The Crucial Chess Piece

Duàn Yì looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar man before him with a complicated gaze, then shook his head.

"Forget it. The Crown Prince is of noble status; Duàn Yì cannot presume to reach so high."

Xia Yang neither confirmed nor denied it. He showed no reaction to Duàn Yì's deliberate distancing.

He merely pointed at the stool opposite him, signaling for him to sit and speak.

Duàn Yì discreetly glanced in several directions around the inn. There, several mighty auras, like blazing suns in the sky, lay concealed, suppressing themselves and deliberately diminishing their presence.

Those experts were indeed incomparably powerful and skilled in concealment, but they could not hide from him.

Of course, with Duàn Yì's current strength, he did not consider this place a dragon's pool or tiger's den.

After sitting down at ease, he familiarly placed an upside-down wine cup before himself.

He filled it with wine and drained it in one gulp. Its fragrance filled his mouth, and he praised it, "Fine wine. It is far clearer and sweeter than the one we drank when you and I first met."

Xia Yang smiled smugly.

"Of course. This wine was transported from the Imperial Capital. It is a fine imperial brew, also known as Jade Nectar, made from a hundred fruits. Naturally, it cannot be compared with the inferior wines of the common folk.

"Just as the imperial line is orthodox, too noble for words, ruling the lands of Great Xia and Shenzhou, capable of anything.

"And Zhenbei King's Mansion, though it has gained some renown in the northern region and commands troops in self-rule, will never enter the hall of elegance. Much less can it contend with my imperial lineage."

Xia Yang's words were sharp and aggressive. He compared Zhenbei King's Mansion to low-grade wine