Chapter 84: Doesn’t Kneel Before the World, Doesn’t Kneel Before the Emperor Either
Upon entering the small room where the sulfur, charcoal, niter, kerosene and other miscellaneous items were kept, Ye Wuchen drove out Ye Qi and Ye Ba, instructing them to allow no one entry. Ye Qi and Ye Ba had no choice but to guard the door from the outside, their thoughts straying to guess at his plan.
About half an hour later, Ye Wuchen finally emerges but closed the door behind him, strictly commanding, “From now on, nobody is allowed to enter this room without my permission. In addition, it was absolutely forbidden to light a fire nearby for whatever reason. Do you understand?”
Ye Qi and Ye Ba simultaneously nodded, their heads full of questions but not daring question the command.
Sniffing the lingering smell of gunpowder from his body, Ye Wuchen furrowed his brows, “Have Xiao Lu deliver a new set of clothes for me.”
“Yes, yes.”
The early next day, the sky was still dark when Ye Wuchen opened his eyes. He slowly shifted Ning Xue, who was tightly wrapped around his arm, and quietly climbed off the bed.
He did not forget that he was scheduled to attend the Royal Court today, but this so called morning was taking place too early, causing him some confusion.
“Today the Lin family might make a public announcement to formalize their wedding with the Hua Family. Then exert their utmost efforts in showing off their influence. Some things cannot be rushed using force. You have underestimated both Hua Zhentian and I. One day is sufficient to take such a delicate woman like Hua Shuiou. Too bad this upright gentleman, Lin Xiao…”
Ye Wuchen headed out quietly to avoid rousing Ning Xue who was still sleeping soundly. Together with Ye Wei and Ye Nu they arrived at the Imperial Palace of Tian Long Nation.
Upon arriving at the main hall, they discovered it to already be full of civil and military officials. The party from the Ye Family had just entered when more than a hundred pairs of eyes shot in their direction. The majority had been witness to Ye Wuchen’s graceful performance yesterday. Some had not been present in the event due to some circumstances and were now meticulously observing this only son of the Ye Family who was rumored to be truly impressive.
Facing this kind of attention, an ordinary person would feel uncomfortable, expressions stiffening immediately, but Ye Wuchen simply lifted his head up, chest out, and entered perfectly composed. He positioned himself in a space near the end of the line on the right side, as if he did not notice them looking.
Only through his boldness had his impressiveness been made to the majority of the people, and they nodded their heads approvingly, even feeling a little amazed.
“The Emperor has arrived!”
After a sharp cry, the curtains lifted open to reveal Long Yin striding forward with his head high, entering with dignity. Once he was seated on the gilded dragon throne, the officials immediately knelt down, like puppets on strings, simultaneously calling weakly, “Long live Your Majesty, the Emperor!”
In the entire main hall, the only one who remained seated was Long Yin. The only ones standing were the yellow-clothed palace eunuch beside Long Yin and Ye Wuchen who appeared as though not knowing what to do.
“...... You must remember, we possess the most respectable bloodline between heaven and earth, the most formidable strength. Aside from our own parents, no other is worthy enough for us to bow to, not even the world….”
An increasingly familiar voice echoed inside his head. Every time he came across an unusual situation, corresponding fragments of his memory would emerge from his mind.
Even the entire world was not qualified for him to kneel down to, there’s no need to kneel to an ordinary person with the title of Emperor!
“Outrageous! Who are you? How dare you refuse to kneel before His Majesty, the Emperor!”
A sharp yell came from the palace eunuch. He obviously had never met Ye Wuchen before. Long Yin also knitted his brows, but did not say anything. The yell caused the officials to cast sidelong glances; suddenly, every gaze was focused on Ye Wuchen who looked like a crane in a flock of chickens.
“Presumptuous! By not kneeling, you do not show respect to the Emperor!”
The one who yelled this time was Lin Zhan, face full of anger. Ye Nu and Ye Wei’s faces changed a little, then said in a low voice, “Chen-er, kneel down quickly.”
