. With your backing on this, Grand Steward, I know exactly where I stand."