Chapter 490: Sumptuous Fruits Banquet

The autumn weather was clear and cool, filled with refreshing air and clean water. The wind blew unimpededly and fruits grew abundantly on the trees. At such a good time for relaxing outside, the Sumptuous Fruits Banquet finally arrived.

Meng Qi and Su Ziyu did not directly take a carriage to the Jade Forest Garden in the outer cities like most court officials and aristocrats. Instead, they followed Su Li and Su Yue to the imperial city. Even though Su Li was temporarily suspended from his duty as the Vice Commander of the Imperial Guard, he had not lost the trust of the Emperor and was still required to accompany him. On the other hand, Su Yue was the intermediate force to protect the Emperor.

The massive door with dragon carvings, the deep and seemingly endless doorway, the oncoming wind through the hall, and the chilly and unforgiving air in the imperial city reinforced its majestic demeanor and made Meng Qi feel alienated.

This was the first time that he had stepped into the imperial city of the Great Jin Dynasty. However, apart from the abhorrent forbidden power present, there was no real difference between the imperial palace in the world of the Sword Emperor and Devil Empress. The worship of power and the Emperor that stemmed from people’s hearts were exactly the same.

“Fifth Uncle, have you got any clues about the Luo Denomination and the Immortals?” Meng Qi pretended to ask casually. He was a little worried that the Luo Denomination and Destruction Sect would disrupt the Sumptuous Fruits Banquet.

Su Yue smiled wryly, “No, they seemed to have vanished into thin air. It’s indeed strange that even though the Yu family’s identity had been revealed, Luo Denomination still hid without a trace left behind.”

“This type of cult which has passed on for many generations must be very, no, extremely cunning, or it would have been wiped out by just forces long ago.” Su Li stared ahead, freely replying.

Meng Qi nodded thoughtfully, storing the query in the back of his head to ask Primogenitor Guangcheng later.

The imperial city was huge and covered in white jade. However, it was not for the sake of luxury but meant for the array instead. Meng Qi followed Su Li and Su Yue through the imperial city into the palace, where he saw the present Emperor of the Great Jin Dynasty, Zhao Mingyu, in the Tai Chi Palace.

Compared to their last encounter, Zhao Mingyu seemed older. His eye bags were loose and he looked obviously tired. Su Li and Su Yue, however, seemed to have taken it for granted, turning a blind eye to the situation.

After the salutations, the old Emperor looked at Meng Qi with a smile. “Don’t let me down at today’s Sumptuous Fruits Banquet.”

“If it’s kung fu, I will definitely live up to the Emperor’s trust,” Meng Qi boasted without any hint of modesty.

In order to complete the Samsara task, he had to be the champion!

Not to mention Su Ziyuan’s wish to boast before his holiness!

“Haha, the Killing Blade indeed.” The old Emperor held out his hand and took the arm of a eunuch who was even older than him, as he slowly rose.

This eunuch’s Yin Chi was extremely dense, not the ghostly kind, but the soft and cold type. Even though he was old, his skin was still as smooth as a young woman’s, and his power was deeply hidden, making it hard to judge his ability. However, Meng Qi could feel countless needles piercing through his Vital Spirit just when the eunuch looked over at him.

“It is, of course, Head Eunuch Gao Jinzhong…” Meng Qi remembered the introduction that Su Li had made in the past.

The crowd stood at the two sides, waiting for the Emperor and Gao Jingzhong to pass by. The imperial guard commander and Soaring Dragon Arrester, the two powerful Zhaos, followed closely, with Su Li, Su Yue, and the rest of the escort experts behind, and finally Meng Qi, Su Ziyu, and a few other aristocrats.

As he was about to cross the gate of the Tai Chi Palace, Meng Qi felt a warm sensation on his chest, and he immediately halted.

Gu Xiaosang?

The charm that Progenitor Doumu gave became warm!

Gu Xiaosang was nearby?

