TNIBFT -Chapter 229 He’s got it again

“City Lord, Your Grace!”

The crowd’s voices rose like waves, each one higher than the last.

…

Outside the City Lord’s mansion, a large number of palace soldiers were lined up in formation, standing at the ready.

The townspeople seemed to have caught wind of something. People from all over the city surged toward the mansion, and the area in front was now a sea of humanity, barely leaving room to move.

Ye Shuangxue held tightly onto her elder brother’s hand, her small body struggling through the crowd. “Why are there so many people?”

“Where’s Dad?”

“Make way! Let me through!”

Legs were everywhere. The two little ones grit their teeth and pushed forward with all their strength.

Old Yang followed behind, frantic, scratching his head in worry. “Slow down!”

“My little ancestors! Can you two wait for me?”

“I heard the City Lord wants to kill Ye Tian! All the palace soldiers in the city have come…”

“Ye Tian is a good man! If it weren’t for him opening the city gate that day, our whole family would have starved outside the city!”

“Exactly! If it weren’t for the labor-for-relief program, maybe a few of my daughters would have been sold!”

“My son has been sick for over a month. If it weren’t for Ye Tian’s Cold Wind Pills, he wouldn’t have survived. Ye Tian is our great benefactor…”

“Ye Tian doesn’t deserve to die!”

Someone in the crowd shouted, and their words were like a stone thrown into a calm lake. The once quiet crowd immediately erupted. Countless people tilted their heads back, their chests vibrating as they shouted: “Ye Tian doesn’t deserve to die!”

“Ye Tian doesn’t deserve to die!”

“Release Ye Tian!”

Fury swept through the crowd.

The roar was deafening.

Ye Shuangxue tilted her little face upward, staring at countless unfamiliar faces. So many people raised their fists, shouting loudly, demanding her father be spared. He was a good man, and strangers were willing to stand up for him.

Her blood felt like it was boiling. Furrowing her little brows, clenching her tiny fists, she shouted along: “Release Ye Tian!”

“Ye Tian is a good man!”

“Release my dad… sob sob sob…”

There were too many people. Her voice was drowned out by the masses; Ye Tian could not hear her.

With so many palace soldiers and only Ye Tian alone, would he survive?

Thinking of this, Ye Shuangxue’s lips trembled uncontrollably, and she began wailing.

Old Yang, drenched in sweat, caught up. Seeing one child’s eyes red and the other crying loudly, he felt as if something had twisted his heart, stabbing pain into his chest, making it hard to breathe. “Climb onto my shoulders! I’ll carry you through!”

He was going all in!

Having grown up without a loving father or mother, he could not let these two children end up parentless.

Old Yang gritted his teeth, his expression serious.

The two children nodded and climbed onto his shoulders.

At that moment—

“Creak!” The heavy gates began to open. From the top of the high steps, the main doors of the City Lord’s mansion slowly swung open.

The crowd froze instantly.

Everyone held their breath. There stood Ye Tian in the center, wearing a pale teal long coat.

The crowd was about to speak when—

Beside Ye Tian, Duan Qingshan swish! drew his long sword from his waist, raised it high, and shouted: “From this day forward, Ye Tian is the new City Lord of Sifang City!”

After speaking, Duan Qingshan lifted his coat and was the first to kneel on one knee before Ye Tian, shouting: “Your Grace, City Lord!”

“Your Grace, City Lord!”

The leaders of the Sifang City palace soldiers on either side also knelt and shouted. The palace soldiers outside, seeing it was Duan Qingshan, immediately dropped their weapons and knelt, shouting: “Your Grace, City Lord!”

The people outside froze.

Ye Shuangxue blinked her big, wet eyes, her head full of question marks.

Ye Yunting’s expression was blank.

“I… I… wuwuwu…” Old Yang kept making strange noises, stomping his feet in panic. “Why is it Old Duan?”

“Why is it Old Duan?”

“He pulled it off again!”

Old Yang was furious. At this glorious moment, the man standing behind Ye Tian should have been him!

Ye Tian stood atop the high platform, his gaze calm as it swept across the crowd.

Countless citizens stared at him in confusion. Ye Tian knew one thing: no matter who became city lord, he would have to die!

The original owner and Imperial Uncle Zhao—Consort Zhao’s brother—were mortal enemies. They would never allow Ye Tian to live, nor would they allow his three children to survive. If anyone became city lord, he had to die. So why not make himself city lord?

Not only that, but he would carve out his own kingdom!

Command an army in his hands!

Ye Tian declared, “From today onward, I am the City Lord of Sifang City. The city’s lands will be equally divided, distributed per capita to each household. Anyone found falsifying records will be executed on the spot without mercy!”

“Equally divided?”

The citizens at the gates looked at each other in disbelief.

Some immediately asked Ye Tian for clarification. Once they received the answer, the scene erupted. The people knelt on the ground, full of gratitude.

Ye Tian was offering a dream too big.

In ancient times, no one would dare imagine it: lands of the aristocrats and wealthy divided, soldiers reorganized, wages based on position, compensation for injuries, heavy rewards for killing enemies, funds allocated for defense construction, and relief efforts using labor instead of money—all of it was being implemented.

Ye Tian’s plan made the citizens of Sifang City feel as though they were living in a dream.

Even a single day like this was precious. They had to remember: in times of war between the two nations, the people of Sifang City had been nothing more than human shields for Daliang, sent to the front lines to die!

By the time Tao Lichun and his daughter arrived,

Tao Ling’er’s beautiful eyes widened in shock as she looked at Ye Tian standing amidst the crowd.

The citizens prostrated themselves at Ye Tian’s feet. His posture was tall and straight, his expression calm. Looking down at the people, his gaze carried a compassionate mercy for all beings. At this moment, Ye Tian radiated an aura of light, and Tao Ling’er couldn’t take her eyes off him.

Hearing everyone call out “City Lord,” Tao Ling’er remained dazed for a long while; it all felt too surreal.

Ye Tian had become City Lord?

City Lord?

“Nonsense!”

“Utter nonsense!” Tao Lichun, in the crowd, was filled with worry. His aged face was tense as he looked at Ye Tian, pushing through the throng.

“Ye Tian…”

Tao Lichun wanted to rush forward to stop everything, but Tao Ling’er grabbed his arm. “Father, what will happen if you try to stop Ye Tian now?”

“Have you thought about it?”

“Think of Yunting, think of us, and all the citizens of the city.”

Seeing her daughter’s serious expression, Tao Lichun fell silent. Tao Ling’er continued, “The emperor is foolish, the ministers corrupt. Even someone like Xiao Haoyang could become city lord—why not Ye Tian?”

“If you try to stop Ye Tian now, will his family survive? Will the citizens who rebel with him survive? And us—do you think we will survive?”

“Everyone has no way out anyway, so why not resist?”

Resist?

Tao Lichun’s pupils contracted. In his life, he had studied the sages and understood loyalty, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and faith. When the ruler commands a subject to die, the subject must die!

Resist?

How could he resist?

Tao Lichun’s hands trembled. Everything seemed to overturn his thoughts, his beliefs.

The people cheered.

They shouted with joy, their happiness soaring to the heavens.

Tao Ling’er looked at her stunned father and said, “Father, we’ve been in Sifang City for ten years. Have you ever seen the people this happy?”

“Father, you don’t serve the emperor—you create prosperity for the people, bringing peace to all!”