Footsteps sounded out in front of that palace. Soon, news of what was currently happening in the Virtuous Sun Palace was transmitted by the eunuchs in the palace. After that eunuch finished speaking, the empress lightly waved her hand, and the eunuch slowly withdrew.
The Great Liang emperor glanced at the palace lantern hanging from the eaves and said with a cold smile, "This takes some courage. I wonder what price they paid to make that child from the Ning Family willingly play the fool?"
The emperor was angry, not because someone was instigating the situation in the Virtuous Sun Palace behind the scenes, but because that Ning Family's youth who regarded himself as a genius lacked the arrogance that a genius should have. He was willing to pretend to be a fool under the lure of profit and the pressure of power.
As for the actions of those young cultivators from the foreign lands, he was well aware that it was merely due to Chen Chao's killing of several qi refiners in Tianqing County before. They wanted to use this imperial banquet to test the reaction of the Great Liang Dynasty.
The events taking place at the banquet now were too shallow and obviously man-made. However, since it was such a shallow ploy, the big shots could naturally only watch from the sidelines.
The Great Liang emperor smiled coldly and said., "They say they're making friends, but they're not of the same mind, so how can they be of the same heart?"
The empress laughed, "I know Your Majesty won't bother with these kids. Otherwise, even if those people gave them more, the old foxes wouldn't dare instruct those kids to do such things. After all, who can withstand Your Majesty's wrath?"
The Great Liang emperor stared at the empress for a long time before sighing, "Nowadays, except for that old fogey in the academy, only you, Our empress, dare to mock Us like this in the Great Liang Dynasty."
The empress said casually, "Your Majesty is the emperor of the world. But in my opinion, Your Majesty is just my husband. If I cannot make jokes in front of my husband, what's the point?"
The Great Liang Emperor nodded in agreement.
He reached out and took down a palace lantern, carrying it personally as he led the empress forward.
The empress reached her hand out naturally and took the Great Liang emperor's hand, asking, "What does Your Majesty think of that girl?"
The Great Liang emperor furrowed his brows upon hearing this and said rather unhappily, "We are not entirely satisfied with what the Xie family has done in these years. Over two hundred years ago, they followed the founding emperor to conquer the world, and settled down in the Divine Capital, and have not done anything out of line since. Naturally, they have been stable too. However, with the increase in the number of people, it is inevitable that some different thoughts may have arose. They have done extremely well in the White Deer ancestral shrine, and there have been no rumors of any other wrongdoing."
"Nowadays, these young people have too many schemes and too little of the carefree nature that belongs to youths. We don't like it. They are young, so why pretend to be old and mature?"
The empress reminded him with a smile, "I was talking about that girl."
"That girl...is certainly not bad, she's just too quiet. She has a completely different personality from when you were young, empress. But it seems she can see the situation clearly and spoke up. We don't know if it's for the sake of Great Liang Dynasty or that boy."
The Great Liang emperor laughed and said, "It seems that the rumors in the Divine Capital are true. That girl fancies that boy. If that's the case, she won't be able to become your daughter-in-law."
The empress was somewhat helpless and did not speak. After walking for a while, she said, "I felt very close to that child when I saw him. I wonder if Your Majesty feels the same way too?"
The Great Liang emperor did not answer this question but suddenly said, "Tell Li Heng to let that boy go to the Virtuous Sun Palace later."
There was no one around them at this moment, but the Great Liang emperor was very clear that his decree would definitely be transmitted.
The empress pretended to be angry and said, "If Your Majesty does this, that child will hate me to death."
The Great Liang emperor patted the empress' hand with a laugh and did not say anything.
……
……
The Divine Capital was very large, and the imperial city was naturally not small either. Chen Chao, who has never entered the imperial city before could only follow Li Heng at this time, who brought him into the palace. Originally, Li Heng was leading the young man towards the Virtuous Sun Palace, but halfway through, he stopped for a moment and turned into another path naturally.
Chen Chao followed for a few steps before realizing that something was amiss. Seeing that the path in front of him was not the same as the one they had taken earlier, he could not help but ask, "Eunuch Li, aren't we going to the Virtuous Sun Palace?"
