Martial Cultivator

The empress was not particularly beautiful, but there was a heroic air between her eyebrows. This might have been related to her father being the previous great general of the northern frontier. However, in reality, what she exuded most of the time was a feeling of gentleness and dignity.

After she said that sentence, all of Chen Chao’s worries from before disappeared, and he became calm again, feeling as peaceful as he did when he was roasting sweet potatoes in Xie Nandu’s small courtyard.

”Everyone, withdraw. This empress wants to have a private conversation with this child,” said the empress softly. The palace maids on both sides slowly withdrew and Eunuch Li who had come with Chen Chao left quietly, as if he had never been there.

At the entrance of the palace, there were only the two of them left.

Suddenly, everything became quiet between heaven and earth.

Chen Chao stood in front of the empress, not knowing what to say. So he remained silent and looked at the ground where the shadow of the empress was cast.

The empress looked at this youth who had his head lowered as if he did something wrong and was afraid to look directly at his mother, and said with a gentle smile, ”Lift your head. This empress also wants to see how the young man who dared to kill four foreign cultivators looks like.”

The empress’s voice was filled with encouragement and teasing, making people feel particularly close.

Hearing this, Chen Chao slowly raised his head. But his eyebrows were still low and he did not look directly at the empress in front of him.

The empress smiled slightly and said, ”Look at this empress.”

She did not have any impatience, but looked tenderly at the young man in front of her, wanting to see his eyes.

”This subject dare not.”

Chen Chao did not look at the empress and just said such a sentence.

The empress smiled and shook her head as she said, ”Forget it. Since you’re not willing, why say that you dare not?”

Hearing these words, Chen Chao just remained silent.

The empress asked off-handedly, ”Are the elders in your family well? You got thrown out at this age and endured so much hardship these days, your mother will be heartbroken if she learns of these things.”

Chen Chao naturally knew that the empress had read his file. Originally, he wanted to say that his parents had already passed away, but he thought for a long time and never said it.

”Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I don’t feel it’s hardship. Serving the imperial court is this subject’s duty.”

Chen Chao thought for a long time and only said such a sentence very cautiously.

Upon hearing this, the empress gently said, ”If you put it that way, there’s no problem.”

”I heard that you had a dispute with those scholars by the South Lake a few days ago?”

The empress was born in the general’s mansion, but she had also studied in the academy. At this moment, her question made it difficult for people to know how to respond.

Chen Chao thought for a moment and said seriously, ”Those scholars insulted the martial artist lineage. As a martial artist, this subject naturally had to say something.”

The empress must have known the ins and outs of what happened by the South Lake. Since she knew the details, Chen Chao was not worried at all, because no matter how the story was told, that matter could not be his fault. If there was a problem, it would also be the scholars’ fault.

The empress indeed smiled and said, ”This empress’ father and husband are also from the martial artists. What they said was naturally wrong. You did well.”

Chen Chao said, ”Thank you for the praise, Your Majesty.”

The empress said, ”You’ve been staying with that girl for these days. Are the rumors spreading in the Divine Capital true?”

Chen Chao looked a little uneasy and asked, ”I wonder what Your Majesty is referring to?”

The empress ignored him and just said, ”This empress really likes that girl and was originally going to make her my daughter-in-law. But if she likes you, this empress wouldn’t want to be a villain that gets between you youngsters.”

Chen Chao thought for a moment and said, ”Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty.”

Hearing this, the empress looked at Chen Chao for a while before smiling, ”You are a smart boy, and interesting.”

She paused and asked, ”Myriad Willow Convention is coming soon. Are you confident?”

Chen Chao calmly replied, ”This subject will do my best and hope not to bring shame to the Great Liang Dynasty.”

This answer was standard and without any emotions or inappropriateness.

However, the empress seemed displeased and said, ”You have made enemies with those people in Tianqing County. Those people want to get rid of you. Don’t you have any anger in your heart? You will need to exert all your efforts at Myriad Willow Convention.”

These words did not sound as demure. Instead, there was an additional hint of overbearingness.

Chen Chao smiled bitterly and said, ”This subject can only do my best and cannot make any promises.”

The empress took a look at the sky and shook her head as she said with some regret, ”Wanted to talk to you more, but you’re too reserved. Hope that when we meet again, you can be more open.” ”Anyway, let’s end it here for tonight. You may go now.”

At this point, the empress glanced at Chen Chao before apologizing, ”I hope you don’t blame me.”

After saying this, the empress called out, ”Li Heng, bring this child to the Virtuous Sun Palace.”

As her voice faded, that Eunuch Li who had previously been hidden in the darkness, returned as if he had never left.

Chen Chao was startled, but still respectfully said, ”This subject takes my leave.”

After saying this, he followed Eunuch Li out of the palace and quickly disappeared from the empress’s sight.

The empress remained in place and did not leave. She kept watching the direction in which Chen Chao had left until much later, when a figure emerged from the main hall and came over here.

