Lin Mu was surprised that the other council members had accepted Jingming Shang's words so quickly.
'So the saying merchants will sell their mothers and children if it bring them fortune is true, huh…' Lin Mu thought to himself.
Putting these thoughts aside for now, Lin Mu focused on the task at hand and continued to observe the council.
"Well, then who wants to start first?" Jingming Shang questioned.
He gazed around at the council and finally settled on the old man who had spoken the first time.
"Why doesn't senior Shantung start first? You are the oldest of us all, so this honor should go to you," Jingming Shang said with a thin smile.
The old man who was named Shantung didn't mind Jingming Shang pushing him at the front and took it with ease.
"So I'll reveal to you all that we have a backer currently willing to get a seat in the merchant council. While we could add another seat while keeping the Mu clan in there, getting the approval from the royal family will be difficult." Shantung said.
"Is that why you want to remove the Mu clan from the council?" One of the middle aged men who wore a single earring on his right ear asked.
"If it was like that, I would have long since done it. But no… the backer wants something else… they want the seat of the Mu clan specifically. In simple words, they do not want the Mu Clan to exist." Shantung revealed.
A few of the members of the council had surprised expressions on their faces, but it didn't seem like they were truly genuine.
"How many of the council members knew about this already, senior Shantung?" Jingming Shang asked with a straight face.
He then saw four members out of the nine, raising their hand, among them, Gun Kai was included, and so were two more older men of the council. The ones that were not included in it were Miss Fen, the man with the earring, and the remaining members.
'As expected…' Jingming Shang thought to himself.
"Let's say we go according to the wishes of this backer of yours and boot off the Mu clan from the council. What will be the aftereffects of that, have you thought of that?" Jingming Shang questioned. "I mean… won't the royal family be concerned about this? From what I've seen and heard till now, they try to keep tabs on the council." He added.
Shantung nodded his head and looked at Gun Kai for a second before speaking.
"This backer of ours… he doesn't really care for the opinion of the royal family… but of course they did try to come in his way and now… the royal family is in turmoil," Shantung spoke in a serious tone.
At first, the other council members didn't pick it up, but a second later they understood the meaning behind Shantung's words. Jingming Shang also raised his eyes upon hearing the revelation.
"I see… so the royal family has invited trouble by interfering with the backer's plans. But if this backer really is this powerful and influential as to affect even the royal family… why does he want a seat at our merchant council? Frankly speaking… we shouldn't even be in his eyes." Jingming Shang spoke.
"That is exactly why I don't dare question him. If he can cause the royal family troubles like this without even appearing, then what would he be able to do to us… to our clans and our businesses…" Shantung said in a cold tone.
Hearing his explanation, the other members, who did not know of the backer originally, felt chills going down their spines, except for Jingming Shang. The man instead had a calm expression on his face that could not be fazed by anything.
The council members went silent for a couple of minutes before Jingming Shang finally broke the silence.
"Miss Fen… you must have had a reason to act in favor of the Mu clan, right? What was it? We know Senior Shantung's side and now let's see yours." Jingming Shang questioned.
Miss Fen, who had a slightly lost look on her face, looked at Jingming Shang and the rest of the council before taking a deep breath.
"The reason why I acted in favor of the Mu clan was because of a rumor…" Miss Fen stated.
"A rumor? What kind of a rumor?" the council members asked.
"A few years ago, I heard a rumor about the Mu clan. It is said that their clan is actually an offshoot of an ancient clan of the continent. I don't know how much you all know about the history of the world… about the five great continents." Miss Fen replied.
"The five great continents… You mean before the unification of the Great Zhou Empire?" Jingming Shang questioned.
"YES!" Miss Fen responded. "As the history goes, there were once five great continents in this world of ours, the northern, the eastern, the western, the southern and the central continent. Among these five continents, the great Zhou empire is currently composed of only three of them.
Namely, the southern continent, the eastern continent and the central continent. The northern continent is the territory of the Northern tribes while the western continent… it doesn't exist anymore." Miss Fen revealed.
"What?! Is this really true? I've never heard of this before." The middle aged man with the earring said feeling shocked.
Jingming Shang didn't say anything and sat in silence. Nobody knew what was going on in his mind right now. Lin Mu was intrigued by hearing this all as well and wondered what else he would find out.
'This is the first time I'm seeing someone else other than Jing Wei speaking about the history of this world. So for no other person I met knows much about the existence of the five continents…' Lin Mu thought.
Lin Mu was even more intrigued due to the fact that the Mu clan was rumored to be the offshoot of an ancient clan. He wanted to know what kind of a clan could they be from that Miss Fen was willing to help them.