Cohabitation with Sword Spirit-Chapter 343 - 80: City Lord of Shen City

After the race in the Outer Courtyard ended, Wang Jiu returned to the Divine Sword Tower with his mount and its little buddies, leading a life of idle ease, indulging in food and waiting to die, as if he were a pregnant woman on bed rest. And as the best embellishment of this leisurely daily life, nothing was better than leaning against the window sill, watching the recent busyness of the Shen Family.

With less than half a month to go until the birthday banquet, flying Shen Family members could be seen everywhere in Shen City. This period was incredibly busy for the Shen Family, especially for those in the event planning group. The workload in these final preparations for the banquet had reached a level that was impossible for mortal people to handle; only Immortal Cultivators could barely manage it.

Working 24-hour days became the norm, with most staff wearing a loop of specially made compressed rations from the Shen Family around their necks. When they became dizzy and broke out in a cold sweat from exhaustion, they’d take a fierce bite. The pure energy and large doses of stimulants within would instantly return the staff to working condition. Additionally, they were equipped with material recycling devices on the lower body, directly reducing the daily waste of time on Five Grains Reincarnation.

If needed, the event planning leaders and other Great Cultivators performed high-level Immortal Techniques like comprehensive time-space fracture to greatly extend overtime, reaching the feat of working 72 hours in one day. If it were any less cultivated individuals, they’d inevitably be drained and die from this extreme overtime system, while the dozens of strong laborers serving as the main force of the planning group successfully turned haggard and bewildered in just a few days—in external time. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Some say the foundation of happiness comes from the misfortune of others. During this period of crazy overtime by the Shen Family, the Li Family’s holiday life became particularly enjoyable. Daily activities such as drinking tea, playing cards, and ordering takeout in the guest rooms were immensely entertaining. Especially as they won overwhelmingly in the Outer Courtyard race and earned guest qualifications, their food, clothing, and accommodations during this time were provided by the Shen Family. The ordered takeout was delivered by the Shen Family’s event planning group members, who worked overtime in fractured time to deliver it amidst their busy schedules.

The meals tasted even more delicious after such an experience.

Day by day passed, and finally, on the third day after the race ended, the Li Family received the invitation card and banquet schedule from the Shen Family’s birthday banquet planning group.

Opening the shiny golden envelope, there were only three invitation cards and one schedule inside.

Shen Qingming, responsible for receiving the letter, panicked on the spot. During the Outer Courtyard race, four of the top five were from the Li Family: Wang Jiu in first, Li Chaolu in second, Li Wanqing in third, Shen Qingming in fourth, and Shen Feihong of the Shen Family in fifth. There should have been four invitation cards; where did the remaining one go? Could it be that in transferring it, one was lost?

If one really was lost, it would be a grave sin! To reissue such an invitation card, who knows how long the process would take. Considering the Li Family’s treatment in Shen City, the queue might not end until Shen Ruoshi’s 110th birthday banquet...

Luckily, Li Wanqing had an idea: "Don’t worry, I kept an eye on it the whole time; there were only three invitation cards in the envelope. Plus, even if it were really lost, we could make one on the spot."

Shen Qingming couldn’t help but laugh: "Do you think they don’t have anti-counterfeiting measures?"

"What if they do? We can complain on the spot that their invitation quality is subpar. Or claim there’s a fault in the anti-counterfeiting equipment and request them to ask their superiors for a recheck. Once verified, they’ll naturally realize we’re genuine invited guests, and a mere fake invitation won’t matter." At this, Li Wanqing furrowed her brows, "Unless they really only invited three people."

The question left everyone in the room stunned. Shen Qingming immediately unfolded the three invitation cards, seeing that the invitees were Shen Qingming, Li Chaolu, and Li Wanqing.

The girl’s brows immediately tightened, realizing, even with her simplicity, that the three invitation cards likely weren’t due to the Shen Family’s working mistake.

And upon flipping to the schedule, it confirmed her suspicion. It clearly stated for the three esteemed guests to wait for a welcome an hour before the banquet at the entrance of the Divine Sword Tower.

The phrase "three esteemed guests" was highlighted with bold, crimson strokes, drawing specific attention to the number three.

"Why!?" Shen Qingming was immediately baffled, "Ah Jiu ranked first in the race and is also the de facto leader of the delegation. If anyone shouldn’t be left out, it shouldn’t be him."

Li Wanqing also pondered deeply, then shook her head moments later: "Conjecturing on our own won’t do any good; let’s ask the involved party directly."

With that, she turned her gaze to Li Chaolu.

The girl, enjoying her almond tofu, was somewhat bothered by the gaze, thinking to herself that she was merely an onlooker in the race, acting only as a demolition expert. What makes her an involved party?

——

About half an hour later, a knocking sound echoed outside the Sect Leader’s Suite, the tone exuding an air of indifference and impatience. Before Li Chaolu, responsible for greeting guests, could stand, the knocking sounded again, already conveying a sense of angry embarrassment.

To express such rich emotions through simple knocking indicated that the person outside was of significant status, prompting Li Chaolu to cautiously walk to the door, open it, and upon seeing the woman dressed as a maid outside, she suppressed her laughter and sternly invited her inside.

"Please come in."

Once the door shut, the maid’s form distorted and transformed, revealing her true appearance.

