Chapter 992: Provocation with Words
Translator: Lordbluefire Editor: Lordbluefire
The news of the Evergreen Immortal Emperor and Qing`er's meeting was soon circulated around. Many of the major characters were waiting to see what the Evergreen Immortal Emperor's attitude would be.
Ever since Qing`er was brought back to the royal palace, many descendants of the kings and marquises wanted to pursue her, but Qing`er had always ignored them. The Evergreen Immortal Emperor had always maintained a stance of neutrality—nobody knew what his true thoughts were, and they could only try their best to guess.
But this time, Princess Qing`er had already brought a man to her home and had gone to see the Evergreen Immortal Emperor. In that case, no matter what, his Majesty should at least make his stance clear, right?
Would his Majesty support or object to this?
If his Majesty agreed to Princess Qing`er and Qin Wentian, all the commotion and the discussions about Qin Wentian would instantly die down since they would be pointless. Qin Wentian would instantly become the prince consort of the Evergreen Immortal Empire, and his status would be set in stone. This was evidently something many of the nobility didn't wish to see.
In Princess Changping's residence, the aunt that had always been close with Qing`er had already given the order to prepare a welcome banquet for Qin Wentian. After all, since Qing`er arranged for Qin Wentian to stay here, and as her aunt, she naturally had to ensure that she took good care of Qin Wentian.
In the banquet, Princess Changping's husband and daughter were present as well. They regarded Qin Wentian with curiosity, and probed him slightly with their questions. From this, they gleaned some information and gradually came to understand Qin Wentian a little better.
Princess Changping's husband was an immortal king known as the Scarlet Eye Immortal King. He was bestowed the title of the Scarlet Eye Marquis by the Evergreen Immortal Emperor, and was also a prince consort of the Evergreen Immortal Empire. Although both Princess Changping and the Scarlet Eye Marquis weren't that strong in terms of combat prowess, they still had immense authority and status in the empire. After all, Princess Changping was the blood-sister of the Evergreen Immortal Emperor, and she had given her all to aid him back when they were fighting for the right to establish this empire.
"Qin Wentian, you are famous now. With a sweep of my immortal sense, I hear endless mention of your name throughout the royal palace. Even the slaves and servants are excitedly discussing you." The Scarlet Eye Marquis laughed straightforwardly. Qin Wentian bitterly smiled, "I know that we caused a great deal of commotion when Qing`er brought me into the palace, but I didn't expect the news to circulate that fast."
"Hahaha, you have to understand who the people in the royal palace are. Every one of them are either kings or marquises. Their immortal senses can easily sweep through the royal palace, so it takes no effort for them to gain information." The Scarlet Eye Immortal King laughed. Qin Wentian thought about it and nodded in agreement. After all, this place was the royal palace of the Evergreen Immortal Empire where all the elites gathered.
"What are they saying about me?" Qin Wentian laughed.
"They are talking about your cultivation level, your background, where you came from, etc." said the Scarlet Eye Immortal King.
"There are certainly many who hold me in contempt, right?" Qin Wentian laughed casually. There would surely be many who disliked him—the Scarlet Eye Immortal King was just too polite to say anything.
"Do you feel the pressure is very great?" The Scarlet Eye Immortal King glanced at Qin Wentian. Qin Wentian's situation was similar to his. The Scarlet Eye Immortal King was also a prince consort and had received his fair share of criticism when he pursued and married Princess Changping back in the day. His talent was evidently good enough since he had become an immortal king, but even so, he wasn't considered a peak-tier character, and was someone ordinary among the immortal kings in the royal palace.
Naturally, back then Princess Changping didn't have the status that Qing`er had now. Now that the Evergreen Immortal Emperor governed the empire, and the fact that Qing`er was the person he doted on the most, in addition to the fact that Qing`er had another extremely powerful teacher, her status was almost unparalleled in the entire immortal realms. It explained why it had caused such a great commotion when she'd brought Qin Wentian back to the royal place.
