Chapter 25: Wait—Where Is Great Xia’s Morning Court?

Early the next morning, a thunderous burst of drums and gongs suddenly rang out along the capital’s main thoroughfare.

The common people all stuck their heads out to look.

They saw a procession of men dressed in strange foreign garb making its way in grand display toward the imperial palace.

At the very front, upon a tall horse, sat a young man in splendid ceremonial robes.

His chin was lifted high, and arrogance covered his face.

He was none other than Shan Lie, the Second Prince of the Shan Kingdom.

In order to make the spectacle as grand as possible, Shan Lie had truly spared no expense.

Not only had he dragged out everyone in the diplomatic mission who could make the scene look more imposing, he had even specially hired a troupe of musicians to beat drums and play instruments all along the way.

He wanted the matter to become known to all under Heaven.

Since Great Xia would not come out to receive him, then he would go himself.

He wanted everyone to see that the Shan Kingdom had come to reason with them, that it had come to resolve matters through proper channels.

He wanted Great Xia, under the watchful eyes of the whole city, to be left with no choice but to respond.

According to his previous experience, Crown Prince Xu Tian of Great Xia had always cared most about rules and propriety. Once he forced them into this position, he would already have won half the battle.

When they reached the gates of the imperial palace,

Shan Lie swung down from his horse and straightened his robes.

He assumed what he believed to be his most flawless posture and quietly waited for Great Xia’s officials to come out and receive him.

And yet…

a quarter of an hour passed.

Then half an hour passed.

The sun climbed higher and higher, until it gradually reached its zenith overhead.

The palace gates remained firmly shut. Only a few Imperial Guards stood there like wooden posts, not even lifting their eyelids to look at him.

The smile on Shan Lie’s face gradually stiffened, and fine beads of sweat began to seep from his forehead.

Not from heat.

From rage.

“What is going on?”

he asked in a low voice to the attendant beside him.

“Does Great Xia’s morning court begin this late? It’s already noon. What kind of morning court is this supposed to be?”

The attendant was equally bewildered and hurried off to ask the Imperial Guards.

Not long after,

he came running back with a mournful expression.

“Your Highness… the Imperial Guards said… there is no morning court today.”

“What?”

Shan Lie’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, and even his voice changed pitch.

“No morning court? How could Great Xia possibly have no morning court?”

Feeling the pointing fingers and curious looks of the common people around him, Shan Lie’s mind went blank.

He glared viciously at the attendant.

“Something this huge, and you didn’t tell me sooner?”

The attendant was drenched in sweat, yet did not dare utter a word in defense.

He felt deeply wronged inside. He had not known either!

And besides,

in the minds of the surrounding nations, Great Xia’s system had always been the very model of order and governance.

They might curse Great Xia with their mouths, but who in his heart did not envy Great Xia’s prosperity and order?

And now this model of order was suddenly telling you that it had simply stopped functioning?

Who could possibly have imagined that?

“No. I can’t go back just like this.”

Shan Lie clenched his teeth, and a trace of madness flashed through his eyes.

The bigger a spectacle he had made of this today, the more humiliating it was becoming now.

If he slunk away in disgrace, then what would happen to his face as the Second Prince?

What would happen to the face of the Shan Kingdom?

“If there is no morning court, then we will go request an audience with the Empress.”

He looked toward that attendant with a dark expression.

“Go announce that the Second Prince of the Shan Kingdom wishes to see Great Xia’s Empress.”

Watching the Imperial Guards carry word inside, Shan Lie nodded in satisfaction.

At this point, as long as he got inside the palace, the Shan Kingdom’s dignity would at least be preserved.

This time, he was very confident.

The Chu Family of Empress Chu Lan had always maintained fairly good relations with the Shan Kingdom.

And not long ago, there had even been cooperation between the two sides.

Surely a favorable reply would come very soon.

A reply did indeed come very quickly.

But it was a dreadful answer that left him dumbstruck.

“Your Highness should return. Her Majesty the Empress is unwell and cannot receive guests.”

