"Greetings, Her Imperial Majesty."
In the Imperial Study, Xu Shi politely gave Dongfang Xiao, who had been waiting for some time, a gentleman's bow.
That was right. The seemingly excessive request to "meet the Empress alone" was not actually all that excessive.
At least, in Cheng Gujian's judgment, it remained within an acceptable range.
In his eyes, Xu Shi alone did not pose much of a threat—his combat ability was not particularly high, and Cheng Gujian had already seen his abilities firsthand. They happened to be countered by the holy light inherited by the royal family. Even if Xu Shi spoke with Dongfang Xiao face-to-face, he would not be able to do anything too outrageous.
Besides, this was only a conversation, not an elopement. Cheng Gujian himself would be waiting outside. If he sensed anything amiss, he could respond immediately.
Most importantly, the royal family was negotiating with Xu Shi this time. They wanted to bring him in to minimize the negative consequences of the Sea God Stone trade as much as possible. They were not here merely for a chat.
To put it bluntly, they were asking him for help... They had already acted improperly during the campaign against the Sea God, and Xu Shi's dissatisfaction was written all over his face. If they still refused to make concessions, they would truly be failing to recognize the situation.
If he ended up making a fortune and heading home, the royal family would have to fill that enormous hole in the books alone. After all, the Church could shove its responsibility away cleanly—we're not a governing body, after all.
When that happened, a few moves like setting up porridge kitchens and charity halls would help them recover quite a bit of their reputation, greatly easing the pressure on them.
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