In his message, Tengxiao mentioned how he had run into a Vidyadhara Alchemy Captain at the Alchemy Commission, and praised him for being reliable and efficient with the psychological test, unlike others who always needed to report their work back to him.
Dan Feng's reply was short and direct, he said the subordinate hadn't handled things properly.
The dragon lord had lived for hundreds of years, so naturally, he could see that Tengxiao's praise was actually a disguised jab.
In reality, Tengxiao was saying that the Captain didn't know how to do things properly, since he hadn't reported back to the general during the process.
Not long after, that Alchemy Captain came to Tengxiao, his words full of sincerity, but then suddenly shifted tone, saying they hadn't been able to reach Lord Dan Feng at the time, that the dragon jade messages hadn't been answered, blah blah blah.
Obviously, he was trying to dump the blame on their Vidyadhara dragon lord, hoping to lower Dan Feng's image score in Tengxiao's mind.
But really, just because Lord Dan Feng wasn't there, did you have to make over a hundred questions? Wasn't that just an attempt to show off in front of Tengxiao, only to crash and burn?
If that man's temper had been even slightly worse, Luofu would have already been turned upside down.
Tengxiao didn't reply.
The current dragon lord was strong-willed, keeping the dragonmasters firmly under control, often shutting down a whole group of Vidyadhara with just a few words.
Those Vidyadhara who weren't convinced could only play petty tricks behind his back.
As for these little matters… Tengxiao couldn't be bothered to get involved. If he did, those people would never quiet down.
Besides, it was their clan's internal affairs, what business was it of an outsider?
An improper example: it's like when you want to save a friend who's being abused or treated like an ATM. You waste all your breath trying to convince them to break up, only for the couple to reconcile the next day, lovey-dovey again, even using your heartfelt advice as private gossip between them.
That leaves you stuck in the worst possible position, like a clown in a circus.
In the end, your friend even maliciously suspects you of being jealous of their "amazing" relationship.
Just imagining it makes you want to kill that couple, then go ahead and kill the whole world…
No matter how much the Vidyadhara fought each other internally, it had nothing to do with Tengxiao. Lord Dan Feng could handle it.
Tengxiao set aside his jade tablet and pieced together all the information he had.
Suddenly, he had a bold guess, maybe Zero hadn't regained his memories completely.
Maybe he wanted to use the archives to read the records and learn about his past self.
Tengxiao recalled the sealed records in the archives, the ones about the former General.
To sum them up in one sentence, he had maxed out the hatred of every major faction.
Tengxiao, "…"
His heart went cold halfway down. No matter how much Zero remembered, if he saw those records… what then?
He quickly opened his jade tablet and called Diviner Xiao Lin.
Xiao Lin, lost in sweet dreams, "…Huh? Who?"
Tengxiao, "Are you asleep?"
Xiao Lin glanced at the time, then snapped irritably, "…It's one in the morning, General."
'It's one in the morning, you really need to ask if I'm asleep?!'
Tengxiao selectively ignored his words, "Good, since you're awake, come to the General's mansion."
And he hung up, his face serious.
He had to think hard about how to beautify the former General's actions.
When a flustered Xiao Lin finally rushed to the mansion, Tengxiao, as usual, used his tried-and-true tactic of babbling nonsense.
"This matter, well, it's just like this, those who understand, understand, the situation is exactly what it is…"
Xiao Lin, bleary-eyed, forced himself to extract the point, "General, are you saying we need to beautify everything the former General did?"
Tengxiao shook his head, "How can you call it beautifying? This is clearly restoring the truth. Everything the former General did was for the Xianzhou! Here, take a look, let's do it together."
Xiao Lin opened the sealed records and nearly blacked out.
"General, these hundreds of planets…"
Tengxiao glanced at the record he handed over, his eyelid twitching, "Just write that he saved planets deeply plagued by the Swarm."
Xiao Lin dryly said, "General, but when he exterminated the intelligences, directly opposing the…"
Tengxiao lied with a straight face, "Just say the former General was all-knowing and all-powerful, foresaw that artificial intelligence life would one day stir up chaos like the Mara-struck, so he struck first. Even when facing the Aeon of Erudition, he refused to back down."
Listening to Tengxiao spout nonsense with such ease, Xiao Lin instantly admired him, bowing in awe.
'No wonder he was the General! Now this was high emotional intelligence!'
The two of them worked through the night. At dawn, Tengxiao cheerfully said, "Didn't think we'd finish the first draft so quickly. Tonight after work, keep up the good effort, Xiao Qing, "
Xiao Lin, thinking the matter was done, "…F-first draft?"
The Diviner was stunned. His hands were sore from writing all night, and the General said this was just the first draft?
"This matter is of the utmost importance. Not a word can leak out. Naturally, the very first person I thought of was you."
Once again, Tengxiao used his high-EQ talk to flatter Xiao Lin until he was dizzy, then shoved a pile of psychology-related books into his arms.
———
Still dazed, Xiao Lin hugged the books and trudged back to the Divination Commission right on time.
It wasn't until he stepped inside that he finally realized.
The General had fooled him again. Even dragging him out in the middle of the night for overtime.
Fuming, Xiao Lin swept his eyes over his bright-eyed subordinates, and his gaze landed on Zero, just coming out of the break room with a palm-sized cup of water in his hands.
As a supervisor, he knew his subordinates' little tricks all too well. That tiny cup would be empty after just a few sips, then he'd have an excuse to run back to the break room to chat again.
Xiao Lin flared with anger, but remembering how Zero had been misunderstood as a victim of workplace bullying, he only gave a cold snort, hugged his books, and went to his office.
Zero, "…?"
Who could understand this, being glared at by the boss for no reason.
Perplexed, he suddenly recalled the stack of books the Diviner had been carrying.
The Weaknesses of Human Nature, Psychiatry in Everyday Life, An Analysis of Antisocial Personality Disorder…
Zero was stunned. 'The Diviner was working this hard?'
Was his boss really doing all this for him? There was no way he could be that serious, right?
He couldn't even describe his feelings, it was like eating strawberry-flavored mapo tofu.
The intention was good, but seriously, he didn't have a problem…
Zero felt like nothing he said would clear this up, so he could only slack off extra hard to vent his emotions.
He opened his chat with Hua.
[Zero: Do you owe Tengxiao a favor? Or does he want something from you?]
The first reply wasn't from Hua, but an automatic response.
[Hua: Busy, not at post, please make an appointment 180 days in advance]
Yesterday Tengxiao had been talking to himself, acting like he had to help solve Zero's problem.
What he feared was exactly this, that even though he hadn't said anything, both he and Hua would now owe Tengxiao a favor for no reason.
But he and Hua were just ordinary workers. Faced with someone of such high rank, it was hard to outright refuse.
If they could cancel that favor debt with just some petty overtime, it would be worth it.
Zero deliberately checked his account, pulled out the spare change in his balance, and asked,
[Zero: Asking in advance, can I just throw money at this problem? Would giving Tengxiao eight figures' worth of credits be enough? Or would that be too little?]
[Hua: …]
[Hua: Don't.]
[Hua: You'd better stay away from him.]
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