Shen Gongbao Enters the City

"Ha ha ha! So it is the Imperial Preceptor himself, gracing us with his presence!"

Beneath the city gates, Chong Houhu spotted a black-robed figure astride a pitch-black spirit leopard, approaching at an unhurried pace. His face immediately broke into a broad smile as he hurried forward to greet him, his manner brimming with warmth and respect.

Yet in the face of his deliberate overtures, Shen Gongbao merely gave a faint nod, his gaze indifferent and his expression coolly distant, offering not a single superfluous response.

A hot face pressed against a cold butt.

Chong Houhu froze where he stood, a surge of stifled resentment rising within him as he fumed in secret.

He was the dignified Marquis of the North, a feudal lord guarding Great Shang's northern frontier, yet he was being treated with such contempt and neglect by the Imperial Preceptor of the current court.

But he forcibly suppressed his anger in an instant.

Chong City was now in peril, hanging by a thread, and depended entirely on the hundred thousand reinforcements Shen Gongbao had brought to hold the line.

Moreover, he had long heard that Fei Zhong and You Hun, his two great patrons, had been publicly whipped to death in Morning Song by Wenzhong. His foundations at court had already crumbled completely.

Shen Gongbao was now the most powerful and dependable patron in Great Shang's court. Chong Houhu could not afford to offend him in the slightest.

Though grievance filled his heart, Chong Houhu still forced out an amiable, fawning smile. Cupping his hands, he respectfully invited him in. "Imperial Preceptor, you have traveled far and endured great hardship. Please enter the city and rest. This Marquis has long ordered wine and a banquet prepared to welcome you and wash away the dust of your journey."