Chapter 18

They'd heard from Su Heng that no techniques were allowed inside the palace grounds, so they had no choice but to hoof it to see the emperor. After nearly half an hour of walking and passing through what felt like a million checkpoints, they finally made it to where the emperor worked.

The throne room itself wasn't all that big—at least not as huge as the ones in TV dramas—but the dragon throne sat up high, looking down on everyone.

The emperor wasn't wearing yellow robes either; his were a vivid red. He didn't have a crown on his head, and definitely not that curtain-like thing with the beads dangling down. They all thought he dressed pretty casually. He looked around forty or fifty, not particularly stout, and had a thin mustache.

Youyou and Xiao Ai figured he was decent-looking and had a kind of approachable vibe. The guys, though, thought he lacked presence—too lean. But whether they approved of his looks didn't matter; the man sitting on that dragon throne was the emperor, like it or not.

Standing behind the emperor were a few men who were clearly eunuchs. Seemed they weren't called eunuchs here, though—more like "palace attendants." Whatever they were called didn't really matter. Also standing nearby were several officials in court robes, all of whom looked at least sixty or seventy. They stood off to the side, squinting as they sized up the group.

Xu Haoyue was the last one in. Soon as he stepped inside, he felt like their group of eight took up half the room. Little Wu, standing in front of him, snuck a look back and whispered, "Haozi, isn't the emperor supposed to be crazy rich? This room's way too small—it's cramped!"

"Actually, this room's decent. I've been to the Forbidden City before, and the emperor's rooms there were about this size," Xu Haoyue said, comparing it to his memories of the imperial chambers from a tour he'd taken. It seemed fine to him.

Meanwhile, Youyou and Xiao Ai, standing a bit further up, looked nervously at Jing Yuan and asked quietly, "Jing Yuan, what now? Do we kneel to him?"

Jing Yuan shook his head, signaling he had no clue either, and glanced back at Su Heng. The Fat Guy and A Xu quickly shoved Su Heng to the front. Thrust to the very front, Su Heng clasped his hands, bowed his head respectfully, and spoke to the emperor.

"This humble commoner, Su Heng, greets Your Majesty."

The other seven quickly copied Su Heng's pose, bowing their heads and murmuring,

"This humble commoner greets Your Majesty."

"Jing Yuan greets Your Majesty."

And some just managed a simple, "Your Majesty." The voices were scattered and totally out of sync. Xu Haoyue found it deeply embarrassing. Youyou, though, felt immensely relieved that Xiao Yue wasn't there; he'd have been furious and made them line up to do it all over again.

She imagined that scene for a second. Okay, it might've looked spectacular, but she also thought it'd be pretty cringey. And with all these elderly folks around, startling them into an illness would be bad.

Thankfully, the emperor didn't seem to mind much. He chuckled warmly and gestured for them to rise, asking, "We hear that you righteous individuals possess not only profound mystical abilities but also warm hearts. You helped Guangyu County capture two fugitive rogue sorcerers who'd been at large for a long time."

"Hehehe!" Jing Yuan responded with an awkward laugh, but inwardly he grumbled, "If it weren't for saving on that inn bill, who'd want to do such a dirty, exhausting, and dangerous job?"

"Hahaha! To have such subjects is truly a comfort to Us," the emperor continued, laughing alone. The group of ministers below joined in the laughter, acting as if they found it all hilarious.

The seven of them were completely unused to this kind of scene and felt incredibly awkward.

Fortunately, the emperor and his ministers didn't drone on with nonsense for too long. At least everyone managed to keep their eyes open and didn't doze off from boredom.

"We hear you all are from elsewhere. May We ask where your home is?"

"That question again," Jing Yuan and Xu Haoyue exchanged a glance, their minds already scrambling to concoct various answers. Luckily, A Xu, a connoisseur well-versed in transmigration stories, replied immediately, "Hehehe, Your Majesty, well, you might not know this, but vast as the Nine Provinces Continent is, there exists another world beyond it. We... we accidentally arrived here from a place outside the Nine Provinces."

"Oh, I see. Then you all must be unfamiliar with the origins of the Jiuzhou Competition. Minister Fu, please enlighten them."

The youngest-looking among the ministers, a man appearing spirited and around forty years old, stepped forward. He pondered for a moment before speaking slowly, "Since you are outsiders, I shall first explain the origin of the Jiuzhou Competition. Originally, the nine provinces were united as one kingdom, but that was many years ago. It was called the Great Zhou then. The Great Zhou's territory was extremely vast, making administration inconvenient. Over time, the regional lords developed rebellious intentions, gradually splitting into the current nine provinces: our Qingzhou, along with Jizhou Prefecture, Yanzhou, Xuzhou, Yangzhou, Jingzhou, Yuzhou, Liangzhou, and Yongzhou. In recent years, Yongzhou and Jizhou Prefecture have grown powerful, both harboring ambitions to dominate. The Zhou King has been rather powerless against this."

"Later, Qingzhou formed an agreement with Xuzhou, Jingzhou, Yuzhou, Liangzhou, and others to jointly support the Zhou King, each managing their own territories without interference. As our five provinces grew stronger, the others gradually joined our alliance to maintain stability. Subsequently, every ten years, we select a winner from the Jiuzhou Competition to become the Alliance Overlord. For the past decade, our Qingzhou has held the overall authority over the nine provinces. Our desire to win again isn't born of greed for power, but to balance the various forces and ensure the world's stability. However, the lords of those two provinces are warmongers who dream of unifying the nine provinces. We fear if either wins this competition and becomes the Alliance Overlord, they would abuse their position to force unification, inevitably plunging the land into turmoil. So, for the peace of the Nine Provinces Continent, even though Qingzhou has held the position for years, we must exert our utmost effort. We absolutely cannot let Yongzhou or Jizhou Prefecture succeed!"

This Minister Fu droned on with a pained expression, then began analyzing the specific situations of each province. The group below listened, growing increasingly drowsy. Xiao Ai found the story somewhat familiar and quietly asked about it. Unexpectedly, Xu Haoyue showed no mercy, whispering sarcastically, "This is basically the history after the Zhou Dynasty, leading into the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. Shouldn't you be studying that right now? Xiao Xiao'ai, you must have studied all your books up your ass if you don't even remember this."

Xiao Ai got scolded for no reason again and immediately shut up with a bitter face. The fatty nudged her in consolation, but while barely comforting Xiao Ai, his own eyelids were beginning to droop incessantly. He poked A Xu, who stood in front of him, and couldn't help asking, "A Xu, you've read a lot. When is he going to finish? I'm about to die of sleepiness."