Once, I wanted to be a good person

In the hearts of many Council Members, Councilor Jia was different from the Tiger King. In Xida State, even the collapse of the Si Family had not affected him throughout his thirty years of political career.

What he was best at was playing the fool to catch the wise. He used simple, naïve methods to test the waters, then took advantage of the moment when his opponents revealed a flaw or lowered their guard to strike unexpectedly.

However, today, he had ended up falling into Fang Ze's hands.

Nobody expected Fang Ze to operate in such a dirty, muddled way. He completely disregarded the dignity of nobles and Council Members. If he said he would dismantle a household, he did just that. If he needed to use his newly acquired subordinates as shields, he threw them out. This made it difficult for Councilor Jia to make a move.

And if it ended here, people would only think that Fang Ze was somewhat capable but wouldn't take much notice. Because such dirty tricks could be used only once or twice before everyone figured out Fang Ze's way of operating and could handle him easily.

But when Fang Ze and Councilor Jia had talked for more than half an hour, Councilor Jia actually personally escorted him out and even presented an Extraordinary Artifact as a return gift. This made everyone pay a bit more attention.

It was known that Councilor Jia's assistant was not lying. Councilor Jia, despite his high rank, had always lived a relatively frugal life, which made him quite stingy.

Therefore, being able to gift two Extraordinary Artifacts at once indicated a complete 180-degree shift in his impression of Fang Ze—from initial contempt to significant regard, all within half an hour. This made many Council Members very curious about what exactly had happened during that time.

What was it that Fang Ze relied on to change Councilor Jia's attitude under such a poor initial impression...

.....

After Fang Ze left.

In Councilor Jia's study, Councilor Jia was also facing an interrogation from his friend.

"Old Jia, something's not right with you. Didn't you say you were going to teach that Si Family kid a lesson? How come not only did you politely see him out, but you also gave him gifts?"

"Have you forgotten the humiliation you suffered at the hands of the Si Family?"

Hearing his friend's teasing, Councilor Jia just smiled indifferently and said, "That's where you're mistaken. It's better to resolve enmities than to harbour them. My past gratitude and grudges with the Si Family are old stories, and they have nothing to do with Fang Ze."

"Hiss!" Seeing Councilor Jia's attitude, his friend exclaimed in amazement, "Did that kid put some sort of spell on you? Or... does he have some extraordinary quality?"

"Come on, tell me all about it. He also made an appointment with my assistant today to visit. I need to be prepared to avoid a fiasco like you had with Hu Shan."

Hearing his friend's words, Councilor Jia hesitated for a moment, then said, "How should I put it? It's hard to describe that feeling."

"If I really had to describe it, it would be an innate nobility and kingly aura."

Councilor Jia's friend was taken aback, muttering, "Nobility and kingly aura...?"

Councilor Jia nodded slightly, then spoke more earnestly, "Do you remember the federal study that tracked 102 noble families for decades, discovering an important phenomenon: the third and fourth generations of nobles usually don't turn out well, not to mention becoming new demigods, they don't even reach the realms just below."

"The noble families were helpless and had to nurture demigod seeds who were not of their own bloodlines from a young age, trying to compensate for their declining power."

"Based on this phenomenon, some experts speculated: The world's blessings to a noble family are fixed. So the more members in the same noble family, the less blessing each individual receives. Although a slight touch of these blessings accelerates training and strength, when reaching a certain level, it inversely restricts their advancement in power."

"Therefore, a noble family with a demigod that does not perish won't produce a second demigod for life. And the larger the family, the lower the upper limit of the subsequent generations' strength."

Hearing this from Councilor Jia, his friend suddenly understood what Councilor Jia meant, "You mean... Fang Ze is the last descendant of the Si Family. He might, like the first generation of nobles, be the sole recipient of the world's blessings and could potentially become a new demigod?"

Councilor Jia nodded, smiling.

Clearly, this was indeed what he truly thought.

His friend laughed and scolded, "You old fox. No wonder there was such a big change in your attitude!"

Councilor Jia leisurely sipped his tea, somewhat emotively saying, "How do you think I've managed to survive all these years unscathed if not for my ability to see which way the wind blows and my shamelessness?"

"I have both gratitude and grievances with the Si Family. It's not the insurmountable kind. So, if Fang Ze has such great potential, then it's all gratitude without the grievances."

Having said this, he paused and looked at his friend playfully, saying, "But... it's useless for me to say more. You'll understand once you meet Fang Ze."

"He really is quite different."

Seeing Councilor Jia speak so mystically, his friend couldn't help but ponder...

....

Although there weren't many Council Members like Councilor Jia's friend who could get firsthand information, everyone was not foolish. Continuous setbacks or changes in attitudes from characters like the Tiger King and Councilor Jia cast a mysterious veil over Fang Ze.

These Council Members, although they wished to give Fang Ze a lesson due to their anti-noble sentiments, also changed their strategy and method under the unclear circumstances and began to treat Fang Ze as a real opponent, handling him with fake politeness.