Conference on the flourishing Sun Dynasty

Luo Ming passed him an invitation scroll.

"I didn't expect to be invited to one of these so soon." Fu Yating looked through the high quality paper, admiring it's extravagant construct. "Marshall, you know I haven't paid much attention to recent happenings. Is there any particular reason his Highness needs me there?"

"For starters, you are the head of our Department now, so it is obvious you would be invited to a conference. We didn't have a proper head previously so anyone who wished to go, just entered with or without an invitation." Luo Ming grimaced thinking of the past.

No wonder his Highness was so irritated with the Spirits.

"Also, you have at least heard of Sun Dynasty I hope. They've grown very influential. Maybe the conference is being held to discuss something about it?" Luo Ming made a valid point, because when a kingdom grows too powerful, officers meet to discuss it. They aren't allowed to interrupt mortal affairs, but it is important to look at the pros and cons of it and act accordingly.

Usually, a kingdom has some sort of a propaganda message. If their ruler is religious and spends money on shrines, offerings and prayers, then it goes well with the interests of heaven's officers. But if highly suggested message is against message, something like 'Human beings don't need Gods' sort of thing, then Heaven officers would have to interrupt in some way. Especially if it is a big kingdom.

It isn't the most honorable fact for a deity to admit, but they completely depend on their followers for their status in the Heavenly capital. Their job is to care for the people, not vice-versa; and yet more and more officers try their hardest to win over masses by spreading their 'tales of bravery' or 'stories of kindness' among common folk.

It is a coincidence, if suddenly the ruler of a clan miraculously meets the deity he had been praying for years, and thus all the people in that clan automatically become followers. No harm done.

"That does make sense. There hasn't been anything unusual about the death counts from this kingdom though. Except that the life expectancy is quite high here, since the medication is advanced and people are well-fed."

"Or his Highness just wants to meet your ghost disciple." Ah, that did make more sense. "Where did you send him now? How come he isn't stuck to you?"

"I asked him to run some errands for me. Cutting paper, cleaning brushes." Luo Ming made an expression of disbelief, as if the ghost could obediently do such things. Fu Yating went on anyway. "I'll make him do more important tasks after I test him on some things. I haven't checked how well he writes letters or reports yet."

"Senior Spirit, we have many Assistants doing paperwork now. I think you should make him perform more practical tasks, rather than theoretical."

"Marshall's advice is always helpful. Seeing him working diligently, I had almost forgotten about that. Thank you for reminding me." Fu Yating honestly replied.

"Well, I don't blame you. I'd also be surprised to see him sit at one place without causing trouble. Anyway, the conference is tomorrow and I won't be coming with you." Luo Ming casually reminded what was important. "Please. And I mean, please make a good impression tomorrow. All eyes will be on you. I know you think it isn't a big deal, but you're the subject of too much gossip currently. So, please be careful."

"I'm only able to survive here because of Marshall." Fu Yating bowed slightly.

"Don't bow to me! Senior Spirit, you hold some reputation now, don't act so carelessly where people could see you!" Luo Ming face-palmed. "I'll be seeing you after the conference tomorrow." He bowed in a proper way and went away.

'Marshall is really shy.' Fu Yating thought, completely misunderstanding the message.

He then walked towards the main office. He wanted to check on the Assistants (only out of good will) but he heard scowls as soon as he showed his face. The women were much more diligent with writing reports compared to the grim reapers, and regardless of their bad opinion of him, the documents he approved were well written. They sure were working hard.

'Thank you for always doing you jobs well.' He thought while hiding behind the entrance.

Next check, would be with the Captains in the office. As he expected, the men's department was a mess. Not all of them were unorganized, but here no one was there to clean up the mess that was made. The women would argue amongst each other if someone mixed up the files wrong, but the grim reapers just didn't care. He knew this well, because he was the one cleaning after their mess in this same office.

"Captains, this whole shelf is arranged... in an interesting way." Fu Yating commented, trying to pull out one scroll without pulling out the entire drawer. Two of them ran towards him, embarrassed and trying to help him. The rest awkwardly asked him to not bother himself with such meaningless things.

"Senior Spirit, are you looking for any specific file?" The Captain from last time!

"Yes, well... are there any recent happenings from the Sun Dynasty? The documents I checked didn't seem unusual at all. I was wondering if I missed anything important."

"Hmm... no. Nothing special happened. In fact, it is sort of strange. Such a big kingdom, and yet there is too much peace." If a Captain of the Grim reapers calls it too peaceful, then indeed it is something worth a second glance. The Department of Afterlife preferred the calm and peace, and if they called it too much, then it was truly extreme.

