Ch 64: Celebrating With Fireworks
“Your Humble Servant has arrived!”
Lin Che readily replied, quickly following behind.
Court Officials repeatedly followed, thronging around him, many seizing the opportunity to repeatedly congratulate Lin Che.
Lin Che saw his chance, with all the Court Officials present, and immediately said:
“Fellow colleagues, when I was previously conferred the title of Baron Jing’an, I did not host a banquet for you all. This time, Your Majesty has shown great favor, bestowing upon me the title of Marquis. Seven days from now, I will hold a banquet at my mansion. Fellow colleagues, you absolutely must come for a drink!”
Veteran Official Shen Luo of the Six Ministries was the first to speak: “Champion Marquis, you should have hosted a banquet for everyone a long time ago. I had planned to drink at your mansion last time, and if they don’t go, I certainly will. Hahaha.”
“Hahaha, congratulations, Champion Marquis. You’ve just been ennobled as a Marquis; if your mansion is short-handed, I’ll help you with the banquet arrangements. Don’t be polite with me. By the way, I’m Zhou Dakang from the Ministry of Justice.”
The Court Officials understood; Lin Che’s rapid advancement was unprecedented.
Your Majesty directly gave him the title of “Champion Marquis,” clearly showing their favoritism. Such a person must be properly flattered and befriended.
At the very least, he must not become an enemy.
Before, they were wary of Lin Pojun, and dared not approach Lin Che, the Zhen Guo Mansion traitor. Now, it’s different. Zhen Guo Mansion is about to fall.
What is there to fear?
“Lin Che, brother, you must reserve two tables for the Yin-Yang School. We will certainly bring valuable gifts to show our support.”
Lin Che perked up, the trigger keyword “valuable gifts” activated.
Why did he want to hold a grand banquet?
Of course, it was to receive gifts. Was he really just bored?
This time, he absolutely must seize the opportunity to make a killing.
“Hahaha. I will definitely reserve seats for you. Don’t worry, I’ll have the mansion’s servants write invitations as soon as I get back!”
Lin Che was now a prominent figure in the Empress’s eyes, and following behind the group, he was not afraid of being overheard by the Empress in front, and laughed as he replied to everyone.
At this moment, he finally understood that poem.
Past blemishes are not worth boasting about; today’s debauchery knows no bounds.
Elated by the spring breeze, the horse’s hooves fly, seeing all the flowers of Chang’an in a single day.
As for Lin Pojun, he was still kneeling there, like a piece of wood.
Your Majesty has already issued the edict. What could he do? Dare he disobey? If he has to blame someone, it’s Lin Yaoguang, who repeatedly angered Your Majesty.
He also blamed himself; he shouldn’t have helped Lin Yaoguang just now, which was equivalent to saving Lin Yaoguang’s life from under Your Majesty’s sword.
But the cost was too great.
He had jeopardized the entire Zhen Guo Mansion!!
Lin Pojun didn’t know how long he had been kneeling, when a sudden gust of cool wind blew by, and he seemed to finally regain his senses.
He stiffly turned his head, and it was already empty around him.
“Oh heavens, why, why has my Zhen Guo Mansion suffered such a great calamity?”
Lin Pojun walked back numbly, and finally left the hunting grounds as darkness fell.
Only the Zhen Guo Mansion’s carriages and horses remained outside.
Finally, he managed to return to Zhen Guo Mansion.
In all these years, this was the first time Lin Pojun had stood before the gate of Zhen Guo Mansion and stared blankly, unwilling to go inside.
“Father—”
At that moment, a clear voice rang out from the front, and Lin Su quickly ran up.
He lifted his stern face, his sword brows and star eyes unusually handsome:
“Father, you’re back! The news from the hunting grounds has spread throughout the mansion. Father, you are the great hero in my heart. This small obstacle will absolutely not defeat you. Even a million enemy soldiers would not have frightened you. The people in the mansion are talking nonsense, and are just waiting for your return.”
For some reason, Lin Pojun, upon hearing this, immediately felt enlightened.
The look of dejection on his face vanished.
“That’s right! It’s just an imperial edict! Is it more terrifying than a million enemy soldiers?”
“As long as I don’t fall, and I achieve more merits in the future, Your Majesty can always change their mind!”
Lin Pojun reached out and stroked Lin Su’s head. Although Lin Su was only fourteen or fifteen years old, he already possessed a full aura of heroism.
“Good. Your older brother has been exiled to Fortune’s Great Wall. In the future, you must set an example for your brothers and sisters.”
“Don’t worry, Father. We are getting along very well.” Lin Su smiled, proudly raising his chest.
Lin Pojun nodded in satisfaction, and with a wave of his sleeve, strode into Zhen Guo Mansion.
