Castle of Black Iron

White Tiger Complex had been hierarchical as the Provincial Governor’s Mansion of Youzhou Province. Right outside the Bright Palace where the provincial governor worked, Zhang Tie and Elder Muen saw two rows of 72 guards of honor, who were tall in golden armors.

All the guards of honor were clan disciples of Zhang Clan of Huaiyuan Palace. Besides being tall and handsome, they were at least LV 9.

In golden armors and helmets, they were standing outside the Bright Palace in uniformed javelins, spears, ji, yue and shields with solemn looks, which was very deterrent.

With a tidy sound of ”Hua”, the guards of honor raised their arms and leveled their weapons at their chests at the same time at the sight of Zhang Tie and Elder Muen. Most of them stealthily glanced at Zhang Tie through the gaps of their helmets.

As guards of honor beside the provincial governor, of course, these people knew who was the biggest contributor in the competition for the position of provincial governor of Youzhou Province, who turned the tide in the dilemma and finally won the position for Huaiyuan Palace.

Elder Muen nodded towards them. Without sending someone to report to Zhang Taixuan, Elder Muen and Zhang Tie stepped onto the jade stages outside the Bright Palace and entered the Bright Palace.

The moment he was close to the Bright Palace, Zhang Tie had sensed a weird qi in Bright Palace. He found that the sound inside the Bright Palace would not leak out. After sensing it carefully, Zhang Tie found a faint, special feeling beneath the jade bricks. Being totally different than the function of alchemist’s loudspeaker, the item beneath these jade bricks could constrain sound in this fixed space. Zhang Tie immediately understood something, ’F*ck, that’s too luxurious. A super large alchemist’s equipment is buried in the Lord provincial governor’s office so as to keep the dialogue inside the Bright Palace confidential. Zhang Tie could never imagine that before.

This was the uniformed equipment in the Provincial Governor’s Mansion of Taixia Country.

This Bright Palace was very large. Afer crossing the threshold and passing by the wall in front of the gate, they entered the palace, which was higher than 50 m. On both sides of the palace were two rows of Hua chimes.

After the chimes were rows of huge weapon stands.

Until he drew close to the rows of huge weapon stands did Zhang Tie hear a sound from afar in the Bright Palace.

”...Cangshan Prefecture is abundant in mining deposits. Among the mining deposits which have been ascertained, Cangshan Prefecture gathers 1/3 of iron ores, 1/4 of coal ores and 1/2 of copper ores, almost 70% of crystal ores and 40% of gold ores across Youzhou Province. Besides, it contains over 100 kinds of more mining deposits. Lu Clan in Spiritualmaple Prefecture, Gu Clan in Easternriver Prefecture, Sun Clan in Guide Prefecture and Guo Clan in Sanquan Prefecture share interests in Cangshan Prefecture. Ouyang Clan is a local major clan in Cangshan Prefecture. As Ouyang Clan only has one knight, its battle strength could not match that of the others; however, Ouyang Clan controls many mineral reservoirs. Over these years, under the stress caused by Lu Clan, Gu Clan, Sun Clan and Guo Clan, Ouyang Clan always behaved very meticulously and lived hard. This time, Ouyang Clan’s head and elders came here for the position of the provincial housing minister of Youzhou Province. Perhaps, they even cast greedy eyes on the prefectural head of Cangshan Prefecture...”

After passing by the rows of weapon stands, Zhang Tie saw Zhang Taixuan sitting behind a table while some clan deacons in uniformed costumes were reporting something to Zhang Taixuan on his side.

All the positions in the Provincial Governor’s Mansion such as librarian, utterance record officer, clerk, harem affairs officer, classics officer, music officer, guest reception officer, ritual officer, seal officer, costume officer, decoration officer, guards of honor officer, food and drink officer, drink brewing officer, medicine officer, wedding ceremony officer, furnishings officer, atlas officer, park officer, lantern officer, rules making officer, gems collection officer and property management officer were assumed by reliable deacons. The moment they arrived, they had gradually mastered the daily operations of the entire White Tiger Complex, the Provincial Governor’s Mansion.

After throwing a glance at that clan deacon who was reporting, Zhang Tie felt he was a bit familiar with a shred look. Zhang Tie seemed to have seen him in the rotating chakra ceremony. After looking at his uniformed costume, Zhang Tie knew he was the utterance librarian in the Provincial Governor’s Mansion. Although he could not match clan elders, he was definitely a necessary strength in the clan. Additionally, some people like them could always undertake tasks alone.

After noticing Elder Muen and Zhang Tie, Zhang Taixuan raised his hand to stop that librarian. At the sight of Elder Muen and Zhang Tie, the deacons hurriedly bowed deeply towards them. Before Zhang Taixuan told them to leave out of here, they had left silently.

Zhang Taixuan stood up with a smile...

