74 Days Before The Imperial Banquet - 24.6

As the estate fell silent with almost everyone turning in for the night and leaving only the patrolling guards awake, nobody noticed a shadow flit by quickly without even making a sound as if it was just a passing breeze.

Those who may have felt that something was amiss quickly dismissed the idea since all of them knew that the current patriarch; Fan Hui Liang had laid down a lot of  high-level formations throughout the day that could be easily triggered should an intruder try to get inside and besides that, after what their Lei Wangye did recently, it was highly improbable that someone would try to infiltrate the estate.

It was this misconception and sense of complacency that enabled the shadow to navigate through te formations and strict security with relative ease until he finally arrived near one of the heavily guarded courtyards.

Surveying it, the shadow stood still in one of the larger plum trees, blending in seamlessly with the numerous branches as he surveyed the area.

He patiently studied how the guards maintained their security; how they maid their rounds, kept their lookout and how they took intermittent breaks with other people replacing them so that no one felt tired and everyone stayed alert at all times that even he who was looking for any weaknesses to exploit was impressed.

The level of security in this particular courtyard was extremely high and even he is finding it a bit troublesome to get in, let alone any of his subordinates!

If he had let his people infiltrate instead of him then his subordinates would inevitably be captured sooner or later.

Observing the courtyard once more, the shadow sighed quietly before turning around to leave and take the same route from where he came with no one the wiser.

He knew that if he didn't want to be discovered, he should take a different approach and thus he left in a resolute and swift manner.

The next day, things were evidently much more busier than the day before. Large groups of people were dispatched to the other three plots of land surrounding the Dark Flames Mountain.

The former estates on the three lands were quickly taken cared of and since they used to belong to the royal family, they weren't taken down an demolished since it would be such a shame to destroy the excellent worksmanship present.

Instead, they were left intact and only the boundaries of the estates were modified.

Walls were torn down while others were built up then some buildings were converted and new pathways were laud down to connect the estates into a whole.

In the meantime, while Fan Hui Liang was behind organizing all the manpower to take care of all the neccessary construction, it was his older brother; Fan Hui Zhong who made the decisions on what to add, change and tear down.

While all of this was happening, Fan Li Jie was placed in charge of the recruitment of new servants and of course, the people who had heard that the Lei Sha Di Army was open for new recruits.

By Fan Li Jie's side was Fan Xian Liang who was helping him with whole process by bringing those who passed the initial stages of testing an recruitment to either their mother; Wei Rou Xiang if it was a batch of new servants so that she can review them to see if they pass or if they were a group of potential recruits for the army, Fan Xian Liang would then send them to their uncle; Fan Hui Zhong who had the final say when it came to those who can join the Lei Sha Di Army.

To those who thought that this was a chance that they could take advantage of to infiltrate their ranks or get information from either the Fan family or Lei Palace, they were sorely mistaken.

The new army recruits who were found suspicious were subjected to strict questioning and with the aid of Fan Zhu Xia's truth elixir, any moles that were placed were immediately tossed out after being beaten badly with a severe warning to stop meddling in their business, else the Lei Palace would take more serious actions against them.

This of course deterred those who took action and made those who were still planning be wary of their actions, ultimately deciding that it won't be in their best interest to interfere.

As for the servants, those who thought that it would be way easier and much more safer to get in this way was in for such a big surprise.

Since people found out that Madam Wei was the one who had a final decision on the servants, they became a lot more confident but the actions she took next threw everyone for a loop.

During the first couple of people who were discovered to have ulterior motives were found, Wei Rou Xiang was still pretty calm about it but as the day went on, Wei Rou Xiang finally erupted in anger before storming into the recruitment hall with servants in tow before making every applicant there that was applying aside from the potential army recruits, drink tea that was spiked with the truth elixir.

After that she took all of them away and led them into one of the large halls in Na Huan Pavillion before giving all the applicants a cold stare and asking who amongst them had ulterior motives.

At first, the majority thought that it was a bit naive for Madam Wei to just ask them as a group. After all, wouldn't it be better for them to be questioned carefully?

Despite their doubts, Wei Rou Xiang had remained calm throughout and to their immense surprise, several people started admitting one by one before horrified looks of shock reflected on each of their faces.

As they were then dragged away despite their pleas and as soon as all guilty parties were gone, Wei Rou Xiang then placed down thr tea that she was sipping calmly before speaking in a soft yet strong voice.

"Give those despicable people all a punishment of sixty strikes of the rod before throwing them out, regardless of age or gender!" Wei Rou Xiang ordered sternly before one of the stewards by her side quickly nodded and scurried off.

Before long, loud wails of pain echoed out from the outside as they begged for mercy yet Wei Rou Xiang ignored their shouts as if it was just passing air.

Everyone there then understood that despite Madam Wei's reputation of being a soft and kind-hearted person, she still wasn't someone that should be offended and her actions, punctuated by the number of beaten and bleeding people that were thrown out one after the other sent a clear message that it wasn't just the Lei Palace that they should be wary of offending but the Fan family itself was certainly no joke and should also be taken seriously.

While rumours and gossips were spreading out luke wildfire due to the commotion being caused by both Fan Hui Zhong and Wei Rou Xiang's actions, Fan Yong Rui was left unnoticed by the masses as he quietly focused on gathering more information and widening his network to prepare for any eventualities.

With the recent events put several powers in the capital on edge, most were waiting curiously on what's to happen since everyone there knew that less than a week from now, the empress had arranged a special imperial banquet to be thrown with all the nobilities and people of influence were invited.

There were countless rumours and speculation on the reasoning behind this particular banquet but one thing is for sure, this banquet would certainly be eventful and one to remember.