Chapter 132: The Emperor's Summons

  After a night's rest, Xia Ya didn't sleep well. He couldn't understand why the mysterious warrior he met during the day kept appearing in his dreams, making him recall the suffocating pressure that man brought to him countless times in his sleep. In the middle of the night, Xia Ya woke up twice, and each time he felt despair filling his heart.

  Turtle's inner self, his self-esteem was somewhat touched, thinking of himself this morning, when facing that guy, the feeling of powerless resistance - at that time standing in front of that mysterious warrior, he felt like an ant under a giant's foot, any slight movement, the opponent could easily wipe him out - that feeling of powerlessness made Xia Ya feel very depressed, with a hint of humiliation.

  In the morning, Xia Ya got up early and sat on the bedhead. Suddenly, she saw the fire fork placed beside her, reached out to pick it up and grasped it in her hand.

  The heavy and icy grip of the fire spear dispelled some of the depression in Xia Ya's heart. "Still too weak—" Xia Ya muttered to himself: "I'm too weak. But—how can I become stronger?"

  Originally, I was going to wait until daytime when Ruru comes over and ask Fatso about the mysterious martial arts master, but after waiting for an entire afternoon, General Usagi didn't show up, and none of Ruru's guards who stayed here knew anything either.

  Xia Ya went to see Julia again, who was living inside, and chatted with the depressed Julia for a while. Just before noon, someone suddenly came to report that an envoy had arrived from the imperial palace.

  Xia Ya immediately walked out of the room and saw that at the entrance of the courtyard, Doro was smiling respectfully, leading a middle-aged man in. Outside the gate, a horse carriage was parked, with several warriors wearing silver armor standing guard on either side, holding axes.

  The middle-aged man wore a hemp gray robe, with a somewhat ridiculous oversized pants underneath, and his face was covered with a layer of powder, looking pale to the point of being scary. His face had a hint of arrogance, slightly raised his head, but looked at people through his nostrils. He walked in with his hands behind his back, ignoring the many Doros beside him, cleared his throat, and spoke in a voice that was particularly strange - it was clearly a very hoarse tone, but the intonation had an eerie sharpness to it.

  "What's with Xia Yaren?" The imperial envoy saw the tortoise walking out of the room, his eyes scanned him briefly. Squinting his eyes, he said, "Hm, is that you?"

  Xia Ya nodded and welcomed the envoy from the imperial court. Suddenly, he thought of something - he had once heard that many eunuchs in the palace were actually castrated men...

  As soon as this thought occurred to him, the toad's eyes couldn't help but glance at this person a few more times. The pants were loose and baggy, and nothing could be discerned from their appearance. However, this person's lips and chin were clean and smooth, without a single whisker.

  "By order of His Imperial Majesty, Xia Yali, you are to follow me immediately to pay homage to the Emperor."

  The imperial envoy's tone was arrogant, and he snorted, but then took out a handkerchief to wipe his nose and mouth, frowning: "What are you staring at me for? Go change your clothes quickly! You can't see the emperor looking like this!"

  Next to him, Duoduo couldn't help but chuckle and quickly turned around. Xia Ya glared at himself, looking at his clothes. Although he had two good-looking outfits, they were ruined when those sneaky guys threw feces on him the day before yesterday, and he had already thrown them away.

  "This... is already my best clothes." Xia Ya scratched his hair: "That... His Majesty the Emperor wants to see me now?"

  "That can't be fake! Hurry up and come with me!" The imperial envoy shook his head.

  When Xia Ya followed him out, he still heard the courtier mutter under his breath: "Filthy country bumpkin..."

  Xia Ya didn't get angry, but her eyes couldn't help but scan the imperial envoy's face back and forth. Having looked at him for a long time, she couldn't help but have an eerie expression on her own face.

  The carriage outside was not for Xia Ya to ride in, it was the palace envoy's carriage. Xia Ya could only obediently lead his own horse and join the team, heading towards the imperial palace.

  The imperial palace is located in the northeast corner of the Imperial City, and the procession passes through the city. In front of the team, there are palace guards wearing silver armor riding horses and holding axes to clear the way. Wherever they go, pedestrians on the road scatter and dodge far away, giving up the road.

  Xia Ya followed in the team, looking around, but found that the pedestrians on the road cast fearful glances, with more fear and less reverence.

  The Imperial Palace of Osgiliath was first built at the dawn of the kingdom, and initially it was nothing more than a castle. After thousands of years of expansion by successive emperors, it has formed a vast palace complex, which is also recognized as the most magnificent and grandest palace complex on the continent.

