"Huh?"
"What do you mean, 'huh'? Haven't you realized I spent a whole month working my fingers to the bone studying with Young Hero Pei, only for Xu Chuo to pluck the fruit at the end?" Cui Zhaoye rolled her eyes. "She doesn't even study the Sword Manual herself. How can she help Young Hero Pei practice his sword?"
Changsun Jue looked at her. "Oh, then go tell Mistress Xu that."
Cui Zhaoye swung her lower legs and shut her mouth.
She looked toward the other end of the sword platform. At the head of the assembled officials, two figures in purple stood faintly visible.
Yuan Zhao walked silently past the assembled officials. For some time now, he had seldom heard anyone take the initiative to greet him.
The conflict had reached the eve of utter irreconcilability. The loser would, of course, plummet a thousand fathoms and immediately face a brutal purge. Those who had once been willing to put a few eggs in his basket now looked at the Fourth Highness standing quietly on the platform, and in that oppressive, taut atmosphere, found it difficult to raise a hand or speak.
Yet quite a few still greeted Li Du when he arrived. Certainly, he was a chancellor of Great Tang; certainly, the Fourth Highness commanded immense influence. But more importantly, he was, after all, a direct-blood descendant of the Five Surnames. Even if he lost the political struggle, the authority his bloodline brought him would remain solid and vast enough. Though he could no longer occupy the chancellorship and manipulate Great Tang's affairs, he would still possess absolute dominance within his own impregnable political circle.
They might all face the same gale, but tall grass easily snapped at the stem, while great trees merely lost a few twigs