Chapter 189: Meeting with the Yi Family
The list of rules the scholarly man spoke was long. They were full of tiresome details and clauses that the Bald Eagle Dynasty loved.
Xiao Fan didn't like such specific rules since rules in his mind were something to be played around. He hated if everything had been thought of and had been put under another clause.
For Xiao Fan's annoyance, the rules being stated to them were just this. Every small detail that could lead to a loophole which could then be used had been blocked with another rule.
What more there was another big surprise in all of this; the age rule was being broken in rule three.
'Monitors? What for?' Xiao Fan couldn't put his head around on this idea. 'They want to grade our work? Bullshit! They are there just to make connections and watch over us in the case something too drastic happens.'
The monitors' Xiao Fan was referring to were just that. They were people from the older generations who wanted to influence the outcome with the pretence of watching over the children... Children who were over twenty-five in some cases.
'Whatever, more planning that's all.' He calmed himself down and focused onto the fourth rule that was being shouted by the scholarly man right now.
Yet it was only more boring rules.
Still, they were rules that he needed to know so that he wouldn't be breaking them by accident.
But by the fiftieth or something rule, Xiao Fan felt that maybe the monitors wouldn't remember every rule.
"That's it for the rules," the scholarly man ended his part and turner towards the Emperor. "Your Majesty has something else?" He said with cupped hands.
The Emperor jolted a bit; he had been in his own world for the past hour. "Yes, yes, you can go now." When responding, the Emperor shooed the scholarly man away with his hand.
The scholarly man bowed and left while the Emperor got out from his seat. "Now"—his eyes went over his children who were on the lower stage—"those who want to join the competition can walk forward."
Immediately after the words were spoken, the Princes and Princesses took a few steps forward, indicating their desire to join the competition. However, not all did; the Fourth Princess didn't.
The Emperor frowned before asking, "Fourth Princess, my daughter, you aren't wanting?"
"I want to take part in this, but I will not be fighting for myself." The Fourth Princess looked over to his father, who had a rather disappointed expression.
The Emperor surely didn't like what she had done, but her words made him ask, "Not fighting for yourself? Then who are you fighting for?"
The Fourth Princess's eyes went around her for a moment before finding the person "The Second Prince, I want to fight for the Second Prince's claim." Her eyes locked on Wang Geming.
"?" Xiao Fan got confused. This wasn't planned.
He wasn't alone for almost everyone in the room was utterly oblivious to what was happening here.
Only a few people knew of this, one of them Yi Lin, who hearing this nudged her body forwards so that she could look at the Fourth Princess's mother.
The Fourth Princess's mother was different from everyone else this close to the Emperor. She wasn't of noble birth at all. Her story was well known in the harem and closely associated with the craziness of the Emperor because she was the first woman who with the Emperor had a relationship not talked to the public.
Of course, even before her, the Emperor had been a sex-crazed maniac, but she started the long tradition of bringing them to the court and legitimising their children as his own flesh and blood.
She wasn't a powerful nor liked character at all.
The woman noting the Queen stare smiled back. 'Hope this will help my daughter...' While thinking so inside of her.
Yi Lin returned the smile with a smile. Her daughter doing this solidified their deal. 'Now my son has one more leg up on the others.' She was in a happy mood.
"So... you want to fight with your brother?"
"Yes, I want to fight for my brother's cause. I believe that Second Prince will be the best one to lead your Empire into a future which of you will be pleased." Her words might have been gone over by Yi Lin, but that was just for extra effect.
Wang Geming himself had a wide smile aimed at the Fourth Princess. 'Mother is the best,' he thought. 'With this, the nobles will surely remember me as the most important contender.'
Wang Geming wasn't wrong, the Nobles on the other side, opposite of the Royals, were all whispering and thinking of the Second Prince.
However, with growing favours and popularity came envy. Many of the Princes were already annoyed by the success of the Second Prince in the exploration. Now it was only heightened; furthermore, their family members now joined that hate.
The Fourth Princess was an exception for almost all other contenders came from a family or a sect that could send help and reinforcements for their own contender.
There was even a Ye last-named woman in the harem, who wasn't too happy with this development. 'Maybe calling for the aid of grandfather would be suitable in this case,' she considered.
The talk continued with the Emperor switching his focus onto Wang Geming. "My son, Wang Geming... do you take her support?"
"Father, I will. There is only joy in my heart when I see that my sister has decided to lend her helping hand to me. I will not disappoint." Like her, Wang Gemin's words weren't his own either.
"I am gladdened to hear this. The Royal Family must be united"—he nodded—"I accept this." His head then went towards the other sons and daughters he had.
"Anyone else?"
There was silence, nor did anyone move.
"Then this is everything for now." While speaking, he was already turning around to leave this boring place and go back to the harem.