”Clan head!” Zhang Tie uttered. Closely after that, he bowed towards Zhang Taixuan according to the seniority in the clan without any arrogance. After that, Zhang Tie raised his head and threw a glance at Zhang Taixuan carefully.

In a uniformed costume with mountains, rivers and a unicorn on it, a purple-jade upturned crown with a mysterious rune of the seal of provincial governor of Youzhou Province between his eyebrows, Zhang Taixuan looked perfectly dignified.

Besides his costume which was utterly different than that 7 days ago, Zhang Tie found that Zhang Taixuan’s knight qi had also changed. He remembered that Zhang Taixuan was just a black iron knight 7 days ago when he was just a bit more powerful than the demon general; however, he felt Zhang Taixuan’s qi was repressive now, which was utterly different than that 7 days ago. ’Has he...’

Noticing Zhang Tie’s dubious look, Elder Muen explained, ”According to the rules of Taixia Country, earth knight could not join in the competition for the position of provincial governor of a new province. Clan head has already been able to promote to an earth knight 2 years ago; however, due to this position, he had been constraining himself. After winning this position, he officially promoted to an earth knight. Even Lu Dingzhi had promoted to an earth knight after that competition!”

Zhang Tie’s heart faintly pounded as he understood it right away, ”Congratulations, clan head, you will have no obstacles in ruling Youzhou Province!”

”I have to appreciate Elder Mushen. Without Elder Mushen’s assistance at the critical moment, I would not be able to take this position!” Zhang Taixuan smiled as he invited Zhang Tie and Elder Muen to take a seat with a genial and natural look. He looked kinder than before, ”It seems that Elder Mushen has fully absorbed the effect of dragon-marrow liquor and made further improvement in the battle strength. This is beneficial for Huaiyuan Palace!”

Regardless of Zhang Taixuan’s current position, Zhang Tie felt his words were very comfortable. While being modest orally, Zhang Tie warned himself that this provincial governor of Youzhou Province and the clan head of Huaiyuan Palace was really great. Otherwise, he would not have an excellent daughter like Lan Yunxi.

As there’s no outsider at present, Elder Muen put Zhang Tie’s intention straight.

After hearing Elder Muen’s explanation, Zhang Taixuan replied before Zhang Tie opened his mouth, ”There’s a crucial position in Youzhou Province which could barely be handled by outsiders. I feel that it fits Elder Mushen pretty well. You will work in Youzhou Province instead of fighting outside in for the sake of your filial obedience. Meanwhile, you could be a deterrent to the other major clans and knights across Youzhou Province. I really could not find another person except for Elder Mushen. Would you like to take it?”

Hearing Zhang Taixuan’s words, Zhang Tie knew that this position must have been fixed by all the clan elders and Zhang Taixuan when he fell asleep these days. ’Elder Muen and Zhang Taixuan are definitely putting on a play in front of me. I have no reason to refuse it. What else can I say?’

”What’s that position?” Zhang Tie asked helplessly.

”Dean of Supreme Court in Youzhou Province!”

’Tingwei of Youzhou Province?’ Zhang Tie was shocked as he had not imagined that Zhang Taixuan and the other elders of Huaiyuan Palace could grant such a position to him, ’Tingwei of Youzhou Province takes charge of the penalty, judgment and administration of justice in Youzhou Province. It’s definitely a high position.’

”I feel Elder Muray fits this position better!” Zhang Tie hurriedly declined it.

”As Youzhou has just promoted to a province; additionally it’s in the holy war, military affairs are most important; I’ve already appointed Elder Muray as the commander of Youzhou Province. He’s responsible for the establishment of a new army in Youzhou Province. Elder Muray already has a heavy burden and could not accept this position anymore!” Zhang Taixuan sighed.

”Why not Elder Muyu or Elder Muen?”

”Elder Muyu is going to stay in Youzhou City. As the pivot of Youzhou Province, Youzhou City has to be protected by at least one clan elder of Huaiyuan Palace. Besides, Elder Muyu has to handle the position of chief procurator of the supreme procuratorate and aid me to rule Youzhou Province. Elder Muen is the new prefectural governor of Yanghe Prefecture. He has to stay in the foundation of Huaiyuan Palace, which is a very important position. Therefore, he could not accept it either anymore. Elder Muyuan is in charge of the rites and music of Youzhou Province; Elder Muan is in charge of agriculture of Youzhou Province. All these are critical positions which could not be handled by outsiders!”

Zhang Tie wanted to continue declining it; however, he suddenly remembered his weirdo Master Zhaoyuan. Therefore, he nodded slowly...

’Whether the God is kidding me or not? How could a disciple of a person, who ranks first on the wanted list in the Supreme Court, become the dean of the supreme court of a province in Taixia Country.?’

’Whether I’m colluding with the bandit on behalf of the government or not?’ Zhang Tie asked himself inside...