Chapter 144: Scaring a Cat Demon to Death?

After taking his seat, Xu Bocheng focused entirely on searching for the demonic entity. Thus, he merely swept his gaze across the gathering with a calm and indifferent expression, not even bothering to greet anyone.

The guests attending the banquet were all individuals of high standing. Seeing his arrogant and aloof attitude, several court officials wore rather displeased expressions.

Some cursed inwardly at the eunuch's arrogance, some spat mentally at how he abused his authority to bully others, while others were still pondering what the Third Prince's previous behavior meant.

"Director Xu, please, take a seat."

Zhu Wenjing gestured with an outstretched hand, arranging for Xu Bocheng to sit at the head of the table.

Aside from familiar faces such as Noble Consort Zhou, Lady Liu, Liu Yuan, and Song Mingde, those sharing the table included the Second Prince Zhu Wenjue, Minister of Personnel Li Yongsi, and Minister of Punishments Chou Yuan.

Xu Bocheng secretly pondered the deeper meaning behind these seating arrangements.

Noble Consort Zhou and Lady Liu—who was suspected to be possessed by a cat demon—were ostensibly the host family, so it was only natural for them to sit at the head table, which required no further thought.

Minister of Personnel Li Yongsi had previously been a man of the Crown Prince. After the Crown Prince fell from grace and was placed under house arrest, Li was the first to lead his faction over to Zhu Wenjing's "Third Master Party."

As for Minister of Punishments Chou Yuan, he was distantly related to Noble Consort Zhou's maternal family and had always been on good terms with Zhu Wenjing. After the Crown Prince's fall, Chou had declared his allegiance without a moment's hesitation.

These two could be considered representative figures of the "Third Master Party," so sitting at the head table was entirely justifiable.

Although the Second Prince Zhu Wenjue was Zhu Wenjing's greatest rival for the throne, they were still nominally brothers. Furthermore, both held the prestigious status of imperial princes, making his presence at the head table understandable.

What, then, of Liu Yuan and Song Mingde?

The former was a close attendant to Emperor Yonghe and the Director of the Eastern Depot; the latter was the Commander of the Brocade Guard. Both took orders directly from Emperor Yonghe, possessed strong backing, and wielded considerable power.

Logically speaking...

In the struggle for the succession, these two should not have taken a side so early. Intelligence gathered by the Western Depot also indicated that neither had participated in backing any candidate.

Could it be that...

Like himself, they were still in the stage of being courted?

"Lord Li, Lord Chou, I must trouble the two of you to keep Director Liu and Commander Song good company..."

Zhu Wenjing offered a greeting, then chuckled as he proactively poured a cup of wine for Xu Bocheng. Raising his own cup, he said, "Director Xu is a trusted pillar of my Imperial Father, and the Western Depot is a foundational pillar of the Great Liang state. It is only right that I toast the Director."

"You flatter me, Your Highness..."

Xu Bocheng raised an eyebrow, increasingly convinced that for this brat to lower his posture so drastically, he must harbor malicious intentions.

Seeing that Zhu Wenjing had already tilted his head back and drained his cup, Xu Bocheng drank his as well, then demurred, "The Western Depot has not been established for long, and upon taking office, I have yet to render even an inch of meritorious service. I am unworthy of such high praise from Your Highness."

"Ah~~ Director Xu, do not be overly modest~"

Zhu Wenjing waved a hand, then personally stepped forward to refill the cup, casually saying, "Although I am an idle prince, I am well aware that the Western Depot is composed of elites drawn from the One Depot, One Guard, and the military.

For Director Xu to reach the Innate Realm of martial arts at such a tender age is likely something only Director Xu has achieved in the past several centuries of Great Liang.

On the martial arts grounds, Imperial Father personally bestowed upon you the golden whip and the golden medallion, granting you the authority to 'supervise all officials' and 'execute first, report later with imperial sanction.'

How can this still not be considered a trusted pillar of Imperial Father? How can this still not be considered a foundational pillar of the Great Liang state?"

"..."

Liu Yuan and Song Mingde, seated at the same table, turned somewhat dark in complexion.

Happening to have the two ministers from the Personnel and Punishment ministries offering toasts to accompany them, the two men silently drank their gloomy cups of wine.

