Chapter 575

When the Great King attacked Long Peace, it was the first time White Marsh appeared before the people of Long Peace; at that time, everyone present today hid at home with doors tightly shut, ready for battle—no one dared come out to watch the spectacle—so today everyone is seeing the huge creature Lord White Marsh for the first time.

Although I'd heard rumors that the Northern Border King's beloved pet was a rare exotic beast, taller and more conspicuous than a warhorse in battle, I never expected it to be this conspicuous!

Only those who have seen White Marsh's true form can understand that shock.

After White Marsh puts aside its lazy demeanor, it stands beside the Great King, who wears cloud-white brocade, towering over him by a great margin—what a strangely harmonious and beautiful sight!

White Marsh has a single horn and a lion tail, its form flowing and graceful. Its whole body is covered in lustrous white fur—this white is neither the color of snow nor the glow of jade, but a warm, moist sheen like moonlight and dawn blending together, a lustrous white soft light.

Its fur is fluffy and spotless; most striking are its single horn and deep purple eyes.

That horn—even the most precious mutton-fat white jade of the human world pales in comparison. The single horn is flawless and clear, extending elegantly from the forehead to the heavens, as if it could draw down heavenly light.

That deep purple hue even more holds a wisdom and compassion that perceives the essence of all things; meeting its gaze, most people feel guilty and look away, as that hint of deep purple seems able to reveal the darkness within one's own soul.

It stands on the brightly lit Divine Platform, dignified, pure, compassionate—the utmost auspicious omen.

It seems as if this Divine Platform was built for it.

In this world, no one is more suited to stand upon this platform for seeking immortality than it; tonight, the divine beast descends upon the Divine Platform.

Great Gold has no legend of White Marsh, nor any records; everyone only feels this is no ordinary beast—perhaps it is truly some auspicious omen that the Northern Border King obtained and now carries with him. Were the Grand Marshal Dong Fu here, he would surely recognize its worth and could tell everyone about White Marsh's origins for half a day.

When the Great King calls, the whole Divine Platform's gaze focuses on White Marsh; those with a bit of spiritual sense feel their souls tremble, and even ordinary people can't help but sigh in awe.

Only after looking at White Marsh could one notice the gilded, massive sculpture of the Tiger-eating Beast; before anyone could recover, the Great King had already taken the initiative to cause trouble.

"Du Gong? I've heard you don't like your own seat?... Shall I swap with you?"

The Divine Platform, crowded with people, fell instantly silent.

One might think Du Weiyue would turn pale and kneel to beg for mercy? No. This is Great Gold, where aristocratic politics runs rampant; in the heyday of the aristocratic clans, their power once stood equal to the imperial authority, but only over the past century or so, through the efforts of the Great King's high ancestors, has the imperial authority managed to strike back and regain the upper hand.

Even so, the great aristocracy still remains aloft; scholars and commoners do not intermarry or associate, and their attire differs—these cannot be changed in a short time.

Today's seating arrangement, with officials placed up front, is the Great King's order; he wants to put those with official positions up front—otherwise, it would be worse to give workers a seat than an idle noble without office—and the Great King insists on correcting those flaws of the great aristocracy.

He thinks others can't fix it—that their fists aren't hard enough.

Isn't the Chen Commandery Xie clan noble? Aren't Xie Yuan and Xie Tu quite polite?

Today the seats are given priority to the king's cattle-and-horse ministers; of course they are also aristocrats, which was insoluble in the short time before the imperial examinations were promoted. Those up front are the ministers; next come the king's relatively dense chives—several major clans, which the king is focusing on today. The rest can sit arbitrarily, for there are truly many people; do we really have to assign them an order one by one? What about the wealthy merchants? Should they be ranked by family wealth?

The king's broad net made this ordering project enormous; he simply waved his paw and called it off. The rest can sit casually, which also demonstrates his impartiality.

So the Du and Wei clans, being the tail of the first tier, had few people ahead of them, but behind them everyone sat haphazardly; thus when Du Weiyue arrived, he saw at a glance several wealthy merchants seated to his left rear, and he immediately lost his composure.

When has the Jingzhao Du clan ever suffered such an insult!

Having heard the king's outrageous words, Du Weiyue's expression did not change. 'I have been rude. Your Highness, please forgive me; officials and commoners may not sit together; ancestral rules cannot be abolished.'

The king continued, beaming, and said with a smile: 'I can see that Lord Du is a person who observes propriety.'

Du Weiyue performed the salute again, appearing courteous and respectful toward the king, yet he said: 'The throne on the Divine Clarity Terrace is the emperor's seat; not only I cannot go there, but logically, Your Highness also cannot go.'

On the Divine Clarity Terrace, even a dropped pin could be heard.

Wei Shen silently twitched the corner of his mouth at the back; how is it that even today someone still thinks they can manipulate the king?!

Zhang and Xu both eased their breathing; what's wrong with Lord Du today, daring to say anything? Why don't you ask your relative by marriage, Wei Kai, what he thinks? Or else look at the ring of fully armored soldiers surrounding the side?!

This time the king did not smile; he solemnized his expression, his tone still light, but the words he spoke were not light.

"Is that so? Then I have something to say. Everyone present, listen well: from today onward, in this world—my rules are the only rules."