Fake Eunuch: Discovering the Emperor is a Woman!-Chapter 188 - 186 Ranking of Officials

At the same time, they grew even more curious about what this shop was to do.

Even the invitation was so luxurious, what on earth could they sell to make up for such extravagance?

In addition, the recent fame of the shop had caused them to let their imaginations run wild.

Of course, some high-ranking officials also became intrigued, wondering if the shop might actually sell those top-tier glazed artifacts?

Indeed, some had begun to guess as much.

After all, they were aware of those foreign envoys being brought to the Capital City and taken to Nanshan by Lin Yi.

But these matters were clearly none of their business.

When they opened the invitation and examined its content, every single one of them frowned.

After some inquiries, they found that no one knew what the luxury item was.

However, Lin Yi was not someone to be trifled with at the moment, so most chose to give him this face.

As for Chief of Staffs and Princes, naturally, they would not attend in person.

But they all instructed their stewards to prepare gifts to send over.

This was on the very first day they received the invitations.

However, as soon as the morning court of the second day ended, someone took the lead in bringing up the matter.

When some officials found out they had not received an invitation, they cursed Lin Yi through and through.

And those who had received invitations, upon seeing such a situation, felt a sense of superiority.

Especially those lower-ranking officials who were delighted to see that their superiors hadn’t received an invitation and for the first time thought Lin Yi was quite pleasing to the eye.

Indeed, Lin Yi played this move beautifully, and those who didn’t get an invitation felt despised in an instant.

Even worse, some subordinates had received one, but they had not; wasn’t this a slap in their faces?

Therefore, they immediately inquired with their stewards about whether they had received any invitations upon returning home.

And the answers were all the same—there were none.

This made them even angrier.

Yet while angry, they tried every means to get their hands on an invitation.

Without it, they feared being looked down upon by their peers—wouldn’t that be humiliating?

In short, by the time Lin Yi heard the news, a triumphant smirk found its way onto his face.

As he had anticipated, that very night, countless stewards came to ask for invitations from the responsible person here.

Lin Yi, of course, predicted this and had already instructed the persons in charge to tell them that they could have the invitation, provided they brought their wives with them.

The stewards naturally didn’t dare to decide on such a request.

But they were eager, so they readily agreed to the condition.

They thought, after all, what does it matter to them if their mistresses come or not?

Besides, having the invitation is what counts, why bother about the rest?

Once in hand, who could hold them accountable?

However, something they hadn’t anticipated left the stewards dumbfounded.

"Alright, then let’s make a registration.

Our invitations are all numbered, each one corresponding to a distinct digit.

This symbolizes status and identity, after all."

Clearly, the responsible person’s words obliterated any crafty ideas they had.

A registration meant that whoever received the invitation would be recorded.

If their wives did not accompany them to the event, and the matter was publicized, it would be they who would lose face.

Well, they were simply not invited, yet they shamelessly asked the stewards to request one from others—this was a blatant self-humiliation.

If it truly came to that, it could become a laughing stock of the entire bureaucratic circle.

Even if not a laughingstock, it would surely cause many to lose respect in front of their subordinates.

However, the expressions of these stewards were clearly observed by the store’s responsible person.

This scene, too, had been within Lin Yi’s calculations, and the responsible person inwardly gave Lin Yi a thumbs-up.

Truly fitting of Lin Yi, everything was in his grasp.

"Heh, certainly, rest assured, this matter is not to be publicized. We shall keep the names of every distinguished guest confidential.

As long as you gentlemen bring your wives, we shall not let anyone know."

After this was said, the stewards dared not make a decision and so went back to their respective houses to report the matter.

Upon hearing their subordinates’ reports, every official frowned and couldn’t help but curse, Lin Yi that bastard.

Isn’t this essentially proposing to rank all officials of the Capital City?

Although Lin Yi’s power was significant now, his prestige wasn’t that high, and his words didn’t carry much weight.

In theory, even if he really wanted to rank all officials, they would merely scoff in disdain.

But now the situation was different, after the matter of his invitations, even if they appeared indifferent on the surface, who wouldn’t compare in secret?

And now, what good methods did they have?

The most important thing was to get an invitation.

Failing that would mean they were relegated to the very bottom, an intolerable prospect for them.

It seems that not long after the stewards left, they came hurrying back.

In haste they came and in haste they went.

Upon their arrival, they merely reported their information and then took the grand red invitation and turned to leave.

In the cover of night, stewards from various houses inevitably encountered each other.

But at the moment of their meeting, though they knew each other’s intentions well, they kept their lips sealed.

Even some who were usually on good terms simply lowered their heads as if they didn’t see the other, hastily brushing past.

"My lord, just as you predicted, almost all officials in the Capital City have sent their stewards here.

Tonight, we have distributed a total of 316 invitations."

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