Chapter 104: In Front Of Sanwei Hall
Lu Yun and Lu Xin went out the door and indeed saw several young people dressed similarly to themselves, walking toward the ward gate accompanied by their respective fathers and brothers.
These people had been greeting each other, but upon seeing Lu Xin and his son, it was as if their necks were gripped, and their voices abruptly stopped.
Lu Xin and his son ignored them, silently exited the ward gate, and headed toward the Luo River Bridge. Those people were naturally going the same way too. After a moment of awkward silence, someone couldn’t resist wanting to greet Lu Xin. But seeing clan members from other wards gradually gathering, they feared being seen as too close to the thorn in the Elder Council’s side and hurriedly avoided them.
Lu Xin and his son had long grown accustomed to the clan’s timid shrinking. The two quietly crossed the Luo River Bridge and arrived at Sanwei Hall located in Lu Ward.
Sanwei Hall faced south from the north, situated in the center of Lu Ward. On the large eight-shaped screen wall was embedded a huge gilded “Lu” character. Rounding the screen wall revealed a straight bluestone path leading directly to a grand hall supported by ten vermilion-lacquered eaves pillars. The grand hall was intricately carved and painted with magnificent splendor, hanging a blue-background golden-character plaque inscribed with the three vigorous and powerful words “Sanwei Hall.”
Flanking the main hall of Sanwei Hall were two side halls each, with a carved stone relief balustrade in front. Beneath the balustrade, on nine steps of white marble, stood a pair of majestic stone lions. In front of the stone lions stood two teams of Lu Clan elite guard experts, guarding the Lu Clan’s core day and night.
On the large flat ground in front of Sanwei Hall, the three-zhang-high Lu Clan large flag fluttered in the wind. At this moment, more than two hundred Lu Clan disciples wearing silver-gray scholar’s robes and black square scarves had gathered here, plus the accompanying fathers and brothers, totaling nearly four or five hundred people, yet the spacious large flat ground still seemed empty.
Seeing so many people coming to take the exam, Lu Yun was slightly startled. Lu Xin smiled faintly: “There are thirty to forty thousand Lu Clan disciples in the capital city, and the young generation numbers far more than thousands. This public selection allows collateral lineage participation too, so two or three hundred people is perfectly normal.” He sighed lightly and said: “These are all elite disciples of our Lu Clan, but unfortunately, most will be buried…”
As he said this, Lu Xin’s gaze fell on a young man on the large flat ground below, surrounded by people like stars cupping the moon.
Lu Yun nodded. He always felt Lu Xin had more to say, but since Lu Xin didn’t say it, he didn’t ask.
That young man surrounded like stars cupping the moon had quite a fine appearance. He only heard the surrounding crowd flattering him one after another: “With Young Master Xi here, we’ve all become mere foils…” “Yeah, what can we compare with Young Master Xi? Might as well directly give the quota to Young Master Xi.” “Exactly, that way everyone suffers less…”
That young man called Lu Xi seemed to try hard to stay humble amid the barrage of flattery, but he couldn’t help beaming with pride, managing only some polite words: “No, no, we still have to compete to know. Maybe someone else will win the championship in the end…”
“He is the great-grandson of Great Elder Lu Wen,” Lu Xin hinted to Lu Yun: “Last time in the selection, he was among the four, but later removed by the Clan Leader.” He paused and said: “This time the Great Elder has the upper hand. If he ends up winning the championship, don’t be surprised.”
Lu Yun somewhat understood, nodded, and still said nothing.
Lu Xin knew Lu Yun was exceptionally intelligent. With this preamble, he shouldn’t be too surprised when the time came…
The father and son had planned to be a pair of quiet handsome men, but unexpectedly they were soon noticed and became a focal point no less than Lu Xi. But unlike the crowd vying to flatter Lu Xi, no one came up to them; they only cast curious glances and whispered discussions about the father and son pair.
For this, Lu Xin and his son were fully prepared. Lu Xin was after all the Lu Clan’s current ninth Grandmaster and had become a sacrificial pawn in the Clan Leader and Elder Council’s struggle; there was simply too much talk about him. But what embarrassed Lu Yun somewhat was that in the faintly drifting conversations, he too had become a topic, and no less than Lu Xin.
“That’s him, the one who beat Xie Tian until he was searching for his teeth on the ground. The Xie Family has already declared they’ll send someone to challenge him!”
“If he could beat Xie Tian, he must be at least Black Rank, right?”
“What’s so surprising about that? His father is an Earth Rank Grandmaster.”
