Chapter 101: Three Months
In the palace, Emperor Zhou was in a good mood.
In the morning court assembly today, the envoy of Yan Country proposed their suggestion. They were willing to use the Beast Spirit Armor technique as a trade to exchange for Fort Boulder.
This immediately caused a huge uproar in the royal court!
One had to know that the Beast Spirit Armor was a unique technique developed by the Spiritual Masters of Yan Country. It was made from the bones of ferocious beasts. After wearing it, the user would be able to borrow the power of the beast spirit to increase their strength. One could imagine the threat level if there was a fully equipped battalion of Beast Spirit Armor users on the battlefield.
And although Great Zhou had seized this kind of armor before, they had never been able to crack its technical core. It was difficult to replicate.
And this time, the Yan Country was actually willing to use the techniques to create Beast Spirit Armor as a trade to exchange for Fort Boulder with Great Zhou.
Emperor Zhou was tempted by this offer!
He wasn’t the only one. Many officials in the royal court were also moved.
Because the enemy of the Great Zhou was never limited to the Yan Country.
The Yan Country was only the one of many.
To the Great Zhou Empire, the value of the Fort Boulder could not compare to the Beast Spirit Armor that could raise an individual’s strength.
Of course, not everyone agreed.
For example, Su Changqing, our Comrade Old Su did not relent today. He firmly stood against the public opinion and forcefully suppressed this matter.
Some things could not be settled in a day. Emperor Zhou also knew that this matter still had to be studied extensively by the ministers.
Su Wen entered the palace and was brought straight to Emperor Zhou.
When the two met, Emperor Zhou looked at Su Wen with a smile.
“Kid, you have some skills. You sang well last night. Sing for me again.”
Su Wen bowed and said, “Your Majesty, I did not sing yesterday!”
“???” Emperor Zhou looked at Su Wen and sneered. “Have you lost your memory?”
“I indeed had too much to drink yesterday. What song is Your Majesty talking about?”
“It’s that song, A Laugh admist the Vast Ocean!”
“Huh? A Laugh admist the Vast Ocean? I’ve never heard of it before. Maybe I drank too much last night and sang randomly…”
Su Wen would naturally not sing for the Zhou Emperor.
Two grown men, one listening to the other sing. How strange would that look!
“Then do you still remember that tune?”
“Ah? I went to bed the moment I went home yesterday. What song is Your Majesty talking about?”
Su Wen gave a confused expression.
Emperor Zhou raged, “You… You’re doing it on purpose, aren’t you!”
Su Wen hurriedly shouted, “This subject is innocent! I really don’t remember anything. I only remember that the Third Prince lost a game of chess yesterday and we drank a lot of wine after. I don’t remember anything after that!”
Emperor Zhou stared at Su Wen for a long while before gritting his teeth. “Get lost to the Profound Language Pavilion! I don’t want to see you!”
“I shall take my leave!”
Su Wen retreated.
Emperor Zhou shook his head and said, “This little rascal!”
On the other side, in the Su residence, Xie Yiyi faced the mirror and gently combed her hair.
Her current life was too boring.
“Sister Yiyi, do you want to play mahjong?”
Suddenly, Cui Yumian appeared at the door.
“Ah? Mahjong?”
“Yes, it’s a toy made by my husband to pass time for us.” Cui Yumian smiled.
Xie Yiyi was a little shy. “It’s alright!”
However, Cui Yumian dragged her out as she spoke. “Come on, you can’t stay in there the whole day.”
Xie Yiyi was pulled into a room with two other maidservants present.
Cui Yumian started to explain the rules of mahjong to Xie Yiyi.
Following that, the four of them started to play. In the beginning, Xie Yiyi wasn’t too good and lost quite a number of chips. However, after familiarizing herself with the rules, she gradually recovered her losses.
For newbies, such games always had a strange blessing.
But they did not bet using money.
The chips were only equivalent to game points.
They mainly served as a record of who won more or lost more.
