Chapter 3604 — Bullying by Power
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
But who would have thought that before he could even enjoy the spectacle, he would run straight into this mess—Lu Bianren, that spineless coward of a thousand years, was actually trying to change Wei Zhao's mining zone! A mere third pavilion master of the Welcome Newcomers Pavilion, stripped of all real authority, and he actually fancied himself somebody worth reckoning with!
"Who was it just now that wanted to change Wei Zhao's mining zone? Was it you, Third Pavilion Master Lu?" Xu Lingchong looked at Lu Bianren with a curl of his lip, his face utterly devoid of any attempt to hide his contempt.
"That's right, it was me," Lu Bianren said, steeling himself.
"Oh, so it really was Third Pavilion Master Lu who said it. Then I'm puzzled—since when does a mere third pavilion master of the Welcome Newcomers Pavilion get to meddle in the Spirit Jade Hall's affairs? Has the Spirit Jade Hall been annexed by the Welcome Newcomers Pavilion? Or perhaps the Spirit Jade Hall has been annexed by your Reflection Cliff?" Xu Lingchong sneered, pressing him relentlessly.
"Heh heh, listen to yourself, Young Master Xu! With the Welcome Newcomers Pavilion's penny-pinching, threadbare look, if anyone's doing the annexing, it'd be our Spirit Jade Hall annexing them!" Dai Wuchang chimed in with a chuckle from the side. A moment ago Lu Bianren had cowed him, but now that Xu Lingchong had his back, he naturally no longer needed to worry about Lu Bianren's displeasure.
Though both were independent departments nominally on the same tier, the Welcome Newcomers Pavilion could only oversee a pack of newly admitted disciple rookies, whereas the Spirit Jade Hall held the purse strings of the entire North Island—even the Three-Tier Pavilion regarded it with great importance. The appointment of the Spirit Jade Hall's master and that of the Welcome Newcomers Pavilion's master were simply not on the same level at all; the two bodies' standing could not be mentioned in the same breath.
"Haha, I only wish what you said were true, Young Master Xu! If Third Pavilion Master Lu really had the ability to annex the Spirit Jade Hall, I'd have to burn incense and set him up on an altar. Next month, when I become the newcomers' steward and take over Reflection Cliff, wouldn't I then be in charge of the Spirit Jade Hall? Just thinking about it is delightful!" Kang Jingming laughed, trailing behind them.
"In your dreams! You're a toad lusting after swan meat—oh, no, wait, the toad ought to be a certain third pavilion master!" Xu Lingchong and the others burst into a roar of laughter.
Hearing them mock him so brazenly, Lu Bianren's face darkened. Though he lacked the nerve to stand against Xu Lingchong, this concerned Wei Zhao's future—and, more than that, the principles he had always held fast to. In the end his expression firmed, and he said in a clear, ringing voice, "Young Master Xu jests. I am not meddling in the Spirit Jade Hall's affairs; the Spirit Jade Hall has always had this exception. Newcomers in Number Ten mining zone may, at discretion, be transferred to other zones. And Wei Zhao is a newcomer of my Welcome Newcomers Pavilion, so my request to change Wei Zhao's mining zone is no overstepping of authority."
"Oh? The Spirit Jade Hall has such an exception, does it? Dai Wuchang, you're the one in charge of the mining zone contracts—you ought to know this best. Tell us." Xu Lingchong raised an eyebrow and looked at Dai Wuchang.
"In reply to Young Master Xu, old Dai here has worked this post for some years now, and I've never once heard of such an exception. Perhaps Third Pavilion Master Lu would be so good as to point it out to my face—this exception he speaks of, just which section and which article of the Spirit Jade Hall's regulations is it?" Dai Wuchang said with a perfectly straight face, looking at Lu Bianren with mockery written all over him.
"You—!" Lu Bianren's face went ashen, and he choked on his words for a long moment.