Finally, Cao Yun and Jiahe Ruo were done eating. After some more niceties, they also parted ways.
Cao Yun left first. Jiahe Ruo was then handed the full bill by the head waiter. When he saw how much this meal had cost, Jiahe Ruo almost fainted and fell backward. Thankfully, his bodyguard, Miss Jie, supported him. Of course, the head waiter had known that this would be a huge amount of money for Jiahe Ruo so he kept completely quiet. He didn't want to upset him any more than he was. Besides, he knew that he would be good for it anyway.
"My servants will bring you the money by the end of the week."
"Thank you, esteemed guest."
While Jiahe Ruo had been enjoying the meal he spent most of his monthly income in, his father had been busy as well. He would use the martial exhibition of General Yun in order to talk with him. But for now, he had gone to Patriarch Xue Liu. The simple fact that he was personally visiting the Xue family had to be noted. As the Governor, he was more used to calling people to his residence. Right now, he was trying to show his sincerity considering that he was clearly making up excuses and lying.
Xue Liu was way older than Yun Po but like him he was a 6th-Spirit Warrior. He had had two sons and a single daughter. Since then, at least four generations had gone by. Right now, the younger generation was as estranged to him as if they were not from his own blood. This was the strange thing about living old enough, even your descendants felt like strangers at some point. And yet, he had not even lived for a millennium. Xue Liu could imagine what someone who had lived for several millennia could feel about their descendants. There would be such a divide between them that they would barely recognize them as theirs.
With his great age, Patriarch Xue had formed a few friendship in the Imperial City. As such, Governor Jiahe didn't want to upset him too much. However, he had to admit that the Yun family was getting more and more influential. He had even been scolded by an Imperial Inspector because of his lack of support to the Yun family. Since then, he had been afraid of his power slipping through his fingers.
As Counselor Huotu had noted during a session of his Cabinet, they had to ensure a minimum of military strength to appease the Imperial City. But they shouldn't do too much so as to not anger the Xue family. Otherwise, the same thing that had happened to the Sunmen Province might happen to them. The Imperial City had decided to appoint a general as a governor there, the renown Silver Wolf General. Unfortunately, General Yun was starting to look like a new Silver Wolf General. But even without him, Jiahe Lan had heard words about officials wanting to appoint the Silver Wolf General as the Special Administrator of the entire Western Hongchen. Such a move would improve the coordination of all forces against the demons. But he was certain that he would lose his seat as the general wouldn't approve of his political schemes.
Thus, Jiahe Lan was pressed on all fronts. He had to manage the two families so they didn't grow too powerful to overthrow his authority. For that, he had to pit them against one another, which wasn't too hard to be honest as they already hated each other's guts. But at the same time, he had to try and make them work together to save face with the Imperial City.
Governor Jiahe had pondered over the matter for some time, alone in his chambers. There, he had even had a small room build with as much Void Nurtured Platinum as possible in order to be perfectly isolated. Each time he had a big decision to make, he liked to seclude himself. Sometimes it could take him days mulling over the matter. He had so many political matters to consider that it was difficult. Because he didn't want to upset anyone, making a decision was a terrible headache every single time. Luckily, for now, he had been able to preserve his interests. However, the Yun family who was protecting the border with their life would get the short end of the stick. The main reason was simple. Although the Xue family was stronger, it had been stagnant for decades. On the other hand, the Yun family was growing in power. He couldn't accept that!
"Patriarch Xue, this unworthy one has failed you. This Guai Mo asked us to participate in the upcoming competition and we were forced to accept. Otherwise, he might have gone to another family, maybe even directly to General Yun. But Xue Rui still has all of our support. Having a true son of our Subei Province enter the Alchemy Conference would be a great honor for us all."
Patriarch Xue was very familiar with Governor Jiahe's methods. As such, he knew exactly what game he was playing. And he intended to play along with him in order to get the best outcome he could. Jiahe Lan was indeed always trying to please everyone. In front of him, he would acclaim his prowess and depreciate General Yun. In front of General Yun though, he would do the opposite. Having a straight answer from this man was almost impossible. And even when you did, you couldn't trust his words to be put into action. Although he was a politician even Xue Liu despised, he could be useful. The truth was that Patriarch Xue had always supported him so he could keep his seat, because he was easy to work with.
"Governor, please, raise your head. I did overhear of this matter. It is I who is ashamed to keep my head high in your presence. Your trouble was caused by one of my young descendants. If Xue Rui had been able to build a good relation with this Guai Mo, the matter would be over by now. I can assure you that he will be reprimanded for his stupidity. And this will serve him well when he gets to the Alchemy Conference. Young people can be cocky, it's normal. But it's our role as elders to teach them the right way."
"Indeed you are a great man, Patriarch Xue. Did you also hear of the martial art exhibition planned by General Yun?"
"Of course I did. I will send someone on my behalf. I do not care much about some show of strength. However, it proves how fragile General Yun's power is. I never needed to show the strength of my family in public. I let our successes talk for us."
"Indeed, Patriarch Xue. The Yun family is still a bit immature. But this will be a good occasion as all the families will be there. Unfortunately, I will probably be forced to attend. After all, I have to spare the Yun's face."
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Jiahe Lan was shrewd but he was absolutely transparent as well. Maybe he could have been a good governor of a more peaceful province. But as war was brewing, he was probably the worst official to run things. In fact, Xue Liu had been thinking about replacing him for quite some time. And he might be able to find a reason very soon. After all, he had heard about the Imperial Inspector's anger of his treatment of the Yun family. Thanks to his position, Xue Liu could put pressure on him so he did the same to General Yun. That way, he would weaken the Yun family and lower the Governor's status as well, while keeping his hands clean.
