Qualities of a ruler

Inside of the Cloud City Lord's Mansion.

It has been a day since Xie Yang and Leader Ye have returned to the cloud city. The poor people didn't have a roof over their heads, nor did they have money to buy a place or afford food. Xie Yang acted like a saint, and after consulting with his father, let them stay in the manor.

The manor was huge, built over many acres of land. There was no shortage of guesthouses. The handymen of the Xie family helped the poor people settle in, provided them with bathtubs and food. Wen An and the rest of the people rescued by Xie Yang and Leader Ye cleaned their bodies from filth and ate till their stomachs bulged slightly. From this, one could see that the Xie family's hospitality was excellent. After that, they laid down on the bed, and as they were exhausted because they had walked a long way to reach here, they quickly fell asleep.

Xie Yang was sitting on a wooden chair that smelled like maple leaves. He had his eyes narrowed as he scrutinized a scroll that contained knowledge about the nearby feudal lord, friends, and enemies of cloud city, and a more common understanding about the world. His long eyelashes cast a shadow over his cheeks, making him look all the more otherworldly and graceful.

"The Glorious Sun Kingdom is too messy, haunted by both internal conflict and external threats. There are barbarians outside the southern kingdom, humanoid beasts outside the north, and enemies kingdoms in the east. We are only friends with the Western empire, and even that friendship might break in the face of Benefits.

"Ten, twenty, so many?! With so many feudal lords in one kingdom, it's no surprise that the royal family is pulling strings behind the back to keep them under their control.

"The Xie family of cloud city is only a branch of the Xie Family in the Imperial City (Forbidden City). Father was just a youngster when he left the Xie Family to make his name in the old war. He succeeded and became a great commander and gained 100 thousand loyal followers and also the fear of the royal family. The royal family feared that he would revolt, but most of them were greedy for his army. The men were loyal to him more than they were loyal to the empires. They wanted the army of a hundred thousand strong men only for themselves. He also belonged to the Xie Family that was one of the three ancient and most powerful families of the Empire. Although the royal family was fearful, they only plotted against him in the dark as they feared the Xie family's retaliation and his men's retaliation. The emperor, fearing that the dam would break because of the eunuch and the royal family's foolish move, granted the Cloud City, which was a hot topic but also a hot potato at that time to my father. It was a place where criminals ran rampant, but it also generated a lot of money for the empire. The cloud City used to earn a lot in the past because it had many brothels and criminals, who used the money to appease many officials, who, in return, turned a blind eye to their crimes. After knowing that, the emperor wanted someone to clean this place up. The emperor used the reward as a pretext to make his father do the work for the empire once again.

"Father cleaned it up and made it a better place. No wonder everyone I come across here treats me with respect and my father as if he is their Savior.

"The sad part is the cloud city isn't out of the muddy waters either. The greedy gaze of many white-eyed wolves, tigers, and dragons on the cloud city now. They all want a piece of it."

"It's great that my eldest brother is in the far north, fighting off the serpents, snake-men, and snake-woman and doing an excellent job at it. As a result, he earned the admiration of the royal family and also their support. Since they are supporting him, revealing my superiority, gaining the favor of the masses and the seat of the cloud city would irk them a lot.

"My family and I should just let my eldest brother take the feudal lord's seat. Hmm, that will be for the best. He has done his all to earn it. With the merits he had accumulated over the years by killing the empire's enemies outside the boundary, father would've already made him the next lord under the decree of the Emperor and retired from his tiresome position.

"However, Eldest brother is too stubborn. He refuses to come home and wants to keep on fighting with his men to subdue the enemy and not let them breach the empire's tall and lofty northern walls.

"Eldest brother, you're too good a man, not blinded by greed and power, willingly staying at your general post instead of becoming a feudal lord. But, the royal family wants you to become the next lord of the cloud city. It's too hard for you to keep declining them. I want to wish you well, and father wants you to chase your passion as he sees himself in you, but the world wishes for the opposite."

While going through the scroll, Xie Yang clicked his tongue many times. The current state of the Glorious Sun Kingdom was too messy. He felt a headache just going through it.

There was a bed next to him, and on it slept Zhang Xiu.

Zhang Xiu surprisingly hadn't woken up for an entire day.

"Knock, knock!"

Two knocks on the door behind him attracted his attention.

He closed the information scroll, placed his right leg on the other, adjusted his tone, and asked in a low voice, "Who is it?"

"Young Master, it's me."

Xie Yang was already familiar with this voice.

It belonged to his stepbrother, as talented as his eldest brother.

"Brother, since you've something to say, don't stand out there and come in."

Xie Yang deliberately spoke in an aggrieved voice as if his stepbrother had wronged him.

Leader Ye felt that he was holding a grudge.

It's because he hadn't stayed with him or come to meet him after returning to the manor, even though he wanted to share cups with him. Xie Yang had met many great guys in his past life, but he considered his stepbrother as one. Xie Yang wanted to drink with him, reminisce about the past, talk about the present, plan about the future before drowning their worries in alcohol. Leader Ye couldn't refuse and couldn't accept. He was a shadow guard, so how could he get drunk? So, he chose to evade his young master and keep out of his sight.

Whatever!

Leader Ye opened the door and entered the guest house of Zhang Xiu.

"Young master, what should I do with the people we've rescued from the bandit's den?" Leader Ye asked in a low voice.

If it weren't for this matter, it was unknown how long the game of hiding and seek between the two brothers would've continued.

Xie Yang's eyes narrowed, a thoughtful look flashing in his eyes before he said, "Those who have a place to return to, give them a gold coin and get some men to escort them back to their home safely. As for those who don't have any home left and those who don't want to return to their home, give them a year's worth of an average person's salary and help them settle in this city and find them some work to keep them afloat financially."