Evening comes, and Ji Li, together with Shixuan and Lu Wei, the vice-director he converted to be his assistant, set off with his guards and the carriage to attend dinner with the marquis. They arrived shortly after and were welcomed instantly, it was already a few minutes past dinner, so it was expected that they were rather unhappy with him being late.

The marquis wouldn't take offense as he would just assume it's part of the test, and it is, but Ji Li also spent a lot of time cultivating as he cared less about those minor politics.

They quickly arrived in the dinner room, the marquis already standing at the entrance together with ten others. Two were his wives apparently, both looked to still be young, but to a trained eye, such as Ji Li's, he knew they were over fifty. One of them had three children next to her, the other had two. It was farfetched to call them children as the oldest of the bunch seemed around thirty. Then there was one woman around forty with two children behind her, one around twenty, the other just a year or two younger.

Ji Li knew the first two were his wives and that the last woman was a concubine because of their attire and their personality. The concubine was ever so slightly behind the other two. Then there were six children behind them that stood up the moment Ji Li entered the room, four women that looked like concubines followed behind. Lastly, there were four children and two women that sat, one woman had a single child next to her, and she seemed to be extremely prideful sitting there, the other had three young children that wouldn't stand up for her.

'Good god, nine women and seventeen children. At least I can exclude four children and two women now, an extra point to the wives and concubine that were standing already.'

"Greetings esteemed eunuch; we awaited you!" The marquis said enthusiastically while he cupped his hands, a rather normal greeting which was not practiced often in the Eunuch Palace because most would be casual, but one could see he frowned because he saw a few still sitting.

"Greetings noble Marquis Gu Wen, I am sorry for coming late, we had just arrived" I say friendly as I use the sound silencing formation for just a second around me and him, whispering under my breath to him "You can send out the sitting ones, they are unqualified already." His tone was cold and detached from it, showing his professionalism.

The marquis nodded and was satisfied with his behaviour, they weren't ones he nominated anyways, and it was good to make it smaller already. Next, Ji Li was greeted individually by all the women and their children, he didn't bother listening to them deeply, only one would be a future marquis, and even that wasn't enough to gain his interest. Still, he used the knowledge he was given and greeted each of them individually, asking them for how they were doing.

He gave enough time for the marquis to tell a butler to send the sitting people away, greetings weren't necessary. Those who saw it were a bit surprised by how fast a group was already kicked out, while some were smug about it, most just kept quiet. The one who was most smug was a concubine that was sitting next to them just a second ago, Ji Li marked her and her children which reflected her smugness, as disqualified. He told the marquis to seat them at the far end of the table, away from him, as he wouldn't talk with them.

Then the marquis showed Ji Li, Shixuan to their seats, Shixuan sitting to the right of Ji Li, Lu Wei to the right of Shixuan, while Gu Wen sat to the left of Ji li. He smiled and talked with the wives on the other side amiably, while Shixuan talked with the concubines on the other side, as they were a bit far away from Ji Li, while Lu Wei, who had prior been told about the plan, talked with the concubines sitting next to him.

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Ji Li quickly dismissed one of the wives mentally, as she hadn't reacted well to his questions. She would always answer like it was either a script or was too forced. Clearly, she didn't really want to participate in this charade, and her children were of similar opinion, as distaste to the behaviour of their half-siblings was clear. They sat further down the table, Ji Li couldn't talk with them, but he could still observer their actions.

He gave the jade to Shixuan as they sat down previously, so he could tell him when he disqualified one concubine. He did so shortly after, while giving another point to the one that seemed to be very apt in mannerism and conversation, she was the sole concubine that stood in front of the dinner room even before Ji Li came up. Shixuan then gave the jade to Lu Wei, who instantly disqualified the two concubines he talked to, as they tried to charm him.

Ji Li went deeper into his talks, and when he realised that the wife in front of him wasn't too bad, he also gave her a point 'Five concubines out, two wives out. It's a showdown between a concubine and the mother of the eldest son, that's probably also what the marquis thinks… but he has been sneaking looks at the concubines that tried to tempt Lu Wei, is he jealous? Wow, they are your wives, chill out man, I mean yeah, they're your wives, why do they even have like that? I really wonder which qualities you looked for when you married them.'

The evening didn't hold on for much longer – Ji Li didn't fully let go of the restlessness, it spurned him on, and he didn't want to lose the focus on his main goal, so he left already a after a few talks after dinner, which was unsatisfactory in his opinion. They had good food, but the portions were too small for his taste.

In the carriage on the way back, Ji Li talked to Shixuan and his new assistant "Shixuan, Lu Wei, you will visit one of the two candidates each tomorrow. Lu Wei, ask all the children questions regarding ruling a territory, literature and other things. Shixuan, you ask them about moral things. You both also look at how they perceive their father and their siblings. The day after tomorrow, you'll switch the factions and question them again. Tell the marquis that I'll join his dinner again in three days, with only the two factions to announce the decision.

…

The next two days went fluidly as Ji Li expected. He didn't have to do anything, while he cultivated. He also told Qianyu to just stay at the viscounty and act as the temporary branch head, as they would take much less time that he expected. Ji Li was even somewhat angry that the way here took longer than solving the issue.

He understood that he was somewhat being biased and rushing things with his judgement, but it was still immaculate, and one wouldn't really find fault in it, but it wouldn't take a genius to solve the issue quickly. It was obvious that the Noble's Hall just pushed a time-consuming mission away, while the marquis was indecisive and didn't want to bring forth the wrath of his wives, so he asked the Eunuch Palace instead.

On the third day after the dinner, Ji Li found himself in front of the marquis once again, in the same dinner room. Dinner was quitter this time, even though Ji Li didn't change the way he acted. He talked nicely with the women and children, but all of them were wary, it seemed like they learned from the first dinner somewhat, where the majority of them was instantly left out.

After dinner, he went into a living room of the estate, three couches were present. The marquis sat on the central one, Ji Li, Shixuan and Lu Wei on the left, while the wife and the concubine, together with their children, sat on the right. Tea was served for them shortly after and Ji Li commented on it and it's scent, doing some small talk.

Finally, silence ensured, and Ji Li smiled a bit less as he took on a calm posture. He looked at the eldest son and asked him "Tell me, you learned so much about ruling your territory and as the eldest you sure already have experience, could you explain your biggest issue that will happen over time if you were to take over the march?"

The eldest was somewhat perplexed, but thought it was a final test as he answered with much confidence "It will be the lack of manpower, esteemed eunuch. The borders are in a spike again, and for the next few years, it will be difficult for us in this regard."

Ji Li shook his head "Wrong, why would you need the manpower that would go towards the borders? We have adventurers in our country for a reason, they would wander all around and kill any monsters. With the resources you have, you would easily be able to even issue missions for them, that would be much cheaper than hiring extra guards. And they are extra guards, because a minimum number to defend yourself and the city will stand behind anyways."