316 The Grand Golden Terrace Banquet (Part 2)
Grand Golden Terrace.
Xiao Se, Sikong Qianluo, and Second Master Tu stood up at the same time and bowed their heads respectfully to the two men. "Lanyue Marquis, Grand Preceptor!"
Lanyue Marquis returned a small smile which could be considered a response. Dong Zhu looked at Xiao Se, his tone full of emotion. "You’ve returned."
Xiao Se bowed lower and greeted again. "Yes, I've returned."
"It’s good that you’re back. Heavenly Revelations City is your home, after all," Dong Zhu said slowly. "But you look better than you did before. Sure enough, sharpening yourself out in the country was necessary but—
"You should understand your imperial father's worries!" Dong Zhu continued.
Xiao Se was speechless for a moment, then he hesitated before he nodded. "Xiao Se will remember."
"The autumn breeze is desolate and the weather turns cold, the trees sway and leaves fall to reveal the frost. Although this name is rather desolate sounding, it has an artistic conception," Dong Zhu said.
"Grand Preceptor, let's take our seats," Lanyue Marquis interjected.
Dong Zhu nodded. "Very well."
Less than a stick of incense after Grand Preceptor Dong Zhu and Lanyue Marquis stepped into Grand Golden Terrace, the front door became bustling with excitement. The sound of rushing horses passed by and an elegantly dressed man leaped off the horse before hurrying to the door. He was about to pass the gift in his hand to the Grand Golden Terrace attendant when a familiar voice sounded next to him. "Oh, who would have thought that being a civil official, the Minister could ride a horse so well in the city? How about it? Why not transfer to my Ministry of War?"
Li Ruochong turned his head and saw Wu Jingcheng, the Minister of War, walking briskly in a rush to arrive, yet smiling with a feigned calmness. He couldn't help but sneer as he moved forward to smooth out the other man’s wrinkled collar. "Minister Wu, even if one is in a hurry to leave the door, one mustn’t just grab some clothes and put it on, ah. Could it be that the official’s salary in the Ministry of War has been deducted? That would come under the jurisdiction of my Ministry of Revenue. What if Grand Preceptor Dong noticed it later? Wouldn’t that get me into trouble?"
"Aren’t the two of you just full of elegance on such a clear and peaceful night? You’re already at the door, why not go in?" A somewhat hoarse voice sounded, and the two men immediately guessed who the newcomer was without even turning their heads.
The Minister of Justice, Zhou De, was the most immoral person in the entire Heavenly Revelations. Everyone knew that the Ministry of Justice was a purgatory, and Zhou De was the person in charge of this purgatory. Zhou De walked towards them and glared at the two men. "Let's go! What are you waiting for? Waiting for the other Ministers to get here so that we can go in together like a meeting of the Six Ministries?"
"Go, go, go." Li Ruochong pushed the other two aside and walked in first after flinging the gift over.
"Guests have arrived! Minister of Revenue, His Excellency Li Ruochong is here!"
"Guests have arrived! Minister of Justice, His Excellency Zhou De is here!"
"Guests have arrived! Minister of War, His Excellency Wu Jingcheng is here!"
When Wu Jingcheng walked past Ye Ruoyi, he suddenly stopped. "Your father made you come?"
Ye Ruoyi returned a smile and shook her head. "No, I came for myself. But, the Ye Banner Battalion follows the Beili Central Army, the Beili Central Army follows my father, and my father follows me."
"Little lady, don’t play at what you don’t understand." Wu Jingcheng spoke with indifference and after delivering that line, he walked in following the rest.
Lei Wujie frowned and said, "Those people are the Ministers of Heavenly Revelations City?"
"That’s right. The real power of Heavenly Revelations City lies in the hands of these people." Ye Ruoyi turned back around.
More and more people were rushing to Grand Golden Terrace.
"Guests have arrived! Minister of Personnel, His Excellency Xuan Dechong is here!"
"Guests have arrived! Minister of Rites, His Excellency Xu Weicheng is here!"