Meng Qi dropped his eyes and covered his contracted pupils, glancing discretely at Tai Chi Palace, but could only discern numerous imperial guards. There was no trace of Gu Xiaosang at all.

If not for the warm sensation of the charm, Meng Qi would have thought that he was hallucinating!

Gu Xiaosang was hiding inside the palace?

Was the most dangerous place really the safest one?

No wonder the Six Fan School couldn’t find her!

Meng Qi’s heart was filled with shock, but he didn’t make any reaction – pretending to not have noticed it – and only glanced back casually as he stepped out of Tai Chi Palace.

It was quiet inside the palace and there were imperial guards standing as straight as pines. The golden throne stood at the very top, with nine dragons carved on it, commanding respect. No one was seated on it.

Was it a trick by the demoness, or was she really here?

If she was truly here, who helped her to hide in the palace?

Was it someone prominent?

With so many mysteries left unsolved, Meng Qi did not expose his discovery lest he fell into a trap, and thus followed the team ahead.

Outside the imperial palace, the two Super Arresters, Liu Shengming and Yuan Lihuo, led many imperial guards and arresters to escort the Emperor. They then guarded outside the palace in a clear sequence.

As he passed Yuan Lihuo, Meng Qi opened his right palm, revealing the charm, as his left hand pointed at the palace behind.

There was no verbal communication, but Yuan Lihuo’s expression changed slightly. As Primogenitor Guangcheng, he naturally knew that the charm which the wild taoist drew referred to Gu Xiaosang.

Gu Xiaosang was hiding inside the palace?

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The Luo Denomination was hiding in the palace?

His expression returned to normal, and he quietly looked back at the arrangement of the team.

Outside the imperial city, Sima Shi waited in person to ride with the Emperor.

After delivering the news, Meng Qi calmed his heart down and adjusted his state of mind until his momentum and state were at their peak.

I’ll just deal with the Sumptuous Fruits Banquet, and leave the rest to the Immortals. The tall one will be there for me even if the sky falls!

The Jade Forest Garden was located northeast of the outer city, close to the canal, at which there were meanders and swirls, accentuating the city’s beauty. As such, it was reputed as one of the top ten remarkable scenes of Luoyang, and was zoned as a royal garden.

Peculiar trees and red flowers were scattered in every part of it, with the fragrance from the flowers and fruits filling the air. Amidst the lakes and rivers, the mountains and woods, all kinds of wild beasts could be seen.

Outside of the court gate, court officials and aristocrats stood at two sides to welcome the Emperor. The first ten or so did not kneel, as they were representatives from top aristocratic families, including the left and right Prime Ministers, Cui Yan from the Cui family, and Song Shouren, Master of the Song family from Luyang.

The Political Affairs Hall of the Great Jin Dynasty consisted of 11 men, with the Left Prime Minister acting as the Head Prime Minister – this position was usually held by the most powerful aristocratic family. The Cui family held this position today, and he was the uncle of Cui Qinghe and Cui Qingyu, as well as being a grandmaster. The Right Prime Minister was the Assistant Prime Minister, and this position was rotated amongst the few top aristocratic families.

Generally speaking, there was always at least one person from each of the top eight aristocratic families in the Political Affairs Hall. For instance, when an elder from the Wang family of Zhou County retired, Wang Wenxian naturally replaced him in court. He was deeply trusted by the Emperor and was appointed Minister of Revenue. In another case, Ruan Yushu’s ninth granddad, Ruan Kang, was active in court as the representative of Ruan family from Langya in Luoyang.

The remaining three places belonged to the Zhao family from Luoyang, or other powerful grandmasters, or court officials loyal to the Emperor, like Sima Shi, Chief Arrester of Six Fan School.

Apart from the 11 members of the Political Affairs Hall, those who did not kneel also included important members or masters of top aristocratic families, like Cui Qingyu.