“Why did he beat Xie Tian? Did he eat leopard guts?”
“I heard it’s jealousy over romance; both fancied a young lady from the Cui Clan.”
“Overreaching; he’ll get his comeuppance…”
“Not necessarily; I heard he’s become the Emperor’s chess friend, and several princes think highly of him…”
The father and son both had exceptional hearing and naturally took in all those people’s conversations. Lu Xin glanced at Lu Yun with a smile and said softly: “Kid, you’ve only been back in the capital a few days; how did you stir up such a commotion?”
Lu Yun helplessly touched his nose. This Luojing City was just a place of trouble; if he didn’t want to shrink back, it was impossible not to cause a stir.
Lu Xi also noticed Lu Xin and his son, casting an inquiring glance at the person beside him. A shorty-like lackey hurriedly explained: “That’s Lu Xin and his son Lu Yun.”
“Lu Xin still won’t give up; this time no one will select his son!” Someone else said coldly. These lackeys who hung around Lu Xi all day knew he was on good terms with Lu Feng and naturally weren’t polite toward Lu Yun. “He should take a piss and look in the mirror to see if he’s the right stuff!”
“If it were a fight, he’d have some hope, but our Lu Clan values literary education; we compete on articles!”
Those long-winded, sarcastic remarks made Lu Yun feel thoroughly uncomfortable. Fortunately, soon a few more people arrived at Sanwei Hall, drawing the crowd’s attention away and letting him breathe a sigh of relief.
In that group, three exceptionally outstanding young men were clearly the leaders. The one in the middle was slightly older, with slightly yellowed facial skin and a cold expression; his eyes were like deep pools, impenetrable. The one on the left had a face white as jade, handsome and elegant, with a very gentle demeanor that made others feel like basking in spring breeze without a word. The one on the right was tall and burly, with a square face, dignified appearance, and piercing eyes; though wearing a scholar’s robe, he always gave the feeling that armor and helmet suited him better.
Seeing these three young men, the crowd hurriedly went up to pay respects, their tones full of respect. “How do the three young masters have time to come? Don’t you need to prepare for the exam?”
The young man on the left smiled and returned the courtesy: “Today our Lu Clan is gathered with talents aplenty; how could we three not join the fun.”
“With the three of you here, we’ve all lost our luster.” Someone half-jokingly laughed.
“Nonsense,” the young man on the left shook his head with a smile: “Our Lu Clan is brimming with talent; there are countless stronger than us. We three just luckily took the quotas first.”
The other two young men didn’t speak but also didn’t contradict him, making the crowd feel very comfortable and flattering them even more.
“The cold-faced one in the middle is Lu Bai, the Clan Leader’s grandson. The big guy is Lu Lin, grandson of the Second Elder, hailed as the top expert of the Lu Clan’s young generation. That amiable young man is Lu Song, son of Steward of Punishment Lu Xia; he’s nothing like his stern-faced father who never smiles.” Lu Xin softly explained to Lu Yun: “These three are the other three candidates besides Lu Feng, but they’re not the same sort as Lu Feng.”
Lu Yun nodded. If all candidates were as worthless as Lu Feng, the Lu Clan would truly be hopeless.
Lu Yun was quite happy about the arrival of Lu Bai and the other two; finally, no one was paying attention to critiquing him. But someone was very unhappy…
Lu Xi saw that with Lu Bai and the other two’s arrival, they had stolen his limelight. The crowd originally around him dispersed by more than half, with only those disciples who followed his lead staying put.
Seeing Lu Xi’s unhappy expression, the shorty hurriedly said indignantly: “Wait until Young Master wins the championship; they’ll get theirs!”
“Exactly, wait until Young Master surpasses them in the Grand Competition; see if they have anything to be proud of!” The others chimed in, as if that remaining quota were already an object in Lu Xi’s bag.
These people spoke without deliberately lowering their voices, and Lu Bai and the other two heard them; all three wore cold smiles, clearly not on the same path as Lu Xi.
Lu Yun was somewhat puzzled by this. The other two aside, that powerfully built Lu Lin, whose grandfather was the Elder Council’s Second Elder, why was he also on bad terms with Lu Xi?
“Though the Second Elder isn’t the Clan Leader’s man, he’s not on the Great Elder’s side either,” Lu Xin said softly. “Last time, without consulting the Second Elder beforehand, the Great Elder dragged the Elder Council into the fray, tightening relations between them even more.”
“I see.” Lu Yun nodded.
