A few days later, several horse-drawn carriages left the realm of Qingming and headed toward Hanyang Pass. The carriages were loaded with letters from the Xu Clan’s prisoners of war to their families—some to report that they were safe, and others to request their families for ransom. There were over 20,000 letters in total.

In a luxurious estate north of Qianqiu City, a middle-aged man was sitting in a recliner, his eyes slightly closed as he basked in the rare winter afternoon sunshine.

Beside him, a long-serving Avatar reported, “News has come back. This time, Wei Yuan captured a total of one hundred and sixty thousand men, including fifty thousand from our Xu Clan’s private army and one hundred and fifteen thousand from the official forces. Two hundred and ten Dao Foundations have been taken captive as well. Furthermore, there is growing unrest within the clan. Many have received letters from their captured family members and no longer wish to fight. Instead, they want to pay the ransom and free their loved ones.”

The middle-aged man opened his eyes and gave a soft “mm” of acknowledgement.

The Avatar said, “We’ve discussed this among ourselves. The ransom amounts each family is willing to pay far exceed the minimum price Wei Yuan has set, so his terms seem acceptable. However, we cannot allow the families to negotiate on their own; the negotiations with Wei Yuan must be handled collectively.”

“I see. How much is he expected to receive?”

“Including the private army, after accounting for all the costs, he should net approximately two million seven hundred thousand taels.”

The middle-aged man raised...