"What's so bad about that? If your medical skills were any good, the Emperor would have sent you an invitation too..."
Caught badmouthing someone behind his back, Zhuo Yang flushed, then immediately retorted.
"Of course, my medical skills are far inferior to Brother Nie's. Right now, I'm only his apprentice..." Feng Miao smiled and shook his head, then walked a few steps over to Nie Yun and clasped his fists. "Brother Nie..."
"Brother Feng!" Nie Yun nodded.
The two had spent so much time together at the medical hall that they were already very familiar with each other and did not stand on ceremony.
"So you're all here. After parting at the Jade Pavilion last time, I never expected to see you again here..."
As they were reminiscing, laughter rang out, followed by footsteps. Turning around, they saw several figures approaching.
Nie Yun glanced over and could not help smiling.
He happened to know these people. They were Li Su of Duke Li's Estate and Cheng Qian of Duke Cheng's Estate, the few he had met at the Exquisite Water Chamber in the Jade Pavilion... It seemed that each of them held no lowly status among the Twelve Dukes' Estates, or they would not have been brought to attend the birthday banquet.
He had thought he would not know anyone here, yet he had unexpectedly run into so many acquaintances.
"Who is that young man surrounded by those little monkeys?"
As they chatted merrily, several elderly men in a carriage not far away could not help looking over as well.
Every one of these old men was a pillar of a ducal estate, a powerful figure who could make the Pu Tian Dynasty quake with a mere stomp of the foot. They were also the elders of Zhuo Yang, Li