Chapter 3609 — Who Really Calls the Shots!

And he actually welcomed them to come gawk again? Did not even mind losing face? That bastard—it was enough to make one's blood boil! Truly, there were limits to what could be endured; if an uncle could bear it, an aunt still could not!

To keep from making an even greater fool of himself, Meng Jueming waved his hand for the rest of the newcomers to disperse, while he himself watched Xu Lingchong's darkened face with the utmost caution.

"Meng Jueming, as the newcomers' steward of Azure Cloud Pavilion, are you just going to stand there and watch him strut about like that? If you haven't the ability, then get out of that seat instead of wasting good food—I am sure there is no shortage of men willing to step up and deal with Wei Zhao!" Xu Lingchong glared at Meng Jueming in fury.

When he had first heard that Meng Jueming had kicked Wei Zhao straight into Number Ten, the dead mining zone, he had thought the man might be a talent. Now it was plain that he was nothing but a useless fool and a dunce!

Seeing Xu Lingchong turn his humiliated rage upon him, Meng Jueming instantly cast his earlier worries to the back of his mind and broke out in a cold sweat. He was nothing but a petty steward at the very bottom—how could he withstand the fury of a young master like Xu?

And what was more, Meng Jueming had only just sensed a hint of acceptance from Xu Lingchong. If he mishandled this now, then in the future Xu Lingchong would sooner ignore him than look his way!

Luckily, Meng Jueming still had a small man's quick wit about him. His eyes rolled, and he said, "Young Master Xu, do not be hasty. Wei Zhao managing to dig out so much fine jade from the dead mining zone two days running—I reckon there must be some trick to it. Very likely he has stumbled onto a high-grade ore vein!"

Xu Lingchong nodded thoughtfully. There was something to that analysis. Even if it was Number Ten, the dead mining zone, it was after all only a region drawn up by men; in essence it still ran together with the other high-grade mining zones. True, the jade yield there had always been low, but that did not mean good jade was entirely absent. If Wei Zhao really had, by blind luck, stumbled onto a high-grade ore vein, then it was hardly strange at all for him to pull fine jade from the dead mining zone several days in a row.

Seeing Xu Lingchong accept this, Meng Jueming's spirits rose at once, and he pressed on with his advice: "So I say we first move him to another mining zone to wear him down for a few days. Once we have a clear picture of just how Number Ten yields its fine jade, it will not be too late to think up a way to deal with him. What does Young Master Xu think?"

"That... well, it is not out of the question," Xu Lingchong said, stroking his chin.

Much as Xu Lingchong wanted to deal with Wei Zhao, his station made it impossible for him to strike at the man directly. And given his position, even if he meant to deal with Wei Zhao, the method could not be too crude or heavy-handed—otherwise, even if he eventually trapped Wei Zhao, once word spread he would become a laughingstock among the other young masters and ladies. So if Wei Zhao was to be dealt with, it had to be done in such a way that no one could find the slightest fault with it!

The plan Meng Jueming proposed would take some time, but Xu Lingchong could well afford the patience of a few days.

"Very well. I leave this matter to you. If you handle it well, I will have Hu Yunfeng reward you; but if you botch it, then you can figure out your own fate." Xu Lingchong shot Meng Jueming a glance. Until a better method came to mind, letting Meng Jueming—this local snake of a steward—deal with Wei Zhao was a rather clever move.

Meng Jueming hastily clapped a hand to his chest and pledged, "Rest easy, Young Master Xu, I guarantee Wei Zhao will not have an easy time of it! Since the little wretch had the nerve to offend our Young Master Xu, I dare not promise much else, but dealing with a little nobody from the secular world is more than within my means—just wait and see him eat bitterness!"

"Good!" The gloom finally lifted from Xu Lingchong's face. He paused, then said, "Oh, that reminds me—earlier today, that Lu Bianren of your Welcome Pavilion wanted to move Wei Zhao to another mining zone, and I happened to run into him and gave him a good scolding. Just now I saw these useless newcomers of Azure Cloud Pavilion were less than respectful toward you. If you go on to move Wei Zhao to another mining zone, you can make good use of this."

At these words, Meng Jueming's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly thanked him again and again: "Thank you for your guidance, Young Master Xu! You truly are as sharp-eyed and wise as the rumors say—the leading figure of the Threefold Pavilion's new generation, truly worthy of the name!"

"Ha, leading figure of the new generation—you certainly have a glib tongue!" Xu Lingchong's mood improved considerably at this. Though his backing was formidable and he was a famed young master of the Threefold Pavilion, to call him the leading figure of the new generation was going too far. There were very few young people with deeper backgrounds and greater strength than his, but they did exist. Still, Meng Jueming's flattery had not missed its mark—this Young Master Xu did so love to hear such words!

Watching Xu Lingchong lead Kang Jingming and the other off in smug satisfaction, Meng Jueming finally let out a breath. He had dreamed day and night of currying favor with a young master like Xu Lingchong, but when it came to facing him head-on as he had just done, the pressure had truly been crushing. Thank goodness he had thought fast and landed his flattery just right—otherwise it would have been no easy thing to fob off this Young Master Xu.

"Cousin Jiu, what did Young Master Xu mean by that just now? What use is there to make of it?" Once Xu Lingchong and the others were far off, Meng Zhou turned to Meng Jueming in utter confusion. Before a young master like Xu Lingchong, even Meng Jueming was trembling with fear, and he, a newcomer disciple at an even lower rung, had barely dared to breathe.

Meng Jueming looked at him, then at Li Zhengming, whose face was just as blank, and pressed a hand to his forehead in exasperation. "Truly, rotten wood cannot be carved. What is stuffed in your heads—paste? Even something this obvious you cannot see! Dumb as posts, the pair of you!"

He paused, and seeing that the two still did not understand, Meng Jueming could only explain patiently: "Young Master Xu already said it. Lu Bianren, that third pavilion master, wanted to change Wei Zhao's mining zone, but because of Young Master Xu it did not happen. And if I now move Wei Zhao to Number Seven, then tell me—how will the others react?"

Meng Zhou finally caught on, and clapped his hands in excitement. "Something even our lofty third pavilion master of the Welcome Pavilion could not pull off, and our Cousin Jiu goes and does it—won't that be showing off our face in a grand way!"

Beside him, Li Zhengming chimed in eagerly: "And that is not all! Wei Zhao has provoked our senior brother time and again, yet our senior brother still bears no grudge and even moves him to Number Seven—that is nothing short of repaying malice with kindness!"

"Heh, what you two say is not wrong, but you have both missed the point." Meng Jueming smiled noncommittally, then his gaze turned cold. "To turn the clouds with one hand and the rain with the other—I mean to let those shortsighted, fence-sitting newcomers see clearly who really calls the shots! Whomever I wish to have an easy time, I can give an easy time; whomever I wish to have a hard time will most certainly have a hard time! Our backing is Xu Lingchong—how can that wretch and Lu Bianren compare?"RS