Chapter 99: Military Training
All eyes closely followed Fang Chen as he strode into the hall.
When Fang Chen reached Li Daoye’s side, he came to a stop and bowed to the Great Xia Emperor. He then turned to Li Daoye. "Stop scaring them.”
Li Daoye snuffed his flame out, snorting. “My lord, this guy has gone way too far! He even wants to behead me! Beahead me? And where has my status gone off to? He should look at himself in the mirror before acting all tough ...."
Li Daoye’s words were laced with disdain and contempt, his tone befitting of someone from a superior empire.
Everyone could sense the scorn and contempt in his voice. It was the same way Ji Lengyue had spoken to them, and now, he was experiencing it first hand as well.
Ji Lengyue's face was white, then green. The Nightmare Knights behind him felt their expressions fluctuating violently, but they only stared at Fang Chen and Li Daoye with suspicion and uncertainty.
Fang Chen smiled at him. "I will handle this." He then turned to Ji Lengyue. "You are Ji Lengyue, right? Of the Frost Water Empire?"
"Yes, that’s me," confirmed Ji Lengyue, his voice unhurried.
Fang Chen went on, "I heard that Zhou Xiu carries the blood of your Ji Family?"
Ji Lengyue glanced at Li Daoye, uncertainty swimming in his eyes. Then, after a long silence, he answered, "He is just a bastard of our Ji Family."
When the crowd heard that, they couldn’t help but exchange strange looks; those weren’t Ji Lengyue’s words before.
The officials of both the civil and military factions of the Grand Xia Empire were shocked. Ji Lengyue was actually intimidated by Li Daoye!
Fang Chen nodded. "Oh, so he’s just a bastard. No wonder he treats human life like it’s weed. As it turns out, he’s lacking in education." Fang Chen turned his gaze to the corpse in front of the hall. "Is that Zhou Xiu's corpse? Who brought it to the Hall of Supreme Harmony? The Hall of Supreme Harmony is a solemn, majestic place. How can it tolerate such filthy things?"
When the people heard that, they glanced at Xiao Shence, then at the emperor, but many just looked at Ji Lengyue, waiting to see his reaction.
No one answered Fang Chen's question.
Seeing that no one had made a move to remove the corpse, a slight frown appeared on Fang Chen’s forehead, and he ordered directly this time. "Xiao Shence, what are you still standing there for? Throw this filthy thing out."
Xiao Shence was momentarily stunned. He glanced at the emperor. Getting a subtle nod, he personally left to toss Zhou Xiu’s corpse out of the hall.
Throughout the entire process, Ji Lengyue remained silent, and the Nightmare Knights behind him didn’t so much as move a muscle.
It was then that a smile gradually tugged at the empress’s lips. Although she didn't know how Fang Chen had managed to befriend someone from a sixth-tier empire, she knew that the tables had been turned; the Fang Family was no longer cornered into a passive state.
With the corpse thrown out, Fang Chen addressed Fang Zhentian, asking, "Old patriarch, were you forced out of seclusion?”
Xiao Shence and Yan Beihan jolted, and their expressions shifted. Before Fang Zhentian could speak, Fang Chen turned to Huang Sihai and Tie Ma. "Who forced him out of seclusion?” he asked, his voice piercing. “They know that the old patriarch is old and sickly, and his body is ridden with hidden injuries. He only wished to spend the few years he had in peaceful, quiet seclusion. Are they out of their minds?”
It was Huang Sihai who answered. "Master, it was Xiao Shence and Yan Beihan.”
"Slap them," said Fang Chen lightly.
"Yes!" Huang Sihai and Tie Ma nodded in unison. The next second, one appeared beside Xiao Shence, and the other went to Yan Beihan. Without waiting for them to speak, they raised their hands and delivered them both a slap. But they didn’t stop, and the crisp sound of slaps landing one after the other resounded through the hall.
The two were dumbfounded, but they didn't fight back. Instead, they stood still and endured.
All the civil and military officials fell silent. Even Li Guozhu, Tao Mingsheng, and others didn't dare to speak.
The Grand Xia Emperor stared at Fang Chen intently.
His gaze was met with one from Fang Chen, his gray eyes as calm as still water.
The Hall of Supreme Harmony was quiet. Only the sounds of the slapping could be heard as Huang Sihai and Tie Ma’s palms landed heavily on the faces of Xiao Shence and Yan Beihan.