”What do you think of that child?” The Great Liang emperor asked in a soft voice

”He’s a good child,” replied the empress.

The Great Liang emperor furrowed his brows and said, ”He didn’t say much, how can you call him a good child?”

The empress smiled and said, ”Do you think it’s easy to survive in the deep mountains? Are demons easier to deal with than humans? If he wasn’t careful, how could he have survived until now?”

The emperor looked at the empress’s face and could not help but reach out and stroke her face, saying gently, ”Since Our empress thinks he’s a good child, then We will trust that he is.”

The empress smiled slightly and shook her head. ”Your Majesty is the ruler of the world, the country and land are in Your Majesty’s hands. How can you only trust a woman like me?”

The Great Liang emperor smiled and said, ”If We hadn’t trusted the empress in the beginning, We’re afraid We’d have died long ago. We trusted you then, why can’t We trust you now?”

The empress suddenly asked, ”Has Your Majesty never been scared by the many outrageous version of things over the years?”

The Great Liang Emperor thought seriously for a moment before sighing, ”Of course We have.”

”Which time?”

The empress looked at the emperor with some anticipation, wondering if it was the moment she had been thinking about.

The Great Liang emperor said, ”Before Our imperial father passed away, We went to the temple to offer incense. As We were walking, a young monk with a shaved head charged towards Us. We couldn’t dodge in time and collided with him. He took a few steps back and fell to the ground. When he looked up at Us, he said something that scared Us so much that We broke out in a cold sweat.”

The empress smiled and said, ”Back then, what Nation Teacher said was that since he bumped into Your Majesty, he would offer a white hat as an apology.”[1. In case this isn’t clear, it’s symbolic with death.]

The Great Liang emperor nodded his head, his eyes filling with sadness, as if he remembered that young monk back then and he said, ”The Nation Teacher has already passed away for many years.”

……

……

As the time approached, the young people who were attending the imperial banquet arrived at the front of the Virtuous Sun Palace. There were four people from the academy and two from the Heavenly Imperial Institution. The Xie family of the Divine Capital, the Wei family, and the Ning family, each had one. Counting Chen Chao from the Warden Office, it was exactly ten people.

However, at this moment, there were only nine people in front of the Virtuous Sun Palace.

The second prince was presiding over the imperial banquet. The current emperor of the Great Liang Dynasty had three sons, and the second prince was of the same age as these ten people and was known for good reputation. Therefore, he was chosen to preside over the banquet on behalf of the Great Liang emperor.

After learning that everyone had arrived, he personally came out to welcome them. However, as he scanned the area, he found that only nine people were present, which made him somewhat displeased. He asked, ”Who isn’t here yet?”

Soon, a eunuch spoke up and said, ”Your Highness, it’s the Warden Chen who hasn’t arrived yet.”

Hearing this term of address, the second prince quickly remembered what had happened in the Divine Capital before. He hid his displeasure and asked with a slight smile, ”This Warden Chen hasn’t arrived yet?”

The eunuch said in a low voice, ”That Warden Chen entered the palace the earliest, but he was brought away by Eunuch Li.”

Hearing this and thinking of that Eunuch Li, the second prince was silent for a long while before looking at the others and smiling, ”In that case, everyone please be seated first.”

The people walked towards the Virtuous Sun Palace. But when they arrived at the entrance, they found that some people had already taken their seats. Xia Yuan frowned. He naturally recognized these people as the juniors of those sects who were friendly with the Great Liang Dynasty. They were also the young people who had come to participate in the Myriad Willow Convention.

However, it was not mentioned in the invitation that these foreign cultivators were to be invited to the banquet. These people only assumed that they were the ten invited guests. Having so many extra people suddenly appearing at this moment, it was not only Xia Yuan, the others also felt a little strange.

The second prince noticed the subtle emotions among them and said with a slight smile, ”Tonight’s imperial banquet is just a chance for the Great Liang Dynasty to connect with everyone before the Myriad Willow Convention. There is no other intentions. Everyone, please take your seats.”

With the second prince’s words, how could people dare to refuse? Everyone naturally took their seats.

After everyone had taken their seats, the only remaining empty seat just happened to be next to Xie Nandu.

Xie Nandu glanced at it and shook her head, not knowing what she was thinking.

After everyone was seated, there were naturally palace maids that walked among them, placing various delicacies in front of them. For a moment, the entire hall was filled with the aroma of food, and it really felt like a banquet.

Xie Nandu looked at the delicacies in front of her, but she thought of someone’s roasted sweet potatoes.

Just as she was lost in thought, a voice suddenly sounded out in the banquet hall.

”On such an important occasion tonight, even the Second Prince, His Highness, arrived on time, and there are so many foreign fellow daoists present. Yet, a measly warden actually dares to not come. Just a country bumpkin who lacks manners in the end. It’s fine if he lacks etiquette, but does he not have any respect for His Majesty too?”