790 Economic Power (1/2)

Long Fanyun steeled himself for his meeting with prince Duodun. ”The Dragon King's closed door cultivation is in a critical phase, and it will take him at least another three days to reach a safe stopping point. Many apologies, Your Highness.”

Although Duodun had been drinking for more than half the previous night, there was no sign of weariness or drunkenness on his face at all. As he stared at Long Fanyun, the look on Duodun's face was rather arrogant and callous. ”Three days? Isn't that approximately the amount of time it takes to travel from Jade City to Xiaowan Kingdom? On a swift horse, of course.”

Long Fanyun pretended that he hadn't grasped the insinuations of prince Duodun's remarks, placidly replying, ”Three days won't be enough unless it's the Flame Foal.”

”Ha-ha, hmm. Another three days, huh? Is this your own speculation or did the Dragon King tell you this himself?”

”The Dragon King told me this himself-”

Before Long Fanyun could finish his sentence, Duodun abruptly stood up. Seemingly anticipating their prince's move, several of Duodun's companions who were always by his side immediately surrounded Long Fanyun solidly as if they intended on capturing him right then and there.

Yet no conflict took place. There was a slight movement of Long Fanyun's hand, but he didn't touch his saber hilt. These men's intention was merely to isolate him from their prince. Duodun then said, ”Very good. Since the Dragon King has talked to you, then it shouldn't be a problem for him to talk to me for a minute. It won't take long, but I need a response from the Dragon King himself. Let's go downtown right now, as I need to return to Heaven's Pass by noon.”

Long Fanyun appeared a little flustered. He glanced at Shangguan Ru and Shang Liao, but those two clearly knew that they couldn't stop prince Duodun, and that the harder they tried to persuade Duodun otherwise, the more suspicious he would become.

The hundreds of people departed in the early morning and soon entered the city.

Half of the 10,000 cavalrymen that Gu Shenwei brought back from the Royal Court were stationed outside of the city, and they were enjoying the food and wine brought out by prince Duodun last night. As they were stationed in the city, the other half gave an enthusiastic welcome to the prince at the city gate, with loud cheers in Norland language, infecting the nearby residents, many of whom started crowding around the street.Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click visiting.

Long Fanyun was very embarrassed – nominally, the Dragon King was the leader of this army, and yet he had never received a welcome as warm as this.

The Second Consort was among the procession. She gave Shangguan Ru a meaningful look, and then, under the cover of the noises of the crowds, she softly whispered, ”Back in the Royal Court, the Khan's descendants were everywhere, so the soldiers were too confused to display their loyalty – the Dragon King might have misunderstood something because of this. But Duodun's different. He's exceptional even when compared to all the other princes. And now you've seen it yourself. Maybe you should talk about this with the Dragon King when you have the chance.”

Shangguan Ru responded to her with nothing more than a smile. She knew that all the young officers like Azheba were truly loyal to Duodun and that it was them who had been instilling the image of prince Duodun being noble and great into the soldiers' minds. This thought raised a question in her mind. Why would did the Dragon King let this happen? Was it because of carelessness or because he had other plans?

Dragon King had always been shrouded with mystery from Shangguan Ru's point of view. Even back when they were young and innocent, that teenager called Servant Huan had frequently given her surprises and mysteries. Now it was even more difficult for her to speculate on the Dragon King's thoughts.

The capital of Xiaowan Kingdom was not a large city, and the procession soon arrived at the entrance of the royal palace, where Duodun had encountered an enormous hindrance.

Chu Nanping was standing in the middle of the gateway, with two swords, one of which was the Dragon Head Sword that the Dragon King had given to him, hanging on his waist.

A dozen palace guards were standing quite a distance away, equally in awe of both the teenager and the prince of Norland.

Four bodyguards jumped off of their horses, walked towards Chu Nanping, and ordered him to get out of the way.

Chu Nanping ignored the bodyguards and loudly announced, ”the Dragon King's in closed door cultivation. No entry is allowed without an explicit invitation.”

”This is prince Duodun, the Army Supervisor of the Norland Cavalry, not someone uninvited,” a bodyguard said angrily, his hand grasping his saber hilt.

Without even giving them a glance, Chu Nanping continued talking. ”The prince may go in, but he has to do so alone.”

Duodun let out a short laugh and it was hard to tell whether the laugh was a surprised chortle or a sneering mockery. His eyes swept around his party and then focused on Shangguan Ru before he asked, ”Does the Dragon King like playing these kinds of tricks very much?”

Shangguan Ru shook her head as she replied, ”This is a basic principle of closed door cultivation. The quieter, the better. That way, he'll be able to keep miscellaneous thoughts out of his mind.”

”Does the fight for supremacy count as a miscellaneous thought?”

”During closed door cultivation, anything other than martial arts is irrelevant. This is the true essence of closed door cultivation.”

”It sounds like the theory those Central Plain guys used to delude the Khan with.”

”This is the rule. Please understand, Your Highness.”

Two companions of prince Duodun got off of their horses as well and started negotiating with Chu Nanping and Long Fanyun, but the biggest concession that the teenage swordsman was willing to make was to allow three people to enter the palace.

Watching from the side, Duodun didn't give any instructions. At last he said, ”Okay, then. Since Dragon King wants to become an immortal, we mortals shouldn't be too stubborn. Three of us will go inside. Azheba, I, and-”

Before he could finish his remark, all the others opposed in unison. They refused to let their prince take any risk. They trusted the Dragon King, but this palace belonged to Shangguan Yun and they were not sure whether there were any hidden dangers in it.

People started arguing, and eventually the Second Consort came up with an idea. ”A king would never kneel to another king, so you shouldn't go inside yourself, Your Highness. You have so many trustworthy men, and it makes no difference who actually enters the palace. I don't think that they would make any mistakes.”

After pondering for a while, Duodun reluctantly agreed to her plan. He designated Azheba, another companion of his, and Shangguan Ru for the final spot.

”I'm not your subordinate,” Shangguan Ru refused with a smile as she pointed out Duodun's mistake.

”Of course you're not. But two men are more than enough to send a message, so I'd like to give you a chance to meet the Dragon King.”

Shangguan Ru exchanged an glance with Long Fanyun – this was not a part of their plan. ”Well… Okay, then. Thank you for giving me this precious opportunity, Your Highness.”

Duodun smiled but didn't say anything as he thought, 'If there's really something going on between this woman and the Dragon King, I might be able to figure out the truth behind whether the Dragon King is really in the palace is true or not when she comes out.'

While Long Fanyun and the others were having a hard time dealing with prince Duodun, Gu Shenwei was stranded in Heaven's Pass.