Yang Province, the Governor's Mansion.
Li Xinge, the Marquis of Chu, sat high upon the Governor's seat, dressed in a marquis's ceremonial robes and crown.
Below him,
hundreds of Yang Province's civil and military officials knelt in rows on either side.
Li Xinge glanced at Elder Jiang beside him.
Elder Jiang took the cue and declared in a deep voice, "Summon the envoy from Qiong Province Hundred Flowers Valley for an audience!"
The hundreds of officials held their breath, their gazes turning as one toward the entrance to the hall.
The envoy from Hundred Flowers Valley walked in.
She was a middle-aged female cultivator at the early-stage Innate level.
After entering the hall, she dared not look directly at the indistinct yet imposing figure above the jade steps. Lowering her head, she cupped her hands and bowed. "The envoy from Qiong Province Hundred Flowers Valley pays her respects to the Marquis of Chu. May the Marquis of Chu reign for ten thousand years."
Li Xinge did not speak immediately. The entire hall was silent as the grave.
He merely shifted his posture slightly. The curtain of white jade beads hanging from his crown swayed gently, clinking with a crisp sound.
Yet in the deathly silence of the hall, that sound seemed to strike against everyone's heart.
An invisible pressure like a mountain weighed upon the Hundred Flowers Valley envoy, chilling her entire body and nearly forcing her to her knees.
The envoy's heart lurched. Was this the might of the Marquis of Chu, whose name shook the world?
After a long while, Li Xinge's voice rang out, so flat that no emotion could be discerned.
"Speak!"
That single word made the Hundred Flowers Valley envoy shudder.
Not daring to raise her head, she swiftly recounted everything about the mysterious assailants