The seven-day deadline had arrived.
Ever since Consort Yuan Chun had been promoted to Secretary of the Phoenix Algae Palace and further honored with the title of Worthy Virtuous Consort, and the Heavenly Emperor had graciously granted her permission to return home for a visit, the entire Rongguo and Ningguo Mansions had been in a frenzy, with no one idle.
Especially at the cluster of floating islands where the palaces for her homecoming visit were being built. Cargo airships crisscrossed the skies, and celestial craftsmen from the Heavenly Court gathered in droves. The eastern wall of the Garden of Reunion had already been demolished, linking it to Rongguo Mansion. The foundation for the vast floating island had been leveled overnight, and pavilions and towers sprang up one after another like celestial shoots after rain.
Jia Zheng returned from court that day and headed straight to the council hall without even changing his clothes.
Though he was no good at mundane affairs and disliked the tedious matters of construction and expenditures even more, Yuanchun's homecoming visit was a blessing from the imperial household and an unprecedented honor for the Jia family. As the head of Rongguo Mansion, he had no choice but to oversee the preparations himself.
Jia Lian had already gathered a group of people in the hall to wait. When Jia Zheng entered, he hurriedly bowed. The retainers and household stewards all rose to pay their respects as well.
Jia Zheng took the main seat and looked around. His gaze passed over several generations of old servants standing to one side—Lai Da, Lai Sheng, Lin Zhixiao, and Wu Xindeng—then shifted to the literary retainers seated on the stools below, such as Zhan Guang, Cheng Rixing, Shan Pinren, and Bu Guxiu.
All of them were