Chapter 307: Going to the Banquet Hall
Everyone’s attention was naturally pulled towards the two figures as all the talks that were happening among the people gathered came to a pause.
One of them was an old man who carried a refined appearance. Even without seeing his clothing that clearly symbolised his status as an emperor, one would be able to guess that he held a respectable position.
The other was a woman whose appearance was a lot younger than the emperor and seemed to be in her thirties.
Wearing a purple and white hanfu that was adorned with intricately designed golden patterns, she made her way towards the towering statue alongside the emperor.
She had sharp eyes and a mature look which complemented each other to give off an authoritative air around her.
As the two of them began making their way towards the towering statue, Yi Chen’s attention was naturally pulled towards the emperor who was more exquisitely dressed than anyone in the entire courtyard.
He was dressed in glistening black robes with red flames imprinted on them, which served to further increase his refined appearance, but more than anything, it was the golden crown on top of his head, which was fitted with several gems, that drew the most attention.
Therefore, without wasting a single second, Yi Chen immediately checked his status panel.
======= STATUS =========
Name: Yu Ding
Age: 910 years
Strength: 670
Cultivation: First Level of [Core Building Stage]
Nature: Fire
Remark: A small-minded person [Regenerate: 10,000 EXP]
========================
’A small-minded person...huh,’ Yi Chen thought while going through the panel, ’Appearances can indeed be deceiving.’
From how benevolent he looked, this was the last thing Yi Chen thought to read as his remark. However, he didn’t mull over it for long as his main motive for coming here wasn’t the emperor but the woman who was walking next to him, Cao Li.
Therefore, not bothering to spend more time on the emperor’s status panel, he immediately opened up her status.
======= STATUS =========
Name: Cao Li
Age: 46 years
Strength: 570
Cultivation: Ninth Level of [Qi Absorption Stage]
Nature: Earth
Remark: Likes to assert her dominance [Regenerate: 10,000 EXP]
========================
Seeing this, a subtle frown formed on Yi Chen’s face.
’She’s just at the Ninth Qi Absorption Stage?’ he thought with confusion apparent in his eyes.
Earlier when he saw that the emperor was at the Core Building Stage, he had naturally expected her to be stronger than him.
For her to be the strongest representative of the Violet Heaven House, that had to be the minimum requirement, taking into account the huge influence they had over the entire kingdom.
At least, that’s what Yi Chen believed.
Therefore, he found it a little difficult to believe when he saw her cultivation stage.
If there were two powers ruling over a place, then naturally conflicts would arise. In such cases, it was better to have a powerful cultivator to take care of those things.
Therefore, when Yi Chen noticed that the Violet Heaven House didn’t even station a Core Building Stage cultivator as their representative, he couldn’t help but find it odd.
’Does the Violet Heaven House trust the emperor so much?’ Yi Chen thought to himself.
While all these thoughts were going through Yi Chen’s mind, both the Emperor and Cao Li reached next to Cang Tian’s enormous statue as their steps came to a stop.
The sound of the drums came to a stop the very next moment as the entire courtyard was engulfed with silence for a couple of seconds.
It was then that a servant who had been standing next to the statue with a tray in his hand took one step back before kneeling on his front leg, presenting the item on the tray to the emperor.
Glancing at the wooden torch that was blazing vibrantly, Yu Ding grabbed the torch with both his hands and presented it to Cao Li in a subservient manner.
’Is it because of how grateful they are for their help?’ Yi Chen wondered while noticing Yu Ding’s attitude but was immediately reminded of the system’s remark about him.
’No, there’s no way a small-minded person would be grateful to anyone...’ Yi Chen thought while glancing at the warm smile with which Yu Ding presented the torch to Cao Li.
The subtle bending of the emperor’s back as he did so clearly told Yi Chen who actually held the position of power between the two of them.
’There’s more to it than what meets the eye...’ he thought with narrowed eyes as he saw Cao Li take the torch from the emperor’s hands and turn to face Cang Tian’s statue before lighting an oil lamp in the shape of a dragon right next to its feet.
