The Time of Beheading

A few days later...

The current ruler of Yanlong Kingdom, Jin Qianfan, was to hold a state banquet during the Double Ninth Festival. This was a grand ceremonial feast, attended by envoys from friendly nations, high-ranking court officials, Elder Mi Gaitian of Ice Chi Palace, and numerous overseas Rogue Cultivator experts close to the Yanlong Jin Clan.

Such grand banquets were held to exacting standards, and their rites had been passed down from the Great You Dynasty. It could be said that the three great overseas sea kingdoms had all, to a greater or lesser extent, been influenced by the ritual institutions of the Five Paths and Nine Provinces of Central Huan.

Under Great You's ritual code, "For sacrifices at the Round Mound and Square Marsh, prayers for grain, worship of the rising sun and setting moon, ceremonial plowing, daily lectures on the classics, and instruction at the Eastern Palace, meals are bestowed in every case." Jin Qianfan's state banquet for the Double Ninth Festival was, on one hand, meant to quell Yanlong Kingdom's recent unrest; on the other, it was intended to proclaim the authority of its new ruler to the people.

The preparations for the Double Ninth state banquet alone had taken several days. At this moment, within Yanlong Kingdom's Hall of Rites, a golden throne cast with four-clawed golden dragons had been carried into the main hall by several attendants, and yellow ceremonial banners had been laid out.

The floor of the hall was carpeted in wool rugs from Niduso Kingdom. Golden delicacies and jade-like dishes, mountain treasures and seafood rarities, had all been arrayed in full display. The imperial chefs of the palace were superbly skilled; whether handling exotic ingredients or preparing roasted calf and braised lamb, they were masters beyond compare.

A sea kingdom like