"There's indeed some pressure. But some things cannot be changed so easily, even with a large amount of people. Since Qing`er brought me here, I will directly face whatever may come my way," Qin Wentian said stoically. Princess Changping and the Scarlet Eye Immortal King smiled, nodding silently at Qin Wentian's maturity. It was very rare for juniors like Qing`er and himself to have this amount of courage.
However, just as Qin Wentian had said, some things couldn't be changed so easily, even with a large amount of people. This was especially true when it came to a person's attitude. An example would be the Evergreen Immortal Emperor's attitude. If everyone else in the royal palace supported him and Qing`er but her father didn't, they would merely be expressing their stance. Ultimately, they were unable to change anything.
At this moment, a butler dressed in black walked over and called out, "Princess, Marquis."
"What's the matter?" Princess Changping asked.
"There are people who have come to pay a visit," the butler replied. The Scarlet Eye Immortal King and Princess Changping swept out with their immortal sense, and their eyes flickered with a smile as they glanced at Qin Wentian.
"There are plenty of descendants from kings and marquises already here to probe you. Qin Wentian, you'd better be prepared in your heart. There are no kind souls among these people," said Princess Changping. After that, she stared at the butler and said, "Invite them in for the banquet."
"Yes, Princess." The butler nodded before he left. After a short period of time, over ten proud-looking young people could be seen walking over. All of them were of the nobility, and clearly also good-looking and talented. A majority of these people were either at the eighth or ninth level of Celestial Phenomenon, and they were all from the same generation as Qin Wentian. Somehow, this seemed to be intentional.
"We pay our respects to Princess and Marquis." These people were exceptionally polite as they bowed in the direction of Princess Changping and the Scarlet Eye Immortal King.
"You youngsters need not be so polite. Come and take a seat." Princess Changping smiled. Everyone respectively walked over to the banquet as they took their seats. At this moment, many gazes turned to Qin Wentian, their eyes gleaming with sharpness.
Qin Wentian lowered his head and tasted the wine, not bothered by all the attention currently directed at him. He allowed these people to study him as they wished.
"Princess Changping organized a banquet for such a handsome-looking young man, but forgot to invite us. This made all us juniors truly heartbroken." A young lady smiled, speaking with a teasing note in her tone. However, the first sentence out from her mouth had cut right to the chase, directly referring to Qin Wentian.
"You guys are so busy everyday, I don't wish your elders to blame me for delaying your cultivation progress." Princess Changping smiled.
"Princess, don't say that. If you invited us, I'm sure our elders would undoubtedly all be very happy." The beautiful young lady spoke in a gentle manner. After that, she turned to Qin Wentian, "Princess, why don't you introduce this young man to us? Seeing that he can be invited to this banquet, I'm sure he must be an extraordinary individual."
There was an underlying meaning within the words in this sentence. It was clear that she already knew who Qin Wentian was, but she still wanted to ask.
"He is Qin Wentian. I'm sure most of you already know his name. That little lass Qing`er tossed him to me, so naturally I must take good care of him," explained Princess Changping.
"True. This is the first time Princess Qing`er brought someone back to the royal palace. The other kings and marquises are all paying close attention to this matter. Since Brother Qin can obtain Princess Qing`er's approval, you must surely have a heaven-shaking identity, right? Do you care to share where you come from? And by the way, which immortal emperor are you a descendant of?" The young lady smiled as she turned her gaze towards Qin Wentian.
Princess Changping and the Scarlet Eye Immortal King leisurely sipped their wine as they silently observed. They didn't plan to help Qin Wentian out of this—they had already reminded him in advance to be prepared in his heart. These were all things he had to face if he wanted to be with Qing`er.
Qin Wentian put down the wine cup in his hand. He stared at the beautiful young lady and replied, "I'm from a particle world, and I don't have an illustrious identity."
"Oh?" An expression of interest appeared on the female's face, looking as though she was surprised and had just learned about this.