"Guests have arrived! Minister of Works, His Excellency Zhu Yumo is here!"
"Guests have arrived! Xi Ze Marquis is here!"
"Guests have arrived! Chief Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, His Excellency Shen Xiduo is here!"
"Guests have arrived! Vice-Minister of Revenue, His Excellency Luo Sanquan is here!"
"Guests have arrived! Imperial Censor of the Censorate, His Excellency Chen Zuosun is here!"
Within an hour after Grand Preceptor Dong Zhu and Lanyue Marquis stepped into Grand Golden Terrace, almost all Heavenly Revelations City officials of second grade and above had arrived one after another. The originally empty Grand Golden Terrace suddenly became bustling with activity. The officials were chit-chatting everywhere, while Grand Preceptor Dong Zhu and Lanyue Marquis sat at the head table together with several scholars from the Dragon Chart Pavilion. The officials who were more attentive realised that the tea in front of Grand Preceptor Dong had already been refilled three times.
"Isn’t the banquet starting?" Li Ruochong said quietly.
Wu Jingcheng scoffed. "Looks like this prince hasn’t changed from his old ways. He’s still as stubborn as before. Looks like he won’t start the banquet until his two brother Princes arrive."
Zhou De sneered. "Indeed, to be able to invite Grand Preceptor Dong here is his ability. But, whether or not the two Princes will take on this account is still really hard to fathom."
"If they wanted to come, they would already be here. Why wait until now," said Xu Weicheng, the Minister of Rites. "This is overly neglectful and rude."
"But I heard that Xiao Se also invited all the wealthy merchants in Heavenly Revelations City. But, at present, it seems that none of them have come." Zhu Yumo, the Minister of Works, glanced around the floor.
Music House.
Madam Hu lay in waiting, took a leisurely puff of her pipe before lightly exhaling the smoke. "All the civil and military officials have arrived, that’s really amazing. But… what’s that got to do with me?"
"Madam, the Li family, the Chen family, and the Gongsun family have not made a move yet. The four biggest tycoons of Heavenly Revelations, not a single one of them will give face to the sixth prince."
"All these officials always look down on us merchants. But, without us, where would they get the money to entertain themselves? In this world, silver always talks loudest. They won’t dare to move against us, and besides, they weren’t sincere about attending anyway. If we cut off a little of that brat’s complacency, they’ll be over themselves with joy."
On this day that was destined to stir up a storm, a carriage entered Heavenly Revelations City. At present, Heavenly Revelations City was under lockdown and it wasn’t that easy to enter or leave, but as Madam Hu said, silver always talks loudest.
Not only did the carriage enter Heavenly Revelations City, it did so flamboyantly.
Because there were a total of five horses pulling this carriage. The five horses were all pure white, and at a glance, the value of each one was worth a thousand gold.
As for the carriage, it looked extremely gorgeous and there was a luminous pearl embedded into its roof. Right now, the sun was already setting and one could see that the luminous pearl was shining with a faint light.
A man who looked like an accountant was sitting inside the carriage, holding an abacus and calculating the accounts.
"Manager Tian, we’re already here. What do we have to do next?" An elegant young man dressed in white asked softly.
"Let them know we’re here," the accountant responded evenly without looking up.
"Okay." The elegant young man stood up and pulled open the curtain of the carriage.
On the left side of the carriage was a flag painted with a phoenix enveloped in flames, looking as if it was about to take off in flight.
The elegant young man laughed, reached out a hand, and an attendant passed him a small basket. The basket was filled with silver ingots that gleamed brightly. He grabbed a handful and flung it towards the side of the road. "Friends of Heavenly Revelations City, please kindly accept!"
Passers-by were stunned speechless when they saw this, but right after that, they all rushed forward and grabbed for the silver.
This gorgeous carriage that was pulled by five white horses kept moving forward in this manner. All along the way, they remained unobstructed, but surrounded by people.
Ten baskets of silver ingots were distributed in no time.
"Master, the silver ingots have been used up," the attendant whispered.
The elegant young man laughed and said, "Then, bring me the gold."