  Arriving at the eastern part of the city, a round castle tower came into view from afar, with the imperial flag fluttering in the wind. The vast and flat land was tidy and clean, with a ten-meter-wide moat in front of the castle, surrounding the entire palace and forming a city within a city. The castle was merely the entrance to the palace, and after crossing the drawbridge, guards wearing bright red long robes stood on either side of the bridge, holding long axes. Only after passing through the gate at the bottom of the castle could one be considered to have entered the inner courtyard of the palace. Looking ahead, buildings rose in clusters, with majestic palaces stretching out endlessly, forming a magnificent palace complex that made Xia's eyes widen immediately.

  The courtier also got off the carriage, glanced at Xia Ya and said: "What are you still doing sitting in the carriage? Hurry up and get down to follow me. Don't look around, don't walk randomly."

  This time, Xia Ya originally wanted to take a closer look at the legendary palace, but after passing through several long corridors and circling around several large buildings and palaces - Tu Bie soon found himself lost.

  This place is really too big and also too deserted.

  The road only saw occasional teams of palace guards in fine armor patrolling, and far away, a few palace attendants were seen walking quickly with their heads down, full of caution. What made Xia Ya feel strange was that in this vast imperial palace, apart from the solemn and majestic atmosphere brought by these magnificent buildings, what it gave people more was a sense of dead silence!

  Yes - it's dead!

  The relief on the building is luxurious, the murals on the wall are beautiful, and even some pillars contain gold.

  There were also corridors one after another, and the air was filled with the fragrance of spices. However, this strange smell made Xia Ya cover her nose involuntarily.

  This gloomy place, this smell, yet made him unable to help but think of the scent of a shroud.

  After walking for a long time, Xia Ya suddenly realized why she felt that this place was so depressing!

  The square, palace, corridor has murals, reliefs and sculptures

  But here there isn't any plant! There isn't a tree, the ground is paved with neat stone slabs, and the corridors are made of exquisite brick or even marble.

  But all I can see is no soil and no green at all!

  Solemn, solemn, dignified, dignified

  But all this has gone too far and makes people feel like this is

  "Hmph, decorating it in luxury is just like making a grand tomb."

  Tortoise heart cold smile.

  Finally met the legendary Byzantine Emperor, this great emperor was having lunch.

  This was a spacious, arched-shaped large room. After entering a circular building, in the magnificent hall, Xia Ya waited for a while before the messenger finished reporting and told him he could go in.

  Two young attendants with serious expressions, both wearing gray linen robes, carefully pushed open a large copper door and Xia Ya walked in.

  This was a restaurant. The spacious dining hall could accommodate at least hundreds of people, but there was only one table set up in such a large room.

  The fire in the fireplace was burning fiercely, a soft bear skin was spread on the floor, and even the railing in front of the fireplace was golden.

  The current emperor of the empire, Emperor Cantos, sat at the only dining table in the room, with a napkin tied around his chest and a small silver knife in hand. When Shaya walked in, the emperor was seriously cutting open a bloody piece of beef, splashing blood everywhere, even a few drops fell on his snow-white napkin.

  The room was very quiet, the emperor did not lift his head, but continued to eat, behind him stood a middle-aged man, that man just stood in the dark corner of the wall, quietly like a shadow.

  Even before Xia Ya's eyes noticed him, he didn't feel that there was another person in the room. Even when he really saw this person, for a moment, Xia Ya had an illusion: as if the one standing there was just a shadow, not a living person. This guy... had no vitality at all.

  An ordinary appearance, an ordinary dress, head lowered, hands naturally hanging down, face and eyes are half open and half closed, the eyes are also dull without a hint of spirit.

  It's a strange feeling that this guy, of all people, has left a stronger impression on Xia Ya than the original main character in the room - His Imperial Majesty.

  He stole a glance at the emperor, and this emperor of the empire looked very old. His face was wrinkled, one layer on top of another, his body appeared sturdy, but he was thin to the point of being startling, just like an old male lion that had withered away, although its skeleton was still large, its body

  That black silk gown with rolled gold edges seemed to be hanging on a bamboo rod.

  Kantos ignored Shaya, continued to patiently cut a bloody piece of beef, put a small piece into his mouth, fully appreciated the freshness and the fishy smell in the raw meat, before the emperor comfortably sighed.

  He has always liked to eat meat, a habit that was cultivated during his military career in his youth. Although the court doctors have suggested many times, this habit is not good for the emperor's health.

  The tongue fully savored the taste of fresh blood, and Emperor Cantos finally lifted his head to look at the young man standing not far in front of him.

  The Emperor's face revealed a complex smile, as he noticed that Xia Ya did not kneel down, but stood upright there, and his expression did not show much fear or tension. On the contrary... it was the pure gold candelabra on the table that caught the attention of this young man.

  "Do you like it?" The emperor spoke up.

  "Huh... what?" Xia Ya was taken aback.

  "This candelabra, you've been staring at it." Tos looked down and put down his dinner knife, then picked up a silver cup. The liquid inside was a deep red wine. He took a sip, and the remaining wine on the corner of his mouth seemed like crimson blood.