Li Heng smiled and replied, "Of course we are going to the Virtuous Sun Palace. Does Commander Chen have any queries?"
Chen Chao frowned and said, "This... does seem like it's the most direct route."
He spoke with great tact and did not directly say that this was not the same path they had taken before.
Li Heng said, "Commander Chen, who knows when it will be the next time you enter the palace. It's good to take a look at other parts of the imperial city while you're here."
Although Li Heng did not say much, it also seemed like he had said everything.
Thinking briefly, Chen Chao realized that this must be the intention of the Empress, so he did not ask any more questions and instead asked, "How long have you been in the palace, Eunuch Li?"
A hint of approval flashed across Li Heng's eyes. He was very satisfied with what this young man had shown.
"Thirteen years."
Chen Chao thought for a moment and said, "So Lord Eunuch entered the palace when His Majesty ascended the throne."
Li Heng did not say anything and just nodded.
Chen Chao suddenly asked, "Will His Majesty punish me for not arriving at the imperial banquet?"
Without waiting for Li Heng to speak, he continued on his own, "I presume not. His Majesty and the Empress have always been respectful to each other. I think that His Majesty definitely won't get angry if he knows that I was summoned by the Empress. However, I wonder if at this moment, someone in the Virtuous Sun Palace will be making a big deal out of this?"
During his time in the Divine Capital, Chen Chao knew that he had offended many people. He had virtually offended the academy and rejected the Heavenly Imperial Institution at the South Lake. He was not sure what others might think of him. Plus, with what happened between him and Xie Nandu, there would definitely be people who could not bear the sight of him at the banquet.
"I presume that since it's an imperial banquet today, even if His Majesty isn't present, it should be hosted by one of the princes. With the Myriad Willow Convention approaching, I doubt anyone would be foolish enough to act as a clown in such an occasion, right?"
Li Heng opened his mouth and said, "Tonight's imperial banquet is hosted by the second prince and he has invited some young foreign cultivators who are on friendly terms with Great Liang."
Chen Chao was surprised, "Why is that?"
Li Heng shook his head. Even if he knew about these things, he would not say either.
Chen Chao smiled bitterly and said, "Since there are foreign cultivators, isn't the Empress making things difficult for me by making me arrive late?"
Li Heng warned, "Her Majesty has always been kind. Commander Chen, please be careful with your words."
"How much longer do we need?"
Chen Chao did not ask about anything else. Since it had already happened, he could only think of ways to solve it.
Li Heng thought about it and said, "I'll have to trouble Commander Chen to wait for 15 more minutes."
Chen Chao frowned and said, "I can't wait that long."
Li Heng sighed softly and said, "Unfortunately, Commander Chen can only wait that long."
……
……
The atmosphere in the hall was very quiet. The most surprised was the young man from the Ning Family. He stole a glance imperceptibly at a certain place at the table and then withdrew his gaze, looking somewhat lost when he looked at Xie Nandu.
No one would have expected that the situation at this banquet would suddenly deviate from their expectations.
No one had expected that the usually calm and collected girl would speak up so quickly and with such force, almost like she had raised her sword to the opponent's throat.
He Yi looked at Xie Nandu and said expressionlessly, "It seems that the dean's judgment isn't very good. Is the academy accepting students like you who lack manners now
Upon hearing this, Wang Kuan who had spoken before became somewhat unhappy and was about to stand up. Xia Yuan's face also looked a little ugly. He had always thought very highly of the academy. Otherwise, he would not have had ill intentions towards Chen Chao before.
But before they could speak, Xie Nandu looked at He Yi and said, "I have been studying since I was young and naturally know how to be polite. However, since your esteemed self is a barbaric person, you can belong in the wild. Gesturing and speaking out of turn here is what is truly impolite."
Hearing this, there was a stir in the hall.
He Yi was a young genius on the Latent Dragon List. Even the foreign cultivators present had to give him some face. However, no one had expected that the girl would be so merciless the moment she spoke up.
He Yi sneered and said, "We have come from afar and are guests here."
Xie Nandu shook her head and said, "There are many kinds of guests, and there are many ways to treat guests. But you're nothing more than an unwelcome guest."
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