The banquet had just begun and the second prince had just sat down. Those palace maids had also just placed the delicacies in front of them and slowly withdrew, leaving only a few people behind to serve. But at this moment, someone already spoke up and began accusing that absent youth in front of many foreign cultivators.
At this moment, the entire banquet quietened down. The second prince frowned, feeling a bit displeased, and his fingers gripped his wine glass a little harder. The foreign cultivators had calm expressions, as if they did not have too many thoughts about it. However, some individuals had mocking smiles that they did not cover up.
Although their sects were on friendly terms with the Great Liang Dynasty, it was just on friendly terms and far from being bound together for good or ill with the Great Liang Dynasty.
In fact, they actually did not sincerely support the Great Liang Dynasty too. It was merely because their own sects were too weak, that was why they chose the Great Liang Dynasty as an ally. The relationship between the two parties was just a mutually beneficial one.
Xia Yuan looked towards where the voice came from and found that the one who spoke was none other than that teenager from the Ning family. Among the ten people in the Great Liang Dynasty, other than Chen Chao, that Ning family's youth had the lowest status. Although the Longxi's Ning family was considered a major family too, who could he compare himself to among these people?
Logically speaking, he should have been the least noticeable person at this banquet. However, some malicious person might exploit Chen Chao's absence for their own benefit. After all, the incident that this youth had caused in the Divine Capital a few days ago was seriously a little too huge. But who would have thought that he would be the first one to speak up at this very moment?
Could it be that this person also had some ambiguous feelings for that Xie family girl?
Although Xia Yuan had some unpleasantness with Chen Chao by the lake before, he did it for the academy. As for other things, he have no intentions.
The youngsters from the Wei and Xie families who were sitting on both sides of that Ning family youth were silent, not making any comments.
The Ning family youth stood up, saluted the second prince, and continued: "How important is today's event? That person is so absurd that he didn't come. I previously heard that he spoke up for martial artists under the heavens at South Lake, and I had some respect for this person. But looking at it now, who knows what ideas this person harbored when he said that at Second Prince back then! I'm afraid that his intentions were impure too!" "Even if he made contributions to the country before, I'm afraid that he must be sentenced for disrespecting imperial dignity today!"
The incident where Chen Chao refuted students in the academy had actually caused quite the storm in the Divine Capital. It was just that after that, he had been living a quiet life in the small courtyard, and rarely paid attention to the outside world. He naturally would not know too. However, for everyone else present, not just these ten people, but even the foreign cultivators, they had actually heard of it too.
After all, that incident happened in the academy.
Xia Yuan listened to the Ning family youth mention this incident and his brow furrowed with a hint of gloominess.
The scene was very quiet, but many people had already cast their gaze on that quiet young girl. The rumors running amok in the capital were that this Xie family girl liked that poor young warden with a lowly upbringing. Now that the Ning family youth spoke up, it was not necessarily without an intent to probe the truth of this matter.
Seeing that Xie Nandu remained calm and did not have the intention to speak, the people also gradually understood that the rumors in the Divine Capital were not true...
Those who were well-informed knew the beginning and end of Xie Nandu's journey to the Divine Capital before arriving here. At this moment, she probably only took him in out of gratitude.
Especially the young people present who were interested in Xie Nandu, they could not help but feel happy.
Regardless of whether they really liked Xie Nandu as a person, in the Great Liang Dynasty, just being born into the Xie family and being the final disciple of the current dean was enough to attract most people.
The two remarks from the Ning family youth quickly had a response. Someone said with a smile, "There is no need to do this. Perhaps the imperial city is too big. How could a trifling local warden like him have been to these places? It's also not surprising that he got lost."
Although these words seemed to be resolving the predicament for Chen Chao, the sarcastic intent was abundant. For some time, several peals of laughter sounded out.
