The commerce within Baishi City was generally prosperous, with many travelers coming and going, frequently entering and exiting the shops and Treasure Pavilions on both sides of the street.
Upon arriving at a new place, Chen Er'ya seemed exceptionally lively, like a joyful little deer darting around the streets.
"Candied hawthorn! Candied hawthorn for sale!"
As they walked into an alley, a vendor's cry rang out.
"Brother, there's candied hawthorn over there!"
Chen Er'ya's eyes lit up.
Seeing Xiao Yatou's expression, Chen Ping'an knew what she was thinking and said with a smile, "Go buy some!"
"Yay!"
Xiao Yatou happily ran over.
Shaoyao, who was beside her, quickly followed, "Young Miss, wait for me!"
Watching the two running and skipping joyfully, Chen Ping'an's mood also brightened considerably.
From being a temporary Yamen Runner to now a Deputy Commander, he had come a long way, and finally he could live a comfortable life with his Family.
"Brother, do you want one too!"
Not far away, Chen Er'ya stood in front of the candied hawthorn stall and asked Chen Ping'an.
"No need! You two just eat."
Chen Ping'an responded with a smile, slowly walking towards them.
His mind continued to recall the situation within Baishi City.
In Baishi City, there were countless large and small forces, but among those that could be called first-rate were the three major Families, the four major Gangs, and the Chamber of Commerce Alliance.
The three major Families had similar strengths: the Chu Family, the Song Family, and the He Family. Each major Family had a martial arts master of the Inner Qi Second Level guarding it. According to intelligence from the Weishui Town Pacification Bureau, the Chu Family was the strongest among the three major Families. The Family had more than ten Inner Qi Realm masters.
The remaining Song Family and He Family were slightly weaker, each having eight or nine Inner Qi Realm masters.
As for the four major Gangs, they were the Shaxie Alliance, the Liusha Gang, the Crocodile Gang, and the Iron Fist Gang. The Gangs' influence was slightly weaker than that of the Families; except for the Shaxie Alliance, the number of Inner Qi Realm masters in the other three Gangs was almost half that of the Families. Each had roughly four or five Inner Qi Realm masters.
However, compared to the three major Families, the Gangs' influence was more widespread, with people from their respective Gangs found among all walks of life within Baishi City.
The Shaxie Alliance, however, consistently ranked first among the four major Gangs. In terms of influence, it was no weaker than the strongest Chu Family among the three major Families. It had a leader at the Perfection of the Inner Qi Second Level guarding it. Additionally, there were more than ten other Inner Qi Realm martial arts masters.
Finally, the Chamber of Commerce Alliance was the strongest among the eight major forces. The Alliance comprised thirty-eight small business associations, with a martial arts master at the Perfection of the Inner Qi Second Level guarding it, and over twenty Inner Qi Realm masters, many of whom were at the Inner Qi Second Level.
However, due to the highly dispersed decision-making power within the Chamber of Commerce Alliance, its overall action and organizational strength were weak when core interests were not involved. Mutual internal friction made it difficult to exert overwhelming suppression on other forces.
Among the eight major forces, interests were intertwined and mutually opposed, and the relationships between them were simply too complex to explain in a few words.
"As the saying goes, 'Though the sparrow is small, it has all the vital organs!' Although Baishi City is small, the intricate web of interests and power struggles here is no less intense than in Weishui County City."
Chen Ping'an sighed softly in his heart.
If it had been ten years earlier, a small city of Baishi City's size would never have gathered so many Inner Qi Realm masters. Anyone with connections would have long since moved to Weishui County City.
However, now, thanks to the benefits brought by the Long'an Trade Route, a considerable amount of wealth had accumulated within Baishi City, leading to the emergence of such a large number of Inner Qi Realm masters.
By the time Chen Ping'an reached Chen Er'ya and Shaoyao, the two had already paid and were happily licking their candied hawthorn, smiles on their faces.
"Is it good?"
Chen Ping'an asked with a smile.
"Mmm, it's good, very sweet!"
Xiao Yatou's face broke into a brilliant smile, her eyes narrowing with delight.
"Let's go, let's look further ahead!"
"Mmm."
Leading the two girls, Chen Ping'an continued forward.
Within Baishi City, the true ruler was not these eight forces, but the Baishi City Garrison Command, which held the moral high ground.
No matter how arrogant the eight forces were, they dared not openly defy the Baishi City Garrison Command. At least... they wouldn't dare unless their absolute interests were threatened.
At most, they could only engage in petty tricks behind the scenes!
The Baishi City Garrison Command, in addition to its main Zhenfu Division, had five major urban area Zhenfu Divisions: Southeast, Northwest, and Central. Each urban area Zhenfu Division had a Chief Warrant Officer stationed there. Well, this Chief Warrant Officer was merely a title. In terms of actual rank, it was considered a Total Affairs Office Candidate.
Below the urban area Zhenfu Divisions were the various Zhenfu Division outposts.
After all, Baishi City was not as vast as Weishui County City, where urban areas needed to be further subdivided into smaller lanes.
Each Zhenfu Division outpost would be staffed by eight or nine to twenty Yamen Runners.
In earlier years, the head of each urban area Zhenfu Division was a martial artist at the Qi Blood Sixth Stage Realm. However, after adjustments by the Weishui Town Pacification Bureau in recent years, all five major urban area Zhenfu Divisions now had Inner Qi Realm masters stationed.
There was no other way; if Inner Qi Realm masters weren't assigned to the urban areas, they simply couldn't suppress the various unruly elements below.
The main Baishi City Zhenfu Division had a Commander, a Deputy Commander, and Inner Qi Realm offerings.
The entire Baishi City Garrison Command had roughly over ten Inner Qi Realm masters in total.
Excluding support from Weishui County City, it couldn't even rank first among the eight forces.
"No wonder Baishi City is so chaotic! In terms of overall strength, one-on-one, it can't even suppress the Chamber of Commerce Alliance!" Chen Ping'an mused inwardly.
"Fortunately, there's a Commander of Tianlin Descends Peak, serving as the face of the command, making him the nominal top master of Baishi City. Otherwise, the Zhenfu Division would have completely lost face!"
Regardless of the situation within Baishi City, at least on the surface, there was only one master of the Tianlin Descends Peak level!
"Tianlin Descends Peak can be considered the top master! Under normal circumstances, wouldn't I be able to run rampant in Baishi City?"
"Hmm, not bad! I've come to the right place!"
Chen Ping'an felt pleased with himself.
His current Realm was nothing in the entire Weishui County City, but in Baishi City, he could indeed dominate and act without restraint. Of course, this was if he fully revealed his strength.
"However, I still can't be careless. After all, these are only the martial arts masters on the surface. Behind the scenes, not to mention other unruly elements, Evil Path, and Demonic Path, the Ten Thousand Demons Sect alone cannot be underestimated! Who knows how many hidden masters there are!"
"Tianlin Descends Peak, after all, is still not stable enough! I still need to break through the Realm as soon as possible!"
Chen Ping'an walked down the street, his thoughts turning, and he happened to see a small stall not far away.
Looking at the busy vendor, he recalled the days when he was a patrol Yamen Runner.
Feeling a surge of interest, Chen Ping'an raised his hand and pointed at the stall.
"Come on, let's go eat something there and taste it!"
These days, as his status had continuously risen, opportunities to eat at small stalls had become rare! Now was a good chance to relive those memories.