Looking at the little eunuch before him, Shan Lie trembled with fury.

“I…”

Unwell?

This Empress Chu Lan truly could not even be bothered to invent a proper excuse.

Had the Chu Family gone mad?

That naked humiliation finally snapped the last of his restraint.

“Good. Very good.”

Shan Lie laughed from sheer rage.

“If I cannot enter the palace, then I shall go to the Court of Diplomatic Reception. I refuse to believe the office in charge of foreign affairs would not open its doors.”

He turned his horse around and, amid the murmuring of the common people, led his procession with grim fury toward the Court of Diplomatic Reception.

……

When he arrived at the Court of Diplomatic Reception, its gates were at least open.

A duty official received him in a lazy, indifferent manner.

“Name?”

The official held a brush in his hand and did not even bother to lift his head as he asked.

“Shan Lie, Second Prince of the Shan Kingdom.”

Shan Lie frowned, sharply sensing that something about this was deeply wrong.

“Oh. A prince.”

The official nodded and casually scribbled a few strokes into a register.

“All right. Registered.”

As he spoke, he pulled a small booklet from a drawer and tossed it to Shan Lie.

“This is the Guide for Foreign Guests. Take it back and read it properly. In Great Xia, do not break the law, or the people at the Court of Judicial Review will not care that you are a prince.”

Holding that little booklet, Shan Lie’s hand trembled.

“That’s it? Did you hear me clearly? I am a prince.”

“Yes, I know. You already said that just now.”

The official glanced at him, his tone utterly flat.

“If there is nothing else, then go back. Read the booklet carefully, so that you don’t end up like… what was it again? Ah yes, like that envoy from your Shan Kingdom—making a complete spectacle of yourself…”

Looking at the Court of Diplomatic Reception official before him, who still could not even be bothered to lift his eyelids, Shan Lie was overcome by a strange sense of confusion.

What exactly had happened to Great Xia?

How had a perfectly good Great Xia become such a place?

This was nothing like what it had been before!

In the next moment, he also heard the joking laughter of the Court of Diplomatic Reception officials near him:

“Old Qiu, look at these barbarians. Dressed up like gaudy roosters, and still trying so hard to show off…”

Boom.

At that instant, the last thread of rationality in Shan Lie’s mind snapped completely.

He had been raised in luxury since childhood and enjoyed the reverence of countless people. When had he ever endured such humiliation?

Even when he traveled to Great Li, the so-called Immortal Dynasty, those lofty cultivators treated him with courtesy and honored him as a distinguished guest.

“This is going too far.”

Bang!

The spiritual energy within Shan Lie’s body erupted in an instant.

The powerful aura of a Third-Rank cultivator shot skyward and directly overturned the desk before him.

“How dare you humiliate me like this? I will—”

Buzz!

A heavy and majestic aura, a hundred times stronger than his own, surged up from that seemingly ordinary official.

In an instant, Shan Lie’s momentum was crushed completely.

His chest tightened, and he nearly dropped to his knees on the spot.

He raised his head in astonishment.

The official was holding a brilliantly glowing official seal in his hand, and a mocking smile rested on his face.

It was suppression by national fortune!

Anyone who could wield that seal could not possibly be some simple reception clerk.

And to mobilize it so quickly meant that this man had been provoking him from the beginning.

Countless thoughts flashed through Shan Lie’s mind. He opened his mouth, just about to say something, when a stern shout exploded by his ear.

“How presumptuous. Shan Lie, are you declaring war on Great Xia?”

Shan Lie’s heart jolted, and cold sweat instantly drenched his back.

He no longer dared underestimate the man before him.

“What a joke!”

He forced out a loud laugh and shouted back as well:

“I am a prince and can represent the Shan Kingdom. But you are merely an official. How could you possibly represent Great Xia? Do you truly think you are worthy of bearing the responsibility of starting a war?”

The official merely let out a cold sneer, open disappointment flashing through his eyes.

“So you are afraid after all. A gutless rat—what are you barking for here?”