Chapter 982

The day of the welcoming banquet.

Even though the Western Envoy resided in the Imperial Palace, he still arrived late to the banquet.

Ashina, escorted by slaves and envoys behind him, arrived, his whole body clad in luxurious and extravagant clothing, even his collar and sleeves inlaid with jewels, wearing a jade belt full of exotic charm, he looked even more imposing than Jin Chen, the Emperor of Jin, the master of the Imperial Palace.

The officials attending the banquet exchanged glances, all smiling and shaking their heads; their eyes held no envy, like the host seeing an ignorant yet harmless guest, merely teasing him.

But the Western Envoy and Ashina could not tell all that.

Jin Chen withdrew his gaze, his head slightly moving, finding it heavy to look at.

What's the difference between that and walking straight up with a box of jewels?

Ashina walked into the main hall, under everyone's gaze, slightly bowed to salute Jin Chen, and before Jin Chen could speak, he went on to speak himself.

"Your Majesty, I remember that two years ago, my elder brother king once presented you with a Holy Cat."

"The Holy Cat represents the Western Regions Royal Family, very spiritual, but yesterday it seemed not to have been seen."

Ashina said, slowly raising his head to look at Jin Chen, his eyes faintly sharp.

He knew that the Emperor of Jin understood what he was asking; earlier, hidden spies in the capital had reported that the Emperor of Jin doted on the attendant who had transformed from the Holy Cat, and had deliberately kept the attendant's original name, Shaochun.

This time I came over, I originally wanted to first make contact with Shaochun, but who would have thought that last night I searched the imperial palace almost everywhere and still didn't see Shaochun's trace.

"Holy Cat……"

Jin Chen snorted, holding a jade cup casually leaning back, his arms around his own Empress in his embrace, the dark-colored robe with gold-thread patterns making him look especially domineering, his gaze glancing over.

"Dead."

Watching Ashina's face change dramatically, Jin Chen's lips curled into an arc, the jade cup in his hand suddenly flung toward him, "I haven't settled accounts with you yet!"

Ashina dodged sideways, the jade cup shattered on the head of the Western Region envoy behind him, a stream of blood flowed out; the Western Region envoy trembled and hastily knelt down. Ashina looked incredulously at the Jin emperor, secretly thinking, "No wonder he bears the title of tyrant," but…… he's dead.

How could Shaochun have died! Wasn't it said he was greatly favored by the Jin emperor!

He remained silent, and the Grand Tutor, who had long prepared to question him, had something to say.

The Grand Tutor shook his wide sleeves and stepped out, "You, as envoys of the Western Region, our court ought to treat you with courtesy, but your attitude and that of the Western Region royalty is truly arrogant and rude!"

"How dare you even present a demon cat as an offering to His Majesty! It's clearly ill-intentioned; that demon cat turned into Shaochun has repeatedly tried to assassinate His Majesty—could your Western Region royalty still harbor murderous intent toward His Majesty!"

Ashina's face grew even uglier.

I originally thought this matter was a tacit understanding with the Jin emperor, but how do you all ministers know! Does your Jin imperial palace have no secrets at all!

"What demon cat, what turning into a person, I don't know." Ashina insisted he knew nothing, "That black cat previously had some spirituality, so it was offered as the Holy Cat; out of friendship between our two nations it was specially presented…" As he spoke, he suddenly realized something, immediately stopped talking, his face turned deathly pale.

"Friendship between the two nations…" Jin Chen suddenly interrupted him, sitting up straight abruptly, "You call it a state, yet I didn't know."

The generals all rose to their feet, each glaring angrily.

The Western Region envoys sweated profusely, fearing they too would be dragged down by the Second Prince's misspoken words.

Jin Chen gave their overwhelming aura a slap, and Wen Zhiheng should come out to offer a sweet date.

"Please take your seats, today is the welcoming banquet for my elder brother of this hall; it's best not to waste time."

He waved his hand; the servants below immediately understood, inviting Ashina and all the Western Region envoys to sit down, as if what had just happened never occurred, but Ashina knew this matter probably wouldn't pass so easily, and everyone says the Jin empire's dark guards are formidable…

Ashina now felt that everyone in this hall could possibly kill him; it would be better to strike first.

But after sitting only a while he rose and slipped away, saying he was going to sober up, when in fact he hadn't even finished a cup of wine.

"His guts are too small, just like this he still wants to assassinate me." Jin Chen whispered to the person in his arms, "I want to see what waves they can stir up."

"One must not let down one's guard; although the Western Region lacks military strength, they have plenty of underhanded tactics." Wen Zhiheng again took a jade cup filled with wine and handed it to him, speaking softly: "The Silver Moon Guard has already followed them; they will deal with him before he makes a move."

Just then, a guard hurriedly ran in from outside, entered through the side door, and whispered a few words into Yan Fu'an's ear.

Yan Fu'an's expression changed; he hurried to report to Jin Chen.

"Your Majesty, the demon imprisoned in the heavenly prison has escaped, and even killed several guards."

Jin Chen and Wen Zhiheng heard it at the same time, both startled.

"The heavenly prison guard is so strict……" Wen Zhiheng wasn't sure, not knowing which Majesty actually is a demon; if not, how could one possibly escape from the heavenly prison!

Jin Chen was thinking, the protagonist aided by the world's consciousness truly has a powerful halo.

"Let the Dark Seal bring people to search; has the master invited by the Minister entered the palace?"

Yan Fu'an: "He just entered the palace today."

"Take them together to find the demon, kill it directly, no need to report again."

"Yes." Yan Fu'an immediately set to it, his steps hurried.

Wen Zhiheng still felt a bit worried, after all, once that person appears, no matter how many people he kills, his ultimate goal can only be Jin Chen.

"Can the dark guards and the forbidden army kill him? Or will something else happen."

"It's fine, don't worry." Jin Chen comfortingly patted the back of his hand, "As long as he remains inside the imperial palace, he cannot come to no harm."

This statement was spoken very absolutely; Wen Zhiheng recalled that these past days Jin Chen had always taken him for walks around the palace, even having already approached the Cold Palace.

He couldn't help but connect this matter to the present: "Achen has already made preparations beforehand, so why not kill him directly in the prison? Wouldn't that be more thorough."

Because if he dies in prison, the world's consciousness might possibly give him a second life.

Jin Chen silently muttered to himself, only saying, "He's quite hard to kill; I set up formations in advance, also out of this concern."

Since it's been said this way, Wen Zhiheng asked no further, only hoping this time they could completely dispose of that person.

At that very moment, Ashina, following the direction indicated by the secret passage map obtained by the spy, had two attendants provide cover, preparing to silently infiltrate the Jin emperor's residence, then kill him in the dead of night.

But before he could find the place, he first saw a large contingent of troops brandishing knives, coming with a fierce momentum.

Ashina jumped in fright, hastily crouched down to hide, thinking his operation hadn't even started yet but had already been exposed.