The Fourth Elder's explanation obviously did not satisfy Yao Wen. “Missed? Is it that easy to miss? How come Elder Su Xing's information channel was missed?" Yao Wen stared at the fourth elder and asked two questions in succession. This rhetorical question made the Fourth Elder look unhappy and he didn't know how to respond. However, Yao Wen did not continue to question him. He also knew that the Fourth Elder would not instigate his subordinates to do these things. As a high-ranking official in Zhuming Palace, the Fourth Elder has so many affairs to deal with every day, so how could he have so much free time? Besides, it’s just a very small matter, so what if you give me some information? The Second Elder had no grudge against Su Chen, so there was no need for him to do these things.
“Find out those who should be held responsible and punish them severely. He also sent a message to the outside world to warn all the disciples of Zhu Ming Palace. Those who cheat and act slyly in the arranged matters will be severely punished!" Yao Wen, the palace master, personally arranged the punishment measures. The punishment results must also be announced to the public. This is to tell Su Chen that the previous incident was caused by problems with the people under Zhu Ming Palace. In a sense, this is actually an admission of fault. “God gave us a huge opportunity, and we picked up a small piece of it. The key point is that we threw away the greater opportunity on our own initiative." Yao Wen took a deep breath and made himself feel a little better. Right now, there is no point in directly blaming people for what happened before. What I need to think about now is how to deal with the relationship with Su Chen. The words that Su Chen said at the end of the Dan Yao Tian Exhibition clearly showed that he was very resentful towards Zhu Minggong. There is no closer approach to Zhu Ming Palace than before. “It is now clear that our understanding of Elder Su Xing in Zhu Ming Palace is very one-sided. So much so that when he showed his true alchemy skills at the Alchemy World Exhibition, we knew that he could also refine the Golden Cicada Pill. In the past, we subconsciously thought that Elder Su Xing's ability in refining medicine had a limit. In fact, it’s all our prejudices.” Yao Wen looked at the elders around him and showed a little bit of peace of mind.
This look tells everyone that he will no longer curse. It's time to get down to business. "Second Elder, please give us a prediction of the current state of our relationship with Elder Su Xing." Yao Wen asked. After all, the Second Elder was the one who had seen Su Chen recently. Hearing this question, the second elder felt even more embarrassed. "Don't worry about discussing things, just be realistic and let it be as it is. Just say whatever comes to your mind. Could it be that our Zhu Ming Palace has become a place where the truth cannot be told?" Yao Wen was a little angry. The elders around had different ideas in their minds. It's not like they haven't encountered this before. It sounds good on the surface, but if you really tell the truth, you will inevitably be questioned. But today, the second elder felt that he had to speak out. Otherwise, he will only run into more trouble when he is held accountable in the future. "Palace Master, in my opinion, Elder Su Xing should be very dissatisfied with us. At first we said we would give him shelter, but when the pressure from Wulan Villa came, we immediately backed off. He didn't complain at the time, but he always kept it in his heart. It wasn't until we caused other trouble later that Elder Su Xing really started to get angry. Elder Su Xing seemed easy to talk to, and he could barely tolerate it as long as it didn't hurt his bottom line. But once the disappointments are enough, he will not end his friendship with our Zhu Ming Palace. So at this stage, I think it will be difficult to get along with Elder Su again." Difficult These two words made Yao Wen, the palace master, dizzy. Su Chen showed his strength in front of others, and many people in the whole Jin State were trying to win him over. Zhu Minggong clearly had the advantage, and the two sides were already very familiar with each other. But the second elder now replied to him that it was difficult. The second elder beside him looked at the expression of his palace master, hesitated for a moment, and continued to explain. “The hatred between Elder Su and Wulan Villa is quite deep. He found us before because he wanted to rely on our strength to fight against Wulan Villa. When we faced Wulan Villa, we chose to compromise and remain neutral. Elder Su no longer recognizes us.
