After Sima Yan returned to his mansion, he summoned his friends.
Sima Yan had been deeply troubled lately. Many of his acquaintances had disappeared without a trace, and the rest hardly dared to come out and enjoy themselves with him anymore.
Now, he had summoned a few friends he trusted more.
They knelt before Sima Yan, their faces wreathed in smiles, each looking more obsequious than the last.
To be honest, Sima Anshi set a very low bar for his friends. As long as someone looked human, he could win his affection.
There were truly few people he disliked, and Ruan Xian was one of them. After all, this fellow drank with pigs, had an affair with his aunt's maid while mourning his mother, and even seized a guest's horse to chase after the maid when she left with his aunt upon her marriage.
He had even been drunk when he finally appeared before the emperor. None of these deeds looked like something a human being would do.
Sima Yan was therefore somewhat displeased with him.
That was Sima Anshi's standard: as long as someone had not sunk to drinking from the same basin as a herd of pigs, he could accept him.
Now, Sima Yan looked smugly at those before him and said, "Gentlemen, His Majesty has entrusted me with an important task. This is a fine opportunity to earn merit, so I specially invited you here to help."
At these words, Sima Yan's many friends could no longer hide their excitement.
These past days, they had truly experienced what it meant for imperial grace to extend far and wide. Chen Qian's relentless investigations had cost a great many good-for-nothings their posts. Those were the lucky ones, too-at least they had not lost their heads.
Then the atmosphere throughout