The person who spoke was named Fan Hong and came from the Heavenly Imperial Institution. He was one of the two from the Heavenly Imperial Institution. If Chen Chao had not refused the Heavenly Imperial Institution's invitation on that day, and if the Warden Office had not given up one of the two places, then Chen Chao would be the only candidate representing the Heavenly Imperial Institution today. This meant that he, as the direct lineage who has been cultivating in the Heavenly Imperial Institution all along, would not be fated to be one of the ten people.
Although that scenario did not happen in the end, the moment he thought of such a possibility, it was enough to make Fan Hong dislike that young warden. In fact, he had never met him before and already disliked him greatly.
Hearing that someone agreed, that Ning family youth was quite pleased with himself, It was just that he did not notice that the Second Prince's expression already did not look too good.
The Second Prince had no interactions with Chen Chao. Even if he did not know his whereabouts, he also would not have mentioned it at the imperial banquet. Instead, he would try his best to suppress this matter because there were still foreign cultivators present at this moment. So he deliberately chose not to mention that matter. But, he did not expect that the Ning family youth would actually disregard the overall situation and start criticizing Chen Chao in front of the foreign cultivators. What surprised him even more was that Fan Hong from the Heavenly Imperial Institution actually agreed with him at the scene.
Such a thing should not be happening at today's banquet no matter what.
He also knew that there were many spies in the Great Liang Dynasty. But those spies were probably extremely clever. These two people could not be one of them because they were seriously too stupid.
The Second Prince's gaze slowly swept across the seats, not looking at the foreign cultivators, but at the two from the Heavenly Imperial Institution first. Chen Chao rejected the invitation from the Heavenly Imperial Institution. It was understandable that the Heavenly Imperial Institution was a little unhappy about it. The Wei family had always been at odds with the Xie family, so it also made sense to be unwilling to speak up when they knew that the young man and young woman from the Xie family had some ties. The Xie Family was complicated and the young woman was from White Deer. Her influence in the Divine Capital was limited and she had yet to have her own following. Hence, it was normal that the others were not close to her. As for the three students from the academy, because of what happened at South Lake, although Chen Chao was in the right, he still humiliated the academy's face after all. There was no issue with the three of them not speaking. But in the end, the Second Prince's gaze fell on Xie Nandu, thinking that you were the one who should speak the most, why did you choose to remain silent at this moment?
Could it really be like what the world thought, that there was only gratitude between you and him, and nothing else?
The Second Prince shook his head and was just about to say a few words for the young man he had never met, he heard a voice sound out in the audience, "Your Highness, it's time for the imperial court to take note of the rules."
The person just happened to be one of the foreign cultivators. His sect was on friendly terms with the Great Liang Dynasty, making him a true VIP. Even though the Second Prince was of royal bloodline, it was not appropriate for him to he refute his words at the moment. After all, he had to pay attention to the relationship between both parties.
More importantly, regardless of the reason, Chen Chao's absence at the moment was a fact.
Anyone could speak now, except for this Second Prince who could not defend Chen Chao anymore.
Therefore, the Second Prince just gave a faint smile, but did not nod his head.
"Indeed, in our foreign lands, this kind of fellow who doesn't respect his seniors will have their cultivation crippled and be expelled from the sect!"
"Even us non-government folks understand the word 'rules'. Does the Great Liang Dynasty not follow the rules anymore?"
"Or is it because that person never received an education? But since he has never studied, why would he appear in the academy?"
……
……
When those young people from beyond the foreign lands started discussing about this, their voices were not soft. If the others could still sit still before, at this moment, they could not sit still anymore when they heard those foreign land youths start to criticize the Great Liang dynasty.
Many people present actually vaguely guessed the reason. The current situation must be related to the matter of Chen Chao killing those qi refiners.
In the end, these cultivators' primary identities were that of cultivators and not something else, even though they were friendly with the Great Liang dynasty.
The second prince remained silent. It was just that he was thinking about how the cultivators who were friendly with the Great Liang dynasty were like this. What about those cultivators who had no friendly sentiments with the Great Liang dynasty? He had never left the Divine Capital and had never seen the people throughout the Great Liang Dynasty firsthand. But he had heard those stories and knew how the cultivators treated the people of the Great Liang Dynasty in those stories.
