Villain: Manipulating the Heroines into hating the Protagonist

Wang Jian was in the midst of a discussion with his fellow comrades when he received a report about Ye Chen’s recent actions.

By this time, Wang Jian had managed to gain the loyalty of all his friends’ families, following the example set by Xie Zhiwei’s family.

As they had learned from Xie Zhiwei’s family’s experience, it was wiser to align with Wang Jian’s faction now as the other princes’ factions had already started targeting them.

“Unbelievable,” Luo Ying said, shaking his head in disbelief. “Attacking the Celestial Talisman’s Guild? That’s just asking for trouble.”

Liu Yu nodded in agreement and added, “Yes, my father informed me that the guild’s top executives are planning to take strict measures against him. They are even contemplating permanently banning him from purchasing any talisman from us in the future.”

Xie Zhiwei let out a contemptuous snort, “What’s the point? He’ll just ask someone else to buy it for him.”

Liu Yu’s brow furrowed in contemplation, “What do you suggest we do then?”

Tang Xiaohui interjected firmly, “We should take action ourselves and eliminate this idiot once and for all.”

“No,” Wang Jian spoke firmly.

Xie Zhiwei seemed unconvinced as he replied, “But why, Jian? The longer he runs around, the more mess he will make.” ．

Wang Jian explained his reasoning calmly, “Right now, he is creating enemies for himself and making a huge mess. We should let him do that. Meanwhile, we need to focus on strengthening our own faction. Although each of your families is extremely powerful in your respective organizations, it still won’t be enough to challenge my siblings.”

He continued, “My eldest brother Wang Hao has complete control over the Crimson Guards, the Brotherhood of Steel Fist, and the Jade Order. He also has close allies in the Heavenly Blade Sect and the Celestial Dragon Sect.”

“Meanwhile, my second sister Wang Ying has complete control over the Silk Road Traders, the White Lotus Society, and significant control over the Dao of Alchemy Society. She has influence over major clans like the Jin Clan, Tung Clan, and so on. I have also heard that the Lotus Blossom Sect’s Mistress is close to her.”

“Lastly, my third brother has a mysterious yet wide network that encompasses every organization. He has the majority of experts in the Lotus Assassins and the Black Hand working for him. He also has the Jade Serpent Clan working for him.”

Wang Jian finished speaking and looked at each of his comrades.

Tang Xiaohui asked with curiosity, “Then how do you want us to proceed?”

Wang Jian’s tone became serious as he spoke, “Our first target should be the Dao of Alchemy Society. Pills and elixirs are crucial for all cultivators, and without them, it’s impossible to grow stronger.”

Luo Ying nodded in agreement, “You’re right.”

All of Wang Jian’s comrades appeared to agree with that statement.

Xie Zhiwei expressed his concern, “But what should we do? My grandfather’s status has already made my family very influential in the Alchemy Society.”

Wang Jian responded calmly, “That may be true, but don’t forget what happened when your grandfather fell ill. The members of the Alchemy Society humiliated your family. In fact, without your grandfather, the Alchemy Society wouldn’t even care about your family.”

Xie Zhiwei gritted his teeth and clenched his fists in anger while recalling that painful memory. “…You’re right about that.”

Wang Jian’s eyes flashed with a dangerous glint as he spoke, “We will change that. They need to fear you and your family.”

Xie Zhiwei looked at Wang Jian intently and asked, “How will I do that?”

Wang Jian pulled out a list and handed it to Xie Zhiwei with a sinister smile, “These are the names of all the members who took action against your family. Your task is to gather information on each member and identify the ones who are loyal to my second sister’s faction.”

Xie Zhiwei nodded and accepted the list, “I understand. What should I do once I have identified them?”

“I will inform you later,” Wang Jian replied with a cryptic smile.

Luo Ying spoke for the rest of the group, “And what about us?”

Wang Jian looked at them all and gave clear instructions. “Yu, I want you to do the same task as I just assigned to Zhiwei. However, I also want you to ask your family to stop selling talismans and instead gather them. I will provide a buyer who will purchase them at twice the price.”

Liu Yu was thrilled by this news and grinned widely. “You got it!”

