Chapter 63

(Continuing to request monthly votes...)

As the documents for entry were exchanged, they smoothly entered the city.

Chen Lie's newly built Tinghou Mansion was located in the eastern part of the city. Chen Hai and the others soon saw the brand new Zhaoyang Tinghou Mansion standing at the end of a stone-paved street.

The vast mansion covered more than a hundred acres, with a square in front of the main gate that spanned over a dozen acres. On both sides of the square were long rows of horse-tethering stones, where various spirit steeds were tied. Just by looking at these spirit steeds, one could tell that those attending tonight's banquet were the most loyal and direct subordinates of Chen Lie. The Tinghou Mansion had dispatched over a dozen people to take meticulous care of these spirit steeds.

"Chen Su!" Wu Meng, with his keen eyes, called out to a middle-aged man standing outside the main gate.

"It's Wu Meng, isn't it?" The middle-aged man walked over with large strides, smiling as he greeted Wu Meng. His gaze hesitated on Chen Hai and the others, and he asked Wu Meng, "Who are these three gentlemen?"

Chen Lie previously had a cultivation cave in Jianyun Cliff and a General's Mansion in Weijiang City.

Chen Su was previously the deputy manager of the General's Mansion. Now that Chen Lie had been transferred to serve as the deputy commander of the Yulong Camp and was enfeoffed as the Zhaoyang Tinghou, the General's Mansion in Weijiang City no longer existed. Chen Su naturally came to Yulong City to serve as the deputy manager of the Tinghou Mansion.

Although Chen Hai had never met Chen Su, he did not believe that the shrewd and capable Chen Su would fail to recognize him. He thought that Chen Su must still believe that Chen Zhang was the young master of the Tinghou Mansion, and was using this small trick to show his stance.

Chen Hai stood with his hands in his sleeves, turning his head to look at the sign hanging above the main gate of the Tinghou Mansion. The "Zhaoyang Tinghou Mansion" sign, made of red iron, was newly hung. The five large black characters were engraved with silver hooks, strong and powerful, exuding an indescribable robust charm...

Seeing Wu Meng about to explain his identity to Chen Su, Chen Hai changed the subject, pointing at the sign and asking Wu Meng, "Wu Meng, can you guess whose handwriting this is? The skill is quite remarkable!"

"If I'm not mistaken, it should be Sun Gan's work!" Wu Meng said.

"Sun Gan serves as the chief secretary under my uncle, and he is the head of all the officials. They say his cultivation through literature is very high. Just by looking at these five characters, it's indeed remarkable. Let's go in." Chen Hai walked towards the main gate, not even glancing at Chen Su.

Wu Meng glanced at the embarrassed Chen Su, said nothing more, and left him behind, walking with Zhou Jun and Ge Tong to follow Chen Hai into the mansion. They left their four mounts outside, not believing that Chen Su and his people would dare to neglect them.

Behind the main gate, there were still guards. Seeing Chen Su in such an awkward situation, they neither dared to refuse nor welcome Chen Hai and the others, and could only watch with forced smiles as Chen Hai and the others walked straight into the courtyard.

In the past half year, Chen Hai and the others had not left Yulong Mountain, and they were unfamiliar with the layout of the newly built Tinghou Mansion. However, as the young master, Chen Hai naturally had to walk into his own courtyard with a composed demeanor, strolling through the maze-like courtyard as if it were a leisurely walk.

After a while, several people came out from another courtyard gate. The leading middle-aged man, with a short mustache, looked very refined. He stood at the entrance of the corridor and bowed deeply, saying, "I, Su Yuan, did not know that the young master would arrive at this time, and I failed to go out to welcome you. I apologize."

Su Yuan was the chief manager of the Tinghou Mansion and one of Chen Lie's right-hand men, along with Sun Gan and others. Chen Hai had never met him before.

If Chen Su had directly led Chen Hai and the others in, there would have been no need for Su Yuan to come out to welcome them personally. It seemed that he knew about the minor incident that had just occurred at the main gate.

"Uncle Su, Chen Hai greets you," Chen Hai returned the bow and then said with a smile, "Who was that person at the gate called Chen Su? He didn't even recognize me. After I return, I will have Wu Meng thoroughly investigate whether Chen Su has any nephews or nieces cultivating at Huanglongyuan Dao Academy. I will take good care of them!"

Su Yuan naturally did not like Chen Hai, who was too shallow and eager. However, he did not expect Chen Su to offend Chen Hai and then immediately threaten to retaliate against Chen Su's nephews and nieces. He could only lead Chen Hai to the main hall with a straight face.

The few people following Su Yuan were all the main managers of the Tinghou Mansion. They were secretly alarmed.

Unlike the direct lineage of the Chen clan, who could directly enter the inner gate of the Seven Peaks, the collateral branches and household guards of the Chen clan, if they had cultivation talent, could only first enter the Dao Academy.

Since Chen Lie was appointed to the Yulong Camp and enfeoffed as the Zhaoyang Tinghou, his official fief was granted in Yulong City. These people were all direct subordinates of Chen Lie, and their nephews and nieces could only enter the Huanglongyuan Dao Academy for cultivation.

This meant that no matter how much they looked down on this young master, their nephews and nieces, once they entered the Huanglongyuan Dao Academy, would fall under the control of this "young master." Moreover, many of their young people had already entered the Huanglongyuan Dao Academy and been severely disciplined for their arrogance...

