The bad news Wei Jie brought back landed like a heavy punch to Wei Tianxiao's chest. Wei Tianxiao's mood sank to a new low in an instant.
Wei Tiantong had been making small moves all along—Wei Tianxiao was well aware of that.
But he never imagined that the situation had deteriorated to this degree. Of the six clan elders who held a say in the family's affairs, four were now on Wei Tiantong's side.
Setting Wei Tiantong himself aside, the other three clan elders had previously been at least neutral—two of them, in fact, had leaned more toward the family head, Wei Tianxiao.
Now, both of those neutral elders had defected to Wei Tiantong's camp. Something had definitely gone wrong.
Wei Jie asked cautiously, "Father, surely there's no issue with Third Grand-Uncle's side?"
"Your grand-uncle is my own blood uncle—absolutely reliable. You needn't doubt that."
"If the six of us are split three against three, and you're the family head, you should still hold the upper hand, right?" Wei Jie pressed.
"Mm. It's always been two neutrals, two on my and your Third Grand-Uncle's side, and two on Wei Tiantong's side—two against two. Because I'm the family head, I've been able to keep things under control."
Jiang Chen, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke up. "In that case, as long as we win over even one of those three elders, the situation can be reversed?"
Wei Tianxiao nodded. "Exactly. Tonight I'll personally go pay a visit to Elder Zhuo and Elder Feng. These two have always been steady and fiercely loyal to the clan—how could they possibly defect to the Royal Court Clan, of all groups, when there's never been any bad blood between us?"
Wei Jie let out a faint snort, his tone sour. "It's all because of the death of Young Master Fan. Everyone thinks that Emperor Peacock's line is going to lose power. The Shura Emperor's faction has been expanding rapidly these past few years, and Young Master Fan's death tipped the balance toward the Shura Emperor's side overnight. People gravitate toward whoever holds power—human nature!"
The Royal Court Clan was one of the top forces under the Shura Emperor. Among the twenty-eight great clans of the Glazed King City, it ranked among the very top three.
The Tong family, and even the Sikou family—which had an old grudge with the Wei family—were both subordinates of the Royal Court Clan.
The Wei family, on the other hand, served under the Coiled Dragon Clan. The Coiled Dragon Clan was also among the top three of the twenty-eight great clans, and had once been the number one clan.
As the foremost clan under Emperor Peacock's banner, the Coiled Dragon Clan had endured a rough period in recent years, suffering setback after setback. As a result, its position as the leading clan was hanging by a thread.
As challengers, the Royal Court Clan and others had been quietly mounting enormous pressure and posing a growing threat to the Coiled Dragon Clan.
Because of the Coiled Dragon Clan's troubles, the Wei family—as one of its closest subordinate forces—had also been quietly sliding downhill over the years.
That was the one thing the Wei family found hardest to accept. It was also the most important reason why people within the clan were growing restless. In the Glazed King City, things appeared peaceful on the surface, but underneath, the clash of blades and shadows was terrifying.
The competition between the city's various powers was like a dark current beneath the water. It was like rowing against the stream—stand still and you drift backward. The rivalry was brutally unforgiving.
Jiang Chen didn't feel it was his place to comment on the Wei family's situation. But from what he could see, as the family head, Wei Tianxiao bore no small amount of responsibility.
On the one hand, as the Coiled Dragon Clan's trusted ally, he had failed to secure any meaningful support from them at a critical moment, and his relationship with the Coiled Dragon Clan itself appeared to have grown strained.
On the other hand, as the head of the family, he hadn't even managed to secure full control of the clan's internal affairs—speaking volumes about the inadequacy of his grip on power.
Regardless of the reasons, Wei Tianxiao bore inescapable responsibility for the Wei family's current predicament.
Of course, this was ultimately the Wei family's internal affair, and Jiang Chen saw no reason to stick his nose in too far.
Still, the crux of the problem was clear. To break the Wei family's impasse, they had to start with the two neutral elders.
"Uncle," Jiang Chen said, "since those two elders weren't originally Wei Tiantong's people, there must be a reason behind their sudden change. If we diagnose the problem correctly, there should still be room to turn things around."
"Father, as long as we win back even one of them—Elder Zhuo or Elder Feng—the overall situation can be stabilized," Wei Jie said urgently. "Right now they think we're still in the dark, that we know nothing. They probably aren't on guard yet. If they find out we're onto them, things will get much harder."
Jiang Chen said nothing more. The Wei family's business was not something he should involve himself in too deeply. If Wei Tianxiao couldn't even handle his own family's internal affairs, Jiang Chen would need to reassess the pros and cons of cooperating with the Wei family.
Back at the safe house the Wei family had arranged for him, Jiang Chen put the Wei family's troubles out of his mind and moved at his own pace.
After studying the pill market on Shennong Street, Jiang Chen had developed a general understanding of the Glazed King City's pill trade as a whole.
Whether it was high-end pills or low-end pills, the market in Glazed King City was enormous—so vast it would make anyone envious.
However, for an outsider like him to break into the market, the difficulty was hardly small. Even with the Wei family's backing, it would be tough to scale up quickly, let alone reach the top tier.
To succeed, he would have to bring something unique to the table. He needed a distinctive edge.
That was the conclusion Jiang Chen had reached after his research.
Conventional methods on Shennong Street offered virtually no chance of rapid growth. The only path forward was differentiation—walking a unique road, taking an unconventional angle, striking where others wouldn't.
The Ten Thousand Year Pill would have been an excellent product with a distinctive edge, but unfortunately, it had already become too closely identified with a single individual.