Wang Jian turned his attention to Tang Xiaohui next. “Expand your network and make contact with local blacksmiths and armoursmiths from towns, villages, and other cities. I will provide the funds. Pay them an advance and ask them to create the weapons quickly. Also, ask the merchants who have a good relationship with your family to keep tabs on Ye Chen and report any information about his actions to my palace directly.”

Tang Xiaohui nodded firmly. “That can be arranged as long as there is sufficient funding.”

Wang Jian chuckled in response. “There is no shortage of that for now.”

He then turned to Luo Ying. “As for you, I want your family to gather as many disciples as possible and begin recruiting them for my faction. Even if there are only a few at first, it doesn’t matter.”

Luo Ying raised a concern. “But if the Sect Master finds out about this, it could be a problem. He has strictly forbidden any factions within the sect.”

Wang Jian was confident. “I will handle that.”

“Any other doubts?” he asked the group.

It was Tang Xiaohui who spoke up this time. “What if the other factions discover what we are doing?”

Wang Jian replied simply, “For now, we’ll hire powerful mercenary groups. I’ll take care of this issue soon enough.”

“Does anyone else have any other questions or concerns?” he asked.

“Naa,” they responded rather lazily.

With that settled, they decided to relax and unwind. They spent the rest of the day in leisure, enjoying each other’s company as they chatted and drank.

Wang Jian’s instructions to his friends were well-received, and they immediately set to work carrying out their respective tasks.

Xie Zhiwei diligently worked through the list of twenty-eight names and had already identified seven members who were loyal to Wang Ying’s faction.

Despite Xie Zhiwei’s best efforts to be discreet in his investigation, it didn’t take long for the seven individuals he had identified to catch wind of what was going on.

They were outraged to hear that Xie Zhiwei’s subordinates were asking questions about them both in the Alchemy Society and on the streets and wasted no time in expressing their displeasure to the Xie family.

They stormed into the Xie family’s estate, demanding to know why they were being investigated.

Xie Zhiwei remained calm despite his family’s scolding in front of the faction members. After they left, he revealed that the investigation was carried out on Wang Jian’s orders.

The Xie Family was taken aback by this revelation and pressed him for more information.

Xie Zhiwei, however, had no further information to offer, leaving the family to wonder what Wang Jian’s motives could be.

Their curiosity led them to investigate further, and they discovered that Wang Jian had accompanied Luo Ying to the Sacred Crane Sect.

It seemed that he would be away for a while, leaving them with no choice but to wait for his return.

Meanwhile, Liu Yu and Tang Xiaohui had already started their tasks.

Liu Yu followed Wang Jian’s instructions and asked his family to withhold their share of talismans that they received from the Celestial Talisman’s Guild.

His family was thrilled when they learned that Wang Jian would provide them with a buyer who would pay double the price for the talismans.

However, they were curious about the buyer’s identity, suspecting that they must be someone with a sensitive identity to pay such a high price.

On the other hand, Tang Xiaohui used his father’s influence to gather various merchants, craftsmen, blacksmiths, armoursmiths, tailors, hunters, and others.

He informed them to prepare large quantities of supplies and provided them with a part of payment as advance.

Additionally, Tang Xiaohui also informed them to send any information related to Ye Chen directly to Wang Jian’s palace.

As Wang Jian reached the Sacred Crane Sect, he found out that Old Chu, the former sect master of the Heavenly Blade Sect, had left for the Crown Prince’s camp in a hurry.

The reason behind his sudden departure was that Ye Chen had fought against the Crown Prince’s subordinates and saved the Demon Princess.

Upon hearing this news, Wang Jian couldn’t help but think to himself, ‘As expected.’

He was pleased that his plan was unfolding as he had anticipated.

With a sly grin on his face, he swiftly penned a letter to his palace, instructing his men to use this information to ruin Ye Chen’s reputation and destroy his popularity.

At roughly the same time, the second princess Wang Ying was also informed of Ye Chen’s actions.

She was utterly astonished and couldn’t resist slapping her forehead in exasperation.

The news had deeply disappointed her, and she felt a profound sense of frustration at Ye Chen’s behavior.