The conferment of a landed title involved strict rules. Ranks below that of an honorary count could be gained by paying military contributions, but these were empty titles with no land and couldn’t be inherited. Titles related to land, even viscounts, had to follow strict laws regarding title, inheritance, and authority.

This was especially true for a regional noble title since they wouldn’t downgrade over generations. Each of them had to be carefully selected and not conferred randomly. The recipient of such titles would always have to pioneer new land at the beginning of their careers. The price for such a hereditary title was that they would have to hold their land or risk having their titles revoked.

Song Zining was planning to build a high-ranking aristocratic family on his own! If that was Song Zining’s plan, then what of Qianye? Lan Xincheng thought of something that caused his heart to skip a beat. Could he be planning to build a kingdom? The Great Qin wasn’t the only monarchy in the realm.

Lan Xincheng’s eyes darted over Qianye and Song Zining. He deftly removed any thought he had before—he could only feign ignorance since the other party wasn’t planning to say anything out loud. Qianye’s relationship with the Empire was rather...