Chapter 1005: You Are Not Qualified for That
Sensing Zu An’s confusion, Sang Hong explained, “Look at Xu Yu; have you seen him really get mad yet?”
Zu An looked over. Sure enough, even though Xu Yu was questioning Jian Taiding, his expression remained extremely calm. The expression he looked at that military commander with wasn’t one of anger, but rather mockery.
Xu Yu spoke up again just then. “I was only considering the prestige of your Military Affairs Manor. I fear this seat is not one Commander Dian can sit in. Once you are chased out, it will only be even more embarrassing for you.”
Jian Taiding smiled and just treated those words as a bluff. Meanwhile, Commander Dian laughed, his voice ringing in everyone’s ears. “Aren’t I sitting here all fine and dandy? If anyone wants to sit in this seat later, just send him over. We’ll see who can sit here in the end then.” Alcohol flowed down his beard as he spoke, further adding to his bold and unrestrained aura.
Sang Hong said with a suppressed voice, “According to his laughter just now, this person seems to have seven ranks of cultivation. No wonder he can act so wild.”
Zu An gave the place a look. Those with higher cultivations than him were all already seated above him. The rest were weaker than him. No wonder Commander Dian seemed so confident.
The other officials had entirely different expressions when they saw the scene. Some of them looked worried; they were clearly those who were closer to Xu Yu. There were some who were having a great time seeing Xu Yu in a predicament; they were definitely in the other camp. Overall, most of the people present were waiting with a smile, wishing to see Xu Yu become a laughingstock.
Commandery Magistrate Zuo Su looked at Sang Hong, hinting for him to say something.
Sang Hong frowned. Even though he had arrived representing the court and was in theory supposed to help out Xu Yu, who had also been sent from the court, he had just arrived. If he immediately showed bias toward one side, that would definitely be unfavorable for what he had to do later. But if he refused, he might end up offending the Civil Affairs Manor.
Fortunately, a disturbance occurred nearby just then that helped him out of this predicament.
“Who is making a racket?” Zuo Su looked into the distance unhappily. He saw a group of guards back up step by step in the direction of the gathering.
“Reporting to sir, this person insists on coming in,” the guards said with sullen expressions.
Zuo Su was furious. Are you all good for nothing but eating? I’ve already looked bad in front of the Imperial Envoy, yet you can’t even stop some random trespasser from coming in? Aren’t we going to become a huge joke after this?
Sure enough, Jian Taiding fiddled with the cup in his hands while looking in the guards’ direction with an ambiguous expression. Next to him, War Minister Yu Xuansu said with a laugh, “We proposed to hold the banquet in the Military Affairs Manor, but Sir Zuo refused. We were a bit confused back then, but now it all makes sense. How could we have had the chance to see so many interesting things happen if it had been held at our Military Affairs Manor?”
Zuo Su harrumphed. He was about to order his men to attack that person when a lazy voice called out, “It was your Vice Magistrate who invited me over. Why don’t you believe me?”
The guards berated the other person. “Why would Sir Vice Magistrate invite someone like you?!”
“Hurry and leave already! Offending the Imperial Envoy is a huge offense!”
…
Just then, Xu Yu spoke up again with his eyes closed. “He is indeed a friend whom I invited. Let him in.” He had status on par with the Magistrate. Since he had spoken, those guards naturally couldn’t stop the other person anymore. They quickly stepped aside and made way.
Those gathered finally saw the appearance of the one who had arrived. He was dressed in tattered clothes, and even though it was the middle of winter, he wore straw sandals. He wasn’t scared of his exposed feet freezing over at all. He didn’t seem to care about his appearance at all, his eyes half-open, as if he were still drowsy. He had a huge wine gourd hanging from his body. The strong smell of alcohol filled the air even from far away.
All of the officials present frowned. Why did Vice Magistrate Xu have such a friend? However, no one said anything. Anyone who could get to that position wasn’t stupid. How could any normal person be a friend of the Vice Magistrate? Furthermore, judging from how he only wore straw sandals in the middle of winter, and yet there wasn’t a trace of frostbite, they knew the man was no ordinary person. Even Jian Taiding sized up the person with a frown. He felt he couldn't really see through the other party.
