The wait for this birthday banquet was agonizingly long.
Whether it was the camp of Master of Ten Thousand, the wealthy merchant families, or the performers, everyone harbored their own ulterior motives and engaged in various covert machinations.
The time spent pulling and tugging against each other felt desperately insufficient; if someone were to look down from a god's-eye view, they might find it all utterly comical.
Just before the banquet was about to begin, Madam Xue, who was engaged in high-spirited conversation with various family heads, was called aside by Steward Feng.
Following Steward Feng to a deserted corner, Zhao Mou imitated Madam Xue's demeanor, tinged with a hint of impatience and puzzlement as if she were thoroughly displeased with Steward Feng for interrupting her. "What is it? Can't you see I'm busy?"
Within the organization, Madam Xue might not outrank Steward Feng, who supervised the entire Feng Manor, but she undoubtedly held more weight. In private, she had never needed to stand on ceremony with Steward Feng.
True to form, Steward Feng did not sense that anything was amiss. He crept closer with a mysterious air and lowered his voice. "Master asked me to tell you to go to Er Hong's place right now and see what he's up to."
Er Hong?
With a calm expression, Zhao Mou asked, "Fine, since Master wants me to do something, I'll naturally obey, but what exactly does this mean? Sending me to find Er Hong at a time like this--is it to catch up? Or to--punish and monitor?"
"You at least need to give me a clear idea of what Master's attitude is."
Steward Feng's eyelid twitched as he said with bitter resentment, "It's all because of that Southern Xinjiang Woman you brought! I heard she has problems and disrupted Master's