Shennong Dao Master
Chapter 657 - 8: Xiao Tian Dog and Inverted Sheep, Winter Preliminaries (Da Zhang)_5

Chapter 657: Chapter 8: Xiao Tian Dog and Inverted Sheep, Winter Preliminaries (Da Zhang)_5

"It’s time for you to make your own way out there. Otherwise, your teacher might blame this palace for meddling too much."

Beside her, Ji Zixuan couldn’t help but feel admiration; her brother passed up on the benefits, truly extraordinary indeed.

"Have you heard that your foster father is planning to make up for your adult ceremony? Is that so?" Princess You Ruo suddenly remembered something. "This palace recalls that Liu Sicheng also provided a reference, known as Yuan You. Which one did you eventually choose?"

"Chen An, which means peace at every hour."

"Oh, that’s not bad."

After accompanying the old witch for a while and seeing signs of fatigue on her face, he began to rise: "Mother, please don’t overexert yourself, your disciple shall take his leave now."

"Go ahead, come visit the Prince Mansion whenever you have time."

"Yes."

...

Mr. Zhao, who was blissfully content with both cats and dogs, returned to Dongyang County dragging along the Ten-thousand-year-old Mystic Turtle and a pile of gifts.

On November 13th, Zhao Ruide made up for Zhao Xing’s adult ceremony.

He sent out invitations to friends, colleagues, and superiors he had made over the past year in Dongyang County and Bixian County.

Zhao Ruide also sent an invitation to Bixian Palace, but Princess You Ruo had already gone out and was not in Bixian County.

She sent Liu Wanliang, the low-key Prince Mansion’s Chief, to attend the banquet on her behalf.

But still, it was noticed.

As a result, Zhao Ruide, who originally intended to have a small celebration, ended up sending out several hundred more invitations.

Because the Director sent by Princess You Ruo was someone who had been with her the longest and held the highest position.

With such a figure attending the banquet in Dongyang County, how could the officials of Bixian County not take note?

Consequently, many of them approached the County Magistrate and justice Director of the Inspection Bureau of Dongyang, begging for an extra invitation from Zhao Ruide!

Indirect relationships were forcefully brought into play under various pretexts:

I am the superior’s superior’s superior of Zhao Ruide. Coming for a toast at the celebration is quite reasonable, isn’t it?

I’m the recommender of Zhao Ruide’s superior; sending me an invitation isn’t asking too much.

I was the justice Director of the previous Inspection Bureau of Bixian County. It was just a one-year difference, and Zhao Ruide would have been my subordinate. It’s logical for me to attend the banquet.

...

Therefore, the invitation sent by a minor eighth-grade Deputy Inspector from Dongyang County surprisingly attracted many prominent officials from Bixian County.

Boatloads of guests arrived for the banquet.

Because the nature of the banquet wasn’t important, nor was it whether they knew Marquis Yuan Rang or not.

Being able to attend this event signified inclusion in certain circles; they might even meet influential figures at the banquet!

Had the celebration not ended quickly, even higher-ups from Chongming Prefecture might have shown up.

"With a simple coming-of-age ceremony like yours attracting such a gathering, anyone unaware might think a high-ranking official was hosting a feast."

In Zhao Mansion, on the evening after the guests had dispersed, Chen Shijie and Zhao Xing chatted in a waterside pavilion.

"Who could have expected this," said Zhao Xing, also somewhat amused, "These people caught the scent and came running. You can’t even stop them. They even ordered my father’s superior to demand an invitation."

"The former Inspector doesn’t even care about his dignity, just shamelessly forcing his way into the banquet. It’s absurdly comical."

Chen Shijie sighed, "The power play in the inland officialdom is convoluted, with countless fair-weather bureaucrats. It’s better to be in the military; far less roundabout."

Zhao Xing glanced at Old Chen, "Ran into some trouble on Firefly Island? Did someone give you a hard time?"

Chen Shijie shook his head, "I did run into some filthy dealings, but it’s still within normal limits. You don’t need to intervene."

Zhao Xing was also leveraging Princess You Ruo’s influence. While it was acceptable for him to enjoy this halo of influence, to extend it to Chen Shijie seemed like using Princess You Ruo’s name to intimidate others.

Stretching one’s hands too far is not always a good thing.

After all, Zhao Xing was just a sixth-rank Supervisor and a third-rank Marquis.

What if Princess You Ruo stopped caring one day? What if she fell out with Liu Tianning?

Chen Shijie didn’t want Zhao Xing to waste this favor on him.

"I must warn you," he said.

"You throw a makeup adult ceremony, and it attracts county officials of fifth-rank to send gifts. It seems glorious."

"But don’t get too carried away," cautioned Chen Shijie.

"After all, the Princess hasn’t married your teacher. If one day she takes a different path and retracts all her support for you, you need to stand on your own two feet without this backing."

These were heartfelt words from Old Chen, and only he would give such advice when Zhao Xing was basking in success.

Zhao Xing nodded, "I understand. Thank you for the reminder."

Some might not take it to heart, but Zhao Xing was one to heed advice.

And he knew Chen Shijie was right. According to the old witch and Lao Liu’s development in their past life, they were bound to fall out during the Da Zhi Period.

Chen Shijie smiled and said, "We don’t need to be so formal between us. Why haven’t we seen Long Xiao? Didn’t you invite him?"

Zhao Xing took out the Earth Mirror, "I did, but he said his duties were too heavy, and his superior didn’t grant him leave, so he couldn’t make it."

Chen Shijie scoffed, "That scoundrel is playing the victim again. I inquired about the personnel in the Cruiser Bureau of Red Stone County; it’s a backwater government office, what duties could he possibly have?"

Zhao Xing questioned, "He hasn’t even returned for the New Year; there must have been something important, right?"

Chen Shijie replied, "I’ve also made inquiries; he has no such pressing matters."

"That bastard is wrapped up with a woman."

"What?" Zhao Xing suddenly became interested. "Tell me more."

Chen Shijie smiled, "You taught him to use the public security regulations to fight pirates, and after taking office, he’s been running around capturing outlaws."

"I pressed him two months ago to find out that last year, during one of his pirating operations, he encountered the Azure Dragon Army’s fifth-ranked ’Green-eyed White Dragon Army’."

"He even fought with the leader of the Azure Dragon Army, ’Bai Yang’."