The banquet lasted from morning until night.
After standing for ten consecutive hours, everyone present was still chatting and laughing, busily networking with each other.
Jiang Ye was a little surprised. He considered his physical fitness to be good, and he was quite exhausted after the whole day. He hadn't expected everyone else to be so robust.
Jiang Ye thought that this situation made sense. If they were sickly, how could they possibly endure the high-pressure work of planetary leaders? Therefore, only those in excellent health could attend.
Just as he finished this thought, the two planetary leaders he was chatting with took out syringes from their pockets, simultaneously pulled up their clothes, and injected themselves in the waist, their movements akin to administering insulin.
Jiang Ye suddenly understood. It turned out everyone had brought medication with them.
Finally, the banquet reached its conclusion.
Director Dai did not make an appearance; instead, he sent his secretary to make the announcement.
The numerous planetary leaders began to exit, while some, still engrossed in lively conversation, lingered in corners.
As soon as Jiang Ye stepped out, he was embraced by Cen Yemeng.
"I'm exhausted, my legs are about to break," Cen Yemeng said weakly. "I can't walk anymore, carry me, husband."
Jiang Ye immediately crouched down.
"I was joking, you're actually going to carry me?" Cen Yemeng quickly pulled her husband up. "It's just a few steps, let's hurry back to the spaceship."
Jiang Ye held his wife's hand and walked forward with the surging crowd, found their spaceship, and boarded.
Isabelle and Liu Jizi had already returned and were sprawled on the seats, looking as if they had just finished a marathon.
"Your physique isn't great. You should exercise more in the future," Jiang Ye said, helping his wife sit down.
"The entire day, and not a single chair was provided. I'm truly impressed," Isabelle complained. "I was so tired I wanted to sit on a toilet bowl, but when I went to look, they were all squat toilets! I'm really impressed, not a single Western-style toilet! I had to pull down the handrail on the wall and rest leaning on it."
"The second floor was hilarious, everyone was standing against the wall, and even the window frames were occupied. In the afternoon, many people simply sat on the floor in the corners, disregarding their image," Liu Jizi chuckled weakly beside them. "The commander of Dadan Star, thinking he was clever, brought an air chair, a device the size of a mahjong tile. When he opened it on the ground, it formed an air chair. However, as soon as he sat down, staff members came and took it away."
Jiang Senlin came up the escalator and sat next to Jiang Ye, his expression normal.
"You all look so tired," Jiang Senlin said, somewhat surprised.
"Silly nephew, wouldn't you be tired after standing all day?" Isabelle laughed weakly.
"Standing all day? Why didn't you sit?" Jiang Senlin was taken aback, then suddenly remembered something. "Oh, your hall didn't have chairs."
"What? The family hall had chairs?" Isabelle exclaimed.
"More than just chairs, the family hall also had massage chairs," Jiang Senlin said. "The massage chairs were highly sought after because once you sat in one, you could chat with the people on either side, and everyone was getting a massage, so no one could leave. Each session was ten minutes, and ten minutes was enough to get acquainted."
"Did you complete the task I assigned you?" Jiang Ye asked.
"Completed. I met fifty-two people," Jiang Senlin took out his phone and showed them his contact list. "These are all of them, half are peers, half are elders, and two are younger generation."
"Two younger generation?" Cen Yemeng was startled. "Aren't you considered part of the younger generation?"
"The two youngest grandsons of the commander of Liyuan Star, only four years old," Jiang Senlin explained. "Their parents brought them along and said they wanted to cultivate their children's connections early, hoping I'd add them as friends. Could I refuse? So I added them."
Laughter filled the cabin; they found it quite amusing.
"Did anyone discuss collaborations?" Jiang Ye asked.
"Yes, I've noted down over ten commercial cooperation projects," Jiang Senlin said, tapping on his phone a few times and sending the recorded files to his parents.
Cen Yemeng opened the file and scanned it, nodding. "Standard stuff, with a total scale of eight trillion. They should all be approved."
"There was also a military project," Jiang Senlin said. "The husband of the leader of Rongping Planet talked to me for half an hour. He said that although his wife is currently the planetary leader, managing five planets, she is already showing signs of being sidelined. Therefore, his wife plans to quickly establish more planets and cultivate her own influence in the new planets to solidify her position. In other words, she intends to use expansion to enhance her authority."
"Rongping Planet... that sounds so familiar," Jiang Ye said, rubbing his temples.
"Zhang Qiongshi!" Cen Yemeng reacted quickly. "The current leader of Rongping Planet is Zhang Qiongshi."
Jiang Ye suddenly understood, and his expression turned serious. "You talked to the husband of the leader of Rongping Planet for half an hour? What else did you discuss?"
"We talked a lot," Jiang Senlin thought for a moment. "When he heard I was the son of Jiang Ye and Cen Yemeng, he asked me about the war on the exile planet. I don't understand it very well; I was still young when the war on the exile planet happened, so I just boasted about it, saying the war was very easy, and we swept through everywhere."
"He also asked about our army's scale and weaponry, but I didn't dare to say too much. Firstly, I don't understand it, and secondly, I'm not familiar with him," Jiang Senlin said. "Then he talked about his wife being sidelined. He himself is a househusband, doing chores and taking care of the children at home, serving his wife tea and water, and so on. His wife trusts him very much and often holds him while discussing work matters, and he just comforts her."
"Did he explain specifically how she was being sidelined?" Jiang Ye asked.
"He couldn't explain it clearly. It seems a few ministers joined forces to control the military power of the mercenary army and wanted to oust his wife. Their planet has almost no independent armed forces; they pay a small military fee to the Galactic Empire for protection. So, they rely on mercenary legions," Jiang Senlin recalled.
"However, those ministers don't trust each other and all want to replace her. So, his wife still has a window of opportunity to try and turn the tide bit by bit," Jiang Senlin said. "His wife believes the only way to break the deadlock is to quickly establish more planets. After developing them, she can cultivate more ministers and forces in various aspects. With the old and new planets vying for power, they can counterbalance each other."
Jiang Ye turned and met his wife's gaze, both of them showing expressions of understanding.
No wonder Zhang Qiongshi was in such a hurry to establish so many planets at once.
It turned out there was internal pressure forcing her to accelerate.
If this was the case, it represented a variable.
After all, the motivations behind ambitious planetary expansion and expansion out of necessity were different in all aspects.
Also, what if they cooperated with Zhang Qiongshi to develop new planets, but before the matter was settled, Zhang Qiongshi was overthrown? How would the future cooperation change? This added another layer of risk.
Jiang Ye knew very well that this matter needed to be decided with caution.