Chapter 1 What Role to Play?

It wasn't until Ye Tao returned to the garden Tan Weixin had prepared for him that he suddenly realized a problem: although participating in this project gave him a position to discuss matters with the officials of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Works, what role was he actually going to play in this grand project? A designer? A partner? Or a contractor? These hierarchical relationships were extremely complex in a project, and Tan Weixin, who obviously lacked experience in project management, didn't seem to have thought of this.

However, before he could even ask someone to take a message or a letter to Tan Weixin to explain the situation, the guard Lu Dan, who had now become the chief steward of this place called Liuyuan, approached him and handed him a flat, exquisite wooden box. Ye Tao opened the box suspiciously and found a beautifully decorated invitation card inside, inviting him to a banquet to be held at Mingyu Tower in three days, and the signatures at the end were none other than Luo Qin and Song Yu.

"This is...?" Ye Tao asked.

"Just now, Luo Qin had his men send it over. Those guys from Chun Nan are hopping around quite happily, holding two such banquets every month, always inviting some reputable scholars and people with strange skills. Although it's not about recruiting talents, at least it prevents them from being too annoying." Lu Dan seemed very unimpressed.

Ye Tao muttered, "Scholars and people with strange skills... what does that have to do with me?"

Lu Dan chuckled, "You're much more popular than ordinary scholars and people with strange skills now. Compared to the last banquet, Luo Qin and Song Yu even invited painters from brothels to make up the numbers. Your level is far too high. It seems that you are the first person who can show a little talent in front of Luo Qin and still get away unscathed, and whose status is slightly lower than Luo Qin's. If they don't get their face back from you, how will they be able to win people's hearts in Danyang in the future? How will they have the confidence to praise the civil and military achievements and talented people of their Chun Nan?"

Ye Tao was a little dumbfounded. Lu Dan's personality was really similar to that of his master, Tan Weixin, both of them were so eager not to let others suppress them. Lu Dan was a practical person, he didn't consider himself more important than Ye Tao, but he wouldn't bow and scrape to Ye Tao just because Ye Tao was now favored by the princess. Ye Tao's increase in status only made their friendly relationship more natural.

Seeing Ye Tao hesitate, Lu Dan asked impatiently, "Little brother Ye, are you going or not?" Lu Dan thought that Ye Tao was being cautious, afraid of losing face at such a gathering. After all, although Ye Tao was very talented, he was still just a merchant. At such gatherings, talent would certainly be appreciated, but under the manipulation of some people, identity was even more likely to be a reason for being looked down upon.

"I really don't have any interest in it. You see, in this kind of occasion, you can't do anything except waste your breath. Showing off will only cause trouble, but if you remain silent, you will be looked down upon by those two guys from Chun Nan. Do you think I should go or not?" Ye Tao asked in distress.

Lu Dan said in a straightforward voice, "Go. Who told you to be patient? You are from the princess's manor. When have you ever seen people from our princess's manor being humble to others? If someone comes up to argue, can't you curse them back? If anyone dares to do anything excessive, do you think me and my partners are just for show? To put it bluntly, in Danyang, only people from the princess's manor bully others, no one dares to bully people from the princess's manor. Of course, the princess has strict rules, so we'll give others face, and we'll all get along peacefully."

Lu Dan's words were indeed full of boldness, which really made Ye Tao wipe the sweat from his forehead. Of course, he believed that Tan Weixin's temper and the power she held could allow her to do these things, but being told so bluntly by Lu Dan was another matter. Since Lu Dan had already said so, if he declined the banquet again, he would inevitably appear timid. He would probably be despised to death by Lu Dan and others who had so much confidence and expectation in him.

Ye Tao hesitated for a moment, sighed, and said, "Alright, I'll go."

Lu Dan patted Ye Tao's shoulder and said, "That's right. Don't worry about anything else, I'll make sure you're the center of attention."

God knows, Ye Tao actually didn't want to be the center of attention at all. Moreover, Ye Tao didn't know what Lu Dan's guarantee of being the center of attention meant, it seemed to be about preparing a grand entourage for Ye Tao's trip. In these few days, Ye Tao had to repeatedly communicate with Tan Weixin about the military camp, establish his identity as the designer and partner in this huge project, confirm that the Dai Yue Ge construction team could be recognized and participate in this project, and communicate with Tan Weixin, who knew nothing about engineering surveying, about the selection of the military camp site and the architectural style, and finalize how much manpower and material resources would be invested in the construction of this military camp, and how many troops would temporarily serve as construction workers to speed up the progress of the project. Only when all these things were finalized could he organize the construction plan based on this reliable information. In addition to the already launched Yi Zhan Lou project, and the entry of Ye's Workshop into Danyang, it was necessary to finalize the production site, raw material supply, IKEA furniture store location and decoration, as well as the upcoming series of marketing issues. Ye Tao was so busy that he didn't even have time to catch his breath, he only felt that there wasn't enough time, and he didn't even notice what Lu Dan was up to.

When Ye Tao finally saw the carriage and the entourage that Lu Dan had prepared for him, he felt more worried than surprised. He muttered to himself, "I hope I haven't overstepped the bounds to the point of being beheaded."

This worry was unnecessary. Although Lu Dan was a bit reckless, he was also from a family of officials. If he hadn't liked martial arts himself, he would probably already be a high-ranking official at his age. Lu Dan would never commit mistakes in etiquette, but that was all. In the princess's residence, with the assistance of several female officials from the Dongping royal family who liked to cause trouble and were fond of excitement, and with Tan Weixin secretly spending a sum of money to pay for the carriage and the entourage in order to prevent Ye Tao from noticing, Ye Tao inexplicably possessed the most magnificent carriage among all the merchants in Danyang. Four snow-white horses from Northern Liao, without a single stray hair, reluctantly pulled a carriage made of high-quality Paulownia wood, which was indeed awe-inspiring. The carriage was completely a civilian modified version of the Dongping-style long carriage from the time when chariots were still the mainstream of warfare. Simple and practical, easy to maintain, but revealing a sense of power from every angle. Knowing that Ye's Workshop was unparalleled in lacquer work, Lu Dan didn't find anyone to show off in this area. A simple coat of clear lacquer was applied. However, this texture revealing the wood grain gave this carriage, which was between a weapon and a tool, a unique taste.

"The carriage is flashy enough, let's forget about those guards and attendants?" Ye Tao asked tentatively.

"No way," Lu Dan replied bluntly, "I've never seen anyone like you. You are now considered to have one foot in the officialdom. You can be low-key and not flashy, but what if something happens? Just based on the fact that you humiliated Luo Qin in the princess's residence last time, if he's not magnanimous enough, you should be worried about being killed when you go out. Don't worry, 4 servants and 6 guards are not too much, really."

Really not too much? As far as Ye Tao knew, when the princess herself went out, unless she was leaving the city, she would mostly only bring this many people. It was just that the princess's maids had better treatment and had another carriage. It looked even more low-key than Ye Tao's current appearance.

"These people were selected by Chief Steward Liu from the retired guards at the princess's order, but they will be paid by you in the future, okay?" Lu Dan said with a cheeky smile, "I'm telling you this in advance, so you don't think the princess is trying to plant people around you. From now on, these people have nothing to do with the princess's manor or anything else, and will only listen to your orders. And me, from today onwards, I will be your Ye manor's full-time steward. Do you have any objections?"

"Are you crazy?" Ye Tao was taken aback. The Lu family had been officials for more than a hundred years since entering the bureaucracy. In these hundred years, five people had reached the rank of Three Ministers, and their disciples and former officials were all over the world. Although the Lu family had always been low-key, as the eldest son of the Lu family in this generation, Lu Dan could be considered one of the most prominent纨绔 (wan ku, playboy) in Danyang. Usually, when joking, calling Lu Dan "Lu Ya Nei" (鲁衙内, a term for the son of a high-ranking official), he would accept it calmly without any embarrassment. Although Lu Dan became a guard in the princess's manor because of his love of martial arts, this was originally a way to advance to a military officer. If Lu Dan suddenly came to his house to be a chief steward, Ye Tao would not be able to bear it.

"It's nothing... I lost a bet with the princess, and I have to be this steward for at least three years." Lu Dan was not embarrassed at all.

Although Tan Weixin was not preparing to plant anyone around him, she was really concerned about his safety, and whether he could make a name for himself in the Danyang circle. In order to achieve this, she did everything she could. Only Ye Tao understood why she was so attentive. Coming from the same era, they were considerate of each other, after all, this was the only person in the world who could understand his strange ideas and help him turn his strange ideas into reality. Apart from constantly using her wits, with her terrible health, Tan Weixin really couldn't do much.

Ye Tao sighed and said, "Whatever you want, it seems like that banquet is almost here, shall we leave now?"

Lu Dan grinned slyly, without any of the seriousness of a family steward, and said, "Of course, we prepared so much just for this, didn't we? Young master, please get in the car!"