If the elders succeeded in subduing and eliminating Qu Xing Xu and the Qu elders, not only will they get the gratitude of Emperor Yun, they will also be able to get a chance on riding the coattails of the Lin family.
Although the Lin family was gradually declining because they didn't get to produce any talented youths in their family to be the next Great General, who will succeed Lin Xiaomeng, that didn't mean that the wealth in the Lin family accumulated from those years Lin Xiaomeng served under the two Emperors have depleted.
The annual salary of Lin Xiaomeng as a great general was more than what a high ranking official could get in two years. And with the gifts he received from the kingdom, it was enough to make anyone feel envy and jealous.
Not only that, his sons were also part of the kingdom's court as an official. Both of them didn't take the military path but the two Lin sons has their own people who followed them and their wives came from a big family. Thus, the entire Lin family was still at the top of the hierarchy just below the Qu family and the royal family.
"Whether we succeed in the eradication of the Qu elders and Qu Xing Xu or not is not important. Being able to render them useless is already good enough. However, we must make sure that Lin Xiaofei would be up for the market after the Moon festival." Song Lan said thoughtfully.
"Once Qu Xing Xu and the elders are no longer there, one would think that the Qu family is useless. Hence, the Lin family will try to break the marriage and have Lin Xiaofei marry to another man." Song Lan added. "And that's when we will start to introduce our sons to Lin Xiaomeng."
The officials inside the room nodded their heads like a hen pecking its food on the ground. They couldn't stop agreeing to whatever Song Lan was saying since all he said were reasonable.
Without Qu Xing Xu, the Lin family will look for another man to marry to Lin Xiaofei, and in the end, they will gain all the benefits after this battle with the Lin family's wealth under their belts.
The noblemen started to disperse and move towards every direction to do whatever preparation they needed to do to make this plan successful. Song Lan and two other officials were the last one to leave the room. But neither of the three planned to leave so soon.
"Is there still no news from the Emperor?" Shu Liang, a high ranking official asked.
Song Lan shook his head and replied, "I sent a message to Ma Gonggong beside his majesty. However, I haven't received a reply just yet. His majesty is probably too busy because of the Chu envoys to bother."
"Wouldn't this be too complicated if His Majesty doesn't agree to our plans? We already set up some preparations. If his majesty finds out and says to stop it altogether, we might lose a lot from this." Another high ranking official said. He was the oldest among the three and the two couldn't help but frown in apprehension.
Of course, there was that thing too.
If His Majesty were to decide that they should stop everything, they wouldn't be able to refuse. They have to follow the royal decree and forget about everything. It was just that, if that happens, not only the money they spent on the materials and other items, all the effort and the time they spent on this plan will be for naught.
Song Lan gritted his teeth. He couldn't allow this plan to fail. He has to make sure that everything will go as planned and get the desired result in the end.
"Then, let us recall all the message we sent to his majesty now." Song Lan suggested and making the other two look at him in askance.
"What do you mean recall the message?" Shu Liang asked.
Song Lan scoffed and looked far away at the distance. His eyebrows straight and nose crooked at the bridge; it was probably from a battle years ago. He said, "If His Majesty doesn't know, he wouldn't be able to refuse our plan nor tell us to stop."
Shu Liang and Ling Wu was startled by him.
"If the Emperor finds out that we didn't tell him about this plan and went ahead, he will take all of our heads!" Ling Wu couldn't believe it. Song Lan actually dared to deceive the Emperor.
Song Lan, however, didn't stop and wasn't persuaded by them as he responded calmly. "Who said we're not going to tell the Emperor? I'm only saying that we won't tell him now, but we will tell him after we got what we all wanted."
Song Lan looked at their faces as understanding crossed over it. He was glad that they understood what he meant.
"Besides, what can the old Emperor do, anyway? If the event is already done, he wouldn't be able to say anything and punish us. On the contrary, he will try to cover it up as much as possible and pin all the blame to the Chu Empire." Song Lan finished telling them what he was planning to do and walked away.
The two officials stared at his back and didn't say a word before the two separated on a fork road.
Walking through the bamboo forest, the oldest among the three, Ling Wu, limped as he walked. He had both his hands behind his back as his long white beard swayed by the wind. When he passed by a bamboo as straight as a line, the old man's started to walk normally with his back straight.
Even his limp way of waking disappeared as he walked tall and straight inside the bamboo forest.
Ling Wu suddenly kneeled after he stopped walking and lowered his head as he bowed to the person standing before him.
"Master…" Ling Wu said softly but the other person standing before him heard him clearly.
The other person had no expression on his face as he glanced at him, but his voice was full of mirth as he said, "Aren't you feeling hot in that disguise, Gu Yan?"
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Author has something to say: That's today's update! I will try to force myself to write 1 or 2 chapters daily and join the win-win event so we can get some rewards. So, don't forget to buy the privilege chapters and help me rank up in the win win event!
Anyway, what do you think of this chapter? It turns out that a big oriole has been watching these noblemen's make a joke of themselves!
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