When Pei Rumo saw that Ying Lan didn’t mind it, he immediately took the chance to alleviate the situation. “Since Palace Master Ying Lan doesn’t mind, I shall not harp on it either. Although it is never too late for a good meal, it is better when the food is hot. Let us begin. I didn’t invite you here to make you starve.”

Ying Lan forced out a smile in response and sat down slowly.

After sitting down, Ying Lan silently observed Pei Rumo’s actions. After listening to his mistress’s description, he knew that Pei Rumo was a person that was extremely shrewd and he couldn’t underestimate such a person.

Ying Lan didn’t think that Pei Rumo was someone who would respect the wise and cherish the talented. After Pei Rumo witnessed Bai Luochu’s capabilities, he had been thinking of ways to recruit her to his side. In his eyes, even after putting aside her identity, just her medical skills were enough for her to make a name for herself in the world. However, it was useless as she wasn’t easily baited by him. Whenever he tried to talk about bringing her to his side, she would evade the topic. Originally, Pei Rumo thought that he was going to let this matter rest, but he didn’t expect for this shrewd lass to be so cold and indifferent to him. She went around him and formed a close relationship with the Palace of Brilliance Resurgence behind his back. When Pei Rumo recalled the establishment of the Palace of Brilliance Resurgence, he realized that it coincided with the time when he tried to recruit experts to his side. It was too bad he hadn’t noticed the true relationship between Bai Luochu and Ying Lan.

In the end, Pei Rumo decided to directly recruit the top figure of the Palace of Brilliance Resurgence. This way, his negotiation with Bai Luochu would be much smoother. No matter how incredible she was, she had to listen to the arrangement of the Palace Master, right? Pei Rumo never imagined that the person making the decisions for the Palace of Brilliance Resurgence was never Ying Lan.

“I made the last minute decision to invite Palace Master Ying Lan and didn’t have time to gather rare ingredients. I hope that you will not form a bad impression of my First Prince’s residence because of this.” Pei Rumo saw that Ying Lan had yet to pick up his chopsticks and he assumed that Ying Lan wasn’t satisfied with the food. Therefore, Pei Rumo quickly offered an explanation. After all, Ying Lan was someone he was interested in recruiting and he didn’t wish to offend him on their first meeting.

How could Ying Lan not understand Pei Rumo’s thoughts? He tried to avoid the First Prince like how he would a venomous creature. Ying Lan was afraid that the dishes were poisoned and he was trying to think of a method to make Pei Rumo eat first.

After long consideration, Ying Lan finally thought of a reasonable excuse, “Your Highness is the host and you should be the one to start things off. I don’t wish to seem rude.”

Pei Rumo wasn’t angry at all and instead, he laughed heartily. “Hahahaha, Palace Master Ying Lan is correct. It is my mistake. I forgot basic etiquette because of your arrival… Since this is the case I shall start first.” After Pei Rumo finished his response, he immediately picked up his chopsticks. It seemed like he had detected something and immediately gobbled down some food. He downed a cup of plum blossom brew before addressing Ying Lan again. “I didn’t consider things through and made Palace Master Ying Lan go hungry. I shall punish myself with a cup of wine.“ Pei Rumo didn’t forget to show Ying Lan the empty cup after drinking the liquor to show that he wasn’t messing around.

Ying Lan naturally felt a little embarrassed. He couldn’t shrink away anymore and he immediately started to eat.

The feast continued and just when they were about to finish their food, Pei Rumo asked someone to bring the leftover plum blossom brew along with the liquor warmer over to the reception pavilion. He wanted to enjoy the liquor and discuss some serious business with Ying Lan.

After a few rounds, Pei Rumo seemed a little intoxicated and casually spoke to Ying Lan, “This prince has something I wish to ask Palace Master Ying Lan. The Cloud Water Nation has plenty of factions and you won’t need to worry about food and clothing after joining them. You will even be able to increase the speed of your cultivation… Why will you establish your own faction? I understand that there will be many problems with the initial arrangement and there might even be problems after you establish yourself. What is your objective for establishing your faction in the outskirts of the capital city?”

Ying Lan who was originally enjoying the fine wine froze. He knew that they were finally getting on to the main topic of the night. However, he felt that it was rather strange that the First Prince waited for the entire night to ask him this question. He didn’t believe that Pei Rumo would wait the entire night to ask him such a simple question and neither did Pei Rumo’s attendant.

Ming Lu’s master made him run around like a dog for the past two days in order to ensure the smooth running of the feast. Why would he ask such a random question completely unrelated to the wellbeing of the First Prince’s residence?

Ying Lan might be suspicious, but his brains started to move the moment the question left Pei Rumo’s mouth. Was the reason simply because of his mistress’ idea? No, it wasn’t. Apart from wanting to revive the temple, the most important reason was that he wanted to establish a faction similar to the previous temple. It was because he wanted to provide a home for his mistress.

Ying Lan contemplated for a moment before he arranged a series of words inside his mind, “To be honest, when I established the Palace of Brilliance Resurgence, a small reason was because I wanted there to be a place for my old friend to return to. As for the true reason… My lifelong dream is to uphold righteousness in the world. I hope for this world to return to its purest state.”

When Pei Rumo heard Ying Lan’s answer, he was startled at first as he didn’t expect for a faction with such outstanding talents to actually have such an ambitious goal. However, this was much better for him as a person with an ideal was better than someone without. It was easier to bring such a person to his side.

“Since that is the case, does Palace Master Ying Lan want to consider working with me? Your palace will be able to flourish and reach greater heights.” Pei Rumo smiled and seemed to be enticing a prey to enter his trap.