Chapter 145: Laying the Foundation

"Oh!"

Glancing at a gift list, Tian Manyin let out an exclamation of surprise and said to Lu Sheng, "Aside from the people Sovereign Sihai left behind in Yujing, the chief steward of the Sihai Chamber of Commerce in Yujing has also sent you a gift."

"It says here that this is an apology gift sent to you because of the incident in the Western Regions."

"What did they do to you in the Western Regions? Why are they sending you an apology?"

"Just a minor misunderstanding!" Lu Sheng said indifferently. Although somewhat surprised, he had no interest in elaborating to Tian Manyin and simply continued writing his reply letters.

"Hmph! How uninteresting!"

Seeing Lu Sheng's attitude, Tian Manyin gave a soft huff, abandoned her curiosity, and began browsing through the gift list.

However, upon closer inspection, she discovered that besides the Sihai Chamber of Commerce, representatives in Yujing from several other factions—such as the Fire God Sect and the Blade King Pass of the Western Regions, as well as the Bright Moon Island and the Thunder Sect of the Seas—had all sent people to deliver congratulatory or apologetic gifts to Lu Sheng.

"Your social circle is quite vast. These factions that you once had ties with have actually all sent gifts," Tian Manyin said in amazement, looking at Lu Sheng. Just recalling Lu Sheng's experiences told her that these factions had all crossed paths with him at some point. Being simultaneously courted by so many factions boasting Grand Masters clearly demonstrated Lu Sheng's immense potential.

"It seems I really did choose a good partner!" Tian Manyin thought to herself with a sense of pride.

Lu Sheng was equally surprised inside, though he did not show it on his face. Instead, he asked, "Do I need to write reply letters for all of these as well?"

"Of course!" Tian Manyin replied. "All these factions have Grand Masters backing them. If you don't want to make enemies with their people stationed in Yujing, you'd better write the reply letters personally to clear up any past grievances!"

"Very well!" Feeling somewhat resigned, Lu Sheng carefully weighed his words and began writing replies to these factions.

Thanks to the practice he had gained compiling martial arts manuals over the previous few days, his writing speed was now extremely fast. In the time it took Tian Manyin to flip through the gift list, he had already finished over a dozen letters.

At this rate, it wouldn't be long before he finished all the necessary replies.

***

"Quick! Quick!"

"Hurry up and tidy things up, get this place decorated!"

A short while later, while Lu Sheng was still busy writing reply letters with Tian Manyin in the room, he suddenly saw Luo Liheng leading a group of people bustling about and decorating the courtyard.

As for Luo Liheng himself, he burst directly into the room, looked at the two of them, and chuckled, "Lu Sheng, you really are together with Tian Manyin..."

"No wonder Academy Director Lu asked me to come and prepare!"

With another chuckle, he pointed at Lu Sheng and said, "Oh you, Lu Sheng, you wouldn't admit it yesterday..."

"Prepare for what?" Interrupting Luo Liheng before he could continue, Lu Sheng asked for clarification.

"Why, prepare for your wedding, of course!" Walking right up to Lu Sheng, Luo Liheng gave him a hearty slap on the shoulder and said loudly, "The two of you are already like this, are you not going to get married?"

"Just now, Academy Director Lu specifically instructed me to get things ready here!"

"A wedding? Preparations?" Though he had never harbored any thoughts of backing out of a marriage, Lu Sheng still frowned slightly upon hearing this and asked, "So soon?"

Judging by the timeline, even if Lu Chunyuan had headed straight to the Duke of Cheng's estate upon receiving his message, he would have barely had time for a round trip.

"What do you mean, 'so soon'? Academy Director Lu said the Duke of Cheng's estate has already prepared everything in advance!" Luo Liheng said. "The Duke of Cheng has already put the word out: tonight, the two of you must be wed!"

"That's why Academy Director Lu sent me and my men to get things properly set up here!"