Meng Qi naturally could not be in the front row and was just hanging around at the rear. All of a sudden, his eyes froze, as he saw the Crown Prince followed by two monks. One of them was ordinary looking, with their brows and eyes lowered, wearing a yellow frock without a single fleck of dust. It was Buddhist Heart Palm Xuan Zhen, who left the Ranking List of Young Masters due to the fact that he entered the Half-step Exterior Scenery realm.

Little Uncle Master and the Crown Prince together? Was this Shaolin Temple showing their stance, supporting the Crown Prince like other Buddhists? Meng Qi took in a breath of cold air in shock. This was an extremely important bargaining chip!

The three Dharmakayas of Great Jin Dynasty, other than Dharma King of Luo Denomination, were Noble Purple Spirit Cui Qinghe and Dragon-Strike Luohan Kong Wen!

Will the peaceful Shaolin finally be involved in worldly disputes?

Not only did Meng Qi react, the corner of the Emperor’s eye jumped too, and the faces of Su Li and Su Yue sank. This was a situation unknown to the Six Fan School!

It was like thunder suddenly striking flat ground!

The other monk next to Crown Prince was in his 30s, wearing an unspiced robe and turning the prayer beads in hands. His facial features were soft and lean, and his mouth was tightly closed. He stared at the ground intensely, as if he was worried about hurting the ants. Meng Qi could only tell that he had achieved the realm of Oneness of Heaven and Men, but was oblivious to his identity.

Prince Jin Zhao Yi’s face sank slightly, with the “Unstoppable” Yan Chong following behind him.

Zhao Heng’s expression was as usual, with a Foreign Official standing next to him. Achieving Heaven-man Connection in his fifties made it seem as if no one was under him.

Super Purple Sword Cui Zhe, Scholar of Martial Arts Fan Changmiao, Ruan Yushu of the Ruan family, Wang Zai of the Wang family and Flower-washing Qi Zhengyan were all in the escort team.

As Meng Qi examined the crowd, his eyes clashed with someone else’s.

“Aunt Bai?” The mature and attractive figure, and above average appearance belonged to Bai Lianxiang, who entered due to her connections with elders from the Bai family who were court officials.

Aunt Bai nodded her head, with her eyes full of fighting spirit. She seemed to want to challenge Meng Qi – the champion of the Ranking List of Young Masters!

The Emperor’s horse entered the Jade Forest Garden, and each guest sat down on the high platform. A rippling river traversed underneath, with flat land and a mirror lake on the bank, as well as a forest full of fruit fragrance far away.

The high platform on which Meng Qi was at hosted the Wang family from Zhou County and a few other aristocratic families from Luoyang, and greetings were exchanged.

“It has only been a few days, and brother has already almost achieved Oneness of Heaven and Men. Congratulations!” Meng Qi smiled, cupping one hand in the other before his chest.

Wang Zai’s rectangular face seemed more tanned and he seemed to have been weathered by sunshine and storm. He smiled and returned the gesture, “You are the one who advanced by leaps and bounds, Little Meng, achieving Oneness of Heaven and Men within such a short period of time.”

“Each man has their own different path.” Meng Qi and Wang Zai sat down conversing while listening to the Emperor’s elegant speech.

After his lengthy speech and greetings, the old Emperor laughed. “I am happy to hear that many talents have appeared lately, and thus I have hosted this Sumptuous Fruits Banquet to see them.”

” … I have four questions, and I invite everybody here to compete for victory.”

“Firstly, musical instruments, chess, calligraphy, and painting, the ways of excellence that can improve our character and polish our emotions. I wonder who would be first amongst all the courtly men seated here?”

Meng Qi’s mouth twitched as he heard the Emperor, and felt that bragging in front of the Emperor during the Sumptuous Fruits Banquet would not be easy. Other than martial arts, was there anything else he could compete in?

Wang Zai nodded and smiled,”Does Little Meng have any talent to demonstrate?”

“Does whistling count?” Meng Qi’s face twitched.

Wang Zai replied solemnly, “If your whistle can make birds sing, and fairies dance and accompany you, then, of course, it will be counted.”

The exchange between the two put a smile on many sitting next to them.