After all, Cui Yumian and Xie Yiyi did not lack money, but how could the maidservants have money to play with them?
Xie Yiyi was smiling happily as she played.
“Sister Cui! You lost again!”
Cui Yumian said helplessly, “What can I do? I was waiting for the three, six or nine tiles in the character suit. So many options, but none of them appeared!”
The game of Mahjong quickly closed the distance between them.
Xie Yiyi returned to her room after hours of mahjong, only then realizing that there was a note left on her dressing table.
She walked forward and opened it. On it was written the Demonic Music Sect’s secret code!
The sender wanted her to go out and meet up. As expected, it was Xie Dajia.
After pondering for a moment, Xie Yiyi tore the piece of paper into shreds.
After lunch, Xie Yiyi left the manor with her maidservant.
Xie Yiyi met up with Honorable Xie when she arrived at Cloud Gazing Tower.
When the mother and daughter met, Xie Dajia softly asked. “Have you been well?”
Xie Yiyi smiled. “It’s alright. The people in the manor are pretty nice.”
“That’s good! Where’s Su Wen? How is he?”
“He’s very good to me.”
While she mentioned how everything was good, Xie Dajia could feel a thread of estrangement coming from her.
“Then quickly control his mind with the Mental Demon Charming Body.”
This was the true purpose of Xie Dajia.
The Mental Demon Charming Body belonged to a strange type of mental control technique. It could make the victim unknowingly obey the caster’s every word, but they would still remain normal when not needed.
This kind of secret technique originated from the emotions in the hearts of humans, so it often required the casted to develop strong feelings for the caster before they could control it perfectly.
Especially love, the effect would be the most pronounced then.
Xie Yiyi shook her head and said, “There’s too little time. I can’t do it!”
“How long do you need?”
“Three months!”
Xie Yiyi stated a deadline for herself.
Xie Dajia stared at Xie Yiyi. After a while, she replied, “Alright, then make the best use of your time. That stinky Daoist priest has already begun to target me. I’ll fake my departure tomorrow. You should know how to contact me!”
“Be careful.” Xie Yiyi bade farewell and left.
Su Wen came out of the imperial palace and went to the Profound Language Pavilion. Old Fei still had a sour expression on his face, but Su Wen did not really care. After all, it was impossible for everyone in this world to like him.
Seeing that there was nothing else he needed to do there, he went up the street with Zhao Jin and Chu He.
At this time, the capital was close to the end of the year, and it was even more lively.
Su Wen and the other two went to the vermicelli stall as usual.
They each asked for a bowl of noodles. While Su Wen and Zhao Jin continued their ’roundness research’, Chu He ate the noodles with a stern expression while listening to their discussion. From time to time, he would secretly glance towards the lady boss and confirm their theories in his heart.
There were many more customers today as well.
Many luxurious carriages were also passing through the streets.
Many of them came from the direction of the city gates.
“It’s the end of the year again. His Majesty is about to be hold the Sacred Debate Banquet once more. All the famous scholars from all over the world are gathered here. Have you heard? This time, the person coming from Jiang Prefecture will be Elder Ji.”
“That Elder Ji who is known as the living saint?”
“That’s right. He was an important minister in the court in his early years. He was also involved in business and had a rich family. He usually helped the poor, but later on, he even spent all his personal wealth to save the poor. I heard that he only lives in thatched huts now!”
“This is what it means to be an official. This is what it means to be a good person! Look at that Su Changqing…”
“Shh! Don’t talk nonsense!”
Su Wen also overheard their conversation.
However, it was obvious that these commoners did not know him.
Although Su Wen was famous in the capital, the capital was huge and not many people knew what he looked like.
“The Sacred Debate Banquet. The Emperor really likes to host all kinds of banquets…” Su Wen grumbled to himself.
However, this banquet had nothing to do with him. This was a banquet held by Emperor Zhou at the end of every year. It called upon all the famous scholars of the various prefectures to enter the capital and listen to their feedback and opinions. It targeted the issues of the country and reformed them.
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