Frowning, Lu Sheng looked at Tian Manyin with a skeptical expression and asked, "What on earth did you say to the Duke of Cheng yesterday? Why is he in such a rush to marry you off?"

"He arranged it all on his own!" Looking entirely innocent, Tian Manyin spread her hands and said to Lu Sheng, "I suppose my grand-uncle must have remembered how I asked him about you yesterday, and then noticed I didn't return last night..."

"So he just went ahead and made preparations in advance!"

"Prepared in advance?" Shaking his head, Lu Sheng decided not to dwell on it further and simply said, "Then you should hurry back, we're getting married tonight!"

Things had already reached this point, and he had no desire to investigate the inner workings any further. Asking too much might actually ruin their tacit understanding.

"Alright! Then I'll head back!" Tian Manyin said, pointing at the letters on the table. "You can just have someone else ghostwrite the rest of these replies!"

With that, she slightly disguised herself, concealed her tracks, and made her way toward the Duke of Cheng's estate.

***

"Haha!"

"Lu Sheng, you really are blessed. Just the day after being enfeoffed as a prince, you're already taking a great beauty as your wife!"

"Ha! I dare say there are countless people in the entire city of Yujing green with envy right now!"

Seeing Tian Manyin leave, Luo Liheng burst into hearty laughter and said to Lu Sheng.

Although he had already guessed as much yesterday, he still found it hard to believe. The progression of the relationship between Lu Sheng and Tian Manyin had simply been too fast.

Even Grand Duke of Cheng Tian Shuping seemed to be acting with excessive haste!

Shaking his head, Lu Sheng pointed at the letters and gift lists Tian Manyin had left behind and said, "Stop going on about that. Help me find a few people first to finish writing these reply letters!"

"And the return gifts must be properly prepared as well!"

"Reply letters? Return gifts?" Waving a hand dismissively, Luo Liheng said, "For these matters, you should go look for Lu Yunxi; his family is the most adept at handling such things."

"His grandfather, Lu Hongli, who is the full brother of Lu Hongyuan, is one of the Nine Ministers—the Grand Herald—and specializes in dealing with various external factions. Their household keeps many retainers skilled in these exact affairs."

"You only need to borrow a few of them, and this problem will be solved."

"That sounds good!" Having finished his remaining few reply letters, Lu Sheng put down his brush and said to Luo Liheng, "As for the rest, go have someone find Lu Yunxi and bring a few people over to help me handle these matters."

"Now, shouldn't I be preparing for the wedding?"

"Of course!" Shoving the brush back into Lu Sheng's hand, Luo Liheng said, "Even though you are taking her as a secondary consort this time, Tian Manyin is, after all, a member of the Duke of Cheng's clan."

"Therefore, you need to invite some prominent figures to act as witnesses, and you'll have to write those invitations personally."

As he spoke, he produced a name list and told Lu Sheng, "Here, not a single one of these people can be left out!"

"If it weren't for the prestige of your teacher, they might not even bother to come!"

"These..." A quick sweep of his eyes told Lu Sheng that, aside from a few friends and relatives, the majority of the names on the list were Martial Ancestors and powerful dignitaries.

Most of them were figures who had contributed or exerted influence during his recent enfeeblement process.

Presumably, Lu Chunyuan wished to take the opportunity of him taking a secondary consort to properly express gratitude to them!

"It is indeed right to host them!"

Thinking thus, Lu Sheng followed his teacher's instructions and began writing out the invitations for these individuals.

***

That night, the Prince of Jinyang's estate was brilliantly illuminated once more.

Following complex and elaborate rituals, Lu Sheng officially took Tian Manyin of the Duke of Cheng's estate as his secondary consort.

Through this occasion, not only did he become acquainted with many of the figures introduced by Lu Chunyuan, but he also established connections with numerous powerful forces in Yujing via Grand Duke of Cheng Tian Shuping.

From this point on, his roots in the city of Yujing were firmly planted.