The Valiant Saber Guards and Imperial Guards dared not speak but watched as their superiors were publicly humiliated.
After several breaths of time, the emperor withdrew his gaze and casually said, "Fang Chen, they were just following orders. I think we can let it go."
Fang Chen nodded with a smile. "Since Your Majesty forgives them, I’ll let it go."
With that, Huang Sihai and Tie Ma turned and left. The faces of Xiao Shence and Yan Beihan were already swollen like pigs. While they weren’t exactly weak little chickens and had internal energy to brace themselves with, this was nonetheless a beating from Qi Manipulation experts!
Whether it was the civil and military officials or the palace concubines, they were deeply shocked by the scene before them. They stared at the figure in the middle of the hall, their eyes filled with awe and fear.
One could say that Fang Chen had already gone overboard with his actions. However, even the emperor hadn’t said anything! Since the emperor hadn’t spoken, who would dare speak? Would Tao Mingsheng dare? Did Li Guozhu have the guts to do so?
Obviously not.
Everyone understood what this entailed, and they looked at the young man in front of them with astonishment and trepidation.
The members of the Fang Family felt extremely relieved, and the younger disciples even burst into gleeful laughter. They only stopped when their parents shot them a look.
Xia Yu's expression changed as he hid behind Consort Hua. He glared at Fang Chen’s every action while glancing at Li Daoye from time to time, his thoughts churning.
Fang Chen focused his attention back at Ji Lengyue and calmly said, "Ji Lengyue, did you bring an army of Nightmare Knights to Grand Xia to speak up for Zhou Xiu?"
The crowd immediately tensed up. The main event had arrived!
Ji Lengyue took a deep breath, then said, "I only heard that there was a conflict between the Longdu Empire and the Grand Xia Empire. We in the Frost Water Empire felt a bit concerned. That’s why I came over to take a look. Both Grand Xia and Longdu are vassal states of the Frost Water Empire. Our Frost Water Empire will have to bear some responsibility no matter which side suffers...”
"This has indeed spurred great concern in our country. Grand Xia is fine, but the losses on the side of Longdu are quite severe," Fang Chen remarked.
The scholars from the Longdu Empire looked as if they had been fed a spoonful of dog shit, their expression turning incomparably ugly.
Ji Lengyue outwardly smiled. "That's because the Longdu Empire is inferior,” he flippantly declared. “I will inform them not to mess with the Grand Xia Empire again. After all, it will be a joke for us to fight amongst each other.” He paused briefly, then added. “Oh yes, I heard that the Qingsong Empire has been causing trouble for you, too. I’ll take the opportunity to head over there to give them a warning. Even though the Qingsong Empire isn’t one of the Frost Water Empire’s vassal states, I believe they will show me some respect."
Upon hearing this, the civil and military officials heaved a sigh of relief. It seemed that Ji Lengyue was backing down, and Grand Xia would not face further censure from the Frost Water Empire.
Everything happened because of the Daoist from the sixth-tier empire... Moreover, he was a guest of the Fang Family...
"There's no need for that." Fang Chen shook his head, then glanced at the Nightmare Knights behind Ji Lengyue. "Are you really just here to take a look? Aren’t you here to train your troops?”
"Train their troops?"
Everyone in the hall was surprised. Indeed... The various empires would conduct military drills regularly. The Grand Xia Empire no longer participated after the defeat five years ago, but the Guhe, Longdu, Yizhou, and other empires would do so regularly. The Qingsong Empire would even join from time to time.
Ji Lengyue's eyes flickered as he nodded in agreement. "Oh, right, training!" he repeated. "I did indeed have that in mind when I came over here."
"Well, that works out nicely. Grand Xia hasn't conducted a military exercise in a long time. Why not let the soldiers of Grand Xia spar with the Nightmare Knights of your Frost Water Empire?" suggested Fang Chen with a smile.
The crowd was astonished at this proposal.
Ji Lengyue glanced at Li Daoye.
Seeing him all tense, Li Daoye rolled his eyes. "Go ahead. A sixth-tier empire wouldn’t butt into the military exercises of eighth-rank empires and ninth-rank empires..."
With that, Ji Lengyue’s smile turned a little sinister, his eyes flashing. "Alright, then.”
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