As soon as he entered, he saw two people fighting in the courtyard. Many things around them were broken and scattered on the ground, and a group of servants were loudly begging them to stop fighting.
But they didn’t listen at all, and fought even more fiercely.
The slightly older one, named Lin Hai, struck out while angrily shouting:
“You damned Lin Yi, you’ve gone too far! How dare you attack me? You don’t want to live anymore!”
“Bah! I’ve endured you for a long time, let me tell you, the imperial edict has come down, and I will also have military power in the future. The moment I get military power, I’ll be the first to tear you to pieces.” Lin Yi, hair disheveled and with blood on her mouth, showed no sign of surrender.
In the past, Lin Yi had always been oppressed by Lin Hai, because Lin Hai was older and male.
In the future, some of Zhen Guo Mansion’s business and military power would be given to the male descendants. As daughters, they, like Lin Che, were destined to receive nothing.
But with today’s imperial edict, Lin Yi couldn’t bear it any longer.
She immediately started fighting with Lin Hai.
“Uncouth—”
Seeing this, Lin Pojun roared angrily, directly shaking the two people on the roof down, causing them to fall to the ground.
“Father!”
“Father!!” Lin Hai and Lin Yi, seeing this, knelt down in fright, not daring to speak.
“You two useless things. You’re fighting amongst yourselves now, not even comparable to your older brother… not even one ten-thousandth as good as Lin Su. Get out, receive fifty strokes of the military cane. No food for three days!”
Lin Pojun didn’t bother to deal with the two of them, and with a wave of his sleeve, he strode inside.
Regardless of the time, he immediately ordered that all the Zhen Guo Mansion elders hold a meeting.
In a short while, all the elders arrived.
Only Cheng Qiuci was absent; she had gone back to the Daoist Jade Void Palace these few days to seek pills for Lin Yaoguang, and had not yet returned.
“Elders, I believe you have all received the imperial edict. Tell me your opinions frankly.”
Lin Pojun didn’t waste any time, getting straight to the point.
These elders had clearly discussed this beforehand, so they weren’t flustered.
“Head of the Family, we have indeed read the edict. We have solutions.”
Lin Pojun raised an eyebrow, quite surprised. The usually useless elders actually had solutions this time?
“Speak quickly.”
“First, the matter of the Crown Prince. He still has a way out, he doesn’t necessarily have to go to Fortune’s Great Wall.”
The elder with a white beard stood up and said, “The key is Young Master Lin Che. As long as he agrees to forgive the Crown Prince, and has him personally beg Your Majesty for mercy, there will certainly be a way out.”
“Humph. What kind of brains do you have? That karma-laden thing wants to kill Yaoguang on the spot. He’ll plead for him?” Lin Pojun wanted to slap them.
“Head of the Family, the key is you. You must personally see Young Master Lin Che, and personally plead. This is appealing to his emotions. Then, promise to pass the position of Zhen Guo Mansion’s Crown Prince to Young Master Lin Che, and that you will never change it to anyone else. This is a substantial benefit.”
“Once Young Master Lin Che obtains the position of Crown Prince, we don’t need to say anything more. Young Master Lin Che will take the initiative to plead with Your Majesty to revoke the order to disband Zhen Guo Mansion, and it will continue to be hereditary, passed down to the Crown Prince.”
“Think about it, Young Master Lin Che controls military power. Then our Zhen Guo Mansion will not be disbanded. It can be passed down from generation to generation. And as for Lin Yaoguang, he doesn’t need to go to Fortune’s Great Wall to die. At most, he’ll only be demoted to a commoner. At least, he’s still alive, and can secretly help Zhen Guo Mansion.”
After these words were spoken, the other elders burst into laughter.
They had racked their brains to come up with this solution.
“Killing two birds with one stone. Hahaha, perfect solution!”
“It seems that we’ve only transferred the position from Lin Yaoguang to Young Master Lin Che. We haven’t suffered any losses.”
“Exactly. Haha, Head of the Family, even without this incident, we wanted to propose that Young Master Lin Che must be made Crown Prince. He’s a Champion Marquis now.”
“Our Lin Family has produced a Duke. Now we have another Champion Marquis. Heaven blesses our Lin Family!”
“Our Lin Family has produced a dragon!!”
“Shh shh shh, don’t be so loud. These words must not be heard by outsiders. But, haha, to get back to the point, I’ve seen it for a long time, Young Master Lin Che definitely has the bearing of a dragon or phoenix!!”
“Head of the Family, Young Master Lin Che is a Champion Marquis at such a young age, and will have a great future. Shouldn’t we set off fireworks to celebrate?”
“Hahaha, could it be that our Lin Family will produce a second Duke in the near future? Two Dukes of the Lin Family!! We must set off fireworks!”
“Head of the Family, what’s wrong with you? Say something! Head of the Family!”