This was because the core personnel used to establish the Western Depot had indeed been top-tier experts pulled directly from their own subordinates. They had initially thought that since the selection for the Western Depot Director was taking place on the martial arts grounds anyway, if one of their own men won the position, they would ultimately suffer no losses thanks to this thread of goodwill, and might even be able to feed back into their existing power.

As a result, Xu Bocheng had crashed the party midway, turning all the transferred elites into his own faction, and those elites even seemed fiercely loyal to him as the Western Depot Director.

Liu Yuan had once sent someone to contact his former subordinates within the Western Depot, only to receive the reply: 'My Lord, please do not seek me out anymore; I am afraid Director Xu will misunderstand.'

They had essentially swallowed a bitter pill in silence...

What was once an open secret among everyone had now been dragged out into the open again, so naturally, their complexions were far from pleasant.

Xu Bocheng's gaze shifted slightly...

Out of the corner of his eye, he could observe their expressions and vaguely guessed the reason behind Zhu Wenjing's attitude, though he could not be entirely certain.

Zhu Wenjing said nothing more, casting a pointed glance at Minister of Punishments Chou Yuan before uttering a few pleasantries like "everyone eat and drink well" and "let us not stop until we are drunk." After offering another toast to the company, he returned to his own seat.

Chou Yuan was an old hand in the political arena. After narrowing his eyes in thought for a moment, he understood his master's intent.

He then rose with his wine cup, smiling broadly as he addressed Xu Bocheng: "I have long heard of the great name of Director Xu of the Western Depot. I am Chou Yuan, and I wish to toast Director Xu."

"Oh?"

Xu Bocheng feigned surprise and asked, "Lord Chou has been an official for many years; Xu was not even born when you began serving Great Liang. What virtue or ability does Xu possess that warrants a toast from someone of your seniority?"

"We are fellow officials in the same court; those who achieve mastery first are the masters~"

Chou Yuan explained with a deeply moved sigh, "A few days ago, the capital was piled high with bizarre and inexplicable cases. With no clues to be found for such matters, as Minister of Punishments, I naturally tossed and turned in sleepless nights."

His voice paused, and he continued with a solemn expression: "Ever since the commanders and agents of the Western Depot returned to the capital, participated in patrols and searches, and investigated cases, efficiency has increased dramatically.

Especially in recent days, I hear that Director Xu has sent men to coordinate with the Brocade Guard in solving cases. The public order in our capital has instantly improved manifold; to say that people do not need to lock their doors at night would hardly be an exaggeration.

Thanks to the Director's blessing, I have finally managed to sleep soundly these past few days. By reason and by right, I must offer Director Xu a toast."

On the surface, his words were full of praise for Xu Bocheng and the Western Depot, but in reality, they invisibly stepped on the Brocade Guard.

No expression could be read on Song Mingde's face as he simply drank his gloomy wine in silence.

Seeing that Chou Yuan had finished his drink, Xu Bocheng's gaze flickered as he also tilted his head back and drank his. By now, he was certain of what scheme that bastard Zhu Wenjing was hatching.

To kill with a borrowed knife!
To sow discord!
To divide and conquer!

Zhu Wenjing had adopted a very low posture from the moment they met, putting on a surface display of treating scholars with courtesy, and his words were filled with flattery. Furthermore, everything he said was based on facts, not fabricated out of thin air.

That was precisely where the problem lay.

The Western Depot, the Eastern Depot, and the Brocade Guard were all special agencies directly subordinate to Emperor Yonghe. Originally, they were of equal rank, with no hierarchical distinction between them.

Yet Zhu Wenjing had exhausted his vocabulary to elevate the Western Depot, calling them imperial pillars and state foundations, while Chou Yuan followed up with concrete examples. Everything seemed fine on the surface.

Yet, to praise only one of the three parties...

What would it make the other two parties think?

The men of the Western Depot returned, and the efficiency of solving cases soared—did that not imply that the Brocade Guard and the Eastern Depot were incompetent?

Dispatching men from the Western Depot to coordinate with the Brocade Guard in solving cases was ostensibly to repay the favor of that rainy night, but in Chou Yuan's mouth, it became transformed into the capital's public order improving manifold thanks to the participation of the Western Depot, allowing citizens to sleep with doors unlocked.

Attributing all the credit entirely to the Western Depot with a single sentence—was this not the equivalent of slapping the Brocade Guard across the face?

The speaker may have had no such intention, but the listeners took it to heart.