"That is a good observation, Captain. Luo Peizhi, correct? I always wondered if you were related to Marshal?" Fu Yating casually asked.

Said Captain shied away since the Senior Spirit had remembered his name! "No, but we do joke about it, like I got in through connections. He's some forty years my senior though, and we come from different regions. I'm from the south." Making small talk wasn't the best quality that Fu Yating had, but sometimes it was easy.

He bid farewell to the Captains and headed back to his pavilion. Zhou Yixiao sat patiently waiting, his tasks already finished correctly. The rest of the night, goes simple. Zhou Yixiao insisted to keep more ingredients in the pantry, and food became a better feeling. It wasn't that the change in dishes was too exciting, but sharing a meal and listening to Yixiao's chatter was... something he had longed for. And he didn't even know it would make him so happy, so he thanked Yixiao mentally.

The next morning, Zhou Yixiao was already sharing conscience with Fu Yating when they reached just outside the Heavenly Capital's conference hall. Just like Luo Ming had warned, all eyes were really on him and his disciple.

They entered and found their assigned seating. An announcer declared the entrance of the five greater deities and the Heaven Emperor. "May Your Highness rule forever." All officers bowed and then seated as per their ranks. The announcer then declared the topic for the conference.

"Northern Kingdom under the Sun Dynasty, has flourished immensely. Today his Highness welcomes deities for..." The conference had started. Fu Yating gave one look at Zhou Yixiao, noticing how the boy's form was still childlike and his smile disappeared. So much for begging to be a deity's disciple, Yixiao didn't enjoy conferences, it seemed.

He had very much accepted that Yixiao would say something rude, or offend someone. But his quiet demeanor confused him. Was the ghost too clever or too emotional?

Fu Yating again paid attention when the Emperor started speaking. "I raise a toast to the deity of New Beginnings. Zheng Fumeng has looked over the Sun Dynasty for the last few years. His contribution has been immense..." Here, contributions meant followers. The people of Sun Dynasty were mostly followers of Zheng Fumeng.

Zheng Fumeng was one of the few officers older than Fu Yating. He only remembers the man as a deity with an approachable demeanor. A man with kind eyes. Humble despite his position in the Emperor's court, and overall a good reputation. While he hadn't been the best at cultivation, with his years of service, he could have aimed for the throne. But instead, he remained out of power-hungry politics. Of course he had a good reputation.

He even smiled at Fu Yating every time their eyes had made contact, and yet he always felt an odd withdrawal from the man. A gut feeling to keep his distance.

Had they ever talked outside of polite small-talk? Again, headache.

That same splitting pain through his forehead, but why in the middle of the conference? He received looks from everyone around, while Zheng Fumeng kept smiling at him.

He knew such gaps in his memory... weren't supposed to be normal. But he was the recipient of a punishment brand on his shoulder and he always believed this to be an effect of the same. The brand worked differently on deities, depending on why they were punished, but Fu Yating got away with some memory loss. He should feel lucky.

Except his eyes were shut tightly in between a conference full of important deities. He could feel Zhou Yixiao's pained stare at the back of his neck.

The Emperor noticed it, of course he did. "Senior Spirit seems to be feeling under the weather. Young Disciple, could you pull him aside to a resting area?" Zhou Yixiao immediately held Fu Yating by the shoulder and started walking out of the conference. This wasn't a good image he had left, Luo Ming would be so angry. But the Emperor knew about his punishment brand, so he hadn't intentionally been rude, though the officers would find any excuse for making up more rumors.

Fu Yating spared one final glance at Zheng Fumeng, who politely spoke. "I hope Senior Spirit feels better soon." He smiled and Fu Yating's head shot back as another strong beam of pain hit him. It had been a while, since he had felt such intense repercussions.

"My Prince, clear you mind." Zhou Yixiao whispered into his ear as they reached a room behind the hall.

"I'm sorry, it was your first conference. We should've stayed longer." Fu Yating caught his breath.

"We can still hear the discussion from here." Zhou Yixiao pointed out. "We could go back if you want to, but as much I noticed, they are only exchanging formalities. If the Emperor has something to talk to you about, he would find you later."

"I should send an apology to Zheng Fumeng. He has always been kind to me, and yet I made such a display while he was speaking."

Zhou Yixiao ignored that statement completely. It was evident, he didn't like Zheng Fumeng as much. He sighed, now they would have to listen in the entire conference from the outside.