Chapter 3702 — Two Pieces of Intelligence
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 3
"I never expected you to have a trick or two up your sleeve, Old Meng! You're a real talent!" Xu Lingchong's estimation of Meng Jueming rose several notches at these words. Until now, the man had been no more than a marginal figure in his eyes, dispensable at best. But after hearing this speech, he suddenly realized that this Meng Jueming actually had a decent head on his shoulders.
Buoyed by Xu Lingchong's praise, Meng Jueming was beside himself with delight. He had been racking his brains to cling to this thick thigh of a patron, and now at last he had won recognition.
"Then tell me—how do we make Wei Zhao show his lecherous, fickle face in front of our little junior sister Lan'er?" Xu Lingchong pressed on.
With a cunning smile, Meng Jueming at once presented the plan he had been brewing in his mind, as though laying a treasure at his master's feet.
When Xu Lingchong had heard it out, he could not help clapping his hands and laughing. "A splendid scheme! I'll leave this matter in your hands, Old Meng. That Lu Bianren of your Azure Cloud Pavilion is already settled to be sent packing. Once this is done, I'll put in a word upstairs and have you take his place as Third Pavilion Master of the Welcome Pavilion!"
"Thank you for your favor, Young Master Xu!" Meng Jueming was overjoyed on the spot. Third Pavilion Master of the Welcome Pavilion—that was the position he had dreamed of for years. A managing senior brother was merely bottom-rung, but as Third Pavilion Master he would be a genuine high-ranking figure of the Welcome Pavilion.
"But let me be blunt with you first: only if you handle this matter neatly will I put in that word for you."
Xu Lingchong paused, then added as a reminder: "Also, your qualifications are no great obstacle to taking the Third Pavilion Master's seat, but your strength—peak early-stage Foundation Establishment—is too poor. You'll need at least mid-stage Foundation Establishment. If you fail to meet that hard threshold, no amount of people speaking up for you will do any good. Lu Bianren's fate is already settled, but it will likely be several months before he is actually sent packing. That stretch of time should be enough for you to break through!"
"Young Master Xu speaks the truth. I will spare no effort—I absolutely will not let you down," Meng Jueming nodded repeatedly.
The post of Third Pavilion Master of the Welcome Pavilion, though it seemed to carry little authority and matter little, was quite otherwise—because the Tri-Layered Pavilion had always valued its newcomers. Anyone with a stint in the Welcome Pavilion on his record would naturally come into the view of the higher-ups, and so long as he committed no grave error, his future prospects were bound to be boundless.
In fact, more than half of the Tri-Layered Pavilion's current elders had at one time served as chief or deputy pavilion master of the Welcome Pavilion. The post was effectively a key reserve pool for the Pavilion's future high leadership.
For that reason, appointments to and removals from the chief and deputy pavilion master posts of the Welcome Pavilion had always been handled with extreme caution. Not only did the elders within each pavilion of the Tri-Layered Pavilion have to reach a consensus, but when opinions clashed sharply, the matter would even be raised for open deliberation at the Council of Elders.
In such a process, one's connections naturally mattered a great deal, but there was at minimum one hard requirement: one's strength had to reach mid-stage Foundation Establishment or above. Otherwise, if one's strength could not overawe the newcomer stewards below, how could one command respect even seated as Third Pavilion Master?