Chapter 3980 Unbridled
To Long Chen’s surprise, the people who were blocking him looked rather familiar. One of them was that pale, pudgy Hanlin scholar that he had left in a miserable state.
Today, this Hanlin scholar was wearing golden scholar robes and was fully dressed up. Even his scholar headband was perfectly square-shaped.
Six Hanlin scholars were in charge of registration, handing out gifts, and greeting the guests.
It was because this state banquet was an important affair for the Vermilion Bird Empire, so every single detail had to be meticulously handled. The fact that Hanlin scholars were personally doing the registration spoke volumes about the state banquet’s significance, highlighting both the importance placed on it and the high regard the empire held for the pursuit of higher learning.
For these scholars to receive the martial cultivators was also a way to maintain decorum, a way of inspecting the people coming to attend the banquet.
“Oh, it seems that you’re not doing too bad. I have to say, your clothes really do make you seem like a decent poser.” When Long Chen saw that scholar’s sinister gaze, he knew that the latter would abuse his power. But Long Chen didn’t mind.
“Arrogance! How dare you spout obscenities before the imperial gate? Guards, take this man away!” shouted one of the Hanlin scholars.
Over ten warriors with golden spears immediately came over and surrounded Long Chen.
“Hold on! This is Long Chen, and His Majesty personally requested his attendance at this state banquet! Who dares to even touch him?” said Yu Qianxue coldly.
Hearing this, the pudgy Hanlin scholar was startled. He had thought that Long Chen was just Yu Qianxue’s guard. According to the empire’s rules, princes and princesses could bring an outstanding guard to a state banquet twice a year to show how valued they were. That was why this Hanlin scholar wanted to directly kick Long Chen out as revenge for the humiliation that he had given him.
However, to his surprise, Long Chen didn’t come under the status of a guard, but as the guest that the emperor had personally invited. Thus, this pudgy scholar just ended up kicking an iron plate.
Long Chen didn’t say anything and just looked at the pudgy Hanlin scholar with his arms crossed, as if the latter was a chattering clown, causing the Hanlin scholar’s face to flush until it was the same color as pig liver.
“Since His Majesty has requested his attendance, hurry up. Register, take the gift, and move on,” said another tall Hanlin scholar coldly, clearly helping out that pudgy Hanlin scholar.
“Why aren’t you wearing imperial robes?” Just as the tall Hanlin scholar was about to register Long Chen, he eyed Long Chen.
“I don’t feel like it,” responded Long Chen.
“You…!” The tall Hanlin scholar was about to criticize Long Chen when another one grabbed him. After several glances, the tall Hanlin scholar finally swallowed his rage and registered Long Chen, giving him his entrance gift.
After the three of them walked in, that tall Hanlin scholar couldn’t help but demand, “Brother Liang, why did you stop me? Even if His Majesty invited him, with those clothes, I could definitely cause some trouble for him! We had such a good chance to vent. This fellow is too arrogant!”
“That’s right, brother Liang, why did you let him off?” asked the pudgy Hanlin scholar.
“Hehe, you think that I let him off? Just think about it. The Philosopher is attending the state banquet too. When the time comes, hehe…” chortled that Hanlin scholar.
Only then did the others understand. “Nicely played! The Philosopher will definitely put that arrogant bastard in his place!”
“Hahaha!”
The six of them exchanged a look and laughed, as if they could already see Long Chen losing all his face during the state banquet.
“What are you laughing about in front of the imperial gate?! Get back to work!” An overseeing elder barked at them to maintain their decorum.
Actually, Long Chen heard them talking, but he couldn’t be bothered to pay them the slightest attention.
“Big brother, why don’t you just change your clothes? That Philosopher’s position is extremely high. Even my imperial father can’t do anything to him. Moreover, the Philosopher’s face and mouth are all sinister. You’re leaving him an opening to attack you like this,” advised Zhu Yifeng again. He had kept the clothes as a backup even now.
“No need. So what if that Philosopher’s face and mouth are sinister? Even my heart is sinister, so why would I be afraid of him? We’ll see just who should be avoiding who!” Long Chen shook his head. After suppressing his heart-devil, he felt free to be himself. He no longer needed to be so cautious.
After his heart-devil was suppressed, Long Chen felt much more at ease, thrumming with confidence. He felt full of hope for the future, and his senses were also sharper.
Thanks to this, when he cultivated the Dragon Soul Body Forging Art, his intuition told him that he had to forge all his bones at once. The dragon expert even said that he had blindly taken the right path. Without his heart-devil, he felt like he had returned to the time when he had just left the Phoenix Cry Empire and was traveling to a new world.
The Long Chen from back then was so weak that he couldn’t even be mentioned in front of his current self. However, the Long Chen from back then had also been exceptionally confident. No dangers made him afraid; no difficulties weighed down on his heart. No matter what happened in the future, he was always confident that he could handle everything himself.
However, as his cultivation base grew along with his power, he found that his confidence was shrinking. He started to worry about success and failure more often, having more and more misgivings.
He had lost that unstoppable courage from his youth. But after sealing his heart-devil, he found that this thing called maturity was another term for having small guts. While it could be said to be wise to consider all things and come up with a plan before acting, it could also be said that the more you did this, the more afraid you were of failure.
But the Long Chen from back then wasn’t afraid of failure. Even if he did fail, he felt like he could always try again. It was that kind of confidence, a determination that he could obtain whatever he wanted as long as he worked on it.
Now, Long Chen seemed to have returned to his old self. He was no longer thinking about the future or failure.
At this moment, many people were already inside the palace, including many attendants and guards going back and forth. It was bustling. However, no one even dared to make a loud sound, causing this lively atmosphere to feel rather stifling.
“Why is it so solemn? Isn’t it just a meal? Does it need to be so serious?” asked Long Chen.
“Sh, big brother, keep your voice down! A state banquet isn’t a family meal between princes and princesses, nor is it entertainment for officials. We only hold state banquets for foreign diplomats. We didn’t receive any word beforehand, but based on the scale, we’re going to be seeing more than one group of diplomats this time,” whispered Zhu Yifeng.
“Foreign diplomats?” Long Chen was startled. Could it be that he was called here because of the diplomats?
“Big brother, Princess Qianxue, can I ask for your help?” asked Zhu Yifeng suddenly.
“Let’s go!” Yu Qianxue seemed to know what Zhu Yifeng wanted, so she directly agreed.
Zhu Yifeng was delighted, and brought the two of them into the depths of the palace grounds. After several turns, they arrived at an inner palace.
He had only just pushed open the gates when sharp Sword Qi instantly enveloped the three of them.
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