Zu An was incredibly shocked. He already recognized the other person as the one who had used a sword against him back in Pei Manor. According to Xiao Jianren’s suspicions, the man could very well be the libationer’s third disciple, the former Sword Immortal Xiao Yao!
The drunkard seemed to have sensed something. He looked toward Zu An, an expression of confusion flickering through his eyes.
Zu An thought to himself, Thank goodness I changed my appearance back then. Otherwise, it really would be awkward if this man recognized him here! After all, Pei Mianman’s dad was right there. If it were exposed that Zu An had secretly visited his daughter’s residence, that really would be tough to explain.
“Brother Xiao, this way.” Xu Yu stood up and beckoned toward that drunkard. Zu An was startled. The other person was surnamed Xiao, as expected!
The drunkard shifted his gaze and walked over to Xu Yu’s side. Xu Yu said apologetically, “I prepared a seat for you, but it ended up being taken by this person.”
“Oh…” the drunkard replied. He turned around and walked toward the back, as if he were going to look for another seat.
The tough-looking Commander Dian roared with laughter and asked, “Vice Magistrate Xu, so this was that friend you cared so much about? Isn’t he nothing more than a good-for-nothing drunkard?”
The drunkard slowly turned around when he heard those words, asking, “Is he your friend?” He didn’t even look at Commander Dian and instead looked at Xu Yu.
After some hesitation, Xu Yu said, “He is merely a colleague in court. We do not have much of a relationship.”
The drunkard nodded. Then, he walked up to Commander Dian and looked down on him from above, saying, “F*ck off.” There wasn’t even a hint of anger in his voice, almost as if he wasn’t even mad, but rather saying something that couldn't be more normal.
Commander Dian was stunned. Forget about him, all of the other officials present were stupefied as well. Even though they all had their own fair share of dirt on their hands from dealing with their political enemies, they still had to do it in a roundabout way. Rarely did they ever clash with someone ruthlessly like that.
Commander Dian finally reacted. He erupted with rage, exclaiming, “You bastard! What did you say to me?”
He reached toward the other party’s collar as he spoke. At the same time, he slammed a large palm toward the other party’s face. He had seven ranks of cultivation, and he was skilled in wrestling arts. As such, his grab moved at lightning speed.
Many people felt that the drunkard was in trouble. Being slapped in the face wasn’t a big deal, but being embarrassed was much worse.
Only Zu An inwardly observed a moment of silence for Commander Dian.
Suddenly, Commander Dian staggered. He hadn’t grabbed anything, as if the other party were made of air. But wasn’t that drunkard right there the whole time?
Only a few people saw that the drunkard had actually taken half a step back, then took half a step forward, perfectly avoiding the motion. Since his movements were too fast, it looked as if he hadn’t moved at all.
Jiang Taiding’s eyes narrowed. He immediately said, “Commander Dian, you should back down.” He could already tell that Commander Dian was not a match for the mysterious drunkard.
But Commander Dian was hot-headed in nature. How could he let himself be embarrassed like this in front of everyone? He treated it as his own carelessness. He angrily rolled up his sleeves and glared at the other party, exclaiming, “Draw your sword! Why don’t we go a round? Whomever wins will sit here.”
The drunkard gave him a drowsy-eyed look, then said, “You’re not qualified for that.”
The onlookers all gasped. This person is extremely arrogant!
Commander Dian was even more furious. He roared as he charged at the drunkard, but this time, he didn’t hold back at all. Ki swirled through his entire body as he charged at the drunkard like a furious bear.
“Stop!” Zuo Su quickly tried to stop him. Considering the force Commander Dian was rushing out with, those with even slightly lower cultivations would suffer serious injuries even from just being brushed. How could he allow someone to die during the banquet?
But the furious Commander Dian hadn’t even listened to Jian Taiding’s words, so why would he listen to Zuo Su?