"The meeting has ended!" Thankfully the Emperor remembered to shout this, or they all would have stayed here, waiting.
'That's one lousy Emperor.' Xiao Fan left with the mass of people taking their leave from the hall.
....
Outside the Royal Palace.
"The hall was beautiful. Almost pretty as you." Xiao Fan was talking with Zhuan An.
"Everything there was so pretty and clean," she commented to his first sentence while blushing from the other.
"I didn't think that the Fourth Princess would join our forces, not this soon."
"Her decision must not have been her own... someone else must have influenced her thinking..." Zhuan An had been thinking of this already.
"I think we know who."
Zhuan An nodded while taking the hand of Xiao Fan that helped her boarding the carriage.
Xiao Fan came behind her, and having sat down continued, "I think we will soon hear of the more specific parts of the deal. No need to worry so much." Zhuan An seemed to be very deep in thought after getting a seat herself.
"I'm thinking of other things." Her hand swept through her black hair.
"The life of a small timer does suck, huh. So much thinking." He understood her worries; he had the same. By now, Xiao Fan had come to terms with the fact that he needed to watch out for everything since anything could crumble his plans.
After that, there were no more words exchanged. The carriage moved forwards as the two of them planned for their future.
....
The carriage stopped.
Two figures came out of it, and the people walked into a mansion comparable to the Lei Family house in Hefei City.
The two's arrival had been informed earlier to the servants, and so a butler took them to a large room where there was one table and a lot of chairs.
Looking at the flags and crest, Xiao Fan noted that the Yi Family was rather proud of their heritage. 'Weird. I always hear that the Bald Eagle Dynasty is so centralised, yet these Noble houses still seem very independent.'
Like always, Xiao Fan wondered of many things and let the time fly. The next people stepping into the room would wake him up anyway.
....
*Noises of multiple people walking*
Indeed, Xiao Fan was right for when those voices came near enough, he came back to reality and looked at the door that was soon opened.
Three women and one man came into the room first, behind them there was a larger parade of scholars and generals alike.
Xiao Fan got off from the chair. "I'm looking forward to working with..." he stopped. He still didn't know the Fourth Princess's name.
"Wang Shuan." The Fourth Princess told her name.
"Excellent name," he quickly noted before presenting himself to the other woman walking next to her.
This made Wang Shuan feel ignored, but then again, her mother was an important person in her life. This Mask was just one of the men working with Wang Geming...
"Fu Xiang." The person Xiao Fan was introducing himself to now gave her own name.
"Good naming runs in the family I see."—his hand went to the free chair next to him—"Please, have a seat." Smiling at Fu Xiang, he drew the chair out from under the table.
Fu Xiang thanked and took the seat next to Xiao Fan while the daughter took the next one to her mother.
'The life of a small fry in such work,' Xiao Fan thought. If he was strong, there would be no need to keep appearances and please the influential ones until they turned their backs towards him.
Nevertheless, thanks to this small gesture, he had gained a little bit more trust from these two women. He was happy and took his own seat while chatting more with the concubine and her daughter.
At the same time, he was also taking notes on the men that were coming into the conference room. There were many more generals than scholars amongst them, making Xiao Fan reason that the Yi Family focused on martial prowess.
When they had done the same dance as Xiao Fan had done with Fu Xiang, Yi Lin, at the end of the table with Wang Geming started the meeting.
"Welcome, welcome." At the same time, the doors into the room closed.
"To the topic." Yi Con, A man wearing armour planted his fist onto the table right after those words had left Yi Lin's mouth. "He's going to be the next Emperor?"
"Yes, I am going to be the next Emperor," Wang Geming confirmed.
"Good, it has been a long time since a Yi ruled the Bald Eagle Dynasty. Second Prince even seems capable" Yi Con made a satisfied nod and withdrew his hand off the table.
"The outcome cannot be decided at the current moment..." Yi Pong, the scholarly man who had been reading the rules in front of the Emperor, stated.
"I have all the pieces in my hand already."
"I heard that you already realised what that means... People are out to get you."
"Not anymore. Now they are all paying me," Wang Geming laughed.
The scholarly man sternly glared at the Second Prince. "This is not a joking matter." 'He needs more polishing. Maybe then he'll be up for the job.'
"Of course, of course," Wang Geming took a few steps back in his tone. Even if he became the Emperor, it wasn't a wise move to ignore these people, after all, these men ruled the Yi Family.
"Can you now see why I sent the people to seek for my ¨missing¨ son?" Yi Lin took a turn at speaking.
"It was a good move, and after today it is even better" Yi Pong gave her this one. "Yi Lin, you should have told this at the very beginning," he found another thing to complain of.
"Who knows how many spies are in the family." She shook her head.
"After the last purge, a few of them have been popping up still..."
"Spies in our family? Again?" Yi Con opened up his mouth, a mouth that did offer anything constructive.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone