Barking Up the Wrong Tree – Stuffing His Face to Maturity

Zhang Chunfeng, demeanour demure, slowly brewed tea in his tearoom. Tea ceremony was classified as an art, for it fulfilled the requirements of tranquillity and silence, yin and yang, fast and slow. Each facet was worth studying. He was more elite than those who had invested decades into the art.

Many people were fond of the Ministry of Personnel's tearoom. Zhang Chunfeng's subordinates and friends often met up there purely to taste a cup of tea he brewed. If Dongpo Restaurant's refreshments were also available, more people might gather there than the imperial palace. The Emperor's entourage's secret agents out to investigate corruption in the imperial court were set to be too busy to return home again.

Despite his skill, few people knew Zhang Chunfeng wasn't interested in tea ceremony in any capacity. The sole reason he was able to brew fabulous tea was attributed to his sagacity. He had a photographic memory from childhood; what took others a month took him a mere three days to learn. Owing to his intellect, he picked up many skills many ordinary folks never picked up. Tea ceremony was one of them.

When Zhang Chunfeng took the imperial exams, the head examiner remarked, "He will surely become a pillar of our nation." He became an important figure rapidly, filling the shoes of one of the six ministries' leaders. The only man above him was the prime minister.

As Zhang Chunfeng, who was past his fifties, enjoyed his tea, he thought back on what His Majesty did during the day and what was implied. Being meticulous, he paid attention to every little detail the Emperor displayed. Though he didn't approve, he was able to connect the dots. It didn't take long for him to reach Secretary Lu's conclusion - referring to the Emperor's desire to have Liu Shan Men rein in the Seven Champion White Princes. In addition, he noticed something else that was unusual: the Emperor's three cases.

Zhang Chunfeng planted spies in the Ministry of Justice. He already found out Su Xiao was assigned to the underground fighting case. Ming Feizhen and General Manager Bai were ambushed in broad daylight and rushed out of the city. Given General Manager Bai, general manager of the innermost sections of the palace, was permitted to leave the palace, it indicated the case was connected to the inner departments - possibly the imperial household. Needless to say, he was also aware of the theft case. The cases seemed to be individual cases, and each case was difficult. Worth noting, though, was the three cases were given to three individuals connected with each other. What was implied was, therefore, obvious.

"Wuhua County's underground fighting… Lu Xiazou's corruption case… The imperial palace's theft… Who is His Majesty looking into?"

Zhang Chunfeng remembered Lu Xiazou. Three years ago, Lu Xiazou introduced himself to Zhang Chunfeng at a banquet. Lu Xiazou purchased his official status; he stood out due to his incredibly rash approach. Refined Zhang Chunfeng remembered not being friendly with the briber. What was a meeting by chance raised a question at this point. There was no logical way of explaining how Lu Xiazou could've entered the imperial palace with his rank; somebody had to lead him in. Zhang Chunfeng wondered, "Could His Majesty be after the mastermind?"

Zhang Chunfeng snickered when he thought about people calling him a genius.

The Emperor went to great lengths to help Liu Shan Men establish themselves. The three cases were all interlinked. If there was a mastermind behind the scenes, he wasn't just another face in the crowd. If Liu Shan Men's trio could crack the case and have the honour of being the six ministries' students, Liu Shan Men's value would skyrocket in the blink of an eye. The question was, "Who is the mastermind?"

Zhang Chunfeng speculated he knew the mastermind behind the three cases. His intuition told him he knew someone bold enough to steal from the imperial palace and had connections with the martial world to host underground fighting contests. The issue was his lack of evidence and clues; it was merely his intuition.

Zhang Chunfeng had experienced plenty of storms throughout his lifetime. His intuition, therefore, was trustworthy. He wouldn't have had the impression he was familiar with the mastermind's style, otherwise. Someone opened the door to the tearoom, distracting him from his train of thought.

Nobody ever shoved doors open before at the refined office. Tang Ye carried two stacks of books and documents on both hands. That suggested he kicked the door open! Merely seeing him gave Secretary Zhang a headache.

Zhang Chunfeng was prejudice against martial artists; he held their brash, impolite and violent natures in contempt. Everyone in the imperial court was aware of that. He once went as far as asking His Majesty to prohibit commoners from practicing martial arts in case they became a hazard in the martial world. The martial world would be half of if its size within three decades if the bill passed. Martial artists had His Majesty's love for martial arts to thank.

Zhang Chunfeng detested martial arts due to the contention for the throne back then, when Emperor Yuansheng's elder brothers and the other princes hired martial artists for enormous sums. The violence that ensued was self-explanatory. Three hundred of the hired warriors could stop an arm