Two days couldn"t be considered a long time, neither could it be considered a short time. Bai Luochu immersed herself in her cultivation for two days.
“Is everything ready? Master said that the feast is prepared for an esteemed guest. If there is anything wrong, Master will be seen as a disrespectful host. Be on your toes at all times.” Pei Rumo"s attendant spoke to the servants who were preparing the food.
“Ming Lu, Master is calling for you.” Someone shouted from outside the kitchen.
That attendant turned around to look at the person calling for him before addressing the servants in the kitchen again, “Be careful. Nothing must go wrong. Master is calling for me and I shall return in a short moment. I hope all of you will do a good job.”
The attendant called Ming Lu quickly went to Pei Rumo"s study room after barking out his last sentence at the servants.
“Master, you called for me? Is there anything else you need me to prepare for tonight"s dinner?” Ming Lu was picked up by Pei Rumo since he was very young. As such, he had always been respectful.
Pei Rumo glanced up from his table and saw that Ming Lu had arrived. “Indeed, if we can recruit this person, it will definitely help the First Prince"s residence. Today is our first official meeting and nothing must go wrong. I trust you, but I can"t get rid of the feeling that something will go wrong.”
Just like what Bai Luochu said, now that Pei Wuchen had lost the support of the Phoenix King Valley, the old emperor wouldn"t be happy that Pei Rumo was the main figure in the imperial court. In order not to incur the wrath of the old emperor, Pei Rumo broke off one of his arms in the imperial court, losing a lot of power. However, if there came a day when the Phoenix King Valley decided to support Pei Wuchen again, he would be at a ma.s.sive disadvantage. Hence, the most important thing for Pei Rumo now was to allow Pei Wuchen to attract the old emperor"s attention while gathering up his strength in the martial world.
There is a saying, "The imperial court never meddles in the affairs of the martial world." If I want to make a move in the future, there will be experts outside the scope of politics able to help me. A trace of a smile appeared on Pei Rumo"s face.
“Master doesn"t have to worry. The preparation for tonight"s dinner is personally overseen by this servant. There will not be any problems. Now that the weather is cold, the ingredients will not rot so easily. This servant ordered the people in the kitchen to prepare the dishes such that they can quickly serve it during dinner time.” Ming Lu nodded and reported to Pei Rumo respectfully.
“That will be good. You can leave and make sure to watch them carefully. Nothing can go wrong.” Pei Rumo instructed.
Ming Lu acknowledged his orders and headed to the kitchen.
“Say, what exactly is Pei Rumo planning? Why did he suddenly invite you for a meal without any proper reasoning? It better not be a Hongmen Feast. Ying Lan, you better consider it through. If you fall into the hands of the First Prince, it will be difficult for us brothers to collect your corpse.” Meng Luoping was born and raised in the streets, hence, he didn"t have much consideration for etiquette when he spoke. He was unlike Guan Yue who spoke with erudition and culture.
“Luoping is right. I heard about the First Prince from my father and that he is someone who schemes deeply. He is one of the heirs most likely to seize the throne in the future. Think about it, our Cloud Water Nation"s Emperor stepped over countless brothers in order to sit on the throne. How can his son be any different?” Guan Yue revealed everything to Ying Lan when he saw that even Meng Luoping felt that Pei Rumo wasn"t a simple person. He described Pei Rumo according to his father"s description.
Ying Lan was having a headache due to the two of them and he regretted his decision to invite them over for a discussion. The two of them acted rather decently in front of Bai Luochu, but when he was there alone, they became completely different people.
“Enough, nothing good will happen if we sit here and talk all day. I have already agreed and it is impossible for me not to go. There might be a chance for me to salvage the situation by heading over. Otherwise, we will be offending the First Prince. This morning, Old Zhang encountered the attendant in the marketplace. It seems like everything is being prepared as we speak. If I fail to show up, Pei Rumo will definitely be infuriated and he might even order for my arrest.” Ying Lan didn"t wish to continue listening to the two of them. He stated his decision and told the two of them he was going to attend the feast no matter what.
“In my opinion, you shouldn"t have accepted the invitation in the first place. Even if you did, you should have thought of an excuse. There wouldn"t be a need to rack our brains now if you did all that.” Meng Luoping didn"t detect the frustration in Ying Lan"s voice and he spoke whatever came to mind.
“Refuse? He is an imperial prince. How am I supposed to refuse an invitation from him? Even Mistress said that he is someone who won"t rest until he gets what he wants. He might even order his secret guard to invite me into his residence if I refuse to go on my own accord. Even I can"t tell the strength of those secret guards… If we fight, I don"t think I will be able to gain the upper hand” When Ying Lan was speaking, he felt a little upset. He felt that if he was stronger, his mistress wouldn"t have to act so pa.s.sively.
Guan Yue and Meng Luoping fell into silence after hearing Ying Lan"s response. It was true, he was the imperial prince. Even if they were powerful individuals, they were still commoners. Everything under the sky was the emperor"s land. Even if they could hide for a moment, would they be able to hide for their entire life?
The silent atmosphere in the room continued for a long time before Guan Yue broke the silence, “If it is a blessing, it isn"t a calamity. If it is a calamity, it will be unavoidable. Since you need to go, just go. We will wait for you at the Remote Paddy Inn. If Pei Rumo doesn"t allow you to leave, we will head over to request for your release. A skinny camel is still stronger than a horse. My Guan Clan might have declined, but my grandfather still has plenty of connections in the imperial court. Pei Rumo will still have to listen to my request.”