Chapter 434: Chapter 263: The Empress Walks the Mortal World, Chaos Descends, and the Six Kingdoms Become Estranged
The Song Dynasty was located in the southwest of the Central Plains World. Its northern border touched the Wilderness World, in a region known as the Jingyun Continent.
Its predecessor was the hegemon, Great Song, from over a thousand years ago, also known as Ba Song.
Great Yan’s Northern Great Wall snaked for a hundred thousand li from east to west, blocking more than half the territory of the Wilderness and half of the Demon Country’s Northern Lands. It plunged westward for thousands of li, stretching into the heart of the Xisha Continent. From there, it led to the Northwest Border and continued west until it reached the lands of the Song Dynasty.
The Song Dynasty’s territory was not large, comparable only to a medium-sized continent in Great Yan. South of its borders lay the renowned Silver Frost Empire, the successor to the former Great Frost Dynasty.
The Song Dynasty’s Warrior Armor were the finest elite infantry in the world.
It could be said that the Warrior Armor served as the Song Dynasty’s shield. The Mo Family school of the Confucian Temple had once flourished in the Song Country, where Mechanical Skill was extremely advanced. In fact, creations like the Golden Armored Giants controlled by Emperor Yong’an and the man-made White Jade Capital were all developed from Mo Family blueprints.
Even after the decline of this great nation, which was so skilled in craftsmanship and construction, the cities and fortresses of the Song Dynasty remained exceptionally well-fortified.
Across the vast expanse of the Northern Realm, spanning thousands of li, countless Great Song troops were stationed along the frontier. They resisted the invasions of the Desolate Demons. Along the long border, no fewer than ten thousand bastions had been erected, each capable of housing several thousand people.
The capital of the Song Dynasty was Hangjing.
Compared to the ancient and majestic Imperial Capital, Hangjing was a veritable metropolis of steel. Its walls, forged from refined steel, were a lustrous, dark black.
The Imperial Guard protecting the Imperial City held repeating crossbows, with standard-issue long swords at their waists. However, the blades of these swords glowed with strange patterns, as if they had been modified.
Atop the city wall stood a towering man. His physique was powerful, his face dark and weathered. He wore the uniform of a Song State Military Officer and a Cyan Rhinoceros Martial Robe, which was embroidered with a rhinoceros pattern on the chest. His arms were corded with muscle. Not only did he look as strong as a bear, but his features were bearish as well.
This man was Guan Chu, one of the four great masters of the Song Dynasty and of the Capital City itself. Today, he was responsible for the security of the Imperial City’s main gate.
He had to protect the Emperor, and the pressure was immense. But it was his duty, a duty he would die for.
Guan Chu leaned against the ramparts, arms crossed, as still as a mountain. His aura was so suppressed it was nonexistent. Without careful perception, one wouldn’t notice him at all, as if he were completely hidden.
However, his piercing gaze was fixed on the Imperial City’s gate and the area beyond. He watched the crowds coming and going, ready to dispatch soldiers to apprehend anyone who seemed even remotely suspicious.
Suddenly, a lavish carriage arrived at the city gate.
It immediately caught his attention.
’The more lavish it is, the more people and things it’s carrying. All the easier to slip someone or something through,’ he mused.
The Imperial Guard at the gate began their routine inspection. Passengers had to disembark, and all goods had to be searched before being allowed entry.
A tall woman in a white, gauzy, hooded cloak stepped down from the carriage. She had a graceful figure and held the hem of her skirt, her movements light and delicate, like the young mistress of a great house.
From the side, he could see she also wore a white veil.
’Either she’s too ugly to show her face, or she’s hiding something,’ Guan Chu thought.
"Remove the hood."
A soldier of the Imperial Guard, crossbow in hand, stopped the carriage, his tone severe.
The servant at her side cried out in distress, "My lady has suffered from a strange affliction since she was a child. Her face is hideously ugly; we fear she will frighten you, sir."
"Take it off!" the soldier said coldly, unmoved.
"Well..."
The servant’s face was still etched with distress, but the woman at his side was surprisingly compliant. She obediently removed her veil.
"Is this sufficient?"
The woman spoke softly. Her voice was slightly hoarse, yet gentle.
When the soldier saw the woman’s face, his pupils constricted and he froze.
It wasn’t because she was ugly.
It was because she was breathtakingly beautiful!
A cascade of black hair tumbled over her shoulders. She had a pair of clear, phoenix-like eyes that seemed to steal one’s soul. Her skin was snow-white, like the finest Parian marble, and her moist, crimson lips were gently parted.
Her gaze held an innate dominance and a chilling indifference to life.
’How could anyone with such looks be a mere mortal?’
"You’re..."
Just as the inspecting soldier was about to speak...
A green light pulsed from the tall woman’s eyes, like the ghastly flicker of a will-o’-wisp.
In the blink of an eye,
The two soldiers before her seemed to fall into a trance, their expressions turning blank. As if they had become different people, they subconsciously shouted:
"Let them pass!"
At some point, Guan Chu, the master guarding the wall, had appeared behind them.
"Greetings, sir."
Seeing him, the soldiers respectfully clasped their fists in a military salute.
Guan Chu sensed something was amiss. The two soldiers’ behavior had been abnormal. He narrowed his eyes, his gaze fixed on the young mistress.
The woman did not avert her gaze. After replacing her veil, she simply smiled faintly.
"General, have I done something wrong? Why do you stare at me so? Or perhaps this humble woman is on a wanted list?"
"Where from? Where to?"
Guan Chu spoke slowly, his voice booming like thunder.
"This is our invitation."
Seeing the tense situation, the servant quickly handed over a letter.
Guan Chu unfolded the paper and read it, muttering, "The Nanli Da Jiang Chu Clan Trading Company... You’re from the Nanli Dynasty?"
"That is correct. My master heard the news that your esteemed nation has received the protection of the Celestial Mandate. We have come to the capital this time with the finest Li Fire Spirit Jade to attend the banquet, hoping only for a glimpse of His Majesty’s countenance," the servant said with a deferential bow.
The Song Dynasty was one of the Six Kingdoms blessed with Celestial Destiny and Fortune. Because of this, many factions had indeed come to pledge their allegiance recently, choosing to serve the Song Dynasty.