This left Eastern Depot Director Liu Yuan and Brocade Guard Commander Song Mingde burning with suppressed anger yet with nowhere to vent it, forcing them to swallow their frustration.

They also began to inwardly contemplate how the status of their respective depots had shifted since the Emperor established the Western Depot.

If the bud of this trend was showing now, what about the future?

Even though they knew full well this might be the handiwork of someone trying to sow discord and divide them, sitting in the positions of Director and Commander, they could not afford to ignore the issue...

*'This brat is using me as a tool to divide the Two Depots and One Guard?'*

Xu Bocheng sipped his wine indifferently. Out of the corner of his eye, he surveyed the patrolling servants in the prince's estate to search for Deng Jian, while pondering the objective behind Zhu Wenjing's actions.

The Two Depots and One Guard were all directly subordinate to Emperor Yonghe alone. They had the backing and the power, making them rock-solid.

Unless Emperor Yonghe was nearing his end, or the succession struggle had already reached its decisive moment where one needed to court favor.

Since Zhu Wenjing was now employing the tactic of exalting the Western Depot to secretly divide the Two Depots and One Guard, his goal certainly went beyond mere division; it was highly probable that he intended to manufacture conflict, divide them, and thereby win over one or two factions to his own side.

Yet the seat of the crown prince had not even been decided...

What gave him such confidence that he could win them over?

Just as Xu Bocheng was feeling puzzled, he noticed that Lady Liu—whom his Heavenly Eye Dharma Vision had continuously monitored—placed the wine from her cup before the black cat, and that bizarre, alluring black cat extended its tongue to lap at the liquor.

Then, acting as if she were merely teasing a kitten, Lady Liu dipped her finger into the wine to play with the cat, while secretly pinching a few incantations under the table. With a flick of her finger, a trace of darkened spiritual light darted toward the Second Prince Zhu Wenjue, who shared their table.

Without needing to think, she was undoubtedly using demonic arts!

Xu Bocheng's gaze shifted slightly. While raising his cup to drink, he kept his left hand beneath the table and likewise flicked his finger.

Just as that streak of darkened spiritual light came within a foot of Zhu Wenjue's body, a burst of pure, unyielding Qi suddenly shot out from the side. The Qi collided with the spiritual light, causing the tablecloth to flutter without any wind, before the two forces cancelled each other out and vanished into nothingness without a sound.

"Hmm?"

Liu Heng'e's expression flickered with suspicion as she swept her peripheral vision across those sharing the table. The black cat in her arms also lifted its head alertly, mirroring her movements...

Realizing that Zhu Wenjue was completely unguarded and that, aside from a eunuch with a very robust surge of Yang energy, there were no immortal cultivators at the table.

Just as she wanted to probe further to see who had intervened, she seemed to suddenly recall something. Her movements froze, and she stared blankly toward the young man who had been addressed as "Director Xu"...

And the moment she shifted her gaze there, she saw that "Director Xu" was actually looking back at her with a light smile!

!

At that moment, a realization suddenly struck her...

A eunuch... with a very robust surge of Yang energy?!???

Seeing that the Lady Liu seemed to have noticed him as well, Xu Bocheng smiled faintly and turned his head to look directly at her...

Their gazes locked in mid-air...

And right at that moment...

Xu Bocheng recalled the profound essence he had experienced while observing Duan Hongyuan achieving enlightenment, along with the sensation he felt when holding his sword and breaking through to the third tier of the *Art of Will and Qi*. The look in his eyes suddenly sharpened, resembling a pair of unsheathed precious swords!

Liu Heng'e's breath hitched...

The black cat in her arms suddenly bristled, its pair of heterochromatic pupils instantly contracting into thin vertical slits!

Upon meeting that man's gaze, a crisp, clear chime of a sword seemed to ring in its ears, as if a pair of sharp swords had pierced directly into its eyes!

A flicker of a sword shadow flashed across the black cat's heterochromatic pupils, and immediately afterward, its contracted vertical slits dilated, and its bristling fur fell flat...

Judging by its appearance, it was as though it had dropped dead on the spot!

Xu Bocheng nodded slightly. Just as he confirmed the cat demon was dead and prepared to withdraw his spiritual awareness...

He saw that the black cat, which had seemingly lost all breath, miraculously came back to life in a bizarre fashion. With a frightened screech, it bolted from Liu Heng'e's arms, transforming into a streak of black shadow that vanished in the blink of an eye...

"Hmm?"