"Brother Qin is truly too humorous," said a young man clad in blue, with brows angled like swords. At this moment he lifted his head and continued, "This is the royal palace of the Evergreen Immortal Empire, a place where kings and marquises reside. Even ordinary immortal kings would find it impossible to enter. If Brother Qin is really from a mere particle world, what qualifications do you have to sit here and enjoy this banquet?"
"That's right. Since Brother Qin is already here, why must you still hide your identity. Why don't you just tell us the truth?" another young man added, his eyes gleaming with sharpness. Although none of his words were overly rude, it was clear he was filled with disrespect. He was obviously implying that Qin Wentian shouldn't even be qualified to enter the royal palace, let alone sitting here enjoying a banquet.
Simple words they may be, but the underlying meaning was clear to all.
Everyone turned their attention to Qin Wentian, wanting to see how he would reply.
"Has everyone here attended banquets before at other important places?" Qin Wentian chose not to immediately reply, and instead, countered with another question.
"Of course," someone replied.
"That's something that occurs frequently. In fact we have also been to several banquets organized by very important characters." The young lady smiled.
"When everyone here attends the banquet, do you all need to report the name of your clan and identity to gain entry?" Qin Wentian asked again.
Those people laughed. One among them then spoke, "That's natural as well. For some of those places, you're not allowed to enter even if you have outstanding talent. Without telling people of your identity, you basically have no qualifications to attend any immortal banquets."
At that last sentence, the person who spoke purposely caused his voice to sound out louder as a smile filled with hidden meaning appeared on his face.
"Oh, so in other words, if your current identity and status were wiped away, then everyone here would have no qualifications to attend any banquets?" Qin Wentian asked. The same matter, presented in another way, caused the meaning it intended to be different as well. When Qin Wentian spoke these words, a light, mocking tone could be heard in his voice.
"Status and identity, these two things are akin to halos of light that are an inherent part of who we are." Someone laughed, narrowing his eyes as he stared coldly at Qin Wentian.
"That sounds right." Qin Wentian smiled. "But some people are just so sad, thinking an illustrious identity and status means everything. At the very end, without true strength, they are doomed to end up like jokes in the eyes of others. In any case, I didn't lie to any of you. I'm indeed from a particle world, but I don't find this to be a shameful matter. And am I not already sitting here enjoying the banquet? In addition, both Princess Changping and the Marquis have even become good friends of mine. At the very least, they wouldn't mock me."
"Oh, but are you forgetting something? The fact that Brother Qin could even step into this place was all because of Princess Qing`er," the young lady continued.
"You guys are so proud of the identity and status you have, which you only gained as a result of the merits rendered by the senior generations. Could it be that all of you are ridiculing Princess Qing`er's judgement?" Qin Wentian coldly laughed. "Or in other words, are all of you here jealous of me?"
"Brother Qin truly knows how to joke." The voice of the young lady had turned cold.
"What a sharp tongue you have. No wonder Princess Qing`er fell for you," a young man rudely added, and Qin Wentian's expression froze as he stared at the person who spoke.
"Brother Qin, don't blame them. They are all very direct people, and they always say the first thing that comes to their mind without ever processing it carefully," said the young man in blue. "But that person who spoke is right. You were able to gain Princess Qing`er's favor with flowery words, which caused her to bring you into the royal palace. This is undoubtedly a showcase of your 'capabilities'."
"However, this type of 'capability' is only fit to be looked upon with scorn," that person continued, doing nothing to hide the disdain in his voice. His tone grew ruder, but Qin Wentian merely regarded them emotionlessly . These people had intentionally come here to anger him. If Qin Wentian really acted because of this, he would become nothing but a joke.
"Hmph." Qin Wentian's lips curled into a smile. Wanting to anger him into taking action against them? What a joke. He sat there, and enjoyed his wine alone as the smile on his face grew wider.
"What are you smiling at?" someone questioned.
"I'm smiling at how superficial and ignorant the descendants of nobility in the royal palace are." Qin Wentian put down his wine cup. His words instantly caused the eyes of everyone to turn as sharp as swords as they turned to Qin Wentian!