Chapter 3636 — Schemes in the Dark
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
As the saying goes, even the lowest steward in a prime minister's household outranks a magistrate. The meanest menial attached to these elders was still a personage that Meng Jueming could only gaze up at and strain to reach—and even had he wished to curry favor, he might never have found the opportunity!
As for speaking with these elders directly, that was sheer fantasy. And if he ever truly dreamed such a dream, Meng Jueming would likely tremble with fear even in his sleep!
Just then, a stir ran through the crowd. The sharp-eyed newcomers had already spotted that in the distance, amid a great host of attendants headed by Hu Yunfeng, master of the Newcomer's Hall, the elders of the Threefold Pavilion had finally arrived!
There! Meng Jueming's eyes suddenly lit up. Among the three elders he spotted an acquaintance: Xu Lingchong, the great young master Xu. Judging by how effortlessly he moved among the three elders, getting him to deal with Wei Zhao would be a matter of a single word.
Xu Lingchong's presence there was no surprise. The elder representing the Soaring Heaven Pavilion this time was one of the supreme members of the Elder Council of Cloud Terrace Island's North Isle, and the Third Elder of the Soaring Heaven Pavilion—none other than Xu Lingchong's own grandfather, Xu Yuanzheng.
As for the other two elders who appeared alongside him, they were Xie Xin, Fifth Elder of the Mystic Mechanism Pavilion, and Zhao Hongbo, Fourth Elder of the Azure Cloud Pavilion.
Of the three, Xie Xin of the Mystic Mechanism Pavilion and Zhao Hongbo of the Azure Cloud Pavilion were figures countless people looked up to, yet beside Xu Yuanzheng their standing still fell a notch short. The reason was simple: neither sat on the Elder Council, while Xu Yuanzheng did.
To be denied a seat on the Elder Council meant having no say in many of the Threefold Pavilion's weightiest affairs, meant falling one step short of the very summit of the North Isle. So although Xie Xin and Zhao Hongbo were lofty elders in their own right, before a giant of Xu Yuanzheng's stature on the Elder Council, they could not help but stand a head lower.
Naturally enough, Xu Yuanzheng became the undisputed leading figure of this Newcomer's Hall's open instruction day, and his grandson Xu Lingchong, kept at his side, became the focus of all eyes, chatting and laughing before the three elders with perfect ease and assurance.
For Xu Yuanzheng's sake, even the two elders Xie Xin and Zhao Hongbo showed not the slightest air of superiority when speaking with Xu Lingchong; in both manner and word they were all warmth and affability, to the envy of everyone watching.
The others in attendance—Hu Yunfeng and the rest—enjoyed no such treatment. Beyond endless fawning smiles, they scarcely dared draw a deep breath before the three elders, for fear that some careless move might displease one of them and bring down ruin upon their heads.
Yet for all his quaking, Hall Master Hu Yunfeng was at that moment deeply stirred, for by the custom of past years, the elder the Threefold Pavilion sent to the open instruction day was generally the lowest-ranked elder of whichever pavilion hosted it—not even men of Xie Xin's and Zhao Hongbo's caliber might have been expected to attend. But this year, not only had those two come; even Xu Yuanzheng had appeared in person!
A member of the Elder Council—a giant of the whole North Isle!
Xu Yuanzheng's presence was an unprecedented honor for the humble Newcomer's Hall. It lent the whole hall a rare luster and put its master, Hu Yunfeng, in a most flattering light. So long as he won Xu Yuanzheng's approval, his future rise to glory would surely follow as a matter of course.