News that the Ruler of Eastern Lin had come to the Great Xia Dynasty to visit his relatives soon spread throughout the Capital.
Many people waited along the route to the Ninth Prince's Residence, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Ruler of Eastern Lin's bearing.
The moment the Ruler of Eastern Lin stepped outside, countless commoners stopped to watch.
They must have all come to gaze up at him in admiration. Smiling, he ordered his understated carriage replaced with a Palankeen hung with transparent gauze curtains on all four sides, so the people of Great Xia could see him.
He climbed into the Palankeen and rested one hand on the armrest, looking ahead with a lofty, disdainful gaze. Sure enough, the people of Great Xia lined both sides of the street to look up at him.
A smile curled his lips as he told his personal eunuch, Eunuch Mo, "I told you the people of Great Xia have never seen much of the world. All I did was step outside, and they already look up to me this much."
If he annexed the Great Xia Dynasty someday, wouldn't these commoners kneel before him every day, exalting him like the sun, moon, and stars?
At that thought, the smile on the Ruler of Eastern Lin's lips grew more pronounced, and even the foul mood left by yesterday's humiliation dissipated considerably.
The corner of Eunuch Mo's mouth twitched. He glanced around, noticed the strange expressions on the commoners' faces, and hesitated, not daring to say more.
The Ruler of Eastern Lin asked mildly, "What? Am I wrong?"
Why wasn't the usually quick-witted Eunuch Mo flattering him anymore?
Eunuch Mo's eyelid twitched violently. "You are right, Sovereign. A hundred years ago, Great Xia was inferior to East Lin. From the looks of