Aunt Li was truly flabbergasted.
Good heavens...
Even a Maid for a wealthy family in the city wouldn't be ordered around like this, would she?
'Does this kid really think he's some old lord or something?'
Huh?!
'His family is dirt-poor, but now that he's married, he thinks he's better than everyone else!'
'Just look at how she waits on him hand and foot!'
'He might as well have Su Liyan wash his face for him too!'
"Huh?!
Aunt Li, what are you doing here so early?"
Su Liyan, who had just finished putting on Lu Yuan's shoes, stood up and saw Aunt Li behind her.
Su Liyan was actually quite grateful to Aunt Li.
After all, while everyone else was badmouthing her yesterday, Aunt Li was the only one who had put in a few good words for her.
Besides, she had asked her husband about it last night.
Her husband's reply was that she wasn't a saint, but she wasn't a bad person either.
Just a normal person.
She just likes to take small advantages here and there, but that was about it.
Aunt Li glanced at Lu Yuan, who was sitting nonchalantly on the bed, and couldn't help but shoot him a sharp glare.
Then, she said,
"Um, Liyan, don't bother making dinner tonight."
"The village head is hosting a banquet, so we're all going to his place to eat tonight."
Hearing Aunt Li's words, Lu Yuan opened his eyes and asked, a little puzzled,
"Why is that old miser suddenly throwing a banquet? What's the special occasion?"
Aunt Li curled her lip and said,
"It's because his Lao San got a good post in the city. From now on, his Lao San will be the Steward for our area."
Hearing Aunt Li's words, Lu Yuan looked stunned and said,
"That lout can become a Steward?"
At Lu Yuan's words, Aunt Li couldn't help but roll her eyes again internally.
'This kid managed to marry a woman like Su Liyan, so what's so strange about that guy becoming a Steward?'
Of course, Aunt Li didn't dare say this out loud.
From what she had seen over the past two days, this Lu Yuan was a thoroughly bad seed.
For a moment, Aunt Li found herself a little afraid of offending Lu Yuan.
She just raised an eyebrow and said,
"His family has connections in the city. How else do you think they became the village head all those years ago?"
Then, Aunt Li waved her hand and said,
"Alright, I'm done talking to you two. I still have to tell the others. Anyway, remember to go to the village head's for the feast tonight. There'll be lots of meat!"
With that, Aunt Li left.
Lu Yuan didn't say much either. After getting dressed, he went straight out the door, not even staying for breakfast.
The Guild wasn't particularly far from Shige Village.
But many people went to the Guild to resolve these kinds of matters every day, so you had to go early to get in line.
Just like yesterday, Lu Yuan went to the town, bought something to eat, found a horse-drawn carriage, and headed directly for the Guild.
The so-called Guild.
In Lu Yuan's words, it was equivalent to the local emperor of the countryside.
This world was different from a normal ancient era, and not just because of the rampant supernatural phenomena.
There was also a special kind of substance.
And that was the Spirit Stone!
That's right, it was a super treasure similar to what Cultivators in a cultivation world would use to raise their realm.
But in this world, Spirit Stones were like air and water—the most indispensable of things.
First, Special Level Spirit Stones were a source of energy.
The Divine Ling Empire had a simple industrial base.
The Divine Ling Empire even had lathes.
However, they were only the most basic and crude lathes, capable of manufacturing only simple things.
For example, Red Coat Cannons and Firearms.
But most importantly, they could be used to manufacture Armor.
The value of Armor in ancient times was self-evident.
In ancient times, it was no big deal to have knives or swords at home, but why was privately owning a suit of armor a capital offense?
That was because ten suits of armor could be used to raise a force of several hundred men.
Special Level Spirit Stones were basically all used to manufacture Armor to supply the Empire's army.
Level One Spirit Stones, on the other hand, were used to make daily necessities.
For example, thermoses, washbasins, tea mugs, and so on.
Special Level and Level One Spirit Stones were sources of energy.
As for Level Two Spirit Stones, they could be used to forge weapons and armor.
Weapons and equipment forged with Level Two Spirit Stones would be much more powerful, especially against ghostly beings like Xingzi.
Level Two Spirit Stones were thus classified as materials.
In fact, it wasn't just limited to weapons and armor; adding a bit of Level Two Spirit Stone to various crafts would improve them.
Level Three Spirit Stones could be consumed.
Some wealthy people consumed Level Three Spirit Stones to prolong their lives and enhance their beauty.
And for those who knew Magic Skills, consuming Level Three Spirit Stones would greatly enhance their power.
Finally, there were Level Four Spirit Stones, which were used to create other small items.
For example…
Lamps.
However, the lamps made from Level Four Spirit Stones were not very bright, only about the equivalent of a thirty or forty-watt electric bulb.
But even so, they were still items for the wealthy.
Forget Taiping City; even in the Provincial City, there weren't many who could afford to use a Spiritual Lamp.
It could be said that in this world, Spirit Stones represented everything.
And Spirit Stones were like coal mines on Earth.
They were all underground or in the mountains.
Large-scale Spirit Stone Mines were mined by the Court's Ministry of Industry.
As for the smaller Spirit Stone Mines in other places, for which they didn't have enough manpower,
they were left to the local authorities to mine.
The Court would then purchase all of them uniformly.
And these "local authorities" were the Guilds.
And what kind of people had the ability to establish a Guild?
They were all local Noble Races and great families.
Even the County Magistrate of Taiping City had to show these people respect.
And Spirit Stones were not only liked by the living, but by the dead as well.
Xingzi loved this stuff the most, because Spirit Stones could also increase a Xingzi's power.
Therefore, within the Guilds, there were naturally people who could deal with Xingzi.
Otherwise, you wouldn't even be able to mine the Spirit Stones; the Xingzi would have caused chaos and death long ago.
These Guilds had an outpost in every town, which basically served as relay stations between the Guilds.
Once Spirit Stones were mined, they had to be transported from the countryside to the Provincial City.
These outposts were used as rest stops for the Guild's convoys.
And stationed at these outposts, naturally, were the people who dealt with Xingzi. Here, they were called Travelers.
They usually rested at the outposts and guarded the Spirit Stones.
The convoys transporting Spirit Stones didn't come every day; they might only appear once every ten days or half a month.
So, in their spare time, the Travelers from these outposts would also come out to help the surrounding common folk deal with Xingzi problems.
If a family had an unfortunate encounter with evil or someone was possessed, they would take care of it.
It wasn't that they were kind-hearted; it was just a rule set by the Court.
After all, ancient times weren't like the modern era, where if something happened at home, you could make a phone call and an officer would immediately drive over.
Here, things were much more troublesome.
And if they were to rely solely on Officials to protect the common people, how many would they need?
So, the Court had the people from the Guilds handle these matters.
In fact, in these rural areas, they didn't just manage the affairs of ghosts; they also managed the affairs of men.
For example, the Steward position that the village head's Lao San had gotten was a position within the Guild.
One that specifically managed people.
If a family had an irreconcilable conflict, or if someone injured or killed someone else.
Or if someone owed money and refused to pay it back.
For matters like these, there was no need to go all the way to the Government Office in Taiping City; the local Steward would resolve them directly.
In short.
In the countryside, whether you were a man or a ghost, you were under the Guild's jurisdiction!