The emergence of these later events has only exacerbated the problem.” The second elder’s explanation actually makes more sense. Three feet frozen, not a cold day. Disappointments don’t accumulate just once or twice. "Even if Elder Su is looking for a force to rely on now, it must be one that can protect him. Even if we in Zhuming Palace show goodwill again now, Elder Su will not believe it. At the Pill Exhibition, the Golden Cicada Pill was unveiled. Now, I don’t know how many big sects are trying their best to recruit him.” Today, the Second Elder spoke exactly as Yao Wen said, all of it was true. But these truths are indeed a bit harsh. It even hurt Yao Wen directly. "So, what the Second Elder means is that it is impossible for us to win over Elder Su again?" Yao Wen had a cold face and spoke again. From his harsh tone, one could tell he was in a bad mood. But today, the second elder thought about it and decided to speak directly and thoroughly. "Palace Master, if you want to hear the truth, I can continue. If you can't accept it, I can also say something nice. It’s just that the content of my words is not what I really think in my heart.” After hearing what the Second Elder said, Yao Wen restrained his expression a little. He also knew that what he was doing was wrong. If it has always been like this, then who among the elders would tell him the truth? "Palace Master, we really have no advantage in this matter. First of all, I reflected on my mistakes regarding the matter of Elder Su. Previously, I had always supported ignoring Elder Su’s proposal. This is indeed my problem. But for now, it’s already good enough that we don’t become more hostile to Elder Su. We don't need him to help us. As long as Elder Su does not pass on the jade pill refining technique to others, I will be satisfied. "
In the yard, the discussion about this matter lasted for a long time. But no matter how hard I tried to find a breakthrough, I couldn't find a suitable one. Trust is something that is very difficult to repair once it is broken. In essence, building trust means multiple successful collaborations. As for Zhu Minggong, he has repeatedly betrayed our cooperation, so what trust is there in him? Just as the second elder said, this is what they can do now. It's no longer a matter of getting along well with Su Chen again. Don't make the relationship worse. This forced Su Chen to spread the jade elixir refining techniques everywhere. If that situation really happens, Zhuming Palace, Qilou, and Liuli Pavilion. The status of their three sects will experience a huge decline. Without the jade elixir, it would not be as easy for the three sects to obtain resources as it is today. The discussion lasted from noon to midnight. These high-ranking officials of Zhu Ming Palace are all a little tired. Taking advantage of Su Chen's incident, they reviewed the overall situation in Zhuming Palace. To some extent, Zhu Minggong also gained some benefits from this complicated event. After Qilou and Liulige joined forces, they pointed out in various ways, both overtly and covertly, that Zhuminggong had stolen their techniques. Criticizing Zhu Minggong is not orthodox, and the elixir he refined may lack necessary steps. The quality of the jade elixir may not be up to standard. But after Su Chen's display at the Dan Yao Tian Exhibition, such remarks almost disappeared. Nowadays, no one has come out to question Zhu Minggong. Su Chen has used a Golden Cicada Pill to clear his name. By the way, it also helped to clear the reputation of Zhu Ming Palace. Moreover, this Dan Yao Tian Exhibition was originally a joint exhibition between Qi Lou and Liuli Pavilion. For these two forces, it is a matter of truly displaying their abilities in front of others in order to put pressure on Zhu Ming Palace. However, Su Chen's performance made Qilou and Liulige pale in comparison. On the contrary, Zhu Minggong benefited from it and received a lot of attention. From this perspective, Zhu Ming Palace did gain something. But none of the senior officials in Zhu Ming Palace were happy. They should have gained more and should have been the only one in the market.