Thinking of this, the few people behind Su Yuan felt their scalps tingle, realizing that this vengeful "young master" was not someone they could easily provoke.

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The Tinghou Mansion was also festively decorated. Chen Lie still had a few private letters to write by hand and was in the study in the back courtyard. However, Chen Zhang, Chen Qing, and the other direct subordinates and generals were already gathered in the banquet hall, waiting for the celebration to begin.

Even Su Zilin was sitting next to Chen Qing.

Chen Hai followed Su Yuan into the hall, and many people stood up with Chen Zhang.

No matter what they thought of him in private or how much they looked down on this playboy, Chen Hai's status as the "eldest son" was personally recognized by the family head, Chen Lie, and he had equal status with Chen Zhang in the Tinghou Mansion.

These direct subordinates and generals of Chen Lie, even if they did not go out to welcome Chen Hai, had to stand up to show respect. Only Chen Qing sat there by himself, not even bothering to look at Chen Hai.

Chen Zhang was also very "enthusiastic," introducing the people in the hall to Chen Hai.

The chief secretary under Chen Lie, Sun Gan, was a middle-aged scholar under forty, holding a feather fan and wearing a headband. Like Su Yuan, he had reached the late-stage Spirit Opening realm and had always been one of Chen Lie's right-hand men.

In addition, there were two late-stage Spirit Opening realm experts, Xie Quan and Chen Yu, from the collateral branches of the Chen clan, who had grown up with Chen Lie and were close to him.

If the Zhaoyang Tinghou Mansion were to form its own faction within the Chen clan, Su Yuan, Sun Gan, Xie Quan, and Chen Yu could be considered the four pillars of the Zhaoyang Tinghou Mansion. They had always been trusted and favored by Chen Lie.

Moreover, they were all in their prime, with the potential and room for further cultivation breakthroughs.

In addition to these four, Chen Lie had nearly thirty late-stage Spirit Opening realm direct subordinates and generals under his command.

Although these people were all very enthusiastic, Chen Hai could easily tell that they would support Chen Zhang far more than him, this half-baked "young master."

Chen Hai, however, did not care. He introduced Zhou Jun and Ge Tong to everyone. When he saw some household guards with shallow minds, he would occasionally frown, thinking that his performance outside must have already been reported to them.

Wu Meng, Zhou Jun, and Ge Tong sat at the lower end of the hall. Chen Zhang enthusiastically supported Chen Hai's arm and pulled him to the upper seat.

Chen Hai smiled and declined, saying, "How can I sit in front of all the uncles?" He insisted on sitting below Sun Gan and then spoke to Chen Qing, who was sitting below Sun Gan, "You and Zilin are already back. When I returned to Huanglongyuan, I even went to look for you."

Chen Qing did not understand why Chen Hai would come to her and make himself look foolish. She just stared at the fruits on the table, completely ignoring Chen Hai.

"I even prepared a gift..." Chen Hai, seemingly oblivious to the disgust on Chen Qing's face, took out a piece of brocade from his chest.

"I don't want any gifts from you," Chen Qing said coldly.

"Oh," Chen Hai was surprised, "This is for Zilin. I didn't prepare one for you..." He smoothly bypassed Chen Qing and extended his hand towards Su Zilin.

Su Zilin was preoccupied with other thoughts and did not expect Chen Hai to suddenly do this. Seeing the brocade in front of her, she naturally did not reach out to take it, but her beautiful face turned red with embarrassment, as if some secret had been suddenly exposed to everyone.

Seeing Su Zilin's hand on the table, Chen Hai was not at all embarrassed. He took back the brocade and laughed, "I didn't expect Chen Qing to misunderstand, making Zilin too embarrassed to accept my gift. If I had known, I would have prepared two gifts next time!"

Chen Qing's face turned pale with anger, wishing she could overturn the table and smash it on Chen Hai's scarred face.

Sun Gan and Su Yuan exchanged glances, both thinking that this "young master" could be so calm and composed upon entering, even teasing Chen Qing, who was hostile towards him. Perhaps he was not as simple as they thought.

Ge Tong, from a humble background, was one thing, but Zhou Jun and Zhao Ruhui had a master-disciple relationship, which was almost a public secret. Zhou Jun was about to formally become a disciple of Chen Lie, which meant that Zhao Ruhui would become the Chen clan's most steadfast ally in the Huanglongyuan Dao Academy.

Moreover, Li Xianghai had been getting very close to their side recently.

Sun Gan, Su Yuan, Xie Quan, and Chen Yu did not think Chen Hai had a chance to compete with Chen Zhang for the position.

They could see that Chen Hai had already reached the late-stage Mystic Passage realm, but they also knew that Chen Lie had prepared four Mystic Passage pills for Chen Hai. They thought that Chen Hai would be twenty years old after the New Year, and only just entering the inner gate of the Seven Peaks, which was extremely slow for a direct lineage of a noble family.

Moreover, after Chen Hai's cultivation was ruined, he had taken five Mystic Passage pills to cultivate four spirit meridians, meaning that taking more pills would have little effect. Building a spirit sea on the foundation of four spirit meridians would greatly limit his future potential, making it extremely difficult to advance even a small realm.

However, this "waste" had managed to secure two mid-stage Enlightenment Passage realm allies for the Chen clan in a short time and had made the Medicine Garden quite successful. Even if he did not have a chance to compete with Young Master Chen Zhang, Sun Gan, Su Yuan, Xie Quan, and Chen Yu had to admit that this "waste" was not entirely useless...

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