Chapter 77: Empress

The four members of the academy were fetched by horse carriages sent from the palace. But the remaining six, whether they were Chen Chao who represented the warden faction, or young geniuses from the Heavenly Imperial Institution, or those descendants of aristocratic families, they all entered the palace on their own.

This seemingly minor difference in treatment actually revealed a lot. It could be said that the respected status of the academy could be reflected here, but it could also be said that the academy had always been an outsider to the Great Liang Dynasty. This kind of reception was the attitude towards guests from start to end.

Sitting in the manure cart that transformed into a prison wagon, then transformed from a prison wagon to a horse carriage, Chen Chao was sizing up this vast Divine Capital along the way.

The Divine Capital was too large for the common people living here to traverse in their lifetime. Even someone like Chen Chao might not be able to see the Divine Capital's entirety in his lifetime unless he deliberately made an effort to explore it.

Although the carriage was simple, it had the emblem of the Left Guard and the journey was extremely smooth. However, even so, it was already dark before they made it halfway there. Fortunately, the time had been calculated before they came. At this moment, there was still some time before the imperial banquet started. If nothing unexpected happened, they could still arrive at the palace within the designated time no matter what.

It had been a long time since they last met, but Weng Quan had not changed. He was still a talkative person and he talked a lot on the way, whether it was about family matters or trivial matters in the Left Guard's office. There was nothing he did not talk about. Even though Chen Chao was long prepared, he still felt a headache at the moment.

It was just that during the journey from Tianqing County to the capital city, he could not make Weng Quan change anything. But now, things were different. Chen Chao said woodenly without any expression, "From now on, you can't say a word until we arrive at the palace."

Weng Quan was incredibly shocked. At the same time, he was extremely puzzled as he asked, "Why, Deputy Commander?"

Chen Chao replied calmly, "No why. This is an order."

If it were in the past, Weng Quan naturally would have ignored Chen Chao. But at this moment, Chen Chao had become the deputy commander of the Left Guard, he was theoretically his superior, so he couldn't refute him. He could only hold it in and said, "This subordinate obeys."

Chen Chao nodded in satisfaction, thinking that this deputy commander position was indeed useful, and he could not help feeling a little happy.

Because Weng Quan could not speak, he was a little irritable. As a result, the frequency of the whip cracking increased, which also meant that the horses were galloping with more effort, which also made them arrive at the palace earlier.

The huge imperial palace stood silently in the night, like a giant who had experienced countless winds and rains.

As Weng Quan pulled the reins, the horse carriage stopped and he snorted with some dissatisfaction, Weng Quan did not say anything, but it was clear that he was not too happy.

Chen Chao walked out of the cabin and asked, "Will it still be you fetching me back to the academy after it ends?"

Weng Quan was silent.

The corners of Chen Chao's mouth twitched and he said with a frown, "You can talk now!"

Only then, did Weng Quan said gloomily, "It will naturally be this subordinate. Deputy Commander, enter the palace. This subordinate will wait here."

Chen Chao looked at Weng Quan and forcibly endured his anger as he said, "Someone as dumb as you managed to enter the Left Guard. Just how much money did Song Lian take from you?"

Weng Quan said a little panicky, "Deputy Commander, don't talk nonsense. My Second Uncle didn't take this subordinate's money!"

Chen Chao was silent for a moment and said, "I'm sorry."

After saying this, he turned and headed towards the imperial city, thinking to himself that these two great geniuses were indeed related by blood.

There were already eunuchs waiting in front of the palace gate for some time. When they saw the young man in black with a saber hanging at his waist walking towards them, one of them immediately approached him with a smile and asked, "Are you Commander Chen?"

Unlike Weng Quan, this eunuch who did not look old was very eloquent and even dropped the word 'deputy' in his words. Chen Chao was clearly pleased and nodded with a smile, "Yes, that's me."

"Please follow me, Commander." The young eunuch pointed ahead.

He stood at the palace entrance and gave Chen Chao a glance. Then, he actually walked past the palace door without entering and walked even further ahead.

Chen Chao was stunned for a moment. After confirming that Eunuch Li was talking to him, he bit the bullet and followed him in front.

A moment later, Chen Chao still could not help but ask, "Eunuch Li, isn't the banquet in the Virtuous Sun Palace?"

Eunuch Li said without turning his head, "It's in the Virtuous Sun Palace, but someone wants to meet Commander Chen before the imperial banquet starts."

Chen Chao made a sound of acknowledgment and asked with a forced smile, "Is it His Majesty?"

Eunuch Li shook his head and said softly, "No."

Upon hearing this, Chen Chao relaxed a little. But he still held great curiosity towards the nobleman he was about to meet.

He was currently in the imperial palace. Logically speaking, as long as the emperor did not want him dead, no one would dare to kill him. However, he still felt a little worried and subconsciously wanted to grab the handle of his saber. But at this moment, the voice of Eunuch Li sounded out at the same time, "Commander Chen, hold it in. Some actions may be deemed as impolite.

Chen Chao was taken aback with shock. He had traveled with Eunuch Li all the way here but had not been able to discern the latter's depth. Now, with just one sentence, Chen Chao understood that Eunuch Li was surely a cultivator with an extremely profound cultivation, so profound that he could not even detect any clues about his background.

The imperial palace was indeed full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers.

Although he did not grasp the handle of his saber, the palm of Chen Chao's hand was already sweating and his expression did not look too good.

Eunuch Li smiled and said, "Commander Chen, relax a little. This is the imperial city. As long as His Majesty doesn't want you dead, you will not die."

Chen Chao said softly, "Thank you for the reminder, Eunuch Li."

After saying this, he took a deep breath and felt much more relaxed.

Eunuch Li did not say anything else and quickly led Chen Chao into a palace. Then, Chen Chao saw a woman dressed in palace attire standing not far away. She was currently looking at him.

Chen Chao's expression changed slightly. After seeing clearly that the woman was dressed in the concubine attire of the imperial harem, he became a little nervous.

The current emperor was known for his devotion to one woman, having not taken any concubines in the thirteen years since he ascended to the throne. In the imperial harem, there was only the empress alone.

Now, this woman was dressed in such an attire, no matter how dumb Chen Chao was, he would also know that she was the empress of the Great Liang Dynasty.

Although before and after entering the palace, he had been worried about whether he would meet the emperor or not, it did not mean that he was only afraid of meeting the emperor in the imperial palace.

Actually, he did not want to meet this empress too.

But no matter how unwilling he was, he met her at this moment too.

After a moment of silence, Chen Chao was about to pay homage to this empress.

The majesty of the empress was ranked on par with the emperor. He was a subject of the Great Liang emperor and must pay respects after seeing her.

This was the rule.

The empress shook her head and said gently, "No need."