For a moment, the second prince actually felt a little sad in his heart.
The imperial banquet originally invited the foreign land's young people to gather together in good faith, but now it seemed more like the Great Liang Dynasty's own wishful thinking.
"I implore Your Highness to report today's matter to the emperor and punish that warden severely!"
When the venue was a little quieter, the Ning Family's young man solemnly spoke up. He had a serious look as he looked at the second prince, saying, "That person's absence at this gathering that's also held in front of our foreign fellow daoists is truly shameful for our Great Liang Dynasty. We must severely punish him to show the dignity of our Great Liang law!"
Fan Hong nodded and said, "Our Great Liang law is above everything else. Naturally, we must punish him severely!"
As he spoke, several foreign cultivators looked at each other and also said, "We have heard that the Great Liang law is very strict. Now that we're seeing it today, isn't it the case?"
"Everyone, don't be presumptuous, I believe the Great Liang Dynasty will still follow the rules," another cultivator spoke. It was just that he had a profound meaning on his face.
The second prince looked at the young man from the Ning Family with mixed emotions in his eyes. If it had only been him today, it would have been one thing. But after he spoke, those foreign cultivators also opened their mouths, instantly making the current situation a very difficult one.
Based on Chen Chao's absence today, if they did not know the reasons, punishing him would be reasonable. But now, it seemed like the foreign cultivators were also forcing him to make a decision. This was definitely not a situation he wanted to see.
These youngsters naturally had no ability to force the Great Liang emperor to do anything, but their behaviors at this moment was a reflection of the entire Great Liang Dynasty.
The second prince thought about it and still decided to speak up for Chen Chao.
"This matter is inappropriate."
Over at the academy students' side that had been silent all along, someone spoke up. It was not Xia Yuan, but another slightly older scholar named Wang Kuan. He was born to an ordinary peasant family in Lingnan and was brought back to the academy by the academy's tutor when he was traveling around the world. Not only was his writing good, he was also a good seedling for cultivation. At present, his reputation among the younger generation of the academy was considerable.
"Even if Warden Chen hasn't arrived, the matter hasn't been investigated clearly and the reason is unknown. We should not hastily declare him guilty too."
Wang Kuan spoke in a warm tone, his voice indifferently without any bias.
Before, as a student of the academy, he was hesitant to speak. But now, he had to say something.
The second prince's eyes showed a hint of approval.
The faces of the foreign cultivators did not look too good. Perhaps they did not expect someone in the room to actually go against them.
This was unacceptable, even if they were students of the academy.
The youth from the Ning family retorted, "Even if there's a reason, is there anything more important than attending the imperial banquet? Even if there's a reason, this has already happened. Can't he be punished?!"
Wang Kuan furrowed his brows and spoke gently, "We must first know the cause before we can speak of the crime."
"Since it is already an ironclad fact, why ask so much? In my opinion, Your Highness can directly convict him, and I presume His Majesty won't say anything either."
In the room, a tall and thin young man spoke up. He was one of the foreign cultivators and his name was He Yi, from the Verdant Cloud Temple.
Even among the young foreign cultivators, He Yi was extremely famous too.
In the cultivation world, there was a list called the Latent Dragon List, which specifically listed young people under the age of thirty. The people on the list were ranked according to their talent and cultivation realm, and they were all geniuses of the contemporary era.
The person in front of them was also on the list.
As soon as he spoke, everyone in the room who wanted to help Wang Kuan speak up dispelled that thought.
Wang Kuan furrowed his brows. But before he could speak, the young girl over there who did not speak the entire time suddenly looked towards the room and calmly said, "What does it have to do with you all?"
As soon as she said this, the room suddenly quieted down.
He Yi did not say anything. He just squinted his eyes with some killing intent flashing in them.
Everyone's gazes fell on the girl.
Xie Nandu did not care about these things and just continued calmly, "Even if he is to be convicted, it is our Great Liang Dynasty's business. What does it have to do with you all?"
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