The successor of a city lord required the review and approval of the Ancestral Court to truly become a ruler. This rule was reasonable; a year of governance was enough for the ruler to show some capability. The evaluation, naturally, was conducted by the Ancestral Court Council. It comprehensively assessed the new city lord's contributions to the main city over the past year as well as their personal abilities. Only an excellent rating would allow the new city lord to officially inherit the position; otherwise, a new candidate would be chosen.
A brief look at the history of the Empyrean Dominion showed that while the appointment of a city lord was generally upheld, no few city lords had been removed by the Ancestral Court. And although most of the time, the next candidate would also be chosen from the original city lord's clan, the Peacock Demon clan had no Emperor to advocate for that. If Mei Gongzi’s position as city lord was revoked, the Peacock Demon clan would face great trouble and likely lose control of Kali City; who would let them appoint another city lord?
Therefore, the upcoming year was crucial for both Mei Gongzi and the Peacock Demon clan.
Three days had passed, and Mei Gongzi already looked a bit weary. In those three days, she not only had to handle her father's funeral but also take over the responsibilities of the city lord of Kali City. Obviously, she had little experience in governing a city. In fact, the Peacock Great Demon King hadn't expected her to have much capability in this area. Becoming an Emperor was bound to consume most of her energy, and no one could excel in everything.
Of course, there was still the queen consort. When the Peacock Great Demon King was in seclusion, it was the queen consort who managed everything. Therefore, as far as he was concerned, with the queen consort assisting Mei Gongzi after her succession, governing the city shouldn't be a problem.
What he didn't expect was that the queen consort had no interest in governing the city now and genuinely handed over all the power to Mei Gongzi.
The death of the Peacock Great Demon King and his final confession made her truly understand her husband's painstaking efforts. As she realized that her husband had never betrayed her and had endured her cold treatment for so many years only for the benefit of the clan, the queen consort was completely heartbroken.
Thus, she had been staying with the corpse of the Peacock Great Demon King these past few days, silently keeping vigil. She had no desire for power anymore. With Mei Gongzi's connection to the Crystal Phoenix Demon Emperor, she no longer worried about losing control of Kali City.
Thus, Mei Gongzi was truly the city lord, in both theory and practice.
At the beginning, she was extremely flustered, not knowing what to do. Thankfully, she still had one advisor who did have experience in that respect.Tang San gave Mei Gongzi a simple idea, which greatly eased her burden. Tang San suggested that she invite the Aetherhorn Deer Demon King, the president of the Aetherhorn Merchant Association, to serve as the Chief of Finances, and the Golden Deer Demon King to serve as the Chief of Administration. These two, working together, would help her govern Kali City.
The Aetherhorn Deers and Golden Deers were not known for their combat abilities, but they were very much known for their business acumen, and they had helped the Peacock Great Demon King build his vast commercial empire. Despite Kali City's remote location, the Aetherhorn Merchant Association had become the largest merchant association in the Empyrean Dominion, which only showcased their management skills.
Moreover, these two clans had practically zero combat ability, and they thrived and suffered alongside the Peacock Demon clan. They were loyal followers of the Peacock Great Demon King. Appointing them to important positions immediately would win them over, making them understand that even with a change in leadership, they were still valued; in fact, they were even more valued now. This ensured their dedication and effort in governing Kali City.
Indeed, once these appointments were made, the chaos in Kali City quickly returned to order. With the efforts of the two deer demon clans, everything got back on track.
Mei Gongzi pledged an oath that she would succeed in her evaluation and that Kali City would no longer face threats from the Crystal Phoenix Demon Emperor. She asked them to focus all their efforts on economic development and city construction. Her only personal requirement was to establish human settlements near Kali City, granting ordinary humans legal inhabitant status so they could have basic living conditions. With that, in Kali City and its surrounding areas, demons were strictly forbidden from enslaving or harming humans, with severe punishment for violators!
The nobles of Kali City had anticipated this law, given that Mei Gongzi had human blood. It was only natural for her to enact such a decree after inheriting the position of clan leader, so they simply shrugged and did what they were told.
It wasn’t like they were losing much; humans did not possess great strength, but they had clever minds and were excellent craftsmen and artisans. As slaves, they had always been favored by the nobles, and while the latter weren’t all that happy about having to pay them now, they accepted it. Only some of the more conservative nobles protested, but they were soon subdued.
Tang San was appointed by Mei Gongzi as the Chief of Guards. And the first thing he did was establish an inspection team to monitor illegal activities in the city, especially those involving humans. Of course, in order not to cause discontentment among the nobles, the members of the team were not human—of course, Tang San could have appointed the Crimson Fox girls, who were now strong enough for most practical purposes, but that was not in anyone’s best interests.
Instead, the core force of the inspection team consisted of fifty young and strong members of the Lion-Tiger clan, along with one hundred carefully selected people from the Peacock Demon clan. Thanks to the intelligence network of the Aetherhorn Deer Demon clan, the inspection team was very quick to act.
When a few nobles who harmed humans had their heads on display on the city wall, the nobles realized that the new clan leader was serious.
With that, the safety of humans was ensured, at least for the time being. With the support of the Aetherhorn Deers and the Golden Deers, human settlements began to be established outside Kali City. Redemption Academy quietly sent representatives to the settlements in order to educate humans. Imparting knowledge was their priority, of course.
Meanwhile, Mei Gongzi successfully becoming the lord of Kali City was obviously a major milestone for the entire Redemption Society. The news had immediately reached the headquarters of the Redemption Society, where it was received with ovations. Mei Gongzi was directly elevated to Purple Class, the highest position in the society, and was granted the title of Saintess, just like her mother.
Humans finally had a main city they could rely on. In the near future, as the news of Kali City's friendliness toward humans spread, more humans would surely come to seek refuge.
However, Tang San did not allow the information to spread. In fact, he even used the deer demons’ intelligence network to make sure it was kept under wraps.
Mei Gongzi had just become the lord of Kali City and had not yet gained a firm foothold. Excessive friendliness toward humans would inevitably provoke a backlash from the major demon nobles. If too many humans gathered, it would increase Kali City's burden and expand its influence far more than its status allowed, giving the Ancestral Court reasons to cause trouble. Things had to be taken step by step; proceeding slowly was the best approach.
Stability was what Kali City needed the most now, and while things were stable, increasing the city’s strength was the absolute priority.
The elderly, women, and children of the Lion-Tiger clan stayed in Golden Valley, as there was no safer place. However, the young and strong had all entered Kali City. This clan, once considered cursed, had become a hot and rising contender on the greater scene of the Empyrean Dominion ever since Big Cat achieved a good ranking in the Elite Competition and proved that the bloodline conflict was no longer an issue. After all, they now had first-tier bloodlines—who would look down on a top-level clan like that?
The Lion-Tiger clan had about three hundred young members, and Elder Sky Cat ordered all of them to follow Tang San's commands. Apart from the ones he appointed to the inspection team, Tang San sent the other young members of the Lion-Tiger clan to the human settlements outside the city; he made them responsible for guarding those areas and ensuring humans could smoothly construct towns there.
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