Shen Yueying, infuriated to the point of embarrassment, exclaimed: "I remember saying not to contact me under the guise of book club friends anymore!"

Li Chaolu apologized with a smile: "Sorry, sorry, but this time it’s an urgent matter. Given our identity, we couldn’t possibly reach the Deputy City Lord, so we had to resort to book club channels to contact the person in charge of the fanfiction area and a senior meat comment reviewer..."

"No need to detail my identity so clearly!"

"Yes, yes, yes, that’s how it is..."

"Wait a moment." Shen Yueying interrupted Li Chaolu, "Bring the manuscript first."

Li Chaolu had no choice but to hand over the recently completed manuscript of "Nine-Colored Dew" to Shen Yueying. Shen Yueying took it, carefully put it away, and then asked, "What exactly is the matter?"

Li Chaolu said seriously, "A few days ago, the Shen Family Outer Courtyard held a race, and the top five qualified to attend the banquet."

Shen Yueying was naturally aware of this matter. She nodded and let out a laugh full of mockery, "Yes, thanks to our shrewd and capable, understanding right-hand man, things went so smoothly and appropriately. We legitimately invited five members of the Li Family to the birthday banquet... What’s wrong? Didn’t you get four invitations? Isn’t that enough? It’s best not to be too greedy in matters like this, and it’s a good thing that the fat one isn’t going, saving face at the scene and preserving the atmosphere."

Li Xinyu felt like someone had stabbed a dagger straight through his ribs into his heart, emitting a sound like a dead fish bursting.

Li Chaolu laughed, "Indeed, I thought so too, so I asked Mr. Wang Jiu to be sure to disqualify the fat one. But now the problem is... we only received three invitations, Mr. Wang Jiu’s invitation wasn’t sent."

Shen Yueying was taken aback by this: "How could that be?"

"We also found it strange, so we wanted to ask the Deputy City Lord, what exactly is going on? Could it be that you thought the race results were too unsatisfactory and want to deem Ah Jiu disqualified?"

Shen Yueying shook her head, "The Shen Family wouldn’t resort to such unsporting behavior. However, I’m not responsible for the overall planning of the birthday banquet, I just handle some details. As for guest invitations, it’s Shen Jinghai who has full control. So why Wang Jiu wasn’t invited, I’m not entirely sure... However, I can help you ask about it."

With that, Shen Yueying directly sent out a divine thought, reaching another Vice City Lord’s Mansion from the Divine Sword Tower.

A moment later, Shen Yueying’s expression turned slightly grim.

"The secretary over there has already told me the situation... Indeed, Shen Jinghai submitted all four of your names, but the Lord City Lord did not approve all of them."

——

Meanwhile, at the Inner City Vice City Lord’s Mansion, Shen Jinghai was also utterly helpless.

Four slots, but only three were approved by Lord City Lord, such a matter doesn’t need outsiders to remind him, he also knew it was unusual.

The rules of the race were approved by Lord City Lord, and the Li Family won fair and square — although the process was somewhat controversial, at least the first place, Wang Jiu, unquestionably surpassed all competitors present. However, in the end, Wang Jiu’s invitation was the only one withheld, which is somewhat... against the usual style of the Shen Family.

A good subordinate not only faithfully implements the leader’s intentions but also timely reminds the leader of some sensitive issues. Even someone like Shen Yueying was alerted, so of course, Shen Jinghai could not ignore it, thus he carefully phrased his query.

Then came the unequivocal reply.

"Appearance is vulgar, affects mood."

At that moment, Shen Jinghai fell to his knees. Not just for this domineering reason, but for such a unique aesthetic view.

Wang Jiu vulgar in appearance? This was simply shocking. Shen Jinghai still vividly remembers how the flawless appearance of Wang Jiu left him stunned when they first met. As the right-hand man of Lord City Lord, Shen Jinghai had always been a perfectionist for decades and was very confident in his looks. Yet upon seeing Wang Jiu, this confidence immediately wavered... and in the eyes of the City Lord, Wang Jiu was actually considered vulgar in appearance?

What did that make him? A sensitive word? Thinking of this, Shen Jinghai even felt a sense of crisis, contemplating taking a couple of days off after the banquet to go to Heaven-Reaching City or Golden Jade City for some cosmetic surgery. Apparently, Shen Herong had quite a bit of experience in this field, perhaps asking for some advice wouldn’t hurt...

On the other hand, Shen Jinghai had no choice but to fight for Wang Jiu: "After all, it’s the speed champion, rejecting him for his appearance would surely spark controversy."

Shen Ruoshi was not an entirely autocratic leader, after pondering for a while, said: "Indeed, completely denying access doesn’t comply with propriety. Right, prepare a separate room on the second floor of the banquet for them, make it look nice, say it’s a special treat for the champion. Serve them well with food and drink but don’t let them leave the room, this way out of sight, out of mind."

"...Well, that’s indeed a solution." Shen Jinghai could only smile bitterly and nod, "However, them?"

Shen Ruoshi said, "Yes, doesn’t the Li Family have a fat one who also didn’t get an invitation? Just let him and Wang Jiu stay in the room together, consider it special treatment."

After a pause, Shen Ruoshi then asked, "By the way, Jinghai, do you have any way to help those two foster some rapport while in the room?"

"...Huh?"