Due to his exceptionally tall stature, Lü Ji barely squeezed into the room sideways.
Following him was a man Chen Sansi had never seen before.
It must be the third senior brother.
"First senior brother, third senior brother."
Chen Sansi got up to greet them.
"Junior brother, the gathering was so sudden, and I didn't have time to prepare anything,"
Lü Ji took down the case from his back.
The case was enormous, but it seemed delicately small compared to his size.
Upon opening it, there was a Big Bow inside.
The bow, however, wasn't made of wood but of iron core, forged from mysterious iron, and was quite valuable.
"I heard junior brother likes archery, so I got an Iron Core Bow,"
Lü Ji apologized, "But due to the rush, I couldn't get a bowstring. If you find a suitable bowstring, this bow is a Hundred-stone Bow, I hope junior brother won't mind."
The third senior brother Nie Yuan took out an Arrow Bag, "The arrowheads are made of mysterious iron, a bit inferior, but if you need anything else, just let me know, and I'll get it for you."
"How could I not appreciate such precious gifts from you two senior brothers?"
Chen Sansi, maintaining his manners, invited them to sit down.
"That's more like it!"
Meng Guangxin said contentedly, "Big brother, you've become more and more unreasonable over the years."
Old Qi Ye Fengxiu remained silent.
"Hey, monk, how can you talk to the first senior brother like that?"
Rong Yanqiu spoke sarcastically, "After all, our big brother has been to the Capital City, he might have clung to some powerful thighs. He's the only one among us who has become a Marquis, a noble indeed~"
There were only a few Marquis titled by the court over these years.
One of them was Duke Wuding, Lü Ji.
"Hah! Whose powerful thigh could it be, if not the Cao Family's?"
Meng Guangxin played along, "Perhaps he even sold the bridge to the Cao Family, otherwise how would they have made him a Marquis?"
"Old Five, Old Nine!"
The third senior brother Nie Yuan spoke sharply, "The first senior brother has his difficulties, you..."
Rong Yanqiu cut in, "What difficulties could he have, taking over the position sooner?"
Meng Guangxin grumbled, "Exactly, if number four hadn't been invalidated, you wouldn't have the chance to strut about here every day!"
Despite their bickering, Lü Ji did not retort even once, instead he just picked up the wine jar he had brought and filled the cups in front of him.
"All right, all right."
Old Two Cheng Wei tried to mediate, "We rarely gather together, why quarrel? The first senior brother didn't do these things secretly, even our master didn't say anything."
Chen Sansi had previously sensed through Sun Buqi's words that he was unsatisfied with the first senior brother.
Now it seemed, he wasn't alone.
From their comments, it appeared that they resented him because Lü Ji was quite close to the Cao Family Members, possibly having a share in divesting power from the Supervisor in the past.
Previously, Cao Fan was familiar with the Unity Spear Technique...
I wonder if that had anything to do with the first senior brother.
But such issues, debated openly, wouldn't be useful and would only make things awkward for himself as a new junior.
"Senior brothers and sisters, we're all family here, is there anything we can't solve?"
Chen Sansi stood up and said, "Let me toast all of you first, bottoms up!"
The strong spirit burned through the body.
This was no ordinary liquor, brewed by a special method, potent enough to intoxicate even a Martial Artist.
Cheng Wei agreed, "No matter what, he is our first senior brother, I'll finish mine too."
"Junior brother can really hold his liquor!"
Lü Ji stood up and likewise drained his cup, "Today is the junior brother's entry-level banquet, whatever grievances you've held against me all these years, let's save them for later."
"Tsk, junior brother, don't be fooled, he may look burly, but he's actually quite scheming."
Rong Yanqiu disdainfully said, "But for today, for junior brother's sake, I can't be bothered to argue with you."
"Amitabha, may Buddha redeem you soon."
Meng Guangxin cursed as he drank.
This brought an end to their arguments.
Yet, the atmosphere at the table was still not harmonious, merely consisting of Chen Sansi pouring and everyone silently knocking back their drinks.
Only after the third round did the senior brothers begin to murmur incessantly.
"So bitter, so bitter..."
"This battle is so dull!"
"Over these years, how many of our brothers and senior brothers have died, and the Cao Family just discards us after use."
"Exactly, they nearly transferred me to the Southern region, following that damn Prince Zhen Nan, isn't it obvious they wanted to divide and conquer?"
"Thankfully, our master used the excuse of subduing barbarians to temporarily stabilize the situation."
"How many more of our brothers are we expected to sacrifice for the Cao Family's benefits?"
"Once the barbarians are defeated, it'll still be 'when the birds are gone, the good bow is put away; once the cunning rabbit dies, the loyal dogs will be cooked!'"
Only the master understands the higher cause, what do you guys know..."
This liquor was potent, several jars down, and it knocked out all the Main Generals.
Only Chen Sansi, Lü Ji, and the third senior brother Nie Yuan were still seated.
"You must be laughing at us."
Lü Ji put down his wine bowl, self-mockingly said, "Here I am, the eldest, and on our first official meeting, I get scolded by junior brothers and sisters, truly embarrassing.
"Do you also hold the same opinions as them about me?"
"How could I disrespect my first senior brother."
Chen Sansi replied calmly.
"You must have some thoughts though. Junior brother, do you understand what responsibility means?"
Lü Ji, looking at the moonlight outside the window, said sadly, "At the age of eight, my hometown went through a war, and my family all died. The master extended his hand and asked if I wanted to follow him, I nodded, and in the blink of an eye, more than thirty years have passed."