Ye Wuchen shook his head, saluted and said, “Your Majesty, please forgive my rudeness. As my teacher had advised me before I left, the descendants of the God of Sword can only kneel down before the parents of heaven and earth. Wuchen’s life was saved by teacher, and all my skills and arts were passed on to me by teacher. Even if I don’t want to disrespect Your Majesty, at the same time, I don’t want to disobey teacher’s instructions, otherwise I will not be able to face my teacher again. If Your Majesty wants to order my punishment, Wuchen will definitely not complain.”
So that was the reason… they finally understood. At first, they were of the mind that this outstanding and wise young child could not have done something so unwise. It had actually been instruction from the God of Sword himself. Indeed, in the point of view of a “God” who transcends the mundane world, nobody would be qualified enough to kneel down to. The God of Sword did not even salute when he faced the late Emperor, on the contrary, the late Emperor respected him very much. It was not unthinkable for the God of Sword to enforce such a rule to his one and only descendant, and it was reasonable and fair for Ye Wuchen to abide by this rule. If he were to ignore his teacher’s instructions when facing the Emperor, people would despise him instead.
“Hohohoho! So that’s it. Since it is a rule given by your teacher, you will not be blamed. I’ll give you special permission exempting you from kneeling down before anyone in the Tian Long Nation. This will serve as my show of respect to your teacher. Without your teacher, there would have been no auspicious and peaceful Tian Long Nation.” Long Yin said gently.
Yet another important favor bestowed upon Ye Wuchen. He saluted appreciatively. “Wuchen thanks Your Majesty for your grace!”
“Your Majesty, your humble servant would like to speak his mind. I think this matter is really inappropriate. This rule has been handed down for a thousand years in Tian Long Nation. How can it be abolished because of him? Moreover, the young child of Lin had also humbled himself as an ordinary person to respect Your Majesty. This is simply a rebellious act, looking down on the Emperor’s might!” Lin Zhan yelled as his emotions stirred.
Upon Lin Zhan’s mention of protecting the standards and the Emperor’s prestige, there came a sudden transformation in the atmosphere that caused several pairs of eyes to flash in anger. Even Long Yin’s face appeared to be displeased while Lin Kuang unobtrusively nudged.
All of a sudden he realized he must have said something wrong, but thinking through the words that he had just said, he could not find which part of his words were mistaken.
Seeing his still puzzled look, Lin Kuang hid the anger in his mind. Promptly stepping forward to speak. “Your Majesty and all superiors, please calm down. In the years when Tian Long Nation faced its calamity, my son happened to contract a serious illness for three years. Your Majesty and the superiors here must have heard about this before, so that’s the reason why he had spoken words of disrespect against the God of Sword. As the saying goes, the ignorant man is not guilty of any crimes. My son took consideration of the prestige of the Emperor, forgive me for my son’s lack of proper discipline. I apologize once again, and beg Your Majesty’s pardon for my son’s words.”
The father and son of Lin family were both officials of the same Imperial Court. Among hundreds of officials, their power was sufficient enough to hide the sky with one hand. Today was the first time that Lin Zhan had witnessed Lin Kuang lowering his stance. He now realized that his words had sparked the anger of the crowd, hence he stepped forward to hurriedly repent and admit his guilt.
“If not for the God of Sword, my Tian Long Nation might have been completely defeated by the Gale Nation! If not for the legacy of the God of Sword, do you really think that the reason the Gale Nation has not invaded our Tian Long Nation for the past twenty years was because of the Ye and Hua Families? At most you will be punished for disrespecting me, but if you disrespect the God of Sword… If this matter were to spread, you, Lin Zhan, might suffer from being cursed and spat on!” Long Yin said sternly.
“Your humble servant deeply apologizes for his mistake!”
“Since this was unintentional, I will drop it. You may all rise.”
Translated by: Fatty_Uncle
Edited by: seriouspotato and patrick_father_of_dragons