The Great Elder was left with no choice. If she let Lang Sheng call a meeting through a different faction it would look like she couldn’t even control the members of her faction. In the interest of not undermining her own authority she had to be the one calling the meeting. She wasn’t sure what Lang Sheng was planning, but she quickly informed her allies of what was going on and to prepare for a very unusual council meeting.
Unfortunately for her, she still underestimated what Sage was planning to do.
Without an emergency the council meeting took a few days to prepare. The lives of cultivators were long and there were things that couldn’t be stopped immediately without a sufficient emergency to require it. If they were to suffer an injury forcing themselves to halt in their training or work at a crucial point, it would be a great loss over what was usually a very routine and simple meeting.
With the Great Elder Xie calling the council meeting, nobody had any idea that the Lang Branch was planning to shake things up. Just as when Sage had been summoned to the Chong Clan in the past, he made his way into the ancient forest grove in the center of their territory that was used as their main hall. There was a huge wedge shaped block of stone with a smaller rock holding it up to form a large stone table. The table was ten feet tall and something like a giant altar, but the Chong Clan used it more like a backdrop for a throne. There was a chair to either side of the throne, and a row of six chairs facing each other in two columns.
The Chong Clan had a total of five main factions, and there were fifteen chairs in this Clan Hall, which were for the three Elders of each faction. The leading faction, the Jinxi, were seated in front of the giant stone altar. The Xie and Wa sat on the right, while the Wu and Xiyi sat on the left. They had quite conveniently separated themselves into opposing factions, though the Xie and Wa were at a disadvantage as everyone knew the Wu and Xiyi supported the Jinxi.
Behind each of the chairs were dozens of others, each of them an important member of each of the factions, the exception being the Jinxi, as no one dared to stand so close to the giant altar. The Jinxi faction members were spread out to the sides of the three seats, leaving a clear view behind the throne to see the altar. As for Sage, he was still in a similar location as when he was called here the last time. The only difference was that he was not alone. To either side of him, the other heads of the Branch Clans had gathered, but they were only allowed to bring two others into the council meeting with them. Last time, they had joined the crowd to the sides in order to single Sage out, but now they were here just like him. The Branch Clans got a say in the council meeting, but they were of lower status so they weren’t allocated any chairs.
Patriarch Jinxi, a kindly looking old man, sat upon the main throne and calmly called the meeting to begin once everyone had arrived. Just as before, an older woman, his wife, sat to one side, while his descendant, Jinxi Po sat to the other. Once the Patriarch Jinxi called for a start, he leaned back into his seat and Jinxi Po took over.
“The first order of business for the Chong Clan Council is…”
Sage was only a Branch leader and he’d already read the rules so he knew that he couldn’t say anything until after all the pressing matters had been handled. The most important decisions of the Clan had to be catalogued and saved for the next meeting. Everytime the council was called they first handled all these accumulated issues, voting when necessary to authorize large transactions, devote large amounts of resources to specific pursuits, and make any other big decisions for the clan. Just like the other Branch leaders, Sage had a vote, but only for major issues. For the majority of decisions, only the Elders got involved and other than some bickering, they came to a consensus without requiring any voting.
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Once the pressing issues were handled, Jinxi Po stood up again and called for the second half of the meeting, “Are there any new matters that need to be brought before the council?”
Alright, this is it!
Just as Sage was about to step forward, one of the Xiyi Elders stood up and took the floor, “Everyone knows of our long standing grudge with the Fu Clan. In fact, they only recently attempted to kill our recently appointed Lang branch head. You should also know that the Fu Clan have already pulled in the Windflame Sect and the Zodiac Clan Alliance to their Western Coalition. While they say the Western Coalition exists to deter the Eastern Coalition, we cannot allow them to gain so much power. It is far past time that we should have joined the Eastern Coalition. With the Qin Clan, Jia Clan, and Thundercloud Sect on our side, we can finally put the Fu Clan in its place.”
One of the women sitting next to the Great Elder Xie narrowed her eyes and glared at that Xiyi Elder, “The Western Coalition is aiming to pull 100 Moon Phases to their side. Once they are successful, won’t there be four groups on either side? The Chong Clan has always been loyal to the Capital, how much did the Qin Clan offer you to try and sway us?”
“How dare you insinuate that I was bribed!”
The important members of their factions suddenly broke their silence and started yelling insults back and forth, turning the previously organized discussion into a chaotic shouting match. Sage didn’t participate, but he was not privy to the larger machinations in the Kingdom at large so this was quite informative. The information network he’d started long ago had fallen under control of the Prosperity Company, and after a few decades they had focused on spreading over the whole of the Dou Kingdom. Even so, they were still mostly placed within the lower classes and businesses. They were quite skilled at gathering rumors and basic information, but they still didn’t have anyone placed among the ruling powers. They hadn’t yet grown bold enough to enter the Capital yet, but from the sounds of things Sage decided that was an oversight. In the interest of not upsetting the Royal Family, they’d stayed out of the capital, but it also meant they were unaware of the maneuverings of the first rate powers.
The existence of two coalitions among the first rate powers was news to him, but even so it didn’t cause him to change his current plans. Eventually, the chaotic speech was quelled when Patriarch Jinxi raised his hand and a powerful law energy spilled into the room. At the same time as that energy spread, a soft sound rang out and captured everyone’s attention. The Elder’s faces shifted, while all the ‘important’ members of their factions were stunned into silence. Even some of the weaker Elders seemed to be affected by the strange tone, let alone all the people brought here to gain experience. Most of the ‘important people’ were the talented youngsters that they hoped would one day become Elders as well. The others were the truly capable in the clan, those who were responsible for different subordinate organizations, paperwork, and other skilled people that were required for their day to day operations.
After Patriarch Jinxi acted, the room went completely silent with no one else daring to speak out of turn. In a council meeting, only the Elders had the rights to speak without first being called upon, and after that demonstration the spectators were suddenly on their best behavior. The Xiyi Elder was far less enthusiastic than before and it didn’t take much more deliberation before it was agreed to shelve the matter of joining the Eastern Coalition at this time. They would continue to gather information and discuss it at the next meeting. It was the same result on this issue as at the last few meetings.
After that declaration was made, many of the spectators turned around and started to leave the room. One of the Xiyi Elders even stood up, ready to leave the room when Sage abruptly cleared his throat, “Ahem! Young Master Jinxi, aren’t you supposed to call for any other matters?”