The drunkard didn’t even raise an eyelid toward the ferocious assault, but the sword in his hand suddenly moved a few inches from its scabbard. Even though he made his move after his opponent, the sword hilt slammed into Commander Dian’s body.
Suddenly, Commander Dian flew backward and only stopped when his body slammed into the rock garden outside. With a rumble, the rock garden was crushed to pieces by the tremendous impact. Commander Dian struggled several times, trying to get back up to his feet, but he couldn't.
The drunkard’s sword was already sheathed. It had only moved a few inches within the scabbard the entire time.
“A seventh rank expert was defeated just like that?” The onlookers were shocked by the scene. Only Zu An remained unfazed, because he had personally experienced just how brilliant the other person’s sword technique was.
The drunkard sat down as if nothing had happened. He didn’t even drink the alcohol on the table, and instead gulped the alcohol in his own gourd.
The Military Affairs Manor’s people shouted in shock and anger, “How daring! You dare scheme against the life of a court official!”
Xu Yu said with a smile, “Everyone here was a witness. The two of them already agreed that the winner would have this seat. Our Zhou Dynasty is founded on martial might; we have always supported this kind of competition.”
The other side retorted, “But Commander Dian is a court official, so he should not have been so ruthless! He has clearly exceeded the level of a proper contest!”
Xu Yu said indifferently, “Commander Dian only appears to be in a sorry state. He has not been injured. What has this Brother Xiao done wrong?”
Those from the Military Affairs Manor were stupefied. They quickly turned around. Commander Dian had already gotten to his feet. It seemed the reason he hadn’t been able to get back on his feet was because his internal energies had been messed up, not because he had been injured. However, he didn’t have the dignity to remain present. He cupped his hands toward the others in embarrassment before quickly covering his face and leaving.
Sang Hong finally spoke up and said, “Haha, I have just witnessed a stunning battle. I have fully appreciated Cloudcenter Commandery’s martial spirit. Our Zhou Dynasty is founded on martial might, and our court needs heroic warriors like these. Let us all drink to the glory of the Zhou Dynasty!”
Now that Sang Hong had said those things, both the Civil Affairs Manor and Military Affairs Manor had to show him respect. Both sides backed down and raised their cups in agreement.
The people from the Military Affairs Manor intended to complain that the drunkard didn’t raise his cup in a toast, as they could use that as a pretext to criticize disrespect. However, surprisingly, the drunkard who seemed indifferent to everything actually also raised his cup.
When he saw that, Zu An became even more certain. Only someone who had come from the academy, despite being in such a dilapidated state, would still retain honor for their country.
With a cup of alcohol inside them, the originally tense atmosphere gradually became joyous and harmonious. The maids and servants began to distribute barbecued meat to the tables.
Even though Sang Hong was curious about the drunkard’s background, he was worried that the current mood obtained through great difficulty would be ruined again. As such, he didn’t say anything and instead chatted with several people about bureaucratic matters.
The officials praised Sang Hong for his past achievements. Zu An even had an entirely new level of respect for Sang Hong when he heard about all of those things. Even though he had known that the other man was formidable, he hadn’t expected him to be so proficient even in matters like economics.
Sang Hong naturally returned the favor and praised the local officials for the things they were proud of. The mood became more and more enthusiastic. As they chatted with each other, however, the conversation moved to the reason why the Imperial Envoy had ended up arriving a few days later than expected.
“It’s all the Devil Sect’s fault.” Sang Hong gave them a rough summary of what had happened.
They all began to discuss how vile the Devil Sect was. Then, they talked about how terrifying the Devil Sect’s Sect Master Yun Jianyue was. Just then, Sang Hong patted Zu An’s shoulder with a smile and said, “Now that you mention it, Ah Zu has faced Yun Jianyue before.”
The originally clamoring hall immediately became silent when Sang Hong said those words. Even the drunkard who seemed to have fallen asleep gave Zu An a look, a flicker of light passing through his eyes.