How to Handle It

Study room.

Alexander Hayes absentmindedly flipped through the book in his hands, his mind weighed down by worries.

"Your Majesty..." Sean Hayes and Mrs. Penny entered, softly calling out, finally pulling Alexander Hayes out of his deep thoughts.

"How did you handle those guests?" Alexander Hayes asked.

"All taken care of. I managed the men, Mrs. Penny handled the ladies. Here are the results of our investigation, along with the gift list." Sean Hayes placed the documents on the desk before Alexander.

Alexander skimmed through the papers, still looking troubled.

"Your Majesty, the gifts these guests brought are quite lavish. How should we deal with them?" Sean Hayes asked.

"Gifts... Tsk." Alexander opened the list, seeing it was thick with plenty of items. He couldn't help but smirk sarcastically. "These people are really generous when it comes to bribery. Anchester may be a poor place, but who knew it was home to so many wealthy folks? The poor commoners must be suffering for it."

Alexander flipped through the list, letting out a soft snort. "If you ask me, these folks are only sucking up because they saw me crush the House of Zhao with one swift move. Now the fence-sitters know which way the wind blows—they all want to cozy up to me."

Sean Hayes replied, "Exactly. On your very first day in Anchester, you wiped out tens of thousands of the Zhao clan’s soldiers, turning them into toothless tigers. No other family, big or small, can match the House of Zhao’s former power. Now that they’ve all fallen at your hands, the rest are scared stiff and scrambling to pledge loyalty."

Alexander nodded. "All these gifts were wrung from the people’s sweat and blood, so I’ll accept every single one. I’m rebuilding Anchester—there’ll be plenty of places to spend money. From now on, whenever these officials, merchants, or big families send gifts, no matter how much, I’ll take it all. As for those who want favors or backdoor deals, just brush them off. In short: take the gifts, but don’t do their bidding."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Sean Hayes accepted the order.

"And what’s happening over at the House of Zhao?" Alexander rubbed his brow.

Sean Hayes blinked, a sly smile spreading across his face. "Your Majesty, you’re brilliant and cunning! That little scheme to stir the pot worked wonders—in just one day, the House of Zhao is in complete chaos! Every branch is scrambling to push their own candidate for clan leader. Most of these gifts came from the Zhao clan, all hoping you’ll pick their guy for the top spot. As for the traitor list, tsk, the three-day deadline isn’t even up, and I’ve already received a pile of tip-off letters from Zhao clan members..."

As he spoke, Sean Hayes pulled several secret letters from his sleeve and handed them to Alexander. "These tip-offs all accuse the traitors. I’ve gone through them—each letter targets someone who threatens the sender. They’re hoping to use the traitor purge as an excuse to get you to eliminate their rivals and help them become clan leader."

Alexander eyed the stack of tip-off letters and sneered, "The Zhao clan never disappoints. No wonder they ruled Anchester for so long—there’s no shortage of clever schemers among them. Tsk..."

"How do we handle these tip-off letters?" Sean Hayes asked.

Alexander tapped the letters with his fingers. "These are useful, so I’ll keep them. When the time comes, gather the Zhao clan members in the plaza outside the Palace of Qin. I’ll personally select the new clan leader and announce the traitor list in front of everyone."