"I imagine that Guai Mo will also be present. This might be a good opportunity to try and make him see things more clearly. Maybe you could even try to take him in. He should understand that Xue Rui will win the competition. It will be a great honor for our Qingyun City and the entire Subei Province when he takes part in the Alchemy Conference. No matter how talented he is, this Guai Mo is a stranger. He wasn't born or even raised in our Subei Province. Instead of being humiliated by my descendant, it might be better for him to accept a good position within the Governor's residence."
"Do not worry, Patriarch Xue. I hear you loud and clear. I will personally make sure that he hears all that. But I fear that he won't listen. Anyway, if he doesn't know what's good for him, Xue Rui will put things straight in his mind. And I will personally make sure that the competition is absolutely fair from start to finish. You have my word. I can't wait to see Xue Rui represent us in the Alchemy Conference. I am sure he will be bring our Subei Province great honor."
"Thank you, Governor."
"Thank you, Patriarch."
Governor Jiahe bade farewell to Patriarch Xue and left the residence to go back to his own. Just after his return, he called a meeting of his entire Cabinet. For several hours, they would analyze every word of Patriarch Xue. Like always, they were gathered in a special room that was made specifically to ward off spiritual senses so that no one could listen in on them. Although nothing was perfect, it was still very efficient. Besides, there were no Spirit Warriors above the seventh grade in town, so no one should be able to eavesdrop unless they were literally standing outside the room and using their full spiritual senses. Obviously, they would be discovered.
Minister Yong was dismayed by Governor Jiahe's priorities. Instead of talking about very important policies, he was obsessed by those trivial political intrigues...
-
After his time spent with Cao Yun, Jiahe Ruo began to ponder about what he had told him about Xue Rui. Jiahe Ruo had had the foresight of befriending Xue Rui as soon as he started to touch upon alchemy. Even before that, he had been careful to have a few meetings by chance with the young Xue Rui so that he would leave a good impression. Always keeping some form of contact with the young people of all important families was a good strategy to find out some talented cultivators before they came to prominence. That way they wouldn't feel like they had been approached just for their talent.
But when Xue Rui really began to show a knack for alchemy, of course, Jiahe Ruo got more and more friendly with him over time. The point was to make sure that it wasn't too obvious. Although Jiahe Ruo had no particular talent, he knew how to work people. In the circles he was living, it was maybe the most important skill of all. Maybe he would never amount to much in the administration of the Hongchen Kingdom. But at least, he could get a comfortable position and leave peacefully.
In fact, Jiahe Ruo even helped Xue Rui obtain a few ingredients and some tools at the beginning. Since he was living in the shadow of his brother, Xue Rui had been lacking some things that Jiahe Ruo provided. And he had been repaid a lot when Xue Rui refined his first pills. He was even able to introduce him to other alchemists he knew before his family could. Of course, the Xue family had even more contacts, but what mattered was that Jiahe Ruo had helped him first. This left a deep impression in the young boy he was back there.
When Xue Rui joined the Wubei Sect, Jiahe Ruo was obviously bursting with joy... for his friend of course...
But he had to admit that Xue Rui wasn't too likable, but he didn't seem too awful either. However Jiahe Ruo had not met him since his return. Thus, he decided to visit Xue Rui before rumors could spread about him meeting with Guai Mo. Xue Rui seemed to be really paranoid about this Guai Mo, so it was better for him to learn of this meeting from Jiahe Ruo's lips.
Obviously, Jiahe Ruo was known by all the servants of the Xue family so he was quickly lead to Xue Rui's chambers even though he had not warned anyone of his visit.
Before he entered the room though, he heard some noises he did quite like. Clearly, someone was being beaten in there. Immediately, he sent a glance at his bodyguards. Mister Lie used his spiritual senses and described what was going on to his young master.
In the middle of the room, a servant was kneeling on the ground. And Xue Rui was beating her up with abandon. Thankfully, she was a Mortal Warrior so she could take that kind of punishment. A mere mortal or even an early Mortal would have died after a handful of strikes, their flesh completely reduced to mush. Although it was legal to punish one's servant as long as nothing too extreme was done, this kind of behavior was unbecoming of a gentleman.
Besides, from Mister Lie's description, Xue Rui was just venting his anger. There was no point behind this beating except to inflict pain and humiliation on someone else. Considering the bruises on the poor servant's skin and her cultivation, it had lasted at least an hour and yet, Xue Rui was still striking.
For a moment, Jiahe Ruo wanted to leave. But the servants had seen him come in, he couldn't just leave without an explanation as to his visit. So he would have to get inside this room and try to act civil while a young woman was kneeling on the ground, her clothes torn and her skin red, purple and blue under the assault of her master...
Thankfully, he heard a nice voice behind him. Another young woman had just saved him.
"Mister Jiahe? What a nice surprise to see you today. If I had known that you were coming, I would have prepared something for you. Do you want our cooks to..."
"No thank you."
Jiahe was a bit disgusted by food for the time being. Yes, what he had feasted upon had been absolutely extraordinary, but its cost was eating away at his sanity. For the foreseeable future, he would not have anything to do with food. Besides, this feast had ruined him. Even the food of his residence wasn't that good... But he couldn't eat at the Red Realm's Banquet Hall too often either.
"Oh?"
"I'm sorry, Miss Qiang. But I don't have that much time. I was on my way back when I suddenly remembered that I had something important to tell your husband."
Qiang Zilan had not been too careful, but her senses were not as good as a half-step Spirit Warrior. Now that she was so close to the door, she could clearly hear a familiar sound. Her husband was beating on Zhong Ling once more...