The Jiang family is much more powerful than the Gu family, both in terms of the size of their territory and the number of their masters.

Moreover, the Gu and Jiang families were separated by the Sun Principality and did not border each other, so there was no conflict and not much contact between them.

Before the Corpse Demon Plague, the various territories were actually quite exclusive. Commerce was monopolized by the lords, and there was no commercial exchange between the nobles and the common people. Therefore, apart from the lords, the rest of the people had no idea what the outside world was like.

If it weren't for the current parliamentary system and the lack of lords, Jiang Jie wouldn't have come into contact with nobles like Jin Mao and Wu Zheng.

The nobles of the Gu Duchy were only nobles within the Gu family's territory. Outside the Gu family's territory, they were just powerful commoners. Other countries did not recognize their noble status.

Of course, this was before the disaster of corpse demons. Now, in this chaotic world with corpse demons running rampant, the isolation of various territories has become more thorough, chaos is rampant, and breaking of traditions is common. Things are slowly returning to their essence, that is, "survival of the fittest, the strong are respected."

So Jiang Jie did not show any disdain and chatted and laughed with these nobles who were not lords, treating them with the same attitude as he treated the lords.

After the meeting, Jiang Jie and his four companions left, led by the guards to rest. Jin Chen and his five companions were also sent away by Wu Zheng and Jin Mao. With only the two of them left in the living room, the smiles on their faces vanished.

Jin Mao asked, "What do you think of Jiang Jie?"

Wu Zheng pondered for a moment before replying, "Jiang Jie's bearing is truly remarkable. He has been carefully groomed for many years to be the heir to the lordship. He has a very similar temperament to our lord, and is much stronger than Gu Qing and Gu Yan."

"Jiang Jie should indeed be the new lord of the Jiang family territory. Ten years have passed, and now the various territories are almost beginning to transition from the old to the new."

"But he said it was a routine visit according to tradition. I think there's something fishy about it. Before the Corpse Demon Plague, the world was already in turmoil, and tradition had already been broken by many, especially the various lords. Such a routine visit hasn't been made in nearly a hundred years. And now, in this chaotic world with Corpse Demons running rampant, they're actually going to ignore the danger and make a routine visit?! It's suspicious no matter how you look at it."

Jin Mao nodded and said, "Well, I also tend to think that Jiang Jie came here for another purpose. What do you think his purpose is?"

"I haven't guessed it yet. But he's actually a Tiandao mercenary, and he's connected to Jin Chen and the other three through a system communication. This is something that I'm very concerned about. Putting aside other things, just the fact that system communication is so secretive and can only be used quickly and regardless of distance between Tiandao mercenaries makes me a little uneasy."

"Yeah, I'm worried too. I'll immediately go and remind Jin Chen and the others to be careful with their words to Jiang Jie. You talk to Zheng Yuan. There's too little information right now, so we should prioritize stability. Let's split up first."

"Yeah, okay!"

The two stood up and left the living room with serious expressions.

…

Jiang Jie and his companions arrived at a luxurious and exquisite courtyard in the lord's mansion. After the guards left, Jiang Jie sat down calmly. Lin Yu arranged for security and confidentiality, and then immediately looked around the house.

The other two lieutenants skillfully went in and out of the doors and windows, carefully checking for surveillance. The last soldier checked carefully for any poison or other items.

A quarter of an hour later, after Lin Yu had communicated with the three men, they each guarded the doors, windows, and beams before stepping forward and saying to Jiang Jie, "My Lord, there's no problem. You can talk now."

"Yeah. How was your conversation with the four of them through the system communication function?"

Lin Yu and Jiang Jie cooperated very well, not to mention the system's communication function, which allowed them to communicate directly anytime and anywhere, making it more convenient.

When Jiang Jie and Jin Mao Wu Zheng were communicating and found out that Gu had stepped down, they did not say anything useful. Soon five war captains came in, among whom were four Tiandao mercenaries. He immediately added a system communication with Lin Yu and the four people from Gu's territory, and then asked Lin Yu to ask questions.

"My lord, I spoke to the four of them separately. Fang Yuan was very frugal with his words and difficult to communicate with. Ruan Qi was very perfunctory and didn't have any useful information. Zheng Yuan was quite enthusiastic, but his knowledge was limited. Jin Chen was talkative and enthusiastic, but he was also the most open-minded. I quickly got a lot of information out of him."

Then he recounted in detail the coup that had taken place in the Gu family territory a month ago.

After hearing this, Jiang Jie pondered for a long time and sighed, "In troubled times, there are truly talented people everywhere! Jin Mao doesn't look outstanding, like an ordinary person, but I didn't expect him to have such intelligence and means, to achieve peaceful evolution and seize power. Wu Zheng gave me the impression of a gentleman, and talking with him was like being in a spring breeze, very pleasant. I didn't expect him to be a villain who is good at conspiracy and intrigue, and even killed his own lord?! You can't judge a person by his appearance!"

Jiang Jie was still young after all, only fifteen or sixteen years old. Although he had become the lord of a region, the master of nearly twenty thousand people, and was mentally mature, he had little knowledge and experience, so he was not good at judging people.

"King Wu's parliamentary system?! Haha, this Jin Mao is truly an amazing person! He actually managed to leverage the situation, unite everyone through the parliament, and completely control the power of the territory? What a powerful character!"

"Furthermore, this person is actually quite tolerant! He can even tolerate someone like the one who killed our lord. How amazing!"

Jiang Jie stood up, paced back and forth, muttering to himself, "Jin Mao didn't come to power through sheer force! He came to power through wisdom! If that's the case, I'm afraid they'll see through our plan!"

"Fortunately, once we realized things had changed, we immediately changed our minds and didn't tell them our original purpose. We just made up a story about a routine visit."

"Although such an excuse will undoubtedly be exposed, it buys us time to investigate and gain a deeper understanding of the situation, providing strong intelligence support for our subsequent response. This allows them to prescribe the right remedy."

"A nine-member management team? Haha, interesting! Jin Mao is so bold that he dares to control a behemoth like the parliament to rule the territory. He is so confident!"

"However, his shortcomings are also very obvious! His own strength is too weak. He relies too much on others! As a result, if his backers change, he will be doomed immediately!"

"And his backers are the Tiandao Mercenaries. How interesting! This is great news for us! Compared to Jin Mao, we are more advantageous than him in winning them over!"

"Once his backers no longer support him, he will have no power! Perhaps, we can directly control the Gu family's territory without having to cede interests or form an alliance."

"When the time comes..."