Seeing the oil lamp lighting up, she passed the torch back to Yu Ding, who did the same for the oil lamp placed next to the statue’s other feet.
A loud sound of a gong resonated in the entire courtyard the very next moment as both Yu Ding and Cao Li went down on their knees to bow towards the towering statue.
Seeing this, the hundreds of people gathered behind them went on their knees as well before paying their respects to Cang Tian.
Being one among them, Yi Chen too followed their actions and kneeled towards the statue.
Glancing towards Madam Wei, he whispered a few moments later.
"So...how long do we need to be like this?"
"..."
Wei Ru was almost left speechless at those words as she carefully looked around them, and only when she confirmed that Yi Chen’s words weren’t heard by anyone else did she relax.
"...Don’t talk nonsense, Young Master Chen," she glared at him the next moment.
Being caught saying such a thing would prove detrimental not just to him but also to her. Something she had no intention of experiencing.
Burst! Burst!
Burst!
A series of firecrackers suddenly covered the sky in colours, and as if it was some kind of signal, several hundreds, if not thousands, of similar firecrackers made their way towards the sky from all around the Lava City, making it feel as if the night had turned to day for a moment.
Since it was when the first sounds of firecrackers were heard by him that the people around him had started to rise up, Yi Chen too had done the same and thus was able to clearly witness this sight.
"Beautiful, isn’t it?" Wei Ru asked with a subtle smile on her face. She had never grown tired of this sight in all these years and thus always looked forward to witnessing it again and again.
"Y-Yes..." Yi Chen nodded his head as the daylight faded into darkness soon after.
"Then let’s go and have dinner then," Wei Ru stated the next moment with a trace of anticipation.
Every time she accepted the invitation to attend this ceremony, she had never been disappointed by the dishes that were prepared by the Imperial chefs.
Therefore, not waiting for Yi Chen’s reply, she firmly locked her arms onto Yi Chen’s and made her way towards the banquet hall situated inside the Imperial Palace.
Naturally, they weren’t the only ones that were moving, as all the other guests were also doing the same.
Yi Chen’s gaze went towards Cao Li, and seeing that instead of walking towards the Imperial Palace just like all of them, she seemed to be talking with the emperor in a relaxed manner.
"There’s no need to mull much over it. Unlike us, they don’t have to be in a line, so you’ll see her inside the banquet soon enough," Wei Ru said, seeing the direction of his gaze.
"I see...so that’s how it is." Yi Chen nodded while walking alongside Wei Ru.
The difference in their ages and the fact that Wei Ru was holding Yi Chen’s arms intimately naturally led to a lot of whispers among the surrounding crowd, which, knowingly or unknowingly, failed to speak in a much lower voice.
"...What is she doing with a young man at this age?"
"Has she finally gone crazy..."
"So, she was someone who had such a taste...sick woman."
Since Yi Chen was able to clearly hear those voices, it was definitely the same with Wei Ru.
However, despite those rude remarks, Yi Chen noticed no changes on her face as she continued to pull him towards the banquet hall with an expectant smile on her face.
Seeing this, Yi Chen couldn’t help but feel guilty inside.
Since Wei Ru was invited to the Imperial Ceremony, it was obvious that she was a highly respected figure throughout the Kingdom, and thus there was no need for her to accept the request he had made to Du Ming Li earlier.
However, she still decided to accept this request and helped Yi Chen enter the ceremony even at the cost of her reputation.
He wanted to thank her for doing all this, but before he could do so, Wei Ru pointed excitedly towards a long table in front of her.
"There it is. I can’t help but feel even hungrier now that I caught a glimpse of these dishes!" Wei Ru exclaimed while glancing at the mouth-watering dishes that were adorning the entire table.
The next second, Yi Chen was soon dragged toward one of the hundreds of tables spread throughout the large banquet hall.