  Xia Ya felt a bit awkward, he smiled awkwardly and didn't dare to look at the candelabra again. In his heart, he couldn't help but sigh: damn it, this candelabra is really big... and weighs several kilograms more, I don't know if it's made of pure gold or not...

  "You can take it with you when you leave, consider it a gift from me." The emperor tossed down his wine cup and removed the napkin from his chest.

  "Huh——ah?" Xia Ya was overjoyed, her face naturally revealing a few parts of happiness: "Really gave it to me?"

  Moto smiled, he began to like this silly little kid a bit more - at least, people like him should be simpler and easier to control.

  Simply put - if Fatty Ru or Dodo Luo heard the Emperor's inner voice, they would definitely be unable to resist the urge to bang their heads against a wall.

  The emperor smiled slightly and then his face returned to its usual serious expression: "So you are Xia Yelü."

  "I am!" Xia Ya puffed out his chest.

  "You see me, but you don't have much respect." Mortos' eyes were somewhat mocking.

  "Hmm..." The tortoise thought for a moment, hesitated for a second, and surprisingly came up with an answer that even he didn't expect - originally, he shouldn't have been talking to the emperor, but somehow, this emperor seemed not too difficult to get along with. "Uh, because I'm not Byzantine."

  What I mean is, I am not your subject, so there's no need for me to show reverence to you.

  “……” Motso was taken aback by these words, and after a moment, he couldn't help but burst out laughing. After he finished laughing, he nodded at Xia Ya: "Not bad, I've reviewed your file - you grew up in Wildfire Ridge and joined our army temporarily before this war. Hmm... from now on, you're a Byzantine.”

  Xia Ya didn't say anything, just staring at the emperor like this.

  "I've heard about your performance on the battlefield, although I think some of the battle reports were exaggerated. Still, I think you lived up to those praises. Moreover, you injured Hei Xi Ting."

  When mentioning the name "Hei Si Ting", the emperor's eyes contracted slightly, and his tone had a hint of ruthlessness.

  "I just got lucky." Xia Ya said bluntly, he had a feeling that in front of this emperor, telling the truth might have some unexpected benefits. "Hei Si Tian is too strong for me, I couldn't beat him in a fair fight. If we clashed head-on, he could easily kill me. This time I was able to hurt him because he wasn't on guard and I ambushed him, and...he's not even badly injured." Later, at the emperor's request, Xia Ya had no choice but to recount how he had impersonated Bonfret on the battlefield, how he had forced Bonfret to fight, how he had let Bonfret attract Hei Si Tian's attention, and then how he had ambushed him from the side.

  Throughout the narrative, Xia Ya deliberately presented himself as coarse and unrefined, with no restraint in his words. When he was excited, some obscene language would slip out of his mouth, completely devoid of etiquette. Words like "that rabbit who sells his butt", "that cowardly little white face", and "fuck that bitch's son" were endless.

  Xia Ya Ke is not stupid, he did it on purpose!

  Although he didn't have a big heart, Xia Ya instinctively felt the change in the emperor's attitude! When he uttered his first swear word, the emperor raised an eyebrow, and the smile in his eyes seemed to increase by several degrees.

  And then later on, when Xia Ya said "that Bonfret's little white face" in such a manner, the Emperor's expression actually revealed a rather pleased look.

  So, how could Xia Ya not understand the emperor's mind? He deliberately added a few more exaggerated and detailed descriptions to the process of how he disciplined Bonfret, and when it came to the process of how he ambushed Hastings, he lightly brushed over it.

  Finally after Xia Ya finished speaking, Emperor Kuntos's eyes already had a clear smile in them.

  Good!

  Great!!

  Excellent!!!!

  If at first he just had some good feelings towards this silly little kid, then now the Emperor felt that he already somewhat liked this little kid.

  Taking advantage of Bang Frei's "pampered little white face" pleased the emperor. But when it came to the sneak attack on Hastings, the light and casual tone made the emperor mistakenly think that this kid was an unassuming and honest person.

  Thus, in this "simple" evaluation, the emperor gave Tu Bie another definition: loyal and honest.

  Loyal and honest tortoise? Doro Ruru and others continue to resent in their hearts.

  Brave, simple, loyal and honest. Which emperor wouldn't like such a general?

  The Emperor Cantos's mood was visibly good, and after Shaya finished talking about the process of ambushing Hestin, the emperor even asked him a few private questions, especially asking about Shaya's experiences as a hunter in the Wildfire Plains, how he hunted and killed magical beasts. Shaya observed the changes in the emperor's expression and intentionally portrayed himself as a dim-witted young man with little brains, talking about his survival experiences in the wilderness and even sharing a few embarrassing stories about himself, including times when he encountered danger and had to risk his life.

  Cantos himself didn't even realize that in this lunch, he laughed more times than the total of the past ten days.

  At the same time, Tǔ Biāo also became more and more pleasing to Qí Qiāng Dà Dì's eyes.