Song of Adolescence

Chapter 324 The Final Guest

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The guests heard the sound of horseshoes, and they all followed each other out.

Heavenly Revelations City was still under lockdown. Military officials second grade and above were prohibited from leaving their Residences. Even the most high-ranking general of the Beili Armed Forces, Ye Xiaoying, was not allowed to leave his General’s Residence. Who would dare to ride their horse so openly in the middle of the night in Heavenly Revelations?

"It’s the sound of warhorses," Lanyue Marquis said in a low voice.

All the guests had already walked out, but they stopped at the door of Grand Golden Terrace, afraid to leave.

Xiao Yu glanced at Long Ye. Long Ye shook his head and said in a low voice, "Not our personal soldiers. They wouldn’t be so stupid as to ride their horses at this time."

At the end of the long street, the huge carriage finally revealed its form.

Six black-coloured yebei horses pulled a huge golden carriage slowly towards Grand Golden Terrace.

Even though the Qingzhou Mu family was known as the head of Qingzhou and monopolised the wealth of the empire, their carriage could only use five horses, and not a single one more. Because a carriage with six horses could only be used by one person under Heaven.

On either side of the carriage, there were warriors who ran alongside. Their shoulders were adorned with an exquisite design of a tiger head, identifying them at once - the Brave Tiger Guards. As they moved briskly, their armours rubbed against each other, making a cold and solemn sound.

The coachman gently waved his whip, not seeming to be in a hurry. After all, the banquet was already over and these guests were gracefully late, so why be bothered about this last bit of time? However, the coachman was wearing beautiful armor, a full-body silver armor that shone in the moonlight. On his back was an exquisite silver sabre, which also revealed his extraordinary identity.

"What’s this?" Li Ruochong was so shocked his legs turned soft.

"How could it be!" Zhou De, the Minister of Justice, exclaimed with a frown.

The carriage finally came to a stop.

The coachman alighted first, walked to the front and stepped aside.

The curtain of the carriage was pulled open. Four people walked down.

One of them held an incense burner.

One of them held an ancient archive.

One of them held the treasured sword that defended the country.

One of them held the country’s jade seal.

Eunuch of Incense, Jin Xian Gonggong.

Eunuch of Records, Jin Yu Gonggong.

Eunuch of Sword, Jin Wei Gonggong.

Eunuch of Seal, Jin Yan Gonggong.

The fifth person walked out of the carriage, dressed in a purple python robe. There was a deep sense of dignity about him, and his eyebrows were already white as snow. He stood behind the four Grand Eunuchs, silently watching the people standing in front of Grand Golden Terrace.

Grand Eunuch, Jin Xuan Gonggong.

The entire street was extremely quiet. No one dared to speak, because Jin Xuan had not spoken yet.

First, Li Changqing, Commander-general of the Imperial Army and Captain of the Brave Tiger Guards, alighted as the coachman. Then, the Five Grand Eunuchs came in person and arrived in the grandest ceremony used to receive a guest. Such ceremonies were used only for the annual Ceremony of Offering Sacrifices and when welcoming the most distinguished of guests. And in all of Beili, there was only one host who had the right to use this ceremony.

On the roof of the carriage, the flag of the great divine phoenix fluttered in the wind and its wide-spread wings seemed to cover the sky, as if the great phoenix was about to take off in flight.

Jin Xuan Gonggong gathered his sleeves over his hands and announced loudly, "His Majesty has arrived!"

All the people in front of Grand Golden Terrace immediately bent their knees, not a single one hesitated. Even Grand Preceptor Dong Zhu and State Preceptor Qi Tianchen, who had permission to dispense with kneeling before the Emperor, also bent their knees.

This was the majesty brought by the man in the carriage at this moment.

In unison, all the people at the front door of Grand Golden Terrace knelt down. "Welcoming Your Majesty with our respects!"

Only one person did not kneel.

He simply stood there, imitating Jin Xuan Gonggong, and tucked his hands into his sleeves while he looked at Jin Xuan, as if confronting him. Of course, this person could only be Xiao Se.

The others were still crawling because the person in the carriage had not said "please rise".

Li Changqing's expression was cold and sombre. The hundred Brave Tiger Guards in their exquisite armour were also silent. The four Grand Eunuchs holding the sacred relics of the dynasty were also expressionless. Even Jin Xuan Gonggong turned a blind eye to Xiao Se's audacious behavior. He turned sideways and averted Xiao Se's gaze.

The curtain of the carriage was lifted again, but no one came out. A tired-sounding voice from within whispered, “You’ve come home?”

Xiao Se nodded. “I’m home.”

"We’ve built a Yong'an Prince Residence for you. Find an auspicious date and move in. You’re a Prince now. You should understand some decorum."

“Fine.”

“We heard you’ve named yourself Xiao Se. Why?”

“I liked the sound of it.”

“It’s fine. As long as you like it. We heard you've recovered from your illness?”

"All recovered."

"That's good. We’ve not been well recently. We can't visit you often."

"It’s fine."

"Well, we’re glad that you’re home. The meal… is over?”

"The banquet just ended."

"Is there anything left? We’re hungry."

"There’s still a bowl of bean soup rice."

"Bring us a bowl to taste."

Xiao Se turned his head and glanced at Second Master Tu. Second Master Tu hesitated, but did not dare to get up. State Preceptor Qi Tianchen stood up and said with a smile, "Don’t mind it. Let me."

"Grand Preceptor, we didn't expect you to come today. We didn’t notice you earlier. Please hurry and rise."

Grand Preceptor Dong raised his head and stood up. He coughed lightly but did not speak.

Qi Tianchen flicked his horsetail whisk, and a bowl of bean soup rice flew out of Grand Golden Terrace and flew towards the carriage.

Grand Eunuch Jin Xuan was going to step forward, but within the carriage, Mingde Emperor stopped him with a word, "Since it was brought over by the State Preceptor, there’s no need to check it." Grand Eunuch Jin Xuan immediately stepped back and the bowl of bean soup rice landed in Mingde Emperor’s hand.

Mingde Emperor accepted the bean soup rice and ate it in small sips.

All the officials of the imperial court, all the wealthy merchants under Heaven, and all of the Xiao Clan imperial family continued to kneel there, listening to Xiao Se and Mingde Emperor engage in idle talk about some everyday things, as they waited for Mingde Emperor to slowly finish that bowl of bean soup rice.

After a long time, Mingde Emperor finally put down the coarse porcelain bowl and sighed. "We grew up in Heavenly Revelations, but we’ve also heard xiao-Jiu[2] talk about his experiences during his travels. Xiao Se, did someone pass away?"

"My shixiong."

Mingde Emperor was silent for a while, and finally, he closed the curtain. "You’ve grown up. We can’t discipline you as we did in the past. Whatever you want to do, just go ahead."

"Fine."

"Everyone, please rise as well. We were not deliberately neglecting our loyal subjects, but we haven’t seen this son for so many years, and we didn’t want irrelevant people to disturb us. Pray our loyal subjects forgive us."

"We dare not!" The officials cried out in unison.

"Let's go." Mingde Emperor said softly.

Jin Xuan Gonggong glanced at Xiao Se, turned around, and announced loudly, "Prepare to leave!"

"Sending off Your Majesty with our respects!" Everyone at the front doors of Grand Golden Terrace cried out again.

The arrival of the final guest, with only a few irrelevant words, had once again proven an already known fact.

Although there was no news of him for over four years, this Heavenly Revelations City was still the Heavenly Revelations City of the past, the Heavenly Revelations City where Xiao Se was the favourite son of the Emperor!

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