Book 15: Chapter 14
The banquet was still going by the time the sun came up. Emperor Yuansheng personally set up with them after they got changed for the banquet, but he and Prime Minister Li left early on the premise that they weren’t able to hold their liquor, telling the rest to continue celebrations. The officials got the message to keep it going late into the night, so they partied merrily.
It was rare for Emperor Yuansheng to splurge on banquets ever since he came into power, so it stood to reason that there was another purpose to the banquet besides celebration. The fact that he was whispering to Prime Minister Li and left it was further supporting evidence. Plus, if the beef stew presented was only prepared overnight, it wouldn’t have been so delectable. In other words, the banquet was planned before Cold Mountain Temple’s treason was brought to light. As the banquet was premeditated, it had to serve another purpose.
Smart people should’ve figured out which faction to join and what to do from Emperor Yuansheng’s first sentence. Anyone who made the most of the opportunity would’ve kicked their old allies off the highest cliff they could find and jumped onto the new s.h.i.+p about to sail. Anyone who could pick up on the cue to reshuffle their factions would’ve pleased him. The second half of the night was for review. Only a fool would’ve given up the prime opportunity.
Suffice to say, there were major winners at the banquet. The first was none other than Dark Robe Brotherhood’s officials. The second was the official who was adamant about wiping every White Prince off the map – Secretary Lie. Hence, it was no surprise that Secretary Lie and his friends even cleared the table and pulled out dices. Had Secretary Lu not punched him over the head, Secretary Lie would’ve continued his s.h.i.+rtless sword performance into the next day. Since the tide was now on Secretary Lie’s side, the civil servants who never gambled in the past joined him at this gambling table to get into his good graces.
Those who didn’t join Secretary Lie promptly got to forming their factions, too. It went without saying that the veterans, especially the fence sitters, didn’t have much change to deal with. On the other hand, new and rising officials were a different story – in particular, Liu Shan Men’s Song Ou. He was in the brightest spotlight ever in his life. His Majesty praised him twice and gave him a reward, so the officials saw him as a rising star to befriend. After his performance last night, even more people saw him as a potentially profitable stock.
At first, Song Ou wondered if he really was so cool as the officials complimented him. As more praise added up, he was convinced he shouldn’t have ever doubted himself. As a man who was no beginner to big social events, though, he started to feel something was off as more praise poured on to him. Even without the experience, he had some degree of self-awareness. He had never been lucky in life. He was called slow when he started studying as a kid. When he started training martial arts, he was told he was hopeless. People he tried to befriend looked down on him. When it came to finding a marriage partner, there were no ideal partners for him. Once he hit adulthood, he neither excelled with a brush nor a sword. He barely had any friends, and his marriage was a business transaction. He finally got a few competent subordinates last year, one of whom was Ming Menqing. Evidently, his luck was horrendous.
A sudden mountain of good luck landing in Song Ou’s lap prompted all sorts of paranoid thoughts. He had no issue giving back good luck that wasn’t his; he was worried he’d have to repay it with interest that could’ve potentially been as high as his life. As a consequence, he responded as if with the att.i.tude of someone walking on egg sh.e.l.ls, using “Yes” and “thank you” as his sole replies. He even contemplated telling Zha Pi to invite some spiritual masters to purify him of the bad luck once he returned to the office. In contrast, the people who spoke to him misunderstood him to be some mysterious, immeasurably clever individual and thought that he had been playing the fool all the time. Had he paid more attention, he would’ve realised that the important people at the banquet weren’t paying attention to him but his younger brother behind him. While it was true that Song Ou had gained some s.h.i.+ne, he hadn’t reached a level to demand so much respect.
Permission to build his own team and expand was a handsome and practical reward worthy of envying. Nonetheless, the Qilin Guards and Emperor’s Entourage didn’t see it as anything that could challenge their power.
Emperor’s Entourage monitored the imperial court’s officials and the martial world; n.o.body knew for sure how much dirt they had on people. Their forces might not have appeared dominant or large on the surface, but n.o.body was actually certain if that was an impression they intended for the world to perceive. The only certainties were that n.o.body knew the full extent of their capabilities, and n.o.body had heard of anyone or anything escaping them completely.
The Qilin Guards didn’t need to care about a small unit of five hundred when they had tens of thousands of soldiers at their disposal. They were highly-valued warriors who grew in deadly battles against foreign enemies in freezing weather. How could a haphazardly put together motley crew of five hundred match them?
Still, it was a big move for Emperor Yuansheng to grant Song Ou the privilege. Notwithstanding how much he doted on Shen Yiren, Emperor Yuansheng had been scolding her a lot recently and even a.s.signed her away from the capital. n.o.body was dysfunctional enough to think that Emperor Yuansheng was replacing Shen Yiren with Song Ou. Nevertheless, Song Ou had Song Clan’s support. Permitting Song Ou to form a team and lead it didn’t just mean empowering Liu Shan Men, but it also meant Song Clan was going to resurge in the capital. By extension, it was highly likely he was going to start trusting Song Clan again. Those who caught on to the possibility naturally had to befriend Song Ou.
n.o.body noticed Shen Yiren had quietly left the imperial palace on her own. On her way out, she spotted him and smiled. “Hey, recovered?”