The Discipline Inspection Court, Main Hall.
The immortal music welcoming guests outside the gates had stopped, and the informants from various departments who had come to watch the spectacle had been politely turned away by the Censorate's immortal officials.
Inside the Main Hall, the Five Route Gods of Wealth took their seats in order of seniority.
Chen Wei did not even take the seat of honor. The dignified Court Head of the Discipline Inspection Court carried a purple clay teapot around the five elders, personally filling their tea bowls one after another.
It was excellent tea.
Cloudmist Immortal Down he had just filched from Taibai Jinxing.
Even Chen Wei's pouring posture was meticulous: both hands cradled the pot, his back slightly bowed.
He filled each bowl seven-tenths full without spilling a drop.
As Chen Wei poured, he made smiling small talk, addressing them as elders at every turn and keeping his posture thoroughly humble.
Getting by in the Heavenly Court meant knowing when to draw your sword and when to play the groveling grandson.
Chen Wei kept a perfectly clear ledger of that in his mind.
Laying out the red carpet and shouting slogans outside had been a performance for the various departmental offices, meant to box the Finance Department in. Now, behind closed doors, this was genuine internal negotiation, and he had to make sure these five veteran gods received every scrap of respect they were due.
As the saying went, you did not strike a smiling immortal.
Chen Wei's flowing, seamless display of a junior's courtesy left the Gods of Wealth, who had arrived seething and ready to flip the table, thoroughly uncomfortable.
True Lords Hanyuan, Zhaoning, and Jingning held their tea bowls, unsure whether to drink or set them down. They exchanged glances, none quite able to