An Elder's Revolution - The Art of Sect Politics

“We have thus come to the conclusion, that you have deliberately expelled sect members from your hall based on them hailing from the pillar families. Would you care to explain yourself?”

Meixiu Xia closed her statement with a wide smile and a nod to Lan Shi. It wasn’t the kind of smile that was benevolent or cooperative, it was the kind that seasoned politicians use to clearly issue an unspoken threat. Ever the speaker of the pillar families, it was clear why she had been chosen to be the one to open these accusations.

“I have yet to see you present me with any concrete proof that isn’t based on some feeling of yours, that shows I didn’t just expel these members because I wasn’t happy with their performance. Against many of them, as you know, I even brought open corruption charges. I will gladly present you with the collected evidence on these.”

Lan Shi returned the smile, though it was clearly strained. She wasn’t an incompetent negotiator like Jiang Peng, but her true nature was still a lot more martial than what she was showing right now. She was only holding back, because they had agreed beforehand that it would be best for her to do so.

“I find that hard to believe though, the numbers clearly speak against you.

“I can only repeat myself, I…”

“Enough of your pretentious bullshit. We all know what you did and you’re going to answer for it.”

Jiang Peng blurted out.

“You fired people because of their family and thought you could get away with it. Well, tough luck, you won’t.”

Liu Wei could make out the tiniest notion of irritation in Meixiu Xia’s face. She didn’t take well to being disturbed in her act by someone as incompetent at negotiation as Jiang Peng. Liu Wei himself on the other hand couldn’t have asked for a finer gift.

In the last council meeting, he had kept quiet for the most part. This time was different. He now had allies and clearly defined goals and he was ready to draw the lines. He would use this opening to insert himself into the conversation.

“I agree with you, Elder Peng. Treating people differently based on their familial background is highly immoral. In fact, I suggest we ban the practice altogether.”

It didn’t take long for the elders to catch on to the poison in these words. It was Ning Bai who responded.

“Could you please drop your play, Elder Wei? We are trying to hold a debate here and that kind of attitude is not conducive to it.”

“Very well, Elder Bai. Then let me be straight: I fail to see how the pillar families have any right to accuse another elder of a practice that they have been continuously practicing for entire millennia.”

“The incredible discourtesy of your words aside, I shall give you a straight answer. We aren’t any random families; we are the pillar families. We helped build this sect into what it is today. Her actions are an insult against us and as such against this sect’s entire legacy.”

Sun Liang’s words were quiet, more hissed than spoken. As always, he reminded Liu Wei of a snake that was hiding in a human’s skin.

“I could say the same about your shameless attack on a hall’s established autonomy in deciding who it wants and who it doesn’t want to have working for it.”

“Do you truly want to do this?”

Sun Liang asked, letting the pressure of his soul leak into the room.

“Do you?”

Liu Wei countered the pressure, by releasing part of his own soul’s.

“Enough.”

The voice of the patriarch thundered through the room.

“The halls’ autonomy was never and will not be questioned. We will rest this matter for now, but the pillar families shall open a joint investigation of whether or not Elder Shi’s actions were justified. That is all.”

The tension in the room relieved itself and Liu Wei released his pressure as his rival did the same.

He had gone quite far off script, having been overwhelmed by an unexpected amount of anger at the pillar families’ shameless display of double standards, probably because he had felt so reminded of the way he himself used to be.

It wasn’t a big problem, as the outcome of the situation was pretty much all they could have hoped for, but he would need to be more careful in the future. Had this gone differently, the conflict could have turned out violently, which would not at all have aligned with his goals.

He also had more things he wanted to accomplish on this meeting than butting heads. Far more important things. While it had been clear to him, that he would stand in open opposition to the pillar families after this day, he had expected the escalation to be quite a bit slower.

As the discussion was expertly steered on to some minor issues that would help calm the situation by Meixiu Xia, he exchanged a nod with Lan Shi who was looking at him with a newly found notion of respect. It seemed like there was at least some positives to his outburst.

…

As far as Meixiu Xia was concerned, this council was going great so far. Jiang Peng’s outburst hadn’t been planned, but it had served their goals perfectly. While it was a little annoying that they hadn’t been able to slap Lan Shi on the wrist a little more, she would gladly take a few minor losses in profit if it served her overall goal of stoking the flames between Liu Wei and the other pillar families.

At the very least Sun Liang and Jiang Peng would from now on be focused on trying to combat Liu Wei. That focus would be lost elsewhere, which would create opportunities for her own family to exploit. She was already looking forward to it.

It was naturally of paramount importance that Liu Wei himself didn’t take notice of their scheme, hence why they had had to intervene before the rivals were literally at each other’s throats. If they had let a fight break out right here in the council, all eyes would have turned to them in suspicion afterwards. It had already been enough of a hassle the last time that had happened, when they had provoked a fight between Jiang Peng and Lan Shi.

“I believe the Outer Relations Hall should be entitled to a quarter of the profit from this venture. After all, we are the ones facilitating these trades.”

“A quarter? That is an insult! I can offer you no more than ten percent!”

“I believe that to be the true insult, coming from a family as rich as the Rong family. We won’t even begin to negotiate below twenty percent. Don’t forget that our hall’s diplomats have been the one to create this relationship in the first place.”

“Anybody could have done that. After all, which merchant wouldn’t want to be in a relationship with our great sect. Fifteen percent and not a single spirit stone more.”

With the elders having returned to haggling over profits again, it seemed like the tensions in the room had cooled down enough. If Liu Wei still had an agenda on this council meeting, he would likely be bringing it forward soon.

Seeing as he indicated his wish to speak once the previous debate had ended, her guess had been correct.

“As many of you undoubtedly know already, I have spent the majority of my time since the last council concentrating on the Training Hall. I believe the hall to be of extreme importance for this sect, as it is responsible for shaping the future of the majority of our new members. As such, I have started the process of reforming the hall in an effort to improve the efficiency with which it fulfills this role.

I am certain it hasn’t escaped your notice that I have already begun instituting a row of changes. These, however, are just the beginning of my plans for the hall. As such, I would like to announce two larger projects to the council, which I plan to undertake with my hall.”

Meixiu Xia perked up. These were likely to be quite important, considering he had waited for a council meeting to unveil them.

As much as they had created their own schemes and plans already, even she and her secret allies weren’t sure what exactly Liu Wei was attempting with his current efforts. Their best guess so far was it being some elaborate cover-up, designed to divert their attentions from something entirely different. There were a lot of holes in that theory though, so maybe what followed could give them a better idea of Liu Wei’s machinations.

“The first of those announcements concerns a new program that the hall is going to facilitate: In order to improve our sect’s fighting capabilities, the hall is going to offer willing sect members combat training and individual counseling regarding cultivation. For these services, the hall is going to take fees depending on the level and amount of training, that are going to be used to fund the program as well as our disciples training.”

That was a big thing. So far, the hall hadn’t had any way of generating a profit, but if this worked, that would change. Meixiu Xia wasn’t sure how much members would be willing to pay, if at all, in order to receive professional combat training, after all it wasn’t really her area of expertise, but just the possibility of the Training Hall becoming profitable was of incredible significance.

So far, it couldn’t even be called a real hall, but if it started turning a profit and expanding, what they were witnessing here was potentially the rise of a true ninth hall. This had the potential of shaking the sect to its foundations. And it was only the first announcement. If there was one thing that even those not educated in politics at could guess, it was that the second one would have equal, if not greater impact.

“Now, the second thing I would like to inform you about is that the Training Hall is planning on creating a program in partnership with all willing halls. This partnership is one regarding the treatment of inner disciples.”

What?