But this great opportunity was forcibly pushed away. It was completely dark, with only candlelight left to illuminate the place. Yao Wen knew what he should say today, and he basically said it all. He wasn't going to waste any more time here. But before leaving, he had one more message to tell. “In fact, the court also sent me an order. I didn’t want to tell you about this at first, but since we’ve come to this point, I might as well tell you about it.” Many of the orders issued by the imperial court are top secret. Top-secret messages and orders are required to be conveyed only to the person concerned. Therefore, other senior officials of Zhu Ming Palace were completely unaware of this matter. “The imperial court doesn’t care who has the techniques to make jade elixirs. As long as it isn't stolen by the State of Chu, it'll be fine. At the Medicine Exhibition, Chen Linxuan, the alchemy master of the Chu State, showed goodwill to Elder Su Xing many times. Even explicitly expressed the intention to recruit. The imperial court has given us three months to renew our friendship with Elder Su Xing. If we can’t do that, then when other forces in Jin State try to befriend Elder Su, we can no longer raise objections.” After hearing this, the other elders finally understood. Why, when the Second Elder said there wasn't much hope of making friends, the Palace Master was still asking about ways to make friends. This is Yao Wen's last struggle. But the final discussion was still hopeless. "The elders have thought of many possibilities. Since none of them are possible, let's just leave it at that. As long as the relationship between me and Elder Su doesn't deteriorate further, I will be satisfied. The support provided by Elder Su is still the core of Zhu Ming Palace’s current status and prestige. Just think of it as repaying the kindness we have received in the past, and don't do those despicable things again. If Elder Su has anything else to ask for, we will do our best to help him." When everyone dispersed, it was already the hour of Chou. The second elder left the palace master's courtyard and walked out to see the Zhuming Palace under the night sky. No one knows what will happen to such a huge palace and building in the future.
These palaces should have been made more gorgeous by adding some colored glaze. But now, I don’t know if I will still have this opportunity. Who can you blame for not seizing such a great opportunity? In Pi Shi City, Su Chen rested in the Zhenmeng Mansion for a night before leaving. As a sixth-grade formation master, I already have my own room. Although he seldom came to live here, the house had been cleaned up spotlessly after it was clearly allocated to him. If no one lives there, they will come and clean it up every three days. If Su Chen plans to live in the Zhenmeng Mansion permanently, then no one will take care of this house only when given the signal. An eighth-grade formation master like Qiu Xiyu could only be assigned some small cells in the Formation Alliance Palace. If you want to pay attention to the quality of living, then this small room is certainly not suitable. This thing is just barely big enough for people to live in. Ventilation, spaciousness, light, these are all shortcomings. If the eighth-grade formation masters want to live in a better place, they can go directly outside and find a restaurant to stay in in Pi Shi City. It is not far from the Zhenmeng Mansion. But no one has done this yet. This will really give other members of the alliance a very bad impression. He can't even stand a poor living environment and is too pampered, giving people the impression that he is not capable of taking on important responsibilities. After a night's rest, Su Chen and Qiu Xiyu had breakfast together. At the same time, he also took this opportunity to say goodbye to Qiu Xiyu and prepared to leave. Su Chen was ready to go and see the experience she had told him about. After the training is over, I will come back to find her. Qiu Xiyu's mission to set up the formation at the border was almost completed. After breakfast, Su Chen left immediately. Compared to Su Chen, Qiu Xiyu seemed more reluctant to leave. She stood there for a long time, watching Su Chen's back as he left. In the distance, Qiu Yinan and Qiu Xiyu's guards saw this scene. Both of them frowned unconsciously. "Yinan, it seems like Xiyu is a little bit trapped, but he is still very calm and doesn't have any regrets at all."
Qiu Yinan, who was standing next to him, also looked unhappy when he heard this. Her niece Qiu Xiyu is the best in the world in terms of family background, talent and appearance. Logically speaking, other men should be obsessed with her. At the moment, Su Chen's behavior seemed to be that he was deliberately keeping a distance. "Yinan." "He must be pretending. He has much more experience than Xiyu. Know how to capture a woman's mind. The interaction between men and women depends on attraction, not flattery. Excessive flattery will make men seem boring in the eyes of women and make them lose their composure. His behavior is actually a strategy of playing hard to get." Qiu Yinan began to express his views. It sounds like there is some truth to it, but I feel like she is still making excuses on purpose, and her reasons are a bit far-fetched. Su Chen’s previous performance did not seem like playing hard to get, but more like keeping a distance. Qiu Yinan did not go to Qiu Xiyu to tell those things. Some words, when spoken out, may hurt your reputation. Young women like Qiu Xiyu are rather thin-skinned. Qiu Yinan thought about it and decided to wait and see. If it really had a big impact on her, she would try to persuade her then. After leaving Pi Shi City, Su Chen headed all the way to the central and northern part of Jin State. The State of Jin was really big. It is so large that it encompasses all kinds of terrain. The entire country